U.S. Department of Education, Contracts and Purchasing Operations, CPO, 7th & D Streets SW, Room 3616, Washington, DC 20202-4443

B -- SURVEY OF EARLY CARE AND EDUCATION PROGRAMS SOL ED-00-R-0011 DUE 020400 POC Isadora Binder, (202) 708-5141, Contract Specialist The U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) will conduct a new national survey of the individuals and programs that provide care and education to the nation's children before they enter school. This survey will enhance NCES' and others' ability to answer some of the most basic questions surrounding the supply of early care and education programs. The survey will allow for estimates of the number of center-based programs and licensed family child care providers, as well as the types of center-based programs, characteristics of both center-based and family child care programs, and the distribution of characteristics by types of programs. SECEP will examine a national sample of licensed and exempted center-based programs and licensed family child-care providers serving children under 6 years of age. The survey will include child-care centers and early education programs such as Head Start, preschool, nursery school, and prekindergarten. Certain types of programs andproviders unregulated or not licensed by states, are not listed in registries, and as a result will not be surveyed. Overall, approximately 4,000 programs are expected to be sampled from 100 primary sampling units (PSU) nationwide. Each PSU will be composed of counties and county groups. An area frame will be developed for each of the sampled PSUs, and a sample of programs will be drawn from the list. Once individual programs and centers are identified, an administrator in each center will be interviewed about his or her program. In licensed family child-care, the primary provider will be surveyed about his or her program. The solicitation issued will be under Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code 8732. A draft Statement of Work is available on the U.S. Department of Education's web site at http://ocfo.ed.gov/Coninfo.html. Requests for copies of the RFP may be made by telephone, mail, E-mail, telegram or in person. All requests shall reference the RFP number (ED-00-R-0011) and the title of the RFP. Telephone requests will only be accepted by calling (202) 708-6498. Mail or telegram requests must be sent to the following address: U.S. Department of Education/CPO, ATTN: Yolanda Abney, ROB-3, Room 3616, 7th and D Streets, SW, Washington, DC 20202-4443. Copies of the RFP may be picked up in person on the issue date at the same address. E-mail requests shall be sent to Yolanda_Abney@ed.gov. The RFP can also be found on the Internet on or about the issue date at http://ocfo.ed.gov/Coninfo.html. Issue date is December 21, 1999, and closing date is 2:00 PM, EST, February 4, 2000. All proposals submitted by responsible sources will be considered.***** Posted 12/02/99 (W-SN405236). (0336)

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