SOURCES SOUGHT
R -- Evaluation of Round 4 of the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training Grants
- Notice Date
- 5/8/2014
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541720
— Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities
- Contracting Office
- Department of Labor, Employment Training Administration, Division of Contract Services, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Room N-4655, Washington, District of Columbia, 20210
- ZIP Code
- 20210
- Solicitation Number
- DOL-ETA-14-N-00001
- Archive Date
- 5/31/2014
- Point of Contact
- Jeff Brown, Phone: 2026933159
- E-Mail Address
-
brown.jeffrey@dol.gov
(brown.jeffrey@dol.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- This sources sought announcement is for information and planning purposes only; this announcement is not a formal solicitation and not intended as a commitment by the Government. A contract may not be awarded as a result of this sources sought announcement. The U.S. Department of Labor Office of Procurement Services, on behalf of the Chief Evaluation Office, is seeking qualified and capable vendors to conduct an evaluation of the fourth round of the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training Grants, with an emphasis on identifying capable HUBZone Small Business, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business, and Small Business concerns. The Government intends to solicit and procure the required services under set-aside or full and open procedures supported by this source sought announcement. If at least three responsible SDVOSB, or HUBZone providers are determined by the Government to be capable of performing this requirement based on an evaluation of the capability packages submitted by Friday, 5 May, 2014 12:00 PM EST, the requirement will be solicited as a 100% for SDVOSB or HUBZone. If three or more SDVOSB or HUBZones are not found capable, and three or more small business have been identified that are capable of providing these services this requirement will be solicited as a 100% set-aside for small business concerns. If capability packages are not received from at least three responsible small business concerns in accordance with FAR Part 19 by the response date, or if the Government determines that no small business concerns in accordance with FAR Part 19 are capable of performing this requirement based upon an evaluation of the capability packages submitted; this requirement will be solicited under full and open competitive procedures. All qualified businesses are eligible to submit capability packages. Interested small business concerns capable of providing services under NAICS code 541720 with a size standard of $19M are encouraged to submit their capability packages. The capability packages for this sources sought market survey are not expected to be proposals, but rather statements regarding the company's existing experience in relation to the areas specified in the PWS. Capability packages must not exceed 15 pages and must be submitted electronically. All contractor questions must be submitted no later than May 12, 2014 at 2:00 PM EST. Businesses are to outline their in-house staff capability, expertise, past projects, and organizational and staff qualifications in the following areas: 1. Having at least one single staff-person with a minimum of ten (10) years of experience as a Project Director/Principal Investigator on labor related evaluations using multi-site random control trials and complex multivariate non-experimental methodologies; and have published at least two scholarly, peer-reviewed papers; and have a minimum of a doctorate degree in public policy, political science, statistics, economics, or a related field. 2. Having at least three staff-persons that are highly qualified senior research analysts each with: a. subject matter expertise on the public workforce system, community colleges and institutions of higher education, trade adjustment assistance, and dislocated workers; b. a minimum of ten (10) years experience in performing multi-site experimental design evaluations, high quality non-experimental evaluations and social science research; c. a minimum of ten (10) years experience serving as a research analyst or in an equivalent position, experience as a lead analyst performing research in a labor-related subject area; d. and a minimum of a master's degree 3. Having at least one highly qualified senior research analyst with ten (10) years of experience in designing and implementing a random assignment evaluation that includes collecting and maintaining participant level data from multiple agencies, and conducting sophisticated statistical analysis across at least fifteen sites implementing mixed variations in program interventions 4. Exclusively responsible for designing, pre-testing, and in-house administration of administrative surveys to a minimum of 100 organizations and 2,000 individuals simultaneously in one single project. 5. Having at least one highly qualified senior research analyst with ten (10) years of experiences serving as the task lead on Survey questionnaire design and survey methodology expertise for surveys of over 100 institutions and surveys of over 2,000 individuals 6. Having at least one highly qualified senior research analyst with ten (10) years of experience as the task lead in survey administration to community colleges and other institutions of higher education, to conduct a survey of over 100 institutions 7. Having at least one highly qualified senior research analyst with ten (10) years of experience serving as the task lead in analyzing survey statistics, including universe analyses and sample methodologies, 8. Having several staff with expertise in and knowledge of employment and community college databases, data acquisition and processing 9. Having a minimum of four senior level staff within the organization that have at least ten (10) years of experience conducting high quality organizational and program implementation studies and directing field-based data collection in multiple sites simultaneously 10. Having a minimum of two senior level staff that have at least ten (10) years of experience each and two junior level staff that have at least five (5) years of experience each in conducting data multivariate statistical analysis of employment and education outcomes and impacts using administrative data and data collected in the field through site visits 11. Developing fieldwork protocols and procedures for large scale implementation studies of employment and training programs, including instrument development, pre-tests, analytic procedures, preparation of Paperwork Reduction Act clearance packages for data collection. 12. Experience having a team of researchers within the organization reviewing over 100 evaluation design reports simultaneously in a consistent format and within one month providing written feedback on the quality and rigor of each of the designs 13. Developing and using mixed method study designs, including both qualitative and quantitative techniques to collect and analyze data, and assess program operations and management. 14. Experience in convening large conferences and conducting webinars 15. Experience recruiting, convening, and utilizing a technical working group for an evaluation 16. Experience designing and conducting high quality, theoretically based, multi-site evaluability assessment, outcome analysis, formal implementation analysis, and performance assessment of employment and training, workforce development and related program operations. 17. Having staff who have authored scholarly evidence about random assignment evaluations in the education and training policy area and publishing peer reviewed articles, reports, chapters and books. 18. Serving as the lead or sole author on evaluation and research reports on employment and training programs for DOL. 19. Authoring and producing high quality policy-relevant evaluation reports, presentations, and testimony on employment and training programs, appropriately targeted to high-level policy officials, administrators, and managers, as well as to program practitioners and stakeholders. Background The U.S. Department of Labor announced the availability of $450 million in grants as a fourth round under the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) initiative on April 16, 2014. http://www.doleta.gov/taaccct/applicantinfo.cfm Previous TAACCCT grantees have leveraged strong partnerships between community colleges, the workforce system, employers and industry groups to transform the way they design and deliver courses through accelerated learning strategies; redesigned curricula; distance learning; work-based training, such as Registered Apprenticeships; and innovative uses of technology to enhance learning activities. The fourth round continues to promote these strategies and strengthens employer engagement. The program is designed to ensure that an eligible institution in every state plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico receive dedicated funding of at least $2.25 million. Single institutions may apply for grants of up to $2.5 million and consortia of institutions within the same state or among institutions that share an economic region may apply for grants up to $15 million. Eligible applicants include community colleges and other public, proprietary or nonprofit educational institutions that offer programs that can be completed in two years and are accredited by an agency or association recognized by the U.S. Department of Education Similar to Round 2 and 3, the Round 4 grantees are required to conduct a third-party evaluation. Separate from this, grantees must participate in a national evaluation. There is a current mixed-method evaluation underway for Rounds 1, 2, and 3 that includes an evaluability assessment, implementation analysis, and review and synthesis of third-party evaluation designs and findings. For an evaluation of the fourth round of TAACCCT, the Department wants to implement a random assignment impact analysis of selected colleges within or across the Round 4 TAACCCT grantees and an implementation analysis of all Round 4 TAACCCT grantees. Further Information A written Request for Proposal (RFP) will be posted on or about 15 May 2014, depending on funding availability. The RFP must be retrieved and downloaded from FedBizOpps at www.fbo.gov. No hard copies of the RFP will be issued. All amendments will be posted and must be retrieved from this website. Responses to the RFP must be submitted by email to the POC identified below. No solicitation mailing list will be compiled. Contractors are responsible for all costs for submitting their capability packages.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DOL/ETA/WashingtonDC/DOL-ETA-14-N-00001/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: At the discretion of the contractor, United States
- Record
- SN03360549-W 20140510/140509021534-1578c0bc86e6a337cabc434d2e94d79f (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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