U.S. Department of Education, Contracts and Purchasing Operations, 7th and D Streets, S.W., ROB 3, Room 3616, Washington, D.C. 20202-4447

U -- NATIONAL TESTS IN READING AND MATHEMATICS SOL RFP-97-012 POC Contracting Officer: Helen Chang, 202-708-9740 Potential offers are invited to review the Draft Statement of Work for the National Test in Reading and National Test in Mathematics. The U.S. Department of Education is seeking contractual support for the development of the National Test in Reading and the National Test in Mathematics. The tests will provide an annual indication of overall individual student proficiency in reading (grade 4) and math (grade 8) that can be reported to parents and teachers. The first administration of the tests will be in 1999. All test items will be released to the public every year. It is anticipated that two contracts will be awarded, one for the National Test for Reading and one for the National Test for Mathematics, this fiscal year. The period of performance for each contract will be 5 years. The contract work will start immediately after award, as the schedule is very ambitious. The Department held public meetings in February and March to gain advice on this Draft SOW. Transcripts of these meetings and other documents related to the national voluntary test initiative may be found at http://www.ed.gov/nationaltests. The Draft Statement of Work (SOW) for the development of these two tests is being announced today. It is available through the Internet at http://gcs.ed.gov/Coninfo/currfp.htm or gopher://gcs.ed.gov or on the ED Board computer bulletin board on or about March 21, 1997. PRINTED COPIES ARE NOT AVAILABLE. The Draft Statement of Work is also available on ED Board BBS for dual up computer users at (202) 260-9950. The BBS has four 14,4000 bps modem (setting:8-n-1). New users create their ID and password at logon. At the BBS main menu, select contract RFP and Work Statements On-Line for available contract documents. For questions only on GCS Web or ED Board BBS, contact Audrey Hawkins or George Wagner at (202) 708-8503 or 707-7811. With the posting the Department is requesting public comments and advise on the content, time schedule feasibility and other aspects of this Draft SOW. Please submit your comments in one document via electronic mail to Helen_Chang @ ed.gov or fax (if less than 15 pages to 202-708-9817) or by mail to the attention of: Helen Chang, U.S. Department of Education, Contracts and Purchasing Operations, 7th and D Streets, SW, ROB 3, Room 3616, Washington, D.C. 20202. THIS IS NOT A SYNOPSIS OF A SOLICITATION. All comments are due by 12:00 noon EST April 7, 1997. The solicitation is expected to be released by the end of April 1997. No other information on the procurement is available at this time. Potential offerors may request a copy of the actual solicitation after it is announced.. (0083)

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