SOURCES SOUGHT
B -- Descriptive Study of Early Head Start
- Notice Date
- 3/30/2007
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541720
— Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, Program Support Center, Division of Acquisition Management, Parklawn Building Room 5-101 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD, 20857, UNITED STATES
- ZIP Code
- 00000
- Solicitation Number
- SS-PAJ-004
- Response Due
- 4/13/2007
- Archive Date
- 9/30/2007
- Description
- THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP), INVITATION FOR BID (IFB), REQUEST FOR QUOTES (RFQ), REQUEST FOR APPLICATION (RFA) OR AN ANNOUNCEMNT OF A SOLICITATION AND DOES NOT ASSUME THE GOVERNMENT WILL AWARD A CONTRACT OR PROCEED WITH ANY OF THE ABOVE SOLICITATIONS IN THE NEAR FUTURE. THIS NOTICE IS ONLY FOR MARKET RESEARCH PURPOSES. This is a sources sought notice to determine the availability of potential small businesses (e.g., 8(a), veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran owned small business, HUBZone small business, small disadvantaged business, and women-owned small business) that can manage and administer large-scale, early childhood data collection and analysis efforts for the Descriptive Study of Early Head Start . The Descriptive Study of Early Head Start will provide data from a nationally representative sample of programs that will address the following goals: ? Gaining information on what Early Head Start is: As a new initiative that rapidly expanded in its first 10 years, little is know nationally about key features of the programs beyond what is learned from the PIR and the recently completed Survey of Early Head Start Programs. More in-depth information on implementation of the HSPPS as well as specific services delivered to families is needed. ? Gaining information on who is being served by Early Head Start: What are the needs of families who enter Early Head Start? What needs develop over time while they are in the program? What challenges do families encounter over the first three years of their children?s lives? ? Gaining more information on children served by Early Head Start: How are children faring over time? ? Gaining more information on how programs individualize services and referrals to meet the needs of families, and exploring how child and family outcomes are associated with specific services received over time. In addition to providing information to support program planning, technical assistance and research at the national level, this study will also provide guidance and context for individual programs in the selection of outcomes and measures for their own performance measurement. Core tasks for the contract will include: (1) Establishment of a Technical Work Group (TWG) whose members will advise the Contractor on various technical aspects of the study; (2) Development of a sampling plan that draws on the universe of regular Early Head Start programs; (3) Negotiation with approximately between 60 and 80 local programs to facilitate engagement in the study; (4) Selection and/or development of a battery of research-based, valid and reliable data collection instruments including: survey instruments for program assessment as well as in-person interviews with Early Head Start parents, teachers, and staff; tools for the direct assessment of infants and toddlers; and observational measures of classroom environments and home visits. Negotiation of agreements with publishers of any copyrighted assessments selected for use in the Descriptive Study of Early Head Start and compensation of publishers for such rights may be required; (5) Development of materials necessary to obtain OMB approval for data collection activities; (6) Development of a detailed data collection and analysis plan; (7) On-site data collection including direct annual assessments of children; parent and teacher interviews for each child; and observations in the programs. Each data collection wave must be completed within a two month period in the spring, with the first such period beginning in spring 2008. This task also includes field testing of data collection instruments and procedures, training of field data collectors, and implementing procedures for tracking participants over time and minimizing attrition; (8) Data entry, analysis, reporting and archiving. The minimum contractor requirements are: (1) In-depth expertise in the development of infants and toddlers (2) Extensive expertise on assessment tools for infants and toddlers, particularly those from low-income families, and including children speaking a language other than English and children with disabilities; (2) Experience managing national studies in areas of investigation such as child development, program evaluation, early childhood education, and the assessments of family environments, parent-child interactions, and the developmental functioning of young children; (3) Demonstrated experience and capability to conduct large-scale, geographically dispersed data collections involving classroom and home visit observations, parent and teacher interviews, assessments of parent-child interaction and direct assessments of young children from a wide range of ethnic, cultural, and linguistic populations at the volume and within the time schedule mentioned above; (4) Demonstrated experience in successfully conducting longitudinal studies, including tracking and maintaining large, geographically dispersed cohorts of participants; (5) Experience with complex sampling techniques; (6) Experience in efficiently managing the range of tasks related to the hiring, training and management of field staff located in all regions of the U.S., and the data collection and quality control activities associated with multi-site studies of similar programs; (5) Experience with collecting, analyzing, and reporting information for purposes program improvement; (6) Adequate computer/statistical resources and the institutional capability to process and analyze a large volume of assessment and interview data, including capacity to input data, clean data and conduct quality control checks, and perform complex data analyses using weighted data. Interested parties having the capabilities necessary to perform the stated requirements may submit capability statements via email to pscacquisitions@psc.hhs.gov. CAPABILITY STATEMENTS MUST DEMONSTRATE THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS OUTLINED ABOVE. Capability statements must also include the following information: company name, address, point of contact, phone/fax/email, and business size and status (e.g., small business, 8(a), veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran owned small business, HUBZone small business, small disadvantaged business, and women owned small business). Responses are requested not later than April 13, 2007. Capability statements will not be accepted after the due date.
- Record
- SN01262905-W 20070401/070330220444 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
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