Background: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has a requirement pursuant to Public Law 112-249 (Improving the Transparency of Education Opportunities of Veterans Act of 2012), to provide a commercially available off-the-shelf online assessment tool which will allow a Veteran or member of the Armed Forces to assess whether they are academically ready to engage in postsecondary education training opportunities or whether the member would need remedial preparation prior to initiating such opportunities. The assessment must also provide the basis for selecting educational and career goals. The online tool must allow eligible dependents, Servicemembers, or Veterans (henceforth referred to as participants) to take a computerized assessment which is then scored, analyzed, and provided to the participant in a comprehensive and easily understandable format. In order to meet these requirements, VA requires the following: 1. An online assessment instrument which will measure a participant s aptitudes and interests through a standardized norm-based assessment tool. 2. Assessment results are automatically scored, analyzed, and provided to the participant and VA personnel in a comprehensive report that can be accessed online and printed. 3. An online portal with two separate and distinct national portals with 56 Regional Office (RO) sub-portals to support aptitude and interest testing of participants eligible for Chapter 36 benefits under 38 USC § 3697 and 3697A. The Scope of Work is broken down into three main components, the assessment instrument, assessment scores and reports, and the online portals. Each component is critical to the success of the proposed solution. The requirements for each component are established below. Assessment Instrument: The assessment instrument must assess the participant s aptitudes and career interests through a standardized norm-based assessment. This assessment must measure the participant s interests in vocational categories as well as measure the participant s aptitudes in categories of expressed interest. The total length of time needed to complete the assessment must not exceed 90 minutes. Capability must be included to allow the assessment to be administered untimed for participants requiring additional time to complete the assessment due to disabilities or other factors. However, the basic non-accommodated assessment must be able to be completed within a 90 minute timeframe. The assessment must meet 508 standards for accessibility, meet industry standards for ease of access, and be able to be administered in either English or Spanish. The assessment must be automatically scored and easy to administer. The proposed assessment instrument must be derived from evidence based research, whereby the results and methodology are recognized and accepted within established industry practices. The proposed assessment instrument must be written at a reading and comprehension level commensurate with the general population of the United States. The proposed assessment must measure the participant s interests and aptitude for success in each career cluster and assess the participant s aptitude for success in an academic environment. This report should also address the participant s aptitude for success in completing the requisite course(s) and level of study required to enter each of the identified career clusters. Assessment Scores and Report: At the completion of the assessment, a report must be made available online and in a printable format, which will outline scores the results of the completed assessment. The report must be generated in two distinct parts; one readily available to the participant and another report available to the counselor. The participant report must be easily understood and interpreted by the assessed participant, without the assistance of a counselor. The results must be presented in such a way that the individual will understand their current academic aptitude and career fields of interest. The report available to VA personnel must provide a summary of the scores achieved by the Participant and presented in such a way which will allow a trained professional to provide greater insight and guidance on the participant s results. The counselor report is intended to provide a professional with tools necessary to assist a participant in achieving a greater understanding of their results and how those results are applicable in both an academic and vocational context. The detailed participant report must outline their level of career interest and propensity for success based on an intersection of their current education and educational aptitude. The report also must outline those career fields with the highest level of expressed interest based on the completed assessment. Outlined career fields must be presented as career clusters and associated back to relevant and updated occupational databases, to include Occupational Information Network (O*NET), Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes, and other relevant occupational databases. The report must also contain job codes and titles for the top occupations within each interested career cluster. The participant report must detail the educational level the participant currently occupies, to include an assessment of the participant s current abilities in reading, math, and writing. The report must also address the participant s aptitude for future success in an academic environment. Additionally, the report must intersect the evaluation of identified interests with assessed aptitudes to provide a holistic picture of the participant s interests and propensity for gaining and maintaining suitable employment within the interested career cluster. This result must be provided in a way which is easily understandable, presents a clear direction as to the level of additional education and mastery to obtain the requisite skills to attain meaningful employment within career clusters demonstrating the highest levels of interest and aptitude. The assessment must include references to traditional career fields and occupations as well as emerging and technical fields, such as those related to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). These fields must be included in the assessment instrument to assess the participant s interest level and ability to succeed within emerging industry fields. The report should further detail or provide reference to current job forecasts and industry health for the identified career clusters. This will enable the participant to make more informed decisions regarding the pursuit of further education and potential employment in a specific career cluster or chosen career path. The assessment must not only assess the participant s interest and aptitude within identified career clusters, but must also provide a multi-tiered result, which outlines the level within career clusters the participant would be best suited to pursue. The result must delineate whether the participant would be most suited in a developmental, skilled mid-level, or professional management level within identified career clusters. This result must be easily understood and directly related to the participant s current education level and aptitude to successfully attain the knowledge and experience within the industry to succeed at the identified level. In addition to the assessment instrument, the contractor must also provide a resource with a detailed explanation of the assessment, included sections, methodology, and background. This resource must include definitions and explanations of and any codes, abbreviations, or acronyms which may be used in the assessment report. This resource must be easy to read, accessible to all participants, and able to assist participants in gaining a full understanding of all aspects of the assessment results, ensuing report, and recommendations. The contractor must also provide a detailed resource for participants and Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment) VR&E counselors to further explain the different sections of the assessment, how results will be presented to the participant, and keys to interpretation of the report. Online Portal: The contractor shall provide all resources necessary to accomplish the deliverables in the Statement of Work (SOW), except as may otherwise be specified. The comprehensive career aptitude and assessment tool/system shall be installed on two separate national portals. The portals shall include all capabilities and components as provided by the existing portals for the VR&E program and the Post-9/11 GI Bill. The assessment must be readily and easily accessible online through one of the established national portals with any connected computer. The assessment must have the ability to be run online without software installation at the point of assessment or require IT support by the end user. Assessments, results and other information must be self-contained within the provider web domain. Assessments must be automatically scored, analyzed, and readily available online to the participant and VA personnel. Results must be readily accessible to the participant after completion of the assessment. Furthermore, results of the participant s assessment must be maintained online, easily associated to the participant completing the assessment, and readily available to the participant as well as the associated Regional Office (RO). This will enable the VR&E personnel to easily obtain, access, and review the participant s results and provide qualitative feedback regarding the results as required. The assessment must be loaded onto a nationally accessible portal which must be further segmented into individual portals for each VR&E RO. There are currently a total of fifty-seven (57) unique VR&E ROs, which will require individual portals, linked under the overarching National assessment portal. The online portals (both National and Regional) must utilize VA provided graphics and branding materials to ensure the portals are uniquely identifiable as belonging to the VA. The National portals and sub-portals shall include both public and private components. The public facing component will be available to eligible participants to take an aptitude and interest assessment while the private facing component will be accessed and monitored by VA staff. The portal will contain branding for all assessments using logos, art, and branding materials to be provided by the VA. The portal and sub-portals shall be loaded with the assessment tool, applicable licenses, branding logo files, assessments and all other related components to comprise a complete system as described through this SOW. Each national portal shall have a management portal with total control and access by an assigned VA portal Executive. The designated portal Executive will designate Administrator(s) within each sub-portal for who will serve as administrator(s) for a single RO sub-portal. The designated sub-portal Administrator may further appoint any number of Specialists within their assigned sub-portals. Designated Specialists will oversee the assessment process within each RO. Specialists must have the capability to change the default assessment delivery and on a case-by-case basis to meet the individual accessibility needs of some Veterans. Specialists will not have the capability to further delegate permissions within the sub-portal. Sub-Portal Administrators must have the capability to make changes for assessments overseen within their own sub-portal. Options available to Administrators to make case-by-case changes to assessments must include the ability to eliminate the time clock on cognitive aptitude and battery test and to offer the test in either English or Spanish. The system shall meet the established industry standards for accessibility and 508 compliance. Participants must be able to select or be assigned individual Specialists under their unique RO sub-portal. Assessments procured under this SOW are to be procured either under an unlimited quantity license during each period of performance or in blocks of assessments to be distributed to each sub-portal as may be directed by the account executive. The account Executive must maintain the capability to reallocate assessments amongst sub-portals as necessary to maintain sufficient quantities of assessments supporting each sub-portal. If assessments are procured as individual instruments comprised within a purchase block, the account executive must have the capability to reallocate unused assessments amongst sub-portals as necessary. Unused assessments purchased during a period of performance must be available for reallocation, assignment, and use during subsequent periods of performance. Maintenance for the national portals and sub-portals shall be provided in increments of one year. Maintenance shall include, but not limited to assessment distributing, returning incomplete assessments languishing over a time established by the VA for each portal, to a new usable status, balance monitoring, and troubleshooting issues with the portals and assessments. The contractor shall resolve any portal and assessment issues that may prevent the user from entering the portal, completing the assessment, and reviewing/printing the assessment results. The contractor shall provide monthly reports on any reported issues and problems. The contractor will also provide monthly reports as to the status, distribution, and quantity of remaining assessments as well as the number of assessments completed by each RO sub-portal. This Source Sought Notice is for planning purposes only and shall not be construed as a Request for Proposals (RFP), Invitation for Bid (IFB) or as an obligation on the part of the Government to acquire any services. No entitlement to payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by the Government will arise as a result of the contractor submission of this Sources Sought Notice or the Government s use of such information. The Government reserves the right to reject, in whole or in part, any contractor s input resulting from this Notice. No contract will be awarded as a result of this notice and data submitted will not be returned. Interested parties are reminded to register in the System for Award Management (SAM) database at www.sam.gov in order to be eligible to do business with the Government. If a contractor desires to receive Veteran Owned Small Business (VOSB) or Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) credit, registration and verification in VetBiz at www.vetbiz.gov is required. Interested parties shall submit a response in an electronic format via email to
[email protected] no later than Wednesday, June 7, 2017 by 3pm EST. Facsimile responses will not be accepted. Electronic files should be in Microsoft Office Work or PDF format. All information should be UNCLASSIFIED material only.