SECTION 1. Description 1.1 The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AOUSC), in support of the court interpreter language testing program, is seeking information on how an interested contractor could research, design, develop, and implement a qualification or certification testing program for court interpreters in one or more of the following ten languages: Mandarin; French; Russian; Arabic; Vietnamese; Korean; Cantonese; Portuguese; Hindi; and Urdu. 1 . 2 THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATlON (RFI) ONLY. This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes -it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. This request for information does not commit the AOUSC to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. Further, the AOUSC is not at this time seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals . Respondents are advised that the AOUSC will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI; all costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested party's expense. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP, if any is issued. If a solicitation is released, it will be available under the "Procurement" tab on uscourts.gov. It is the responsibility of the potential respondents to monitor these sites for additional information pertaining to this requirement. SECTION 2. Background 2.1 The District Court Administration Division (DCAD) of the AOUSC administers the court interpreting program for the federal judiciary. This includes the administration of the Spanish/English Federal Court Interpreter Certification Examination (FCICE) program. The FCICE program was created and implemented in direct response to the Court Interpreters Act of 1978. Since 1980, the mission of the FCICE program has been to define criteria for certifying interpreters qualified to interpret in federal courts, to evaluate the skills of interpreters in meeting the criteria, and to assist in maintaining a list of federally certified court interpreters. Currently, the FCICE is only administered for Spanish. 2.2 The Spanish/English FCICE has been a two-phase process, involving a Spanish-English Written Examination (Phase One) and an Oral Examination (Phase Two) administered on a biennial basis with Phase One and Phase Two occurring in alternating years. Candidates must pass the Written Examination, which is a screening exam, with a score of 75 percent or higher in order to be eligible to sit for the Oral Examination. The oral exam is a performance-based examination, criterion-referenced, that measures interpreting ability in simultaneous, consecutive, and sight translation using actual federal court proceedings. The language constructs that are tested include: -high level of general language proficiency in English and the target language; -ability to interpret the legal and technical language that is spoken during court proceedings; -ability to understand and render the wider range of language that appears in court proceedings, from the colloquial language of witnesses to the technical language of expert testimony; and -ability to understand and render the language of the court. SECTION 3. Requested Information As part of the effort to assist the AOUSC in researching and implementing a qualification or certification testing program for interpreters in languages other than Spanish (LOTS), we are interested in obtaining information on present testing instruments and programs related to any of the languages identified in Paragraph 1.1 above. For each testing program identified, please provide a response with the following infonnation: 3.1 Provide a description of the testing instruments and processes used to assess language proficiency; 3.2 Provide an explanation of how the test instruments and programs ensure that the testing process is valid and reliable in testing language proficiency to include a listing of the functional and technical aspects of a statistically reliable and valid LOTS interpreter testing and/or certification program for the languages identified in Paragraph 1.1; 3.3 Describe the process used to recruit viable candidates to take the exam; 3.4 Describe the exam administration, scoring, and evaluation process. Discuss the methods used to safeguard the integrity of the exam and the personal information of the candidates; 3.5 Identify the fees for registering and taking the exam; 3.6 Discuss the process used for addressing candidates' questions and/or disputes about the exam and how disputed scores are handled; 3.7 Discuss the processes used to review, update, and maintain the highest quality exam to ensure that the test instruments and processes continue to be valid and reliable; 3.8 Provide the number of candidates who have taken the language testing program(s) to include pass/fail rates for each exam, to include the number of times the exam has been given to candidates and the time period during which the exam has been administered; 3.9 Provide examples of test materials used in the testing process; 3.10 Identify features in the testing and/or certification program that match or approximate the current Spanish FCICE testing process; 3.11 Provide a per candidate cost estimate for administering the LOTS interpreter testing and certification program for each language identified in Paragraph 1.1. Identify the fixed costs in administering an exam and the unit variable cost per candidate; 3.12 Identify the annual costs for reviewing, updating, and maintaining an exam to ensure that the test instruments and processes continue to be valid and reliable; and 3.13 Make an oral presentation on the above items to DCAD personnel and be available for questions (at least two scheduled one-hour phone conference calls after the primary presentation). SECTION 4.0, Responses 4.1 Interested parties are requested to respond to this RFI with a white paper. 4.2 White papers are due no later than close of business January 31,2011. Responses shall be limited to twenty (20) pages for Section 3 and submitted to the Contracting Officer at the address in Section 8 below. Proprietary information, if any, should be minimized and MUST BE CLEARLY MARKED. To aid the AOUSC, please segregate proprietary information. Please be advised that all submissions become AOUSC property and will not be returned. 4.3. A section of the white paper shall provide administrative information, and shall include the following as a minimum: 4.3.1. Name, mailing address, overnight delivery address (if different from mailing address), phone number, fax number, and e-mail of designated point of contact. SECTION 5.0, Industry Discussions AOUSC representatives may or may not choose to meet with respondents to this RFI. Such discussions would only be intended to get further clarification of potential capability to meet the requirements of a testing program, especially any development and certification risks. SECTION 6.0, Questions Questions regarding this announcement shall be submitted in writing be email to the Contracting Officer. Oral questions will NOT be accepted. SECTION 7.0, Summary THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY to identify sources that can provide these services. The information provided in the RFI is subject to change and is not binding on the AOUSC. The AOUSC has not made a commitment to procure any of the items discussed, and release of this RFI should not be construed as such a commitment or as authorization to incur cost for which reimbursement would be required or sought. All submissions become AOUSC property and will not be returned. SECTION 8: REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION DATA Name: Donald C. Parkins, Contracting Officer Address: Administrative Office of the US Courts Procurement Management Division One Columbus Circle, N.E., Suite 3-250 Washington, DC 20544 Phone: 202-502-1391 Fax: 202-502-1066 Email:
[email protected]