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, national level data collection and analysis efforts for a third grade follow-up to the Head Start Impact Study (HSIS). Initiated in 2000, the HSIS is being conducted across 84 nationally representative grantee/delegate agencies. Approximately 5,000 newly entering 3- and 4-year-old children applying for Head Start were randomly assigned to either a Head Start group that had access to Head Start program services or to a non-Head Start group that could enroll in available community non-Head Start services selected by their parents. Data collection began in fall 2002, and is scheduled to continue through spring 2006, following children until the end of the first grade year. The purpose of this contract is to conduct follow-up data collection and analysis for a round of data to be collected with the sample of HSIS children, their families, and their teachers in the spring of what should be their third grade year. This contract will require data collection from (1) the children’s teachers; (2) parents; (3) direct, face-to-face assessments and interviews with children; and (4) as appropriate, administrative records and assessments of the quality of the schools the children are attending. Data collection must be completed within two-month periods in spring 2007 (for children who entered the HSIS as 4-year-olds) and spring 2008 (for children who entered Head Start as 3-year-olds). The minimum contractor requirements are: (1) Institutional experience in management of large multi-site research and/or program evaluation studies of Head Start and/or comprehensive pre-kindergarten or social services programs for low-income children; (2) Demonstrated experience and capability to conduct large-scale data collection within tight time frames involving parent and teacher interviews, and direct assessments of school-aged children’s cognitive, social and physical functioning, including assessments with children from a wide range of ethnic, cultural and linguistic populations; (3) Institutional capability and expertise in state-of-the-art statistical methodology, including psychometric analysis, growth curve analysis and hierarchical modeling, as well as expertise with statistical and methodological issues inherent in large, nationally representative, randomized control trials; (4) Experience in efficiently managing the range of tasks related to the 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; and (5) 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. Interested parties having the capabilities necessary to perform the stated requirements may submit capability statements via email to
[email protected] by no later than 3:00pm Eastern Standard Time, on May 5, 2006. CAPABILITY STATEMENTS MUST DEMONSTRATE THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS OUTLINED ABOVE. Capability statements must also include the following information: company name, address, 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). In the body of the e-mail massage (separate from the Capability Statement) there must be a point of contact, phone/fax/email information.