Impact Evaluation of DC Choice Program

The Department of Education intends to issue an 18 month extension to existing contract# ED-04-CO-0126. The current period of performance ends on July 20, 2009. The purpose of the extension is to enable members of the Westat team to assist the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) with completing the congressionally mandated evaluation of the new federal voucher program as specified in the procurement's new work requirements. On July 21, 2004 The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) of the U.S. Department of Education (ED) awarded contract ED-04-CO-0126 to Westat of Rockville, Maryland to evaluate the new DC Choice Program, subsequently called the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP). The purpose of the evaluation is to determine the impact of receiving and using an OSP scholarship to attend a participating private on academic achievement and school safety and satisfaction. The evaluation is based primarily on a randomized control trial, comparing outcomes of approximately 2,300 students randomly assigned by lottery to either receive a scholarship or not receive a scholarship. Lotteries of student applicants took place in spring 2004 (for student enrollment in fall 2004) and spring 2005 (for enrollment in fall 2005). Data has been collected for three follow up years, for students in both the scholarship and non-scholarship groups. The contractor has been administering academic assessments, and conducting student, parent, and principal surveys each spring. Congress is poised to appropriate an extra year of funds (FY 2009) for the DC Choice Incentive Act, providing money for both scholarships and the evaluation. This would require IES to administer a fourth round of student testing, and surveys of students, parents, and principals in spring 2009. It also requires a final report. As the current evaluation contractor, Westat already has the parental consent and relationships with program and school officials necessary to complete the final assessment of the program in a cost-efficient and timely manner. During the 18-month extension period (July 20, 2009 - January 20, 2011), Westat and its subcontractors, University of Arkansas and Chesapeake Research Associates, will be responsible for collecting and analyzing the additional year of data and comparing it with the previous years of evaluation results. This notice is for informational purposes only. A request for proposal is not available. Interested parties may, however, request further information no later than August 1, 2008 by email to Contract Specialist Natasha Boyce at [email protected] .