National Institute of Early Education Research (NIEER)

The U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) hereby gives notice of intent to award a sole source contract to the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) at Rutgers University. The proposed contract will provide the annual “State of Preschool” data collection, data sets, and reports developed by NIEER. NIEER has established data collection and reporting tools for state agencies responsible for providing any preschool education funding and has established agreements with all states to report these data in a timely manner. The Department does not have another source of data regarding all publicly funded preschool education at the state level. The Department has information regarding enrollment in preschools run by education agencies, but not regarding preschools or preschool programs supported by state funds, and not through school systems. Since there are a lot programs outside of the public school systems, policy makers would have an less accurate picture of public support of preschool education without the collection. This is important data, particularly now given the President’s call to expand preschool education access. State data reporting is not legally mandated and all reporting is voluntary. States have aligned their own data collection systems and procedures to make reporting on the NIEER developed and owned systems more efficient. NIEER has established procedures to update the content of instrumentation to reflect changes in state preschool policies. The anticipated contract will have a base period consisting of 12 months with options for 4 additional years. Under the authority of FAR 6.302-1, only one responsible source exists for this work and no other type of service will satisfy the agency's requirements. A determination by the Government not to compete the proposed contract is solely within the discretion of the Government. This notice is strictly for informational purposes only. However, any Information received from other sources will be reviewed. For specific questions, please contact Sylvia Reid, Contract Officer at; [email protected]. Interested persons may identify their interest and capability to respond to this notice no later than 10:00am, EST, 11 April, 2013.