EVALUATING PROGRAMS AND STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE THE OUTCOMES OF STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES   2

Background
The U.S. Department of Education’s (ED) Institute of Education Sciences (IES) requires one or more contractors to assist IES in conducting evaluations of programs and strategies designed to improve the outcomes of children with disabilities. The latest 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) provides funding for, and directs IES to, carry out studies to determine the effectiveness of IDEA in achieving its purposes, develop information on how IDEA could be implemented more effectively, and provide information useful in developing more effective legislation. Federal policy has long played a key role in the education of the more than 1 in every 10 US children who are identified with a disability, and in efforts to improve their outcomes. Students with disabilities continue to trail their peers in rates of high school graduation, enrollment in postsecondary education, and later employment. The Coronavirus pandemic has heightened attention to these gaps, as students with disabilities typically need specialized instruction and related services and supports that are challenging to provide in the context of remote and hybrid learning. This contract will be an Indefinite Delivery-Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) vehicle intended to help IES design and conduct evaluations of programs and strategies to accelerate the learning of children with disabilities rigorously, quickly, and efficiently.

Work Details
The scope of work includes tasks such as meetings with relevant stakeholders, establishing Technical Working Groups (TWG), feasibility assessment for effectiveness or outcomes studies, identifying and defining treatments for effectiveness or outcomes studies, survey sample design, study data collection and analysis plan development, data collection instruments development, systematic evidence review following WWC standards, preparation of OMB Forms Clearance Packages for data collection approval, outreach and site recruitment strategy development and implementation, intake and random assignment for effectiveness studies, implementation support for training/implementation activities, monitoring implementation progress, administering surveys at state and local levels, conducting evidence reviews following WWC standards, preparing OMB Forms Clearance Packages for expedited review for data collection approval.

Period of Performance
The IDIQ shall have an ordering period of 60 months. All task orders shall begin within the 60-month ordering period but may have a duration that extends for up to 60 months beyond the end of the ordering period.