Combined Synopsis/Solicitation
Alternate Assessments, CAO
Department of the Interior · Bureau of Indian Affairs
More open Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Indian Education contracts
AI summaryThe Bureau of Indian Education (Department of the Interior) wants a vendor to supply a ready-made alternate student assessment, plus a registration portal, reports, training and a helpdesk, for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities in BIE-funded schools. Work starts with Spring 2027 testing and runs one base year plus four option years. About 220 students a year are expected to be tested. Offers are due October 23, 2026 (an amendment moved it to Nov 9, 2026, 10:00 AM MST · 12:00 PM Eastern) after three deadline extensions because earlier rounds drew no responsive offers. More in the summary
A newer version of this notice was posted Oct 27, 2026. It moves the due date from Sep 28, 2026 to Nov 9, 2026, which is the date shown on this page. See the latest version.
AI summary Beta
Summary of the version posted Oct 5, 2026. The notice was amended Oct 27, 2026. The due date moved from Oct 23, 2026 to Nov 9, 2026. Check what else changed on SAM.gov. This summary may miss requirements: 4 of 16 attachments weren't read (B09_Attachment_2-Price_Schedule_-Alternate_REV_0001.xlsx, B08_Attachment_2-Price_Schedule_-Alternate.xlsx and 2 more). Check the attachments on SAM.gov.
The Bureau of Indian Education (Department of the Interior) wants a vendor to supply a ready-made alternate student assessment, plus a registration portal, reports, training and a helpdesk, for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities in BIE-funded schools. Work starts with Spring 2027 testing and runs one base year plus four option years. About 220 students a year are expected to be tested. Offers are due October 23, 2026 (passed) after three deadline extensions because earlier rounds drew no responsive offers.
Who can bid (9)
- Open to all businesses: the acquisition is unrestricted (no small business set-aside), with a $24.0M small business size standard listed for NAICS 611710
- Must offer an assessment that is already fully operational with standards setting completed (not a pilot)
- Must provide alignment studies or technical reports showing the assessment matches the BIE standards (ELA, math, NGSS science)
Show all 9Show fewer
- Experience expected with software or platform services for a large organization, plus data migration, training and work with Indigenous communities
- All key personnel must be U.S. citizens
- Key personnel must pass the security clearance process before starting; background investigation paperwork is due within 10 days of award
- Indian Preference hiring and subcontracting practices apply
- Staff must be current on immunizations (MMR, Tdap or Td, polio) and show a negative annual TB test
- Cloud and IT security: the Interior cloud policy lists FedRAMP and other security requirements that must be included in cloud service contracts, so the portal and platform may need to meet them
How to submit: Email to Felicia.aspaas@bie.edu with the subject line starting 140A2326Q0158 - Quote - Company Name (add 'Email 1 of X' if sent in several emails); a reply confirming receipt is promised within 1 business day, due October 23, 2026, 10:00 AM Mountain Daylight Time (extended by Amendment 0003; the original solicitation said August 18, 2026). What to include is under Full summary below. Check the solicitation's instructions on SAM.gov.
Things to watch (9)
- Serious: Needs an existing, proven alternate assessment product. You cannot build this from scratch: the product must already be operational with standards setting done, you pay all license costs, and you must supply alignment evidence, which shuts out most small firms without their own assessment.
- Worth checking: Registration closed Oct 1, 2026. If registering was required to take part, ask the contracting officer whether late registration is allowed.
- Worth checking: Federal IT security and cloud rules apply. Attachments bring in Interior IT baseline rules (privacy, records, controlled unclassified information, Section 508 accessibility, cloud policy) that add cost and paperwork for your portal and data handling.
Show all 9Show fewer
- Worth checking: Detailed three-part price package must match. You must submit the price schedule, a written price explanation and an Excel build-up whose totals all agree, or the price may be treated as incomplete; unbalanced pricing is also a risk.
- Worth checking: Travel is reimbursed with no markup. Travel is a cost-reimbursable line item that needs written COR approval first, and it cannot include overhead or profit, so any unapproved travel may go unpaid.
- Worth checking: Background investigations and onsite access. Staff cannot go onsite until cleared; the government may take up to 40 days to adjudicate, and you carry any delay if paperwork is more than 10 days after award.
- Minor: Staff health requirements. Personnel entering school property must prove immunizations and a negative annual TB test, which adds administrative burden for trainers.
- Minor: Contractor pays to fix errors. You must correct errors in work products at your own expense (reprint, reprogram, reship), though not errors caused by BIE.
- Minor: Older SOW versions disagree on virtual trainings. The original SOW said up to 8 virtual trainings for interim assessments, but the Q&A and revised SOW say 6, so price from the REV SOW and Q&A.
Read from the notice and 12 attachments. 4 of 16 not read. Show which files.
- Sol_140A2326Q0158_Amd_0003.pdf (read)
- Sol_140A2326Q0158_Amd_0002.pdf (read)
- Sol_140A2326Q0158_Amd_0001.pdf (read)
- B09_140A2326Q0158__Q_and_A-Amend_0001_0001.pdf (read)
- Sol_140A2326Q0158.pdf (read)
- B09__Attachment_1_SOW_Alternate_REV_0001.pdf (read)
- B09__Attachment_1_SOW_Alternate_REV_w_highlights_0001.pdf (read)
- B08_Attachment_7_Standards--Check_w_Program_and_SOW.pdf (read)
- B08__Attachment_1_SOW_Alternate.pdf (read)
- B08_Attachment_3-DOI_IT_Baseline_Compliance_Contract_Guidelines.pdf (read)
- B08_Attachment_5_PAM_OCIO_Memo_Acqusition_of_IT_Cloud_Services_Policy_Signed_03072025_(004).pdf (read)
- B08_Attachment_6_Definitions.pdf (read)
- B09_Attachment_2-Price_Schedule_-Alternate_REV_0001.xlsx: not read (the AI doesn't read this file type yet): open it on SAM.gov
- B08_Attachment_2-Price_Schedule_-Alternate.xlsx: not read (the AI doesn't read this file type yet): open it on SAM.gov
- B08_Attachment_4_Security_Objectives_-_Services_Level_Agreement.pdf: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
- B08_Attachment_8_-Non-Disclosure_Agreement_(NDA).pdf: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
Full summary
What they want
- Provide an existing, fully operational (off-the-shelf) alternate assessment: English language arts and math for grades 3-8 and 11, science for grades 5, 8 and 11, online with paper option, scored by the contractor, ready for Spring 2027
- Provide a secure online registration portal used only by BIE that connects to BIE's student information system and produces an enrollment report
- Print and deliver paper reports: two individual student reports and one parent report per student, plus aggregate reports by classroom, school, district and state
- Provide an annual electronic data file in U.S. Department of Education EdFacts format and an online reporting platform that stores score reports and rosters
- Train school test coordinators: up to 6 recorded virtual courses, up to 4 onsite courses, and weekly 1-hour virtual office hours
- Provide project management: communication plan, monthly calls with the BIE COR, written expenditure reports, quality control
- Run a helpdesk for school and central-office staff during and after test administration
- Option years only: test item customization (BIE owns new items) and interim assessments with training, both priced up front
- Contract type
- Firm-fixed-price purchase order with a cost-reimbursable travel line item (request for quote under FAR Part 12)
- Period of performance
- 1 base year + four 1-year options. Q&A says the government anticipates the base year as 10/01/2026 to 09/30/2027, with options on the same months and dates
- Place of performance
- Bureau of Indian Education-funded schools (the experience factor mentions over 180 schools in 23 states); work is mostly online or virtual, and in-person trainings are usually hosted in Albuquerque, NM
- Estimated value
- Not stated
- How they'll choose
- Comparative evaluation for best value: the award goes to the quote most advantageous to the government, price and other factors considered. It may go to other than the lowest price or the highest-rated non-price offer
- Offers due
- October 23, 2026, 10:00 AM Mountain Daylight Time (extended by Amendment 0003; the original solicitation said August 18, 2026) (from the version posted Oct 5, 2026; amended since)
- How to submit
- Email to Felicia.aspaas@bie.edu with the subject line starting 140A2326Q0158 - Quote - Company Name (add 'Email 1 of X' if sent in several emails); a reply confirming receipt is promised within 1 business day
What they'll judge offers on
- Factor 1 - Experience (including work in Indigenous communities or schools with many Indigenous students)
- Factor 2 - Management and Technical Approach
- Factor 3 - Pricing (completeness, reasonableness and balance; unbalanced pricing may be treated as unreasonable)
What to include when you submit
- Acknowledge every amendment (Amendments 0001, 0002 and 0003 all say acknowledgment is required for a responsive offer)
- Include an acknowledgment page: NAICS code, a statement that you reviewed all SAM.gov documents and amendments, a 90-day offer guarantee, an authorized point of contact, and a signature with name, title and date
- Non-price section covering Factor 1 (Experience) and Factor 2 (Management and Technical Approach)
- Price package with three matching parts: the government price schedule, a written price development description, and a detailed Excel spreadsheet of all calculations
- Travel line: give a basis of estimate (trips, destinations, duration, Federal Travel Regulation rates); onsite trainings are usually in Albuquerque, NM
- Price every base and option line, including optional test item customization and optional interim assessments
- Include the proposed key personnel names and positions with the quote
- Format: letter size, single spaced, 1-inch margins, Times New Roman 12 point (tables may use 11 point)
- Questions were due August 11, 2026 by email, so the question window has closed
Not in the notice text
- Estimated contract value or budget is not stated
- Both price schedule spreadsheets (original and revised) were not read, so line items, quantities and unit structure are unseen
- The Security Objectives / Service Level Agreement attachment and the Non-Disclosure Agreement were too large to include
- Large middle portions of the solicitation (instructions to offerors, clauses and provisions in Sections C to E) and of each SOW version (reports, deliverables, schedule, performance and acceptance details) were left out
- Page limits for the technical volumes are not stated in the text read
- Relative importance of the three evaluation factors is not stated
- No incumbent or current vendor is named
- The estimated student counts are 30, 30, 40, 40, 30, 30 and 20 for grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 11; how many take each subject test is not stated
- Whether the requirement changed after the earlier rounds drew no responsive offers is not explained
Eligibility and how to respond
- No set-aside: any business, large or small, can bid unless the notice says otherwise.
- How to submit, from the AI summary: Email to Felicia.aspaas@bie.edu with the subject line starting 140A2326Q0158 - Quote - Company Name (add 'Email 1 of X' if sent in several emails); a reply confirming receipt is promised within 1 business day. Check it in the notice before you send anything.
- SAM.gov has no description for this notice beyond its title. The work is described in its attachments, listed under Notice details.
- Service contracts usually set minimum pay rates (the Service Contract Act). Price the labor with the SCA price calculator.
Notice details
- Posted
- Aug 27, 2026
- Notice type
- Combined Synopsis/Solicitation
- Office
- Indian Education Acquisition Office, Albuquerque, NM
- Product/service code
- U009 · Education/Training – General
- Business type
- Education & training (FedReady's grouping, from NAICS 611710)
- Versions
5 versions have been posted, newest first.
- Oct 27, 2026 · Amendment 0004Due Nov 9, 2026 (changed)
- Oct 5, 2026 · Amendment 0003Due Oct 23, 2026 (changed)
- Aug 27, 2026 · Amendment 0002 (this version)Due Sep 28, 2026 (changed)
- Aug 13, 2026 · Amendment 0001Due Aug 18, 2026
- Aug 5, 2026 · Combined Synopsis/SolicitationDue Aug 18, 2026
- Attachments
Past awards and competition
Who has won work like this before, the likely incumbent, and what similar contracts paid, from USAspending.gov.
Before you respond
- How to respond to a solicitation (8 steps)
- How to read a government solicitation
- How to price a government contract
Terms on this notice: Solicitation
Full notice text from SAM.gov
Alternate Assessments, CAO
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