Sources Sought

What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) Online Study Review Guide (OSRG)

Department of Education

AI summaryThis is a sources sought notice (market research), not a request for quotes: the U.S. Department of Education's Contracts and Acquisitions Management office, for the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), wants a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software alternative to the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) Online Study Review Guide (OSRG). The OSRG is a web tool that captures data, computes statistics and manages workflows for reviewing academic studies. Firms send a capability statement of up to 10 pages by the response due date of November 10, 2026, 10:00 AM Eastern, and the Department says no solicitation is assured. More in the summary

Market research, not a bid. Replying is free and tells Department of Education who could do this work. Send a short reply to the contracting contact; no price is needed. See the contact

AI summary Beta

Written by AI from the notice text. Check dates on SAM.gov. Updated Oct 22, 2026 after the AI read the notice again (first written Oct 21, 2026).

This is a sources sought notice (market research), not a request for quotes: the U.S. Department of Education's Contracts and Acquisitions Management office, for the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), wants a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software alternative to the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) Online Study Review Guide (OSRG). The OSRG is a web tool that captures data, computes statistics and manages workflows for reviewing academic studies. Firms send a capability statement of up to 10 pages by the response due date of November 10, 2026, 10:00 AM Eastern, and the Department says no solicitation is assured.

How to submit: PDF attached to an email to Jana.Knapp@ed.gov, with a copy to Joseph.Gibbs@ed.gov. What to include is under Full summary below. Check the solicitation's instructions on SAM.gov.

Things to watch (4)

From the version posted Oct 19, 2026.

Worth checking: Market research only; no payment and no promise of a contract. The Department will not pay for responses and says it gives no assurance a solicitation will follow.
Minor: Possible product demonstration. The Government may pick one to three vendors to demonstrate their software; no date or format for a demonstration is given.
Minor: Attached PWS covers far more than software. The draft Task Order 4 PWS includes help desks, expert working groups, handbook writing and study reviews, so it is unclear whether the future buy is software only or software plus services.

Show all 4Show fewer

Minor: Federal security and data-ownership questions. Respondents are asked about FedRAMP, SOC 2 or NIST-based controls and about government ownership of data and workflows, which can be hard for a small software firm to answer without certifications.

Read from the notice and 2 attachments. Show which files.

RFI Instructions WWC OSRG.docx (read)
Attachment 1 TOAST TO4 PWS.pdf (read)

All attachments on SAM.gov

Full summary

What they want

Capability statements describing a commercial software product that could replace the OSRG, with examples of prior or current work
Which features come out of the box, which need configuration and which need custom development
How the software publishes data to the IES Drupal-based website (APIs, data exchange, authentication)
How data and workflows could be moved to another product (export formats, APIs, audit history)
System architecture and deployment model (software as a service (SaaS), cloud-hosted or hybrid), and what business users can configure themselves
Federal security certifications (such as FedRAMP, SOC 2, NIST-based controls), role-based access and audit logging
Government rights to data and configurations, the licensing model and any extra costs, and any embedded artificial intelligence or machine learning
Feedback on any unduly restrictive language in the attached draft performance work statement (PWS)

Period of performance: Not stated for the future requirement; the attached draft Task Order 4 PWS describes a 24-month period
Place of performance: DC, USA (SAM.gov field)
Estimated value: Not stated
Offers due: November 10, 2026, 10:00 AM Eastern
How to submit: PDF attached to an email to Jana.Knapp@ed.gov, with a copy to Joseph.Gibbs@ed.gov
Page limits: Capability statement: 10 pages (single-spaced, minimum one-inch margins, 12-point font)

What to include when you submit

State your entity name and address, with contact information including Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), entity email and website URL
State your entity size status (large or small) under NAICS 541611 and list all socioeconomic categories with the matching NAICS code
Say whether you believe the draft PWS has unduly restrictive language and cite specific examples
List any questions you have about the contents of the PWS
Respond to some or all of the eight questions, giving examples of prior or current work that show the recommended commercial software works
Send the response as a PDF attachment by email

Current contractor

No incumbent is named. The notice says the OSRG is currently maintained by the Government's WWC contractor, and the attached draft PWS is from a prior task order (Task Order 4) under that contract.

Not in the notice text

Whether a solicitation will follow, its contract type, value, period, set-aside and evaluation method are not stated.
The detailed functional requirements for the OSRG are in the three videos linked in the notice, which were not read.
The draft PWS appendixes (monthly report metrics, earned value format) are referenced but not included in the text read.

Eligibility and how to respond

No set-aside. Any business can reply: this is market research, and no bid is being taken yet.
To respond, send a short reply to the contracting contact near the top of this page. No price is needed.

Notice details

Posted: Oct 19, 2026
Notice type: Sources Sought
Office: Contracts and Acquistions Management, Washington, DC
Product/service code: B542 · Special Studies/Analysis – Educational
Business type: Consulting & professional services (FedReady's grouping, from NAICS 541611)
Attachments: Files on SAM.gov:
RFI Instructions WWC OSRG.docxRead by the AI summary
Attachment 1 TOAST TO4 PWS.pdfRead by the AI summary
See attachments on SAM.gov

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 answer a sources sought notice

Terms on this notice: Sources sought notice

Full notice text from SAM.gov

The U.S. Department of Education (the Department) is conducting market research to provide a demonstration of the recommended commercial software if the government thinks would be of benefit in describing the needed characteristics in the requirement for the future solicitation. This notice is NOT a request for quotes but is an invitation for potential offerors to express interest and provide information regarding their relevant knowledge, skills, and capabilities. The Department is seeking to gain suitable Market Research for the WWC OSRG. Information submitted in response to this Sources Sought Notice may be used to assist the Department in finalizing its acquisition strategy. DISCLAIMER: The Department will not pay for the provision of any information, nor will it compensate any respondents for providing this information. This notice in no way obligates the Government to award any contract to any interested party. Feedback will not be provided to any interested party who submits information to the Department in response to this notice. PLEASE NOTE: All information contained in this notice is preliminary in nature and subject to change. This notice is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a Request for Proposals (RFP), Request for Quotations (RFQ), Invitation for Bids (IFB), or a commitment on the part of the Government to conduct a solicitation in the future. All information provided is strictly voluntary and no reimbursement will be made by the Government for any costs associated with providing a response to this notice or otherwise participating in market research activities. Further, the U.S. Department of Education offers no assurance that a solicitation will result from this notice. BACKGROUND: The Institute of Education Sciences (referred to as “the government”) desires a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) alternative to the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) Online Study Review Guide (OSRG; see “Information About the OSRG” below). The OSRG is a web-based tool that captures data; computes summary statistics; outputs the results of individual study reviews and metanalytic syntheses; and manages workflows associated with government contractors’ reviews of academic journal articles against the What Works Clearinghouse standards (see “WWC Standards and Procedures” below). The OSRG is critical to the work of, and is currently maintained by, the government’s WWC contractor (see “Prior Task Order 4 PWS” below). RESOURCES: Information about the OSRG: https://youtu.be/W99s8RlNXis https://youtu.be/HT6qkZzpjAw https://youtu.be/x3Jy0GaLYf0 WWC Standards and Procedures https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/WWC/Handbooks Prior Task Order 4 PWS (Attachment 1 TOAST TO4 PWS)

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