U.S. Department of Education, OCFO, Contracts & Purchashing Operations, Support Services Group, 7th & D Street, SW, Room 3616, ROB-3, Washington, DC 20202-4443

U -- NATIONAL TESTS IN READING AND MATHEMATICS SOL RFP-97-012 DUE 062497 POC Yolanda Abney, 202-708-6498, Helen Chang, 202-708-9740, Contracting Officer The U.S. Department of Education is seeking contractual support for the development of the National Test in Reading and the National Test in Mathematics. The tests will provide an annual indication of overall individual student proficiency in reading (grade 4) and math (grade 8) that can be reported to parents and teachers. The first administration of the tests will be in 1999. All test items will be released to the public every year. It is anticipated that two contracts will be awarded, one for the National Test for Reading and one the National Test for Mathematics, this fiscal year. The period of performance for each contract will be 5 years. The contract work will start immediately after award, as the schedule is very ambitious. The Department held public meetings in February and March to gain advice. Transcripts of these meetings and other documents related to the national voluntary test initiative may be found at http://www.ed.gov/nationaltests. RFP 97-012 will be issued on or about April 25, 1997. It is anticipated that the closing date for receipt will be on or about June 24, 1997. Telephone requests should be placed by calling (202)-708-6498. The request for proposals can also be found on the Internet on or about the RFP issue date at http://gcs.ed.gov or gopher://gcs.ed.gov. Written requests should be sent to the address given above. Copies may be picked up after the date of release. Because of tightened security, offerors can not enter our building on their own. To pick up a copy of the RFP or to drop off proposals, offerors shall go to the D Street exit and have the gaud call the Support Services Group (SSG) at 708-8191 and ask to sign the offerors in order to deliver proposals to SSG. The proposals will be stamped with the time and date of arrival once it arrives at SSG. (0104)

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