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Background:

The National Assessment Governing Board (Governing Board, or Board) was created by Congress in 1988 as an independent, nonpartisan board to set policy for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as The Nation’s Report Card. NAEP is the largest representative assessment of student achievement in the country and is administered by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Every two years, the Nation’s Report Card measures reading and math performance of fourth graders and eighth graders across the nation—in all 50 states, three jurisdictions, and 27 urban school districts. At a national level, NAEP assesses grade 12 students in reading and math as well as students in U.S. history, civics, and science every four years.

In setting policy for The Nation’s Report Card, the Governing Board identifies subjects to be assessed, in what grades and how often, determines content and achievement levels for each assessment, approves all assessment questions, hosts initial releases of NAEP results, and takes steps to improve the reporting of results. Additionally, the Governing Board communicates NAEP results to diverse audiences and develops partnerships with organizations that have the capacity to direct and change policy to improve student achievement.

Requirements:

The Governing Board seeks communications specialists with a demonstrated knowledge of education policy who can assist with developing, implementing, and sustaining a comprehensive, proactive, and effective strategy to communicate NAEP results that exemplifies and amplifies their utility, value, and importance. The communications contractor shall develop effective messaging and support outreach activities to convey accurately and clearly both NAEP results and Governing Board work, such as NAEP assessment framework updates and the annual nominations campaign to receive applications for Governing Board membership when vacancies occur.

The work shall entail creating a broad communications strategy and supporting its implementation. This implementation includes developing content, prioritizing audiences for outreach, and ascertaining the best tactics and channels to communicate the Governing Board’s work, including making NAEP results more useful and relevant to stakeholders and promoting other Board activities that would include, but not be limited to, recruiting new Board members, communicating major Board policies and actions, and eliciting input and feedback on updating assessment frameworks. Activities to implement this plan include drafting talking points and messaging, writing press releases and op-eds, developing content for social media channels and the Governing Board website, facilitating media opportunities, recommending audiences for outreach, and assisting the Board in managing and tracking efforts.

This work should emphasize the Board’s non-partisan independence and NAEP as the gold standard in providing independent and objective education assessment data. The Board seeks to help stakeholders realize that the Nation’s Report Card is the only nationally representative assessment in various subjects across grades and the only comparable assessment across states and over time, and thus, an invaluable tool to inform policy and practice.

The Board requires additional communications efforts not directly connected to NAEP results but comprise the Board’s work as the policymaking body for NAEP. These include the Board’s annual call for nominees for open Board positions appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Education, its work updating NAEP frameworks that guide the content of NAEP assessments, promoting understanding of NAEP achievement levels the Board established in subjects assessed by NAEP, and major policy actions and developments from meetings that may interest a wider audience. These and other similar efforts require strategic planning, partnership building, and messaging to explain and promote the importance of these efforts.

Request for Proposals:

Please review all solicitation documents in full. Detailed instructions can be found in Attachment C to the RFP.

The Department will accept clarification questions on the RFP no later than 12:00 p.m. ET on Monday, April 24, 2023. Please submit clarification questions via email only to the points of contact listed.

Proposals are due no later than 12:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday, May 24, 2023.

Amendment 0001 responds to questions received in response to the solicitation. The due date for proposals is unchanged; no later than 12:00 pm ET on May 24, 2023.