12-Scope of Work (final).pdf

Scope of Work

Solicitation # USBE-MI26028-RFP

Background:

The Utah State Board of Education (USBE) is seeking a vendor or multiple vendors to provide a student intervention early warning digital program that is in compliance with the requirements of Utah Code Section 53F-4-207 and applicable Administrative Rules. By responding to this Request for Proposals (RFP), vendors indicate agreement to provide all features as required in the Scope of Services and Requirements through a digital program. This scope of work is not intended to be the complete scope of work for this project. USBE may incorporate portions of the awarded vendor’s proposal in a contract award.

Scope of Work:

USBE seeks an existing digital program(s) (not a program(s) that needs to be built) which can be provided to local school districts and charter schools (aka Local Education Agencies (LEAs)) across the state, and which can perform the following:

1. Integrate data from an LEA’s student information system (SIS) using student level regarding academic performance, attendance, behavior, discipline, school safety violations, and course failures into a user-appropriate interface and display. The digital program should provide one integrated school improvement and intervention solution, as required by Utah Code § 53F-4-20, which mandates that the system integrate criteria for early warning indicators including:

a. Discipline, including school safety violations

b. Attendance

c. Behavior

d. Course failures

e. Other criteria as determined by the local school board or charter school governing board.

2. In order to do this, the solutions should provide alerts or indicators that a student is in need of early intervention to increase academic performance and decrease behavioral concerns of the student.

3. Provide ways for the data to be displayed for use by teachers, school administrators, and parents, in order to easily view and interpret the data at the student level.

4. Empower educators to create, assign, and monitor the progress of tiered interventions and supports, and align the interventions with other key performance indicators to support all students’ progress toward on-track graduation.

5. Incorporate dashboard views to provide unique insights around student achievement.

Within the platform, depending upon permission levels, educators should be able to https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title53F/Chapter4/53F-4-S207.html?v=C53F-4-S207_2024070120240501 aggregate and disaggregate data at the state, LEA, school, and student levels, as well as filter data by student demographics determined by USBE and LEAs.

6. Suggest evidence-based interventions that can be utilized to increase a student’s academic performance and reduce behavioral concerns.

7. Include the ability to document and measure the success of tiered supports and strategies used by education staff to improve academic performance and decrease behavioral concerns. This includes the ability for LEAs to document and measure changes over time of the specific skills and protective factors of a student, which may assist with increasing the student’s academic performance and adaptive behaviors.

8. Have the ability to compare and aggregate the performance data of students, for each teacher, based on a student's sex, special needs, English proficiency, economic status, migrant status, ethnicity, response to tiered intervention, response to tiered intervention enrollment date, absence rate, feeder school, type of school, course failures, and other criteria that may be determined by USBE.

9. Provide a way to load and display student level data from local, national, or other standard assessments within a reasonable timeframe of the data being provided.

10. Display data from aggregate student reports at the LEA level, based on the student’s grade, school, and ethnicity.

11. Be able to provide advanced analytical capabilities, which may include applying AI/ML or other developing methodologies within a walled garden environment.

12. NOTE: Vendor shall create a guidance document that provides recommendations on how to set thresholds for the early warning system.

13. NOTE: The Scope of Work may be subject to change based on amendments to the legislation, Board recommendations, etc. Given the time-sensitive nature of this project, the vendor must ensure that they will respond to these adjustments in a timely and responsive manner. Any changes or deviations from the contract resulting from this RFP must be agreed to in writing by an amendment to the contract.

14. NOTE: A list of Utah LEAs eligible to purchase the awarded solution and each LEA’s SIS vendor for school year 2025 has been posted in the RFP. This document is provided for informational purposes only and is subject to change.

15. NOTE: Certain items are listed as OPTIONAL and are NOT required to use your proposed solution and are NOT a requirement in this RFP. These optional items may be subject to inclusion in the contract resulting from this RFP and may be purchased at USBE's (and Eligible User’s, if applicable) option, but they will NOT be included in your Grand Total and will not be used in the evaluation of technical or cost points.

The following criteria are essential to a successful early warning system, as envisioned by

USBE:

Data Integration:

● Ability to integrate data at the student level into one dashboard display regarding the following items: academic performance, discipline, school safety violations, attendance, behavior, course failures, and other criteria as determined by the LEA.

● Ability to integrate nightly with the LEA Student information System (SIS), including but not limited to Aspire, Skyward, Infinite Campus, PowerSchool and other critical data systems, such as Educator’s Handbook.

● Ability to structure the data into time periods defined by the LEA and/or schools (such as terms or semesters).

● Ability to visualize Assessment data at the overall achievement and subscore level.

● OPTIONAL ability, based upon the statutory language that other criteria as determined by the LEA can be considered: collect and integrate school climate and other non-academic data, such as life skills data, if parental approval is granted. In addition, if the LEA chooses to collect non-academic data, the system will include a process to assist the LEA in collecting parental permission.

● Ability to provide an expert client success team that works closely with the LEA’s data team to create an efficient and customized data plan for seamless integration in a timely manner.

● The vendor will be able to demonstrate that they have the capacity and experience to implement a statewide early warning system and support the implementation with an ongoing client success team that is available for all LEAs that are integrated into the system.

OPTIONAL LEA Requested Survey Content and Design:

● If the digital program provides the option for conducting student surveys, have demonstrated methods of tracking students whose parents have granted consent, in order to be in compliance with Utah Code 53E-9-203.

● Ability to customize surveys to match the needs of the LEAs while retaining validity and reliability.

● Ability to provide research-based, valid, and reliable survey instruments for students and teachers to measure specific non-academic skills (such as life skills) and protective factors of a student, which may assist with increasing the student’s academic performance and adaptive behaviors. The vendor must be able to articulate how those instruments have been validated.

● Ability to translate and validate surveys in multiple languages determined by LEA, to ensure an inclusive and accessible program.

● The digital program will include a user-appropriate interface for use by teachers, school administrators, and parents.

● The digital program will provide one survey instrument that can be utilized seamlessly for all grades K-12, that can be easily modified to include age-appropriate language for all grade levels.

Data Analysis and Reporting:

● Ability to compare performance of students, for each teacher, based on the categories defined in Utah Code 53F-4-207, such as: sex, special need, English proficiency, economic status, migrant status, ethnicity, responses to tiered intervention, responses to tiered intervention enrollment date, absence rate, feeder school, type of school, course failures, and other criteria as determined by the state board.

https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title53E/Chapter9/53E-9-S203.html?v=C53E-9-S203_2024070120240501 https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title53F/Chapter4/53F-4-S207.html?v=C53F-4-S207_2020051220200512

● Ability to analyze data at the state, LEA, school, and student levels.

● Ability to analyze data by meaningful groups including demographics, Free and Reduced lunch, English Learner, Students with Disabilities, attendance, and academics.

● Ability for the LEA to group students by demographic information to understand trends and patterns, including trends and patterns with real-time data and data over time.

● Ability to configure secure permissions based on an individual’s role within the LEA to ensure that each authorized user can access their data and only the data to which they are authorized. Role-based access should be based on intuitive built-in presets defined by USBE, supplemented by the ability for an administrator to create custom roles with granular permissions. Role-based permissions should, at minimum, include classroom teachers, administrators, school counselors, and parents.

● OPTIONAL - If requested by the LEA, demonstrate the ability for education staff to easily share individual student survey results alongside attendance, behavior, and academic data with the parent/guardians. Also, have the ability to suggest recommended, evidence-informed actions and practices around building skills, such as academic and life skills. Teachers and leaders should be able to use the actions and practices in their classrooms, schools, and online.

Interventions and Progress Monitoring:

● Ability to create intervention plans for individual students or groups of students.

● Ability to recommend evidence-based or evidence-informed interventions to improve academic performance or student behavior. Evidence-based interventions are practices or programs that have evidence to show that they are effective at producing results and improving outcomes when implemented to fidelity. The vendor will demonstrate that the early warning system recommends interventions that have a Tier 2 level of moderate evidence as defined by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) tiers of evidence (please refer to the link for more information about what a Tier 2 level of moderate evidence means).

● Ability to assign educators to be responsible for implementation of intervention plans.

● Ability to create fidelity checks to monitor successful implementation of interventions.

● Ability to view progress monitoring data for each intervention, which includes an aim line for the trajectory of how each student should be progressing to meet the stated goal.

● Ability to view an aggregation summary of intervention status across an entire school/LEA/State to determine intervention effectiveness.

● Ability to create a customized intervention library for Utah educators utilizing the latest editions of the Utah Least Restrictive Behavioral Intervention Manual (LRBI) and Evidence-Based Intervention Companion Guide (EBI), as well as other evidence based or evidence informed practices, to find intervention strategies that best support students.

● Ability to generate parent communication to alert the parent of plans or interventions.

● Automatically flag a student profile when early warning thresholds determined by USBE are met so that a teacher can easily identify a student who may be in need of https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/regions/midwest/pdf/blogs/RELMW-ESSA-Tiers-Video-Handout-508.pdf https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/regions/midwest/pdf/blogs/RELMW-ESSA-Tiers-Video-Handout-508.pdf https://www.schools.utah.gov/studentservices/_programs/behaviorsupport https://www.schools.utah.gov/studentservices/_programs/behaviorsupport intervention. It is minimally required that the flags or alerts be configured based on the student academic results, which may include a student's performance on the previous year's standards assessment. The vendor will work with USBE to define the early warning thresholds.

● Ability for education staff to record notes or documentation regarding specific students regarding interventions utilized with the student and the effectiveness of those interventions. This includes the ability to upload documents or student-based plans.

● Ability to set a reminder or schedule 'follow-up' to a plan or interventions.

● Incorporate a variety of algorithms to support student learning outcomes and provide data regarding student improvement and/or growth reported by teachers.

● Integrate response to intervention tiers and activities as filters for the reporting of individual student data and aggregated data, including by demographics, school, or teacher.

Data Privacy and Security:

Data Privacy

● The vendor will create and provide training for users that focuses on:

○ Data privacy best practices

○ A user's obligations in regards to the FERPA concepts of

■ School Official (FERPA 34 CFR § 99.31(a)(1)(i)(B))

■ Legitimate Educational Interest (34 CFR 99.31(a)(1)(i)(A) and 34 CFR

99.31(a)(1)(ii))

■ Education Records (FERPA 34 CFR § 99.3)

■ And how those three concepts impact a user's data access, handling, and sharing.

○ Using data to drive positive outcomes while discouraging bias and profiling.

● The content of the data privacy training will be approved by the USBE data privacy team.

● The vendor will work with the USBE data privacy team to determine which users will be provided with the data privacy training, and at what intervals and frequencies the training will be offered or required.

● Vendor shall provide report options that utilize disclosure avoidance methods.

● Vendor shall provide access to mock data or a demo account for LEAs to safely show program functionality without risking data disclosure.

Security

● The vendor will commit to secure storage of data, including encryption in transit and at rest.

● Per R277-487-7:

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-34/part-99#p-99.31(a)(1)(i)(B) https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-34/part-99#p-99.31(a)(1)(i)(A) https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-34/part-99#p-99.31(a)(1)(ii) https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-34/part-99#p-99.31(a)(1)(ii) https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-34/subtitle-A/part-99#99.3 https://adminrules.utah.gov/public/rule/R277-487/Current%20Rules

○ The vendor shall protect student personally identifiable information against unauthorized access and redisclosure, both physical and digital.

○ The vendor shall have policies in place that follow reasonably industry best practices and adequately address the protection of student personally identifiable information.

○ The vendor shall develop and document an information security program.

○ The vendor shall inform an LEA or the Utah State Board of Education of the precautions taken regarding the maintenance and protection of student personally identifiable information.

○ For the purposes of meeting the audit requirements of a contract subject to Subsection 53E-9-309(2)(e), the vendor may:

■ (a) provide an LEA or the Utah State Board of Education a self-assessment of their compliance with the contract and the effectiveness of the information security program described in Subsection (3);

■ (b) provide responses to a questionnaire provided by the LEA or Superintendent;

■ (c) provide a report of an industry-recognized privacy and security audit, such as an SOC2 or SOC3; or

■ (d) submit to an onsite audit, if agreed upon by the third-party contract and the LEA or Superintendent

In addition to the requirements for the digital platform, the vendor must provide the following support:

Implementation and Administration:

● In collaboration with USBE, notification to LEAs of the availability of the digital platform and the benefits of using the digital platform.

● Regular reports to USBE regarding which LEAs are utilizing the digital platform or which LEAs are in various stages of implementation of the platform.

● Access to a responsive customer service team with demonstrated experience supporting other State Education Agencies in successfully implementing and administering similar projects.

● Access to needed support for LEAs to ensure that the LEA’s Student Information System (SIS) is appropriately interfacing with the digital platform.

● Training for designated LEA staff, as needed and requested, on how to interpret and utilize the data provided through the platform.

● Support for designated LEA or USBE staff, as needed and requested, for troubleshooting issues with the platform.

● Additional support, technical assistance, and information on best practices for LEAs as they implement the digital platform into their work.

https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title53E/Chapter9/53E-9-S309.html

● Defined methods for regularly gathering feedback from LEAs in order to improve the digital platform or improve support provided to LEAs for the digital platform.

● Opportunities for LEAs to meet with the vendor at least once a year to analyze data, discuss barriers, review key features of the early warning system, and gather feedback to improve the tool.

● Access to the digital platform for specific USBE employees, as approved by the Director of Data and Statistics, on an as-needed basis.

Reporting Requirements:

In collaboration with USBE and LEA staff, create the functionality to produce an annual impact/progress report for the Board and stakeholders that showcases the effectiveness of the early warning system for students, using aggregate de-identified data. The annual impact/progress report will highlight insights gained into student patterns and trends, and the impact of progress monitoring on student success.

Performance Monitoring:

A sample performance monitoring plan has been attached to this RFP. It establishes the performance monitoring and compliance requirements for a Contractor, ensuring full alignment with the Scope of Work for this project. Please note this is a sample monitoring plan and a finalized version may be negotiated with the awarded vendor and incorporated into the final contract.

Contract Award:

It is anticipated that the RFP may result in multiple contract awards to responsive and responsible vendor(s).

NOTE: Any contract(s) resulting from this RFP will be cooperative in nature so that any eligible users may purchase directly from the contract(s), in addition to USBE. The highest scoring vendor will be the primary awardee, and USBE will cover 50% of the cost for LEAs who choose to utilize this vendor’s services. All other vendors who are deemed responsive and responsible and eligible for an award will receive a cooperative contract which LEAs can select from as well.

LEAs choosing to purchase from these secondary vendors will be responsible for 100% of the cost for the services from their own budgets. Please note the Cooperative Terms that have been added to Attachment A - USBE Standard Terms and Conditions for Goods and Services.

There is currently a primary awardee contract that is active through June 30, 2026 (attached in Buyer Attachments). If a new primary awardee is selected through this RFP, there may be two overlapping primary awardee contracts for the 2025-2026 school year.

The contract(s) resulting from this RFP will be for approximately FIVE (5) years, with the potential for five (5) additional one-year renewal options. However, USBE reserves the right to terminate the contract(s) at any time in accordance with the provisions set forth in the Utah State Board of Education Standard Terms and Conditions.

Application Process and Contract Budget:

The maximum contract budget is $21,000,000.00 for five (5) years, which reflects $4,200,000.00 per year. Up to $2,100,000.00 per year will be covered by USBE, and up to $2,100,000.00 per year will be covered by the LEAs wishing to utilize the primary awardee’s services. However, this is NOT a guaranteed total amount. You are not required to expend the entire amount of funds when calculating your cost proposal. Cost proposals exceeding these identified amounts will be considered non-responsive and ineligible for contract award. You must honor any submitted pricing for all LEAs who may wish to utilize the cooperative contracts and purchase directly from them; however, there is no guarantee that LEAs will utilize the cooperative contracts.

Evaluations shall be based on the GRAND TOTAL for the FIVE (5) YEARS of the contract. Please note that any contract resulting from this RFP may include five (5) additional one-year renewal options. These renewal option years MAY be exercised at USBE’s discretion and subject to legislative appropriation. It is anticipated that the maximum budget for these renewal option years will remain steady per year; however, this is not a guaranteed amount as it may be subject to legislative appropriation. While not scored, please provide the costs associated with these additional renewal option years.

Please note there is a separate tab on the Cost Proposal Form where you may provide pricing on any additional optional items that are NOT required to use your proposed solution and are NOT listed as a requirement in this RFP. These optional items may be subject to inclusion in the contract resulting from this RFP and may be purchased at USBE's (and Eligible User’s, if applicable) option, but they will NOT be included in your Grand Total and will not be used in the evaluation of cost points.

NOTE: Costs MUST be all-inclusive. If travel for meetings, trainings, or other engagements is required, you must arrange and pay for your own transportation, meals, and lodging. Travel time and travel expenses shall NOT be included in any invoice to USBE.

Application Process

● USBE will run an application process for all LEAs and schools who wish to utilize the primary awardee’s services.

● The applications will be vetted by USBE for approval.

● USBE will issue awards to LEAs for schools who wish to utilize the primary awardee’s services.

● USBE will provide documentation of each participating school to the primary awardee, and the primary awardee will include that list each time they submit an invoice to clearly indicate the schools for which they are invoicing.

● USBE will cover 50% of the cost for LEAs who choose to utilize the primary awardee’s services, and LEAs will cover the other 50%. All other vendors who are deemed responsive and responsible and eligible for an award will receive a cooperative contract which LEAs can select from as well. LEAs choosing to purchase from these secondary vendors will be responsible for 100% of the cost for the services from their own budgets.

Invoicing:

Contractor shall submit invoices electronically to the USBE email account at accountspayable@schools.utah.gov and the USBE program manager(s) identified in any contract resulting from the RFP for all goods and/or services provided in accordance with the terms on the agreement. Invoices will not be considered for payment if submitted by another method.

NOTE: If Eligible Users wish to purchase from any contract resulting from this RFP themselves, they will need to follow the Cooperative Terms provided in Attachment A. For Eligible User invoices, Contractor shall submit a separate invoice to the individual Eligible User.

Invoices shall include the following:

a. Contractor name

b. Uniquely identifiable invoice number

c. Invoice date

d. Contract number

e. Recipient entity’s contact information (phone number and email address)

f. List of LEAs/schools receiving services

g. Contractor’s authorized signature

h. Date(s) goods/services were provided

i. Description of goods and/or services for which payment is requested

j. Dollar amount requested

Invoices submitted by Contractor to USBE without the required information will not be paid and shall be returned to the Contractor for completion.

All payments made to the Contractor under the agreement shall be made in the name of the Contractor, as it appears in the agreement. All payments will be sent to the Contractor to the address for the Contractor as it appears in the agreement. Changes to the information identified in this section must be requested in writing.

To obtain payment for the goods and/or services authorized by this agreement, Contractor shall submit the itemized invoice together with supporting documentation of work performed.

USBE reserves the right to question or seek clarification for any cost invoiced if the invoice is not supported by proper documentation.

Contractor may be required to repay USBE if, during or after the contract period, an audit or other review determines that payments made by USBE to Contractor were incorrectly paid or were based on incorrect information received from the Contractor. USBE reserves the right to withhold any or all subsequent payments to the Contractor until the incorrect amounts paid have been fully recovered.

mailto:accountspayable@schools.utah.gov