2-701-26-027 Solicitation Document FINAL.pdf

RFP 701-26-027, PREK-12 TIER 1 OER

SOURCED CONTENT, PREK-12 TIER 1

OER CUSTOM BUILT MATERIALS, AND

PREK-12 TIER 1 CONTINUOUS

IMPROVEMENT OF OER DEVELOPED

CORE AND SUPPLEMENTAL

Summary The Texas Education Agency (TEA) is requesting responses from contractors for three unique projects in this procurement cycle.

1. Project 1 is requesting responses from contractors who have existing content to support the procurement, sourcing, development, and customization of fully developed grade appropriate High-Quality Instructional Materials

(HQIM).

2. Project 2 is requesting responses from contractors to develop custom built high-quality Tier 1 instructional materials.

3. Project 3 is requesting responses from contractors with demonstrated expertise in instructional materials versioning, standards alignment, and rapid-cycle content improvement to provide service to update, revise, substitute existing Open Education Resources (OER) materials in accordance with TEA priorities and timelines.

Authorized by:

House Bill 1605, 88th Texas Legislature, Regular Session, 2023.

Responses are due November 13, 2026 - 2:00 P.M. Central Time

TEA Contracts and Purchasing Division TEASolicitations@tea.texas.gov

Kristi Nichols-Arnold mailto:TEASolicitations@tea.texas.gov

Table of Contents

1. Purpose, Background, and Scope of Work

1.1. Purpose

1.2. Background and Defined Terms

1.3. TEA Mission and Procurement Authority

1.4. Anticipated Schedule of Events

1.5. Contract Term

1.6. Budget

1.7. Scope of Work, Project Description, and Project Requirements

1.8. Project Deliverables and Milestones

1.9. Collaboration

1.10. Contract Monitoring and Dispute Resolution Procedures

2. Submission Process and Instructions

2.1. Response Format

2.2. Electronic Submission Process

2.3. Communication

2.4. Response Requirements

2.5. Conflict of Interest

3. Response Format and Content

3.1. Requested Information

3.2. Understanding of the Project, Methodology, and Technical Components

3.3. Management Plan, Experience, and Qualifications

3.4. Task, Activity, Deliverable, and Budget Plan

3.5. Contractors Financial Capability

4. Response Review and Evaluation

4.1. Response Review

4.2. Evaluation Criteria

5. Contractual Requirements

5.1. Incorporation and Order of Precedence

ATTACHMENT A: NOTICE OF INTENT TO SUBMIT A RESPONSE

ATTACHMENT B: CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS, RESPONSE PREFERENCES, AND

EXECUTION OF OFFER

ATTACHMENT C: VETERAN HEROES UNITED IN BUSINESS SUBCONTRACTING PLAN

ATTACHMENT D: RESPONSE COVER PAGE AND QUESTIONNAIRE

ATTACHMENT E: TASK, ACTIVITY, DELIVERABLE, AND BUDGET PLAN

ATTACHMENT F: DELIVERABLE DESCRIPTIONS AND GENERAL ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA

ATTACHMENT G: CONFLICT OF INTEREST ANALYSIS FORM

1. Purpose, Background, and Scope of Work

1.1. Purpose

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) is requesting responses for three projects. Although all three projects support TEA’s broader OER and instructional materials objectives, each project represents a distinct category of work:

• Project 1 concerns the acquisition, licensing, and potential customization of existing developed content.

• Project 2 concerns the creation of new, custom-built Tier 1 instructional materials.

• Project 3 concerns revisions, substitutions, maintenance, and continuous improvement of instructional materials that have already been developed.

Respondents may compete for the project or projects aligned with their qualifications. TEA will evaluate and may award each project independently.

Project 1: K-12 Social Studies Development Text- Tier 1 Open Education Resources Sourced Content Contractors must demonstrate their ability to provide, license, and, when requested, customize existing fully developed, grade-appropriate content for integration into K-12 Social Studies Tier 1 OER instructional materials. These developed texts are intended to complement and integrate with current and future Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) aligned Social Studies instructional materials, including but not limited to unit-level studies within Open Educational Resources (OER) Tier 1 High-Quality Instructional Materials (HQIM), in accordance with TEA-determined priorities and timelines.

TEA is specifically interested in supplemental developed texts that support Social Studies content knowledge and literacy, including resources designed to be embedded within or aligned to existing instructional units, courses, or full programs.

Contractors may submit content in a range of formats and lengths, including but not limited to:

• Informational and literary nonfiction reading passages

• Standalone modules or full-course supplemental materials

Project 2: PreK-12 Tier 1 Open Education Resources Custom Built Instructional Materials Contractors must demonstrate their ability to support the development of Tier 1 OER core and supplemental instructional materials for Kindergarten through Grade 12, with a primary development emphasis on Grades 6-12. All work will be conducted in alignment with Instructional Materials Review and Approval (IMRA) requirements, TEKS, and TEA-established quality, accessibility, and compliance criteria, in accordance with TEA-determined priorities and timelines.

This project includes development of new instructional materials with vertical coherence, instructional quality, and alignment across the materials.

At this time, TEA is particularly seeking contractors with demonstrated expertise in the development of Bluebonnet Learning materials particularly for Positive Character Traits, including experience supporting development content in both English and Spanish, and the capacity to extend the product through secondary grades.

For the avoidance of doubt, all custom-built instructional materials purchased by TEA will be owned by TEA as a work for hire with no residual ownership by contractors.

Project 3: K-12 Tier 1 Instructional Materials Revision Support Services Contractors must demonstrate their ability to support targeted updates, substitutions, revisions, versioning, and enhancements to already developed Tier 1 OER core and supplemental instructional materials for Prekindergarten through Grade 12. All work will be conducted in alignment with IMRA requirements, TEKS, and TEA-established quality, accessibility, and compliance criteria, in accordance with TEA-determined priorities and timelines. Work under any resulting contract will be issued on an as-needed basis, with no guarantee of minimum or specific volume.

The specific instructional materials requiring updates or substitutions may vary over time and may include core programs, supplemental components, unit- or lesson-level materials, digital assets, or ancillary resources. Contractors must demonstrate the capacity to respond to evolving needs that arise from IMRA findings, policy or statutory changes, TEKS updates, implementation feedback, or identified content issues.

Services under this project may include, but are not limited to:

• Updates required to maintain Tier 1 HQIM status

• Substitutions or revisions to address content accuracy, alignment, rigor, or instructional coherence

• Modifications needed to meet accessibility, usability, or format requirements

• Replacement or enhancement of instructional components to address implementation or field-identified issues

Contractors must demonstrate experience supporting both core and supplemental instructional materials across multiple grade bands and content areas, including the ability to:

• Maintain alignment to IMRA quality indicators and TEA criteria

• Preserve instructional coherence when individual components are updated or replaced

• Support materials intended for stand-alone or integrated use, as applicable

Project 3 is intended to establish a pool of qualified contractors that may be assigned work during the contract term based on TEA priorities, available funding, and programmatic needs.

Work will be assigned on an as-needed basis through TEA-defined work requests or deliverable assignments. An award does not guarantee a contractor a minimum amount or specific volume of work. Each assignment will identify the applicable scope, deliverables, acceptance criteria, schedule, and compensation requirements.

Responses should be submitted separately and not exceed 50 pages for each project’s proposal. All required attachments should be submitted separately in Bonfire. Attachments are not subject to the 50-page maximum limit. Each project response should be able to standalone as TEA may choose not to award more than one project to the same contractor.

Responses should demonstrate the contractors’ ability to meet the following development criteria:

Project 1: PreK-12 Tier 1 Open Education Resources Sourced Content Contractor’s ability to:

- Provide quality, grade-appropriate complex texts

- Communicate the qualitative and quantitative text complexity factors of each submitted text

- Draw connections between texts and state standards, skills, and Research Based

Instructional Strategies (RBIS)

- Provide a license for the relevant content that meets all state of Texas OER requirements. Can be found at Texas Education Code 31.07101 and 31.0711.

Project 2: PreK-12 Tier 1 Open Education Resources Custom Built Instructional Materials – Contractor’s ability to:

- Create and revise HQIM aligned to state standards and RBIS that meet each indicator in the Instructional Materials and Review Quality and Suitability rubrics.

- Transadapt/transcreate Spanish HQIM.

- Adhere to the review process designed by TEA, including modifying materials to align with the TEKS and other state standards, as applicable.

- Develop effective grade-level recommendations for implementation and assessment guidance.

- Recruit and manage reviewers' work groups for content development, revision, and adoption.

- Lead stakeholder engagement for the dissemination of information, to create buy-in, and to implement materials.

Project 3: K-12 Tier 1 Instructional Materials Revision Support Services Contractor’s ability to:

- Update, revise, or maintain large-scale instructional materials systems

- Adhere to the review process designed by TEA, including modifying materials to align with the TEKS and other state standards, as applicable.

- Document instructional material changes, rationale for substitutions and version notes

- Develop systems and tools to monitor implementation of original and updated instructional materials https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/ED/htm/ED.31.htm

- Develop effective grade-level recommendations for implementation and assessment guidance.

For all projects, provide contractors experience with:

High-Level Budgets that are broken down to demonstrate minimum and maximum ranges for:

- Monthly project management costs

- Fixed price deliverables o Including work that will be subcontracted, with cost plus margin proposal per deliverable

Research and evaluation:

- Conducting qualitative (use case studies) and quantitative (Lexile metrics, etc.)

original research, including obtaining, systematizing, and analyzing data.

- Evaluating project success based on parameters set by a third party.

- For continuous improvement projects, analyzing gaps in products (including using a comparative base for the gaps evaluation, such as TEKS/ELPS) and creating conclusions.

Project management:

- Successfully managing complex projects.

- Collaboration with third parties to design and revise product roadmaps.

- Ability to rapidly scale-up at peak times and scale-down at non-peak times

- Monitoring the success of a project and each product, including quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis.

- Ability and capacity to complete the work on an aggressive timeline, including expediently responding to lesson-level feedback for multiple units at one time.

- Ability to manage complex project plans.

Contractors may demonstrate the ability to sub-contract to meet the evaluation criteria for any of the items above.

Responses should demonstrate the contractor’s ability to:

Work with state standards and RBIS aligned HQIM, including, but not limited to, OER.

1.2. Background and Defined Terms

Instructional materials are one of the most important tools educators use in the classroom to improve and support student achievement. A growing body of research points to the positive impact that HQIM has on student learning. TEA’s OER Division develops, reviews, edits, and publishes TEKS and English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPS)-aligned HQIM that resides in the public domain and supports students with academic grade-level achievement in courses that constitute the bulk of a student’s schedule.

The OER Division strives to ensure that these resources support Texas educators in content knowledge acquisition and in strong and effective implementation with the goals of increasing student outcomes and providing districts, schools, and teachers with high-quality and customizable curricular materials.

TEA continuously improves the OER products based on data collected from educator focus groups, user feedback, and other stakeholder reviews. With the passage of HB 1605, which specified the ongoing development, improvement, and expansion of OER products, the continuous improvement process will include re-soliciting procurement for existing content to support the procurement, sourcing, development, and customization of fully developed, grade-appropriate OER Tier 1 HQIM for PreK-12, developing custom-built HQIM that will be offered as OER for grades PreK-12, and to review and customize already developed OER Instructional Materials for Texas students. The materials will support the current and future OER Tier 1 products to ensure that all OER materials accurately and effectively reflect the needs of Texas students.

TEA has combined the three related projects into one solicitation because they support a common Open Education Resources and instructional materials program while requiring different contractor capabilities. Respondents may submit a response for one or more projects according to their areas of expertise. TEA will evaluate responses and may make awards separately for each project. This structure is intended to broaden participation, allow contractors with specialized capabilities to compete for the work that aligns with their qualifications, and provide TEA flexibility to address evolving instructional materials needs.

Subject to agency need, available funding, and applicable procurement requirements, TEA may issue future solicitation opportunities to consider additional respondents, materials, content areas, grade levels, or services. Any future posting will identify the projects and priorities included in that procurement cycle, the applicable submission requirements, and the process TEA will use to evaluate responses and make awards. A response submitted in a future cycle will be evaluated under the requirements stated in that posting and will not automatically result in an award or work assignment.

For more information about the full suite of OER instructional materials, supplemental materials and additional supports available please see: TEA website

As used in this solicitation, the following capitalized terms shall have the meaning as specified below:

Term Definition BAFO Best and Final Offer BY Attribution Creative Commons License. This license enables reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as attribution is given to the creator.

CC Creative Commons https://tea.texas.gov/curriculum-and-instruction/instructional-materials/house-bill-1605/oer-fact-sheet-may-2024.pdf

CMBL Centralized Master Bidders List Contractor Contractor refers to entities who desire to do business with TEA ELPS English Language Proficiency Standards ESBD Electronic State Business Daily ESC Education Service Centers HQIM High-Quality Instructional Materials IMRA Instructional Materials Review and Approval LEA Local Education Agency NIGP National Institute of Governmental Purchasing OER Open Education Resources PAR Progress Assessment Report PCT Positive Character Traits QAP Quality Assessment Plan QTI Question and Test Interoperability RBIS Research Based Instructional Strategies Re-soliciting A subsequent competitive posting that TEA may issue, subject to agency need, available funding, and applicable procurement requirements, to consider additional respondents, materials, grade levels, content areas, or services.

Response Response refers to content submitted by Contractors to TEA in response to this solicitation

SBOE State Board of Education SP State of Texas Subcontracting Plan TAC Texas Administrative Code TADBP Task, Activity, Deliverable, and Budget Plan TEA Texas Education Agency TEA Procurement Staff

TEA procurement professional(s) responsible for leading the planning, solicitation, and contract formation processes.

TEA Project Manager, TEA Program Staff, or TEA Contract Manager

TEA staff members who are the subject matter experts concerning this solicitation, one or more of whom will manage the contract(s) resulting from this solicitation.

TEC Texas Education Code TEKS Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills TGC Texas Government Code Tier 1 All core subject instructional materials. This includes all student and teacher facing materials that are needed for a regular classroom instructional block that all students receive, such as for RLA and math.

TPG Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines VetHUB Veteran Heroes United in Business

34 TAC § Sections 281-298 VPTS Vendor Performance Tracking System

WCAG Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

1.3. TEA Mission and Procurement Authority

TEA is the state agency responsible for overseeing primary and secondary public education in Texas. TEA’s mission is to improve outcomes for all public-school students in the state by providing leadership, guidance, and support to school systems; every child, prepared for success in college, career, or the military.

TEA has adopted a strategic plan comprised of four strategic priorities built upon five key actions identified below. These may be updated in the future and can be found on the TEA website located here, https://tea.texas.gov/about-tea/welcome-and-overview/tea-strategic-plan:

• Strategic Priorities o Recruit, support and retain teachers and principals o Build a foundation for reading and math o Connect high school to career and college o Improve low-performing schools

• Key Actions (Continuous Improvement) o Supported Educators o Ready Students o Rigorous Engagement o Aligned Systems o Actionable Goal-setting https://tea.texas.gov/about-tea/welcome-and-overview/tea-strategic-plan https://tea.texas.gov/about-tea/welcome-and-overview/tea-strategic-plan

This procurement supports TEA’s strategic plan by directly supporting the agency priorities through the key action of Rigorous Engagement.

The solicitation and contract are authorized by Government Code Title 10, Subtitle D (the “Purchasing Act”). The solicitation and contract are subject to all applicable requirements of the Purchasing Act [in particular, Government Code Chapter 2151 (General Provisions), Chapter 2155 (Purchasing: General Rules and Procedures), Chapter 2157 (Purchasing: Purchase of Automated Information Systems), and 34 TAC § Sections 281-298 Veteran Heroes United in Business (VetHUB) and those requirements established by rule of the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts (CPA), Statewide Procurement Division (SPD), as contained in Title 34, Chapter 20, of the Texas Administrative Code (“TAC”), and to other applicable federal and state statutes and rules herein cited. Any references in this contract to the “Government Code” mean the Texas Government Code.

1.4. Anticipated Schedule of Events

DATE EVENT

October 14, 2026 Publication of solicitation in the Electronic State Business Daily (ESBD) at: http://www.txsmartbuy.gov/esbd Contractors must have an account at Euna Procurement (Bonfire) to submit a response to TEA. State of Texas Subcontracting Plan and VetHUB-related questions must be directed to the TEA HUB Office HUBOffice@tea.texas.gov

October 16, 2026 Hold pre-proposal meeting online at 10:00am:

Microsoft Teams meeting Join:

https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/275395023162643?p=FOrRYMUo dfAwVn8fQ3 Meeting ID: 275 395 023 162 643 Passcode: XT6b2nm3

October 23, 2026 Last day to submit written questions about this solicitation no later than 2:00 P.M. Central Time. Submit questions via Vendor Discussion in the Euna Procurement (Bonfire) portal

October 30, 2026 Final publication of questions and answers November 13, 2026 TEA preferred date to receive Notice of Intent to submit a response November 13, 2026 Response(s) due no later than 2:00 P.M. Central Time November 2026 – January 2027

Response Check-In, Evaluations, and Oral Presentations (if required)

February 2027 – April 2027

Commencement of contract negotiations with selected contractor(s)

May 2027 Anticipated start date of contract

1.5. Contract Term

The initial contract term is for a total of five (5) state fiscal years, commencing from contract execution or an agreed-upon contract start date. The contract may be renewed for two (2) additional years, subject to the terms and conditions of the agreement. Any period starting at contract execution or agreed upon contract start date that is less than a state fiscal year will not count toward the total number of state fiscal years. All contracts are subject to appropriation of funds by the Texas Legislature. Contractors must not perform any work before both parties have signed a contract. TEA will not pay for services the contractor performs for TEA prior to contract execution.

Project 1: PreK-12 Tier 1 Open Education Resources Sourced Content

• The contract will commence on contract signature and will convey rights in the product to TEA in alignment with the Texas Education Code TEC 31.07101 and 31.0711 as applicable.

http://www.txsmartbuy.gov/esbd https://tea.bonfirehub.com/portal/?tab=openOpportunities mailto:HUBOffice@tea.texas.gov https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/275395023162643?p=FOrRYMUodfAwVn8fQ3 https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/275395023162643?p=FOrRYMUodfAwVn8fQ3

• Term of years to customize products, conveying rights in the product to TEA in alignment with TEC 31.07101 and 31.0711 as applicable.

Project 3: K-12 Tier 1 Instructional Materials Revision Support Services

• Term of years to customize products, conveying rights in the product to TEA in

Contractors must not perform any work before both parties have signed a contract. TEA will not pay for services the contractor performs for TEA prior to contract execution.

1.6. Budget

TEA may award one or more contracts from this solicitation. TEA reserves the right not to award a contract from this solicitation. Responses must include a detailed Task, Activity, Deliverable, and Budget Plan (TADBP), as described elsewhere in this solicitation and in Attachment E. TEA will not accept separate indirect cost rate calculations for this procurement.

The proposed budget and payments to a contractor must be based on satisfactory completion and TEA acceptance of deliverables. The TADBP must clearly identify proposed prices related to each proposed task, subtask, and deliverable for each fiscal year of the contract.

TEA will establish monthly invoicing procedures for the awarded contract(s) aligned to completion and acceptance of the deliverables. TEA will pay invoices upon satisfactory performance of services, receipt and acceptance of specified deliverables, and receipt of properly prepared invoices and supporting documentation.

Project 1: PreK-12 Tier 1 Open Education Resources Sourced Content

• Contractors must provide proposed costs to convey rights in the product to TEA in

• Contractors must provide the TADBP to cover customization.

o Contractors should be advised that the contract must be deliverable based, and budgets should reflect deliverable costs.

• Contractors must provide the TADBP to support continuous improvement, updates, and substitutions to already developed instructional materials.

o Contractors should be advised that the contract will be deliverable based on an as-needed basis for specific revision cycles

Contractors must include a detailed TADBP, as described elsewhere in this solicitation and in Attachment E. The proposed budget is required but will not be a part of the evaluation process.

However, it will be used during contract negotiations. TEA will not accept separate indirect cost rate calculations for this procurement. The proposed budget and payments to a contractor must be based on satisfactory completion and TEA acceptance of deliverables. The proposed budget must clearly identify proposed prices related to each proposed task, subtask, and deliverables for each fiscal year of the contract.

TEA will establish monthly invoicing procedures for the awarded contract(s) aligned to completion and acceptance of the deliverables. TEA will pay invoices upon satisfactory performance of services, receipt and acceptance of specified deliverables, and receipt of properly prepared invoices and supporting documentation.

1.7. Scope of Work, Project Description, and Project Requirements

Project 1: PreK-12 Tier 1 Open Education Resources Sourced Content The goal of this project is to procure existing content to support the procurement, sourcing, development, and customization of fully developed, grade-appropriate OER Tier 1 HQIM for PreK-12 with sufficient intellectual property rights (as defined in TEC Chapter 31). For example, contractors may submit content in a variety of lengths and formats, including reading passages, videos, audio, and full courses.

The awarded contractor will be responsible for providing TEA with a license to use materials in compliance with TEC 31.07101 and 31.0711 as applicable. TEA is interested in texts in English and Spanish to be used in one or more of the following courses:

• K-12 Social Studies

TEA reserves the right to add or remove subjects and grade levels in future iterations of this procurement. The contractor may be asked to customize their content to align with Texas-specific contexts and OER’s product-specific requirements.

The developed sourced content may be embedded in the current or future suite of OER materials.

The sourced content must support TEKS for Social Studies, including but not limited to content aligned to:

• Historical and contemporary maps, globes, timelines, charts, and visual representations

• Biographies and profiles of significant historical and contemporary figures

• Primary and secondary source-based texts, including letters, speeches, laws, artifacts, and contemporaneous accounts

• Civic, geographic, economic, and document & source analysis skills

Social Studies specific articles, essays, non-fiction texts that support the teaching of Texas Social Studies TEKS

The TEA courses described above are knowledge-building programs and include texts that reflect a wide range of genres and content areas. Contractors are encouraged to provide standards-aligned primary sourced documents and other content aligned to Social Studies TEKS that is developed as both stand-alone content and as part of text pairing or set. Sources content may vary in:

• Length, such as short biographies, long biographies, chapters, and full-length stories.

• Format, including videos, audio, decodable readers, young-reader texts, full courses, and reading passages

• Cross-curricular topics such as science, reading language arts RLA, fine arts, literature, etc.

These works must be aligned to grade and developmental-levels, state suitability criteria and must be customizable for Texas. Contractors who submit text sets must provide information on the text pairing, including, but not limited to the:

• Grade-level TEKS and/or skills that best align with the text, and

Contractors of the sourced content must provide TEA with a license to use materials in compliance with TEC 31.07101 and 31.0711. Compliance with TEC 31.07101 and 31.0711 are non-negotiable and texts out of compliance will not be considered. OER instructional materials are defined as teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits the free use, reuse, modification, and sharing of the resource with others.

Awarded contractors will partner with TEA OER product leads and other TEA stakeholders, such as the Senior Leadership Team, to procure this content as needed. Sourced content will be part of a review process that could include educators, parents, and other stakeholders, including third-party reviewers. The review process is dynamic, ongoing, and part of TEA’s commitment to continuously improve the full suite of OER products. The contractor’s content may undergo third-party review and be customized by the contractor, TEA, and/or a third-party review contractor to align with Texas-specific contexts and OER product-specific requirements.

Contractors that are interested in qualifying under Project 1 (K-12 Tier 1 Open Education Resources Sourced Content) must submit evidence of:

• Contractor’s ability to provide TEA with access and licenses to existing fully developed content in compliance with TEC Chapter 31.

• Research-based grade and age-appropriateness of the materials, supported by quantitative or qualitative targets.

• Examples or samples of work considered appropriate to meet the requirements of this project

PROJECT 2: PreK-12 Tier 1 Open Education Resources Custom Built Instructional Materials The goal of this project is to identify a contractor to develop a custom-built high-quality Tier 1 instructional materials to be part of OER HQIM for each grade in English and Spanish including intellectual property rights.

Instructional materials should be custom-built to be aligned with the TEKS and, if applicable, the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines (TPGs). Products should be grounded in RBIS. RBIS are evidence and research-based practices that have been shown to have an effective outcome for students when implemented with fidelity. These strategies support interested districts in providing differentiated instruction for students based on their unique academic needs while still providing access to Tier 1 grade-level instruction, the core program of instruction used with all students in each classroom.

Contractor qualifications should include the ability for subsequent custom-built products to be provided as OER services and products for use by Local Education Agencies (LEAs) as openly available and free to download and licensed to be reused.

OER instructional materials are defined as teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits the free use, reuse, modification, and sharing of the resource with others. The awarded contractor will develop custom-built Tier 1 instructional materials with the purpose of securing the underlying intellectual property (such as CC BY) to be either owned by the state of Texas or freely used and modified by the state in perpetuity. Additionally, materials must be made available in perpetuity in digital form with the option to print so that Texas school districts and educators can use and modify the texts as they see fit.

The awarded contractor may be responsible for developing and custom-building high-quality Tier 1 instructional materials in English and Spanish for a variety of subjects and grades in the full suite of OER materials. The priority for this procurement cycle will be in the following subjects:

• K-12 Bluebonnet Learning Leadership, Positive Character Traits (PCT)

Subsequent procurement cycles for developing and custom-building Tier 1 may be a part of and support other OER products and courses in the full suite of subjects and grades. TEA will indicate on all future solicitation cycles what grades and subjects will be prioritized. TEA will indicate on all future solicitation cycles what grades and subjects will be prioritized.

While TEA intends to pursue the procurement of a full suite of materials for a variety of subjects and grades, TEA will be prioritizing the acceptance of K-12 PCT with priority of 6-12 PCT, G6 Spanish for this procurement cycle, although TEA will reserve the right to issue contracts for any instructional materials subject matter under this solicitation. Contractors who have expertise in K-12 PCT with priority of 6-12 PCT, G6 Spanish Instructional Materials are especially encouraged to submit their evaluation.

Contractors with expertise in specific content areas or grade levels are highly encouraged to submit their credentials portfolio for review. The awarded contractor will partner with TEA OER product leaders and other TEA stakeholders, such as the Senior Leadership Team, to custom build materials as needed. Contractors will be responsible for submitting developed and revised instructional materials to a third-party review process (review contractor to be determined and secured by TEA) and implementing all third –party review vendor identified revisions before submitting for TEA approval.

Leveraging TEA review rubrics, (see list below) the awarded contractor will align with and meet the review rubrics for each product and its subcomponents and submit them for TEA approval.

Review rubrics specify the exact scope of the review contractor’s work. Review contractors will be instructional experts in the content areas and grade bands they will be reviewing. All components of every product must undergo the state’s instructional materials review process, currently the IMRA process, that includes standards, process, and suitability reviews, as well as a third-party review before publishing, including products that have been previously approved and later revised.

For more information on this process, please see the State Board of Education's most recent Request for Instructional Materials (RFIM) for Cycle 2026 here https://sboe.texas.gov/state-board-of-education/imra/imra26-rfim.pdf

When contractors are submitting examples of previous work, submit only samples that show the contractor's qualifications to meet the requirements outlined above. Contractors should submit no more than 4 sample units of study. Include sample units across different grade levels and genres (as applicable). Each unit should include daily lesson plans, formative and summative assessments and should be annotated in a way that calls out the connections to the IMRA quality indicators for that particular sample’s subject and grade. See evaluation criteria in Section 4.2 for further examples of potential sample materials.

See list of IMRA quality and suitability rubrics here:

o IMRA Math Rubric K-12 IMRA Math Rubric K-12 o IMRA K-3 ELA Rubric IMRA K-3 ELA Rubric o IMRA ELA Rubric 4-8 IMRA ELA Rubric 4-8 o IMRA K-3 SLA Rubric IMRA K-3 SLA Rubric o IMRA SLAR Rubric 4-6 IMRA SLA Rubric 4-6 o IMRA K-12 Supplemental Math Rubric o IMRA Positive Character Traits TEKS o Instructional Materials Review and Approval

The awarded contractor will be responsible for submitting the revised instructional materials to a review process that could include educators, parents, and other stakeholders.

Action from the contractor should include:

https://sboe.texas.gov/state-board-of-education/imra/imra26-rfim.pdf https://sboe.texas.gov/state-board-of-education/imra/imra26-rfim.pdf https://sboe.texas.gov/state-board-of-education/imra/imra25-math-k12-sboe-approved-quality-rubric.pdf https://sboe.texas.gov/state-board-of-education/imra/imra25-elar-k3-sboe-approved-quality-rubric.pdf https://sboe.texas.gov/state-board-of-education/imra/imra25-elar-4-8-sboe-approved-quality-rubric.pdf https://sboe.texas.gov/state-board-of-education/imra/imra25-slar-k3-sboe-approed-quality-rubric.pdf https://sboe.texas.gov/state-board-of-education/imra/imra25-slar-4-6-sboe-approved-quality-rubric.pdf https://sboe.texas.gov/state-board-of-education/imra/imra25-supplemental-math-k12-sboe-approved-quality-rubric.pdf https://tea.texas.gov/laws-and-rules/texas-administrative-code/19-tac-chapter-120 https://tea.texas.gov/curriculum-and-instruction/instructional-materials/publishers/imra-publisher-handbook/imra-process-overview https://tea.texas.gov/curriculum-and-instruction/instructional-materials/publishers/imra-publisher-handbook/imra-process-overview

• Project Management and Operations. Management of the overall project and project operations. Examples of project management actions include but are not limited to:

o Developing and maintaining the project work plan and related project documentation o Developing and maintaining ongoing strategic plans and communications o Planning and facilitation of project meetings

• Material Development and Improvement. Develop, improve, and review materials to support the OER HQIM for grades PK-12. Examples of criteria to be used in the development, improvement, and revision of the materials include but are not limited to:

o TEKS and ELPS alignment o Approval by the state designated review process for quality, suitability, and standards alignment o Intellectual property rights o Research-based grade and age appropriateness o Support of lessons and units in the OER HQIM

• Stakeholder Engagement. Engage stakeholders as needed by TEA for review and feedback. Examples of stakeholders include but are not limited to:

o School district staff such as principals, superintendents, and other administrators, educators, instructional coaches, campus, and district leaders o Education Service Centers (ESC) staff o Other external stakeholders o Parents and caregivers

The goal of this project is to procure services from contractors with demonstrated expertise in updating, revising, substituting, verifying, and enhancing instructional materials to support the maintenance and continuous improvement of PreK-12 OER. Contractors will support TEA by delivering fully revised, compliant instructional materials aligned to the TEKS, IMRA criteria, State Board of Education (SBOE) requirements, and TEA‑determined priorities and timelines.

Contractors will perform updates, substitutions, and refinements to address identified errors, alignment gaps, review findings, and approved revision requests. This includes revisions required through IMRA and subsequent review cycles to maintain Tier 1 status.

TEA may request updates or substitutions across multiple grade levels, subject areas, and instructional products. TEA reserves the right to add, remove, or modify content areas supported under this project.

Subsequent review and customization cycles for Tier 1 content may be a part of and support the already developed OER products in the following subjects and grades:

• K-12 Reading Language Arts

• K-12 Math

• K-12 Bluebonnet Learning Leadership

• K-12 Social Studies

• K-5 Science

• Other potential areas, such as:

o 6-12 Science o Pre-K

• Assessments and other core and supplementary products, as needed.

Contractors may be responsible for the following deliverables:

• Complete sets of revised instructional materials that meet TEA, IMRA, and SBOE requirements.

• Updates and substitutions produced using TEA‑approved templates and formatting.

• Spanish‑language materials that use TEA‑approved dialects and approved approaches, including translation or transadaptation.

• Final deliverables that are print‑ready and meet TEA accessibility requirements.

• Program, course, module, and unit‑level documents that receive an “approve” rating on the applicable review rubric and final TEA sign‑off.

• Submission of all final editable source files.

Contractors seeking consideration under Project 3 must demonstrate:

• The ability to update, revise, substitute, and verify instructional content in compliance with TEA requirements and state standards.

• Expertise in standards alignment, instructional materials development, accessibility compliance, and grade-appropriate instructional design.

• Prior experience delivering large-scale instructional materials revisions or corrections at the quality and scale required by TEA.

When contractors are submitting examples of previous work, submit only samples that show the contractor's qualifications to meet the requirements as outlined above. Contractors should submit no more than 4 sample units of study. Include sample units across different grade levels.

Each unit should include daily lesson plans, formative and summative assessments and should be annotated in a way that calls out the connections to the IMRA quality indicators for that sample’s subject and grade. See evaluation criteria in Section 4.2 for further examples of potential sample materials.

See list of IMRA quality and suitability rubrics here:

o IMRA Math Rubric K-12 IMRA Math Rubric K-12 o IMRA K-3 ELA Rubric IMRA K-3 ELA Rubric o IMRA ELA Rubric 4-8 IMRA ELA Rubric 4-8 o IMRA K-3 SLA Rubric IMRA K-3 SLA Rubric o IMRA SLAR Rubric 4-6 IMRA SLA Rubric 4-6 o IMRA K-12 Supplemental Math Rubric https://sboe.texas.gov/state-board-of-education/imra/imra25-math-k12-sboe-approved-quality-rubric.pdf https://sboe.texas.gov/state-board-of-education/imra/imra25-elar-k3-sboe-approved-quality-rubric.pdf https://sboe.texas.gov/state-board-of-education/imra/imra25-elar-4-8-sboe-approved-quality-rubric.pdf https://sboe.texas.gov/state-board-of-education/imra/imra25-slar-k3-sboe-approed-quality-rubric.pdf https://sboe.texas.gov/state-board-of-education/imra/imra25-slar-4-6-sboe-approved-quality-rubric.pdf https://sboe.texas.gov/state-board-of-education/imra/imra25-supplemental-math-k12-sboe-approved-quality-rubric.pdf o IMRA Positive Character Traits TEKS o Instructional Materials Review and Approval

1.8. Project Deliverables and Milestones

TEA may conduct future solicitation cycles to address new or evolving instructional materials needs and to provide additional qualified respondents an opportunity to compete. The timing and scope of any future solicitation will be determined by TEA based on agency priorities, available funding, and programmatic needs. Each future posting will describe the applicable projects, priority materials or services, response requirements, evaluation criteria, and award process.

Project 1: PreK-12 Tier 1 Open Education Resources Sourced Content

A. Deliverables:

1. Existing content such as reading passages, videos, audio, and full courses to support the procurement, sourcing, development, and customization of OER Tier 1 HQIM for PreK-12.

2. To ensure TEA has unlimited authority to modify, delete, combine, or add content to the instructional materials after purchase (in alignment with TEC 31.07101(c)), the agency must work closely with content contractors to obtain materials in the appropriate document formats.

3. Contractors that are interested in qualifying under Project 1 (PreK-12 Tier 1 OER Sourced Content) must submit evidence of:

a) Provide TEA with access and licenses to existing fully developed HQIM in compliance with TEC Chapter 31; and

b) Provide research-based grade and age-appropriateness of the materials, supported by quantitative or qualitative targets, such as Lexile levels.

c) Samples or examples of work that meet the requirements of this project

4. Suitability and third-party reviews

5. English and Spanish content

Estimated Milestones:

• May 2027: Contract Kickoff

Project 2: PreK-12 Tier 1 Custom Built Open Education Resources Instructional Materials

1. Fully developed, custom-built materials in English and Spanish, including:

a) Student facing materials

b) Teacher facing materials https://tea.texas.gov/laws-and-rules/texas-administrative-code/19-tac-chapter-120 https://tea.texas.gov/curriculum-and-instruction/instructional-materials/publishers/imra-publisher-handbook/imra-process-overview https://tea.texas.gov/curriculum-and-instruction/instructional-materials/publishers/imra-publisher-handbook/imra-process-overview

c) Assessments (in the instructional materials and formatted for Question and Test Interoperability (QTI) ingestion)

2. To ensure TEA has unlimited authority to modify, delete, combine, or add content to the instructional materials after purchase (in alignment with TEC 31.07101(c)), the agency must work closely with content contractors to obtain materials in the appropriate document formats.

3. Non-Negotiable Criteria:

Materials are:

a) Logically organized with a clear document nomenclature and/or file structure

b) Adherent to the TEA’s Product Development Guidelines and Style Guide

c) Available in an editable print format (e.g., Word, unlocked PDF with InDesign files, freely accessible CMS, etc.).

d) WCAG and 508 compliant (see https://www.section508.gov/create for additional guidance)

e) Delivery of customized instructional materials in English and Spanish, designed to be delivered in traditional, remote, and hybrid learning environments and supporting a full school year of instructional days, currently a minimum of 165 days of instruction. The number of instructional days is subject to change based on legislation.

4. Priority Criteria for materials are:

a) Available both digitally and in print

Estimated Milestones:

• June 2027: Contract Kickoff

1. Identification and documentation of required updates and substitutions, confirmation of changes in existing materials in English and Spanish including but not limited to:

a) Student facing materials

b) Teacher facing materials

c) Assessments (in the instructional materials and formatted for QTI ingestion)

d) Supplemental materials

2. Fully revised instructional materials incorporating all approved revisions and corrections required through the state review and approval process for existing materials in English and Spanish, including but not limited to:

a) Student facing materials

b) Teacher facing materials

c) Assessments (in the instructional materials and formatted for QTI ingestion)

d) Supplemental materials https://tea.texas.gov/about-tea/newsroom/media/branding-standards https://www.section508.gov/create

3. Final documentation as required by the state review and approval process for all edits and updates, including all materials necessary to support IMRA, SBOE, and TEA review, verification, approval, and auditability

4. Non-Negotiable Criteria:

Materials are:

a) Logically organized with a clear document nomenclature and/or file structure

b) Adherent to the TEA’s Product Development Guidelines and Style Guide

c) Available in an editable print format (e.g., Word, unlocked PDF with

InDesign files, freely accessible CMS, etc.).

d) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and 508 compliant

(see https://www.section508.gov/create for additional guidance)

e) Delivery of customized instructional materials in English and Spanish, designed to be delivered in traditional, remote, and hybrid learning environments and supporting a full school year of instructional days, currently a minimum of 165 days of instruction. The number of instructional days is subject to change based on legislation.

Estimated Milestones:

• June 2027: Contract Kickoff

1.9. Collaboration

The awarded contractor(s) will collaborate closely with TEA staff for this project. These responsibilities include, for example:

Awarded Contractor Responsibilities:

• Engaging in ongoing, responsive communication about the project(s);

• Participating in scheduled project meetings;

• Working continuously on the project, including during summer months;

• Adhering to the Task, Activity, Deliverable, and Budget Plan, or other schedules for deliverables as specified by TEA after consultation with the awarded contractor, including proposed deadlines for draft work products;

• Notifying TEA within 48 hours of project-related issues that negatively impact timelines;

• Obtaining advance written approval from TEA prior to any staffing changes or additions, especially changes to key staff members assigned to this project;

• Producing high-quality drafts of all submitted work products, reports, evaluation plans, analysis plans, and instruments, etc. with minimal typos and in alignment with applicable guidelines (branding, accessibility, reading level, etc.);

• Responding within 5 business days to all requests for feedback on evaluation plans, methodology, analysis plans, instruments, data manipulation, analysis results, reports, etc.;

https://tea.texas.gov/about-tea/newsroom/media/branding-standards https://www.section508.gov/create

• Responding within 48 hours to inquiries regarding invoicing and document requests (as in the case of an audit);

• Adhering to policies and procedures regarding use of confidential data and data collection procedures;

• Adhering to policies and procedures regarding fingerprinting and criminal background checks prior to conducting any school visits, as applicable; and

• Adhering to all terms and conditions of the contract with TEA, for example, following the change management process for contract revisions; informing TEA of changes in ownership, key staff, or subcontractors; and immediately reporting actual or potential conflicts of interest to TEA.

TEA Responsibilities:

• Providing awarded contractor(s) and any subcontractors information on changes in legislation, reporting needs, or any other activities that may impact the project(s);

• Collaborating with the awarded contractor(s) to address unforeseen developments, identify issues, and propose solutions;

• Coordinating support and resources for the project;

• Providing necessary data and documentation;

• Reviewing and approving the contractor’s evaluation and analysis plans, including all qualitative and quantitative methodologies and data analyses;

• Reviewing use of data, data sources, data manipulation, data processing business rules, and analytic results;

• Monitoring the awarded contractor’s progress, as outlined in contractor-submitted monthly progress reports to ensure compliance with contract terms;

• Reviewing and approving monthly invoices (including disputing invoices as necessary and working with contractor(s) to resolve disputes);

• Providing and coordinating feedback on all submitted reports;

• Monitoring the awarded contractor’s performance and compliance with the terms and conditions of the contract, including following the change management policy for all amendments and budget revisions;

•…