2-RFP-26-014, Micro-Credentialing Platform.docx

MSD OF WARREN TOWNSHIP

RFP-26-014

Request for Proposals For:

Micro-Credentialing Platform

Proposal Due Date and Time:

March 26, 2026 @ 3:00 PM ET

Nicole Kenney, Procurement Specialist on behalf of MSD Warren Township nicole@buywithindigo.com 317.509.7483

Section One - RFP Overview I. Introduction

MSD of Warren Township (Warren) is soliciting competitive proposals through this Request for Proposals (RFP) in accordance with applicable Indiana Code 5-22-9, district policies, and administrative guidelines. The district is seeking proposals from qualified vendors that can provide a micro-credentialing platform that meets the scope and intent of the district as described in this RFP.

This solicitation package is being posted for potential respondents on https://indigo.bonfirehub.com as well as publicly advertised in accordance with Indiana Code. Only electronic proposal submissions submitted through the Indigo Procurement Portal will be considered.

II. Summary of Key Dates & Milestones

The following timeline is only an illustration of the RFP process. Some dates are binding as described within this document and others are subject to change. At the conclusion of the evaluation process, all respondents will be informed of the award.

Issue of RFP (Newspaper Notice 2/27, 3/6 Friday February 20, 2026

Microsoft Teams meeting:

https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/21347001690646?p=MfrV3h9SOYjUByCswI Meeting ID: 213 470 016 906 46 Passcode: Gp2pj3xF

III. Scope of Services

MSD of Warren Township (“Warren”) seeks a comprehensive micro-credentialing platform to support professional development and certification for approximately 850 certified staff members. The platform will track professional learning, award digital credentials, and support competency-based certification pathways aligned with district strategic priorities. This initiative is funded through the Lilly Endowment and represents a multi-year investment in building staff capacity.

Certification Categories The platform must support certifications in five priority areas:

· Advanced Mathematics Instruction

· Warren is in the process of drafting, refining, and publishing a K-12 mathematics framework.

· Literacy Across Content Areas

· Career Counseling & Guidance

· Social-Emotional Learning

· Technology Integration Required Components Core Platform Functionality The platform must provide the following capabilities:

· Track user enrollments and registration across all certification pathways

· Track content and module completion with progress indicators

· Award micro-credentials as digital badges upon successful certification completion

· Allow teachers to export or share earned badges for approval by building principals and district leadership

· Clearly distinguish between certifications eligible for stipends and those that are not

District-Level Reporting The platform must include a reporting dashboard with the following capabilities:

· Course and module completion rates by individual and aggregate

· Certifications earned by category, building, and role

· Progress toward certification completion for individual teachers

· Exportable data for stipend processing and grant reporting

Content Flexibility The platform must support multiple content sources:

· Ability to house vendor-provided or pre-loaded professional development content

· Ability for Warren to upload custom-developed certification content

· Ability to integrate content developed by third-party providers into the certification pathways

Multiple Input Types for Certification The district requires a competency-based approach to certification. The platform must recognize that professional learning occurs in multiple formats and accept the following input types:

· Documentation of in-person professional development completion (PGP certificates or equivalent)

· Competency-based assessments administered within the platform

· Uploaded performance tasks including teaching videos, lesson artifacts, and other documentation

Note: The district values competency-based certification over seat-time requirements. Certifications should emphasize demonstrated mastery rather than hours logged.

Optional Components Vendors may include in their proposal separate pricing and information on the following value added or supplemental products and services. The district is not interested in proposals that are only for these options components and will not be considered but encourages subcontractor partnerships if the vendor does not provide these additional components to include as part of the response.

Performance Evaluation Services Vendors interested in providing external evaluation of performance tasks for certification approval should submit a separate quote. This service would include:

· Review of uploaded teaching videos against established rubrics

· Assessment scoring and pass/fail determination

· Feedback to teachers on areas for improvement

· Capacity to evaluate approximately 600 teachers annually across multiple certification categories

Pre-Established Content Vendors should describe any existing professional development content they have already developed in the five certification categories. The district is particularly interested in existing content for:

· Math instruction aligned to high-quality instructional materials

· Literacy instruction and structured literacy approaches

· Technology integration for classroom instruction

IV. Communication, Questions & Answer Period

All questions must be submitted through the Messages section of the RFP posting on the Indigo Procurement Portal by the deadline listed in the Summary of Key Dates and Milestones. The public Q&A feature is enabled which means all responses will be posted directly within the project on the portal for all potential respondents to review or dependent on the number of questions submitted, a file will be posted with all questions and answers in the Files section of the RFP. Only written responses posted in the system are considered official and binding.

Potential respondents seeking verbal communication or a response to a question after the deadline passes, the respondent must contact the person listed in the Indigo Procurement Portal directly via email. Respondents may not rely on verbal communications, informal conversations or information obtained from media or social media sources. If any revisions or clarifications to this RFP are required, an Addendum will be issued through the procurement portal. The District may extend the proposal deadline if necessary to accommodate the release of new information.

V. Proposal Due Date & Time

Respondents must submit a response before the proposal due date and time outlined in the Summary of Key Dates and Milestones. The proposal response must follow the format indicated in the Proposal Preparation and Submission section of this document. No other method will be accepted. Proposals must be submitted electronically through the Indigo Procurement Portal.

Proposals not submitted by the deadline cannot be considered; nor will sending it via email or hand delivery be viable alternatives. The district accepts no obligations for costs incurred by respondents in anticipation of being awarded.

Section Two - RFP Preparation & Submission

I. Proposal Submission Requirements – Requested Information

Respondents must submit a complete proposal through the Indigo Procurement Portal by the deadline listed in the Summary of Key Dates and Milestones. Late submissions will not be considered. Costs incurred in the submission of responses to this RFP or in making studies, designs, estimates, or other preparation of responses are the responsibility of the responder, not the district.

All files must be submitted in the electronic formats requested within the portal; if no specific format is listed, vendors are encouraged to use commonly accepted file types such as PDF or Microsoft Office. Any confidential information must be clearly marked and submitted only through the designated “Confidential Information” upload field. The district is not responsible for disclosing information that is improperly labeled or uploaded elsewhere in the system.

Technical Proposal The Technical Proposal must clearly demonstrate the Respondent’s ability to deliver the objectives, outcomes, and scope of work described in this solicitation. Proposals should be concise, well-organized, and focused on solution capabilities, delivery approach, and demonstrated results. The technical proposal should be no longer than 25 pages, excluding the cover letter. At a minimum, proposals must include the following sections:

Cover Letter

· A brief statement of interest and why your firm would be a strong value partner for the district.

· Primary contact name, email address, and phone number for this solicitation.

· Contact name, email address, and phone number responsible for contract negotiation, if different.

· Name and title of the authorized signatory for contract execution, if different.

· Disclosure of any pending or recent legal, regulatory, or contractual actions that could materially impact the Respondent’s ability to perform.

Vendor responses should include:

· Company overview and relevant experience with K-12 professional development platforms

· Detailed response to each required component, demonstrating how your platform meets the specifications

· Responses to all guiding questions

· Implementation timeline and project plan

· At least three references from K-12 clients

· Platform demonstration availability

Guiding Questions for Vendors:

· What customization options are available to tailor the platform to Warren’s specific needs and branding?

· Can certifications developed with other providers or internally by Warren be deployed through your platform? Please describe any limitations.

· How does your platform support competency-based certification versus seat-time tracking? Can the district set variable completion requirements by certification type?

· Describe your reporting capabilities at both the individual teacher and district aggregate level.

· How does your platform handle video uploads and storage? What file size limits and format requirements apply?

· What is your approach to data security and privacy, particularly for teacher performance documentation?

· Describe your implementation timeline and support services during the initial rollout period.

· What training and ongoing support do you provide for district administrators and end users?

· Provide references from similar-sized school districts currently using your platform for teacher credentialing.

Pricing Proposal Proposers shall describe, in no more than 5 pages, the organization’s proposed pricing structure with narrative. Pricing for the core platform and optional components must be clearly separated and supported with a narrative. Vendors are encouraged to propose creative pricing structures that maximize value for the district. Options to consider may include, but not be limited to, the following:

· Multi-year agreements with reduced annual costs

· Upfront payment options that provide Warren ownership of the platform or content

· Subscription models with extended agreement terms (e.g., 10-year agreements)

· Hybrid models combining platform licensing with content development services

II. Access to Public Records Act (APRA)

Respondents are advised that materials contained in proposals are subject to the Access to Public Records Act (APRA), IC 5-14-3 et seq., and, after the contract award, the solicitation file may be posted on the Indigo Bonfirehub website and may be viewed and copied by any member of the public, including news agencies and competitors. The responses are deemed to be “public records” unless a specific provision of IC 5-14-3 protects it from disclosure. Respondents claiming a statutory exception to the APRA must indicate which specific provision applies to which specific part of the response.

Please note citing “Confidential” on an entire section or within the body of a written response is not sufficient or acceptable. Confidential information should ONLY be uploaded in the Confidential Information Section of RFP on the Indigo Procurement Portal. If the Respondent does not identify the statutory exception, the district will not consider the submission confidential. Furthermore, the district takes no responsibility for disclosing confidential information that is improperly submitted by a Respondent.

Section Three - Proposal Evaluation & Award I. Proposal Evaluation Overview

· The district reserves the right to reject any and all proposals and to waive informalities and irregularities.

· The district reserves the right to defer awarding this contract for up to 60 days from the proposal due date. The pricing on this proposal must be firm and remain open for a period of not less than this stated time period. The district creates no obligation, expressed or implied, as a legal offer.

· The district may request clarifications, in writing, on proposals submitted. The district will operate in a fair and consistent manner across all respondents. Clarifications will be submitted to the district in writing and be incorporated into the respondent’s official response. It is the discretion of the district to determine what, if any, items require clarification from any respondent.

· The district may request best and final offers from those respondents determined by the district to be reasonably viable for contract award. However, the district reserves the right to award a contract based on initial proposals received. Therefore, each proposal should contain the respondent’s best terms from a price and technical standpoint.

· Following evaluation of the best and final offers, the district may select one or more proposals for final contract negotiations/execution that are most advantageous to the district based on the scoring of the evaluation criteria.

II. Evaluation Process & Criteria

A complete review of all information submitted in the RFP package will be utilized by the district evaluation team to determine if the respondent meets the minimum requirements and is considered a responsive and responsible respondent.

All respondents who meet the minimum requirements will then be evaluated based on the contents of the technical proposal (70 points) and cost effectiveness (30 points) for a total of 100 points. All proposals will be ranked based on their combined scores for the technical and cost responses. This ranking may be used to create a “short list”. Any proposal not making the “shortlist” will not be further evaluated.

Shortlist proposals may include one or more rounds of proposal discussions or oral presentations focused on cost and other proposal elements. If the district conducts additional rounds of discussions and a BAFO round which lead to changes in either the technical or cost proposal for the short-listed respondents, their scores will be recomputed.

III. RFP Award & Contracting Overview

Respondents will receive notice of the district’s intent to award the RFP through the Indigo Procurement Portal. All RFP award recommendations are subject to approval by the school board. Upon board approval, the awarded respondent(s) will complete necessary documentation to finalize and electronically sign the complete contract prior to commencement of services.

image1.png