25MASFSJL1 - Attachment A - Final.docx

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Attachment A

Alternate ID #: 25MASFSJL1 COMMBUYS Bid #:BD-24-1026-DOE02-DOE01-98286

Departmental Master Agreement for Approved Preschool Language and Literacy Assessments

Background:

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s (DESE) Office of Student and Family Support (SFS) works in partnership with educators, schools, students, families, and other agencies and organizations across the Commonwealth to advance the Department's mission. Our programs and initiatives aim to ensure access to high quality and student-centered preschool - grade 12 education and strengths-based, holistic supports and enrichment. In particular, the Department’s Early learning team works to ensure that schools and districts build internal capacity to provide high quality learning environments and opportunities for our youngest students so that they enter kindergarten with the skills needed for continued academic success.

According to the Committee on the Prevention of Reading Difficulties in Young Children (1999), “the more children know about language and literacy before they enter kindergarten, the better equipped they are to succeed in reading.” (p. 8). As a result, language and literacy difficulties should be identified as soon as possible so that appropriate instructional supports and interventions can be provided to address the difficulties. Given the persistent racial disparities in special education and high school graduation and dropout rates (National School Boards Association, 2020), evidence-based instruction needs to be provided in the early years so that all children enter school with the foundational knowledge and skills needed for academic success.

To support Massachusetts’ mixed delivery system in selecting valid and reliable preschool language and literacy assessments, DESE requests bids from assessment vendors for this Departmental Master Agreement (MA). DESE intends to approve one or more assessments that sufficiently meet the criteria described herein and will publicize those assessments on a public list of approved assessment measures.

Scope of Service:

DESE invites assessment vendors to submit a valid and reliable preschool language and literacy assessments for review for Massachusetts’ mixed delivery system of preschool programs:

· Community-based organizations (CBOs): licensed early education and care providers, including Head Start programs and for profit and nonprofit childcare (i.e., family childcare and community-based childcare/preschool programs) serving children of all abilities and backgrounds; and

· Public Schools/Districts: public preschool programs serving children of all abilities and backgrounds, including collaboratives, vocational and technical early childhood programs, and charter schools.

Through this limited contract user bid, vendors with approved assessment measure(s) will be awarded a contract to be placed on DESE’s Departmental Master Agreement (MA) starting July 1, 2024. Under this agreement, vendors will be prequalified to provide services to DESE, Department of Early Education and Care (EEC), Public Schools/Districts, and Community Based Organizations (under a separate contract with each entity):

· Approved valid and reliable preschool language and assessment tools to inform data-based instructional decision making; and

· Supports and resources for assessment administration, data collection, data analysis and data-based instructional decision-making.

Additionally, DESE’s foremost goals are to address the inequities in education that exist in the Commonwealth. As a result, the assessment tools must be “developmentally, culturally, and linguistically appropriate, as well as valid and reliable in the language in which they are used” (Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, 2011, p. 5). To that end, through this bid DESE will identify and share language and literacy assessments to meet these goals.

Submitted assessments will be evaluated for approval based on the Required and Preferred Qualifications included in this document. If assessment measures are approved and the vendor is awarded a contract to be placed on the MA, assessment measures will be reviewed as needed to ensure that they continue to align with current research and recommendations for valid and reliable preschool language and literacy assessments. Approved assessments will be listed on EEC and DESE websites. Information gathered through this procurement process will also be posted and shared with CBOs and Public Schools/Districts, including costs and findings from the review of the approved assessment as evaluated by DESE during this procurement (e.g., which of the preferred criteria were met and which of the preferred criteria were not met).

Please note that being awarded a contract to be placed on the MA does not guarantee that the vendor will be contracted to provide services to DESE, EEC, Massachusetts districts, schools, CBOs, or other organizations utilizing this list; nor does this bid carry an award of state or federal funds.

Budget:

Vendors with approved assessment measures will be awarded a contract to be placed on the MA through June 30, 2029 to provide materials and services to DESE, EEC, Public Schools/Districts, and CBOs, as long as their approved assessments continue to align with current research and recommendations for valid and reliable preschool language and literacy assessments.

Vendors must indicate the fee, if any, they will charge for any assessment materials, training, and support, or required resources for implementation, as well as time to complete all phases of the assessment. DESE and EEC have an interest in keeping the cost of measures affordable for districts, schools, and programs, and vendors’ proposed cost and implementation structures will be an important criterion for consideration. CBOs and Public Schools/Districts will choose their own assessments from the approved list and enter into their own contracts with the vendor for services requested. Neither EEC nor DESE is liable for any costs incurred by vendors because of their contracted work with the CBOs and Public Schools/Districts.

If approved, costs for the assessment measure named in each vendor’s response will be incorporated into the MA and must remain in effect if the vendor remains on the MA, not to exceed June 30, 2029. Once approved to be listed on the MA, vendors may not increase the cost of their approved product to any eligible user listed on this MA.

Required Qualifications Criteria:

In order for responses to be considered, Bidder must provide evidence that the proposed assessment measure is aligned with current research on (1) key preschool language and literacy skills that predict later reading and (2) key components of valid and reliable preschool language/literacy assessments, inclusive of the required criteria outlined below:

1. Bidder demonstrates that the assessment is appropriate for at least one of the following purposes: screening, formative assessment, summative assessment.

2. The assessment measures at least one of the following early language and literacy skills predictive of later reading success:

· alphabet knowledge,

· phonological awareness,

· rapid automatic naming of letters or digits and/or objects or colors,

· oral language (i.e., vocabulary), and/or

· print awareness.

3. The measure was developed and validated for preschool children.

4. Reliability and validity of the submitted assessment measure:

Reliability: Submitted materials provide evidence of at least two types of reliability specific to language and literacy subtests and/or concepts and constructs, inclusive of internal consistency data, reported and appropriate for the purpose of the tool that meets the following standards*:

Internal Consistency Reliability

Test-Retest / Inter-Rater Reliability

*Or other statistical analysis that meets or exceeds field standards Validity: Submitted materials provide evidence of at least two types of validity evidence specific to language and literacy subtests and/or concepts and constructs, inclusive of internal structure validity, reported and appropriate for the purpose of the tool that meets the following standards*:

Internal Structure Validity

Convergent / Divergent Validity

Predictive Validity

Concurrent Validity

Sensitivity / Specificity

*Or other statistical analysis that meets or exceeds field standards

5. Bidder provides evidence that the measure is intended for a targeted population OR includes a detailed description of the developmental, cultural, and linguistic population used to develop and validate the measure; the demographics of the standardization sample reflects the diversity of Massachusetts preschool students.

6. Bidder provides evidence of accessible, timely, tailored professional development, technical support, and customer service.

7. Bidder provides examples of end-user reports (“canned” pre-constructed and/or customizable reports) to meet the varying needs of the users.

8. Submitted assessment package is affordable and cost effective.

9. Submitted materials include evidence of the measure's overall usability including:

a. Educators responsible for instructional planning and implementation (e.g., classroom educators) can administer and score the assessment,

b. Suggested starting points for administration,

c. Baseline and ceiling guidance,

d. Time to complete is 30 minutes or less, and

e. Supplemental materials are user friendly and relevant and include scoring and interpretation support and recommendations to inform teaching and evaluation.

Preferred Qualifications Criteria:

1. Measure provides at least 2 different interpretations of measure results (composite score, standard score, percentile ranks, and/or age equivalency scores) that are specific to preschool language and literacy.

2. Bidder provides evidence of description and results of analyses of bias such as differential item functioning and detailed evidence of how measure developers resolved identified biases.

3. Bidder provides evidence of attention to cultural and linguistic diversity:

· Guidance on administering and interpreting the measure with multi-lingual children and/or English language learners, AND children with dialects other than general American English (i.e., African American English); and

· Evidence that the developers included input from diverse developmental, cultural, and linguistic members in the process of developing the measure.

4. For measures developed in English and validated in other languages, in addition to all manuals required for administration, scoring, and interpretation, Bidder includes studies detailing the process for translation, measure development, and measure psychometrics. For validated language translations to be considered, translations must be submitted separately (for example, a measure validated in English, Spanish, and German must submit a proposal for the English version, a proposal for the Spanish version, and a proposal for the German version.

5. Bidder demonstrates evidence that they have examined and are working to improve their practices and supports (internal and/or external) from a racial equity lens.

Submission Requirements:

1. Contact Information (i.e., name, title, organization/business, address, telephone, and email) for each of the following:

· A representative from your organization to whom substantive questions on this submission should be addressed.

· If relevant, a local representative from your organization who would be the first point of contact for work being conducted for DESE and districts; and

· A representative from your organization who is an authorized signatory. An authorized signatory is a person or group of people who have the authority to sign legal documents on behalf of their organization

2. Please address the following in a narrative not to exceed 10 pages:

· Brief overview of your organization and the assessment product being proposed for approval.

· How the assessment submission meets the criteria identified under the Required Qualifications and the Preferred Qualifications sections of Attachment A (above).

· Recent and/or current relationships with Massachusetts schools, districts, CBOs, and/or state agencies; and,

· Detailed description of the resources and professional development (web and program-based) available to support administrators and educators on your assessment measure, including what the mixed delivery system needs to have in place and be prepared to commit to for your assessment tool, resources, and support to be most impactful.

3. Technical and/or administration/evaluation manual which provides, at a minimum, detailed information about test development, scoring, norming, reliability, and validity, as well as guidelines for administration, scoring, interpretation, and reporting. For measures without manuals, peer reviewed development and validation studies covering the same topics may be submitted.

4. Information detailing the total cost of the assessment measure including:

· Cost to purchase the assessment, including variations and their costs.

· Cost and itemized descriptions of all packages offered;

· Cost and itemized descriptions of professional development, customer service, and resource access offered;

· Cost beyond initial investment (e.g., customized reports, annual license renewal, online scoring fees, etc.); and

· List and estimated cost of required materials NOT included in the purchase price, if applicable (e.g., tablet, computer, internet access, etc.).

Note: If your submission is approved, the costs submitted in your response will be incorporated into an MA. This agreement allows DESE, EEC, and Massachusetts CBOs and Public Schools/Districts to purchase your product(s) at the stated prices until June 30, 2029 (unless vendor receives consent from DESE to increase the cost of their approved product).

5. Completion of the Evidence Form in which the vendor provides evidence for each item showing that the submitted assessment meets the required and preferred criteria (as outlined in the Required and Preferred Submission sections above),

6. Commitment to Equity statement – Not to exceed 1 page. One of DESE’s foremost goals is to address inequities in education that exist in the Commonwealth. Describe, in a one-page narrative, your organization’s commitment to and actions taken to ensure equity (this should include efforts within your own organization to support equity and efforts when providing services to clients, as applicable). For example, how does your organization intentionally promote diversity, equity, and inclusion, particularly racial equity? What strength-based strategies have been implemented? How is a deficit-based mindset countered? Please share your organization’s current challenges with and ongoing efforts to ensure your organization is working towards building the mindsets, practices, and skills to support this initiative.

7. Prompt Payment Discount Form

8. Supplier Diversity Program Plan Form

This is a rolling submission MA. Vendors are strongly encouraged to respond by April 10, 2024. Responses received by April 10, 2024 will be reviewed and those approved will be awarded a contract to be placed on this MA effective July 1, 2024. DESE and EEC will notify CBOs and Public Schools/Districts of the new list of approved assessments. Once assessments are approved and the vendors (with the approved assessment(s)) are awarded a contract to be placed on the MA, assessment measures will be reviewed as needed to ensure that they continue to align with current research and recommendations for valid and reliable preschool language and literacy assessments. Responses received after April 10, 2024 will be reviewed on a rolling basis contingent on DESE’s capacity.

Responses not posted to COMMBUYS will not be considered for evaluation. Do not Email and/or mail responses to the department.

To respond to this bid, please register on the COMMBUYS website. If you need assistance with registering please contact the COMMBUYS helpdesk at: COMMBUYS@state.ma.us or (888) 627-8283 or (617) 720-3197.

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