25MASSSMS1 - Attachment A - final.docx

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Attachment A

Alternate ID: 25MASSSMS1 COMMBUYS Document #: BD-25-1026-DOE02-DOE01-112189

Departmental Master Agreement to Support School, District, and DESE Sustainable Improvement

Background:

Through this Departmental Master Agreement (“MA”), the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (“DESE” or “The Department”) seeks responses from bidders with a demonstrated capacity to successfully support school, district, and state sustainable improvement efforts. This MA will operate parallel to Master Service Agreement 21MASSSAR1 set to expire June 30, 2025, with the possibility to renew until June 30, 2026 (25MASSSMS1 will continue to operate until June 30, 2029, with the option to renew until June 30, 2031).

This MA is open for use by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Early Education and Care, Executive Office of Education, Board of Higher Education and Children’s Trust Fund, further referred to as DESE, as well as and Schools/Districts only. All users must executive their own Contract / Statement of Work with the vendor and follow their procurement regulations for awarding a contract. DESE is not responsible for other users’ contracts and/or payments.

Purpose:

This MA aims to serve as a resource for DESE, districts, and schools in their efforts to support sustainable improvement initiatives, ensuring that all students in Massachusetts, particularly those from historically underserved groups and communities, have equitable access to an exceptional school experience. This MA is designed to recruit vendors and partners whose goals and services align with the Department's Educational Vision and help further its objectives. Inclusion on the list signifies that the bidder (whether an organization or individual) has undergone a vetting process by DESE. Approval indicates that the services and/or products offered have the potential to enhance state, district, and school improvement efforts, promote rigorous deeper learning experiences, and contribute to dismantling inequitable practices and systems.

The list of pre-qualified vendors serves multiple purposes by various stakeholders:

· DESE expects to issue competitive procurements for specific pieces of work through the Requests for Quotes (RFQs) process posted to COMMBUYS. Some contracts will involve providing direct services to DESE staff, other contracts may involve providing direct services to districts and schools requiring support on behalf of DESE. Only vendors approved under this MA will be eligible to bid on this contracted work.

· The list of pre-qualified vendors approved under this MA will be made available to Massachusetts schools and districts to support their selection of providers. When contracting for educational services, it may be recommended that districts and schools select providers from DESE’s pre-qualified vendor lists (this MA). This contracting takes place directly between the vendor and the district.

· In some instances, DESE may require that recipients of certain grant awards use a portion of the awarded funds for contracted services provided by organizations on DESE’s pre-qualified list of vendors. While funded by the grant award, the contract for services would be directly between the pre-qualified vendor and the district.

· DESE also uses this list to ensure that contractual services are aligned to DESE’s overall strategy of change. This includes being aligned to specific language and structures outlined in the Standards for Effective Practice, IMplementMA, and Culturally & Linguistically Sustaining Practices.

Please note that being pre-qualified under this MA does not guarantee that an organization will automatically be awarded a contract to conduct work with DESE, districts, schools, or other organizations utilizing this list; nor does this MA carry an award of state, federal funds.

Priorities of this Departmental Master Agreement (MA):

The MA reflects priorities across several DESE departments, including the Center for School and District Partnership and the Center for Instructional Supports. These departments are committed to:

· Supporting sustainable district and school improvement, with additional focus on districts and schools identified as requiring broad/comprehensive and targeted/focused support through the state accountability system.

· Helping schools, districts, and organizational partners build capacity to engage all students in exceptional learning experiences to meet rigorous expectations.

· Dismantling inequitable practices and systems. Specifically, DESE prioritizes dismantling inequities faced by many students in the Commonwealth, with a particular emphasis on addressing institutional racial disparities within schools. This commitment to dismantling such inequities is a central focus of this MA.

Scope of Service:

Areas of Content Expertise and Service Categories This MA seeks vendors offering a range of service types and areas of content expertise to support schools, districts, and state agencies aligned with a multi-tiered system of support. The examples provided in Appendix A are just a few ways in which vendors may offer services in this context. Additionally, some vendors may possess expertise across various areas and offer support that encompasses the examples listed. For this MA, DESE is specifically interested in vendors with content expertise in at least one of the following areas:

Areas of Content Expertise:

· Racial Equity/Cultural Responsiveness

· Academics, inclusive of:

· ELA/literacy

· math

· science/technology, engineering

· history/social sciences

· art

· world language

· comprehensive health

· digital literacy/computer science

· SEL, Behavior, Health and Wellness, Belonging/Connection inclusive of:

· social-emotional learning

· behavior

· mental health

· school culture/climate

· attendance/absenteeism

· sense of belonging and relationships

· Access & Equity, inclusive of:

· Universal Design for Learning

· co-teaching/inclusion

· students with disabilities

· English learners

· highly mobile students (homeless, foster care, migrant, military)

· digital learning (e.g. virtual, blended) remote learning

· Specific Grade and School Type Supports, inclusive of:

· early education/Pre-K

· secondary re-design

· vocational schools and career-technical education

· post-secondary planning/pathways (i.e. early college)

· dropout prevention and recovery

· Additional School and District Systems, inclusive of:

· family and community engagement

· leadership development

· collaboration and teaming structures (e.g. Instructional Leadership Teams, Common Planning Time, etc.)

· scheduling

· integrated student support systems

· partnership development and management

· educator evaluation

· curriculum review cycles

· professional learning, inclusive of professional development, coaching, and collaborative learning time.

· human resources

· expanded learning opportunities/time (including Acceleration Academies)

· fiscal systems and budget

· assessment literacy, inclusive of data reviews/cycles of inquiry

· technology integration

To help bidders organize and describe the services they provide within each area of content expertise, this MA defines the service types needed in the following categories, all necessary to build a strong multi-tiered system of support. Note: We recognize some of the service categories can be provided agnostic to content area, which can be noted in the bidder application, i.e. “project management.”

Service Categories:

· strategic planning

· consulting/targeted assistance

· curriculum selection & implementation

· professional learning systems, inclusive of professional development, coaching, and collaborative learning time.

· assessment literacy (inclusive of assessment development or selection, assessment use, and assessment communication to both internal and external stakeholders).

· student support systems, such Intervention development (especially curriculum aligned scaffolding) and implementation

· direct provision of services to students

· program evaluation and/or research

· progress monitoring and audits

· on-line learning and assessment platforms

· communications and Public Relations

· writing, copyediting, graphic, web design, and/or video production

· sustainable school improvement planning (inclusive of plan development, meeting facilitation, stakeholder engagement (e.g. local stakeholder groups), implementation, reflection, and feedback support)

· school operator

· financial/budget systems

· project management

· human capital system services

Bidders can find definitions of each area of content expertise and service category in Appendix B. Through this MA, DESE is trying to gauge how organizations can help support schools, districts, and DESE with sustainable improvement efforts and rigorous instructional practice and in what areas of expertise. While some vendors might provide a very discrete and specific service within one content area, others provide services that are interconnected and bundled together for schools, districts, and state agencies. The goal of this MA is to learn about each vendor’s comprehensive model, services, and supports, and how those services can meet the needs of schools, districts, and DESE moving forward.

Budget:

Bidders must submit an all-inclusive budget that is either deliverables-based or based on hourly/daily rates. Bidders are encouraged to submit a rate range allowing actual rates and contract parameters to be established when a contract is negotiated with the Department through the RFQ process resulting in a work order or with districts following Chapter 30 B guidelines.

The daily or hourly rates must be inclusive of all expenses and indirect costs – not to exceed 8% (i.e., travel, supplies, telephone and cell phone charges, fringe benefits, etc.).

The proposed rates will be reviewed by DESE and may be subject to negotiation. The rates must be agreed upon prior to the execution of any contract under this MA. DESE reserves the right to revisit rates every two years of the contract agreement.

The work order process, (which takes place after an approved bidder responds to an RFQ and is the successful vendor), is when the specific scope of services and total budget for a project is developed. Work orders are a contractual agreement between DESE and the awarded bidder via the RFQ process. Districts must establish an agreement with the bidder following their required procurement regulations.

Required Qualifications:

Part A For all bidders: The required qualifications and experiences for this BID are summarized below.

· An organizational structure and financial capacity that ensures it can make a sustained commitment to a project.

· Evidence of: a commitment to dismantling racial inequities in schools, districts, and state agencies; current work on supporting anti-racist mindsets, internal practices, and services/offerings; and a clear description for how their services/offerings are culturally responsive and anti-racist.

· A compelling model of support and evidence of effectiveness in the area(s) of content expertise and service categories outlined in their proposed offering(s).

· Staff who would be supporting the work in schools, districts, or at the state possess the necessary experience and expertise to successfully perform the required work.

Part B For bidders under the Program Evaluation and/or Research category: In addition to the criteria in Part A, these bidders will also be assessed on the following required qualifications through a separate scorecard:

· The bidder must demonstrate it is an academic institution, an independent, nonpartisan research organization, or an individual researcher affiliated with one of the above

· The bidder and its individual researchers must demonstrate they are not in an advocacy role with respect to the topics they propose to study or have a stake in the research's outcome

· The bidder and its individual researchers must demonstrate they have a reputation of impartiality and must demonstrate they have no known affiliations that would undermine, or may appear to undermine, credibility and impartiality

· The extent to which the bidder employs Commonwealth data security standards for third parties, including

· Data Classification: Ensure all shared data, especially personally identifiable information, is classified appropriately and handled according to its classification.

· Access Control: Implement MFA and least privilege access controls for all users accessing personally identifiable data.

· Encryption: Require encryption of personally identifiable data at rest and in transit.

· Vulnerability Scanning: Mandate regular vulnerability assessments and patch management for systems.

Submission Requirements:

Priority review will be given to those responses submitted on COMMBUYS by 5:00 PM ET on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. Responses submitted after this date/time will be reviewed in a timely manner.

This section provides an overview of the required response materials and detailed instructions. The following is an outline of the submission requirements with additional detail given below. Please note that Section 4a-f should be repeated for each service that your organization is applying to be approved for.

1) General Organizational Information (Attachment B)

2) Organizational Narrative (maximum 3 pages)

3) Commitment to Equity (maximum 2 pages)

4) Offering (s) (Please repeat this section for each offering your organization is applying for.

a) Offering Description (maximum 3 pages)

b) Evidence of Required Qualifications and Experiences (2 pages)

c) Evidence of Effectiveness (maximum 2 pages)

d) District Readiness Criteria (maximum 1 page)

e) List Current Relevant Engagements

f) Budget including Fee Structure

g) Service Matrix

5) Brief Personnel Bios

6) References (Attachment C)

7) Supplier Diversity Program Plan Form (uploaded with COMMBUYS posting)

8) Prompt Payment Discount Form (uploaded with COMMBUYS posting)

1) General Organization Information:

Attachment B: - complete all sections of document.

Organizational Narrative (Maximum length: 3 pages) Please provide an overview that includes: a brief organizational narrative and background, your organization’s structure and financial capacity, and your lead staff.

2) Commitment to Equity (Maximum length: 2 pages) DESE is deeply committed to dismantling the inequities that affect many students and families in the Commonwealth. Our organization is dedicated to ensuring equity for all students, with a particular emphasis on addressing institutional racial disparities prevalent in schools, districts, and state agencies. Please describe your organization's dedication to fostering equity, particularly in dismantling institutional racial inequities within schools, districts, and state agencies. Your response should outline the actions taken by your organization to promote equity, both internally and in service of your work with clients. Additionally, please discuss any challenges your organization currently faces and the ongoing efforts to cultivate mindsets, practices, and systems that support both adult professional development and equity for all students. Please be detailed and concrete in your responses.

DESE is interested in an organization’s internal commitment to anti-racism, which can encompass various actions such as adjusting hiring and staffing practices, engaging in staff professional development and training, examining internal organizational systems and practices, and conducting ongoing reflection and change processes.

Furthermore, DESE is interested in how anti-racist approaches and practices are reflected in an organization’s service offerings. Reviewers will not only examine the statements provided in this section of the proposal but also seek evidence of culturally responsive and anti-racist approaches integrated across an organization’s service offerings.

3) Offering(s) (Please repeat this section for each offering your organization is applying for)

4a: Offering Description (Maximum length: 3 pages) Think about how best to explain the offering to schools, districts, and state agencies, with an eye on being clear and concise. In this section, please include:

· who your organization supports (districts, schools, state agencies).

· who is involved in receiving these supports (teachers, administrators, students, etc.).

· what the support consists of.

· over what (general) length of time do you provide support.

· where relevant, how these supports are aligned to DESE strategy & framing, such as the skillful use of high-quality instructional materials or the Standards for Effective Practice; and

· what are the intended outcomes from this support/offering/model.

Note for vendors applying to be a school operator: please include in your offering description an overview/elements of your school model, including but not limited to your approach to: implementing curriculum and maintaining instructional rigor, implementing policies and systems related to school culture/climate, student and family voice/engagement, addressing the needs of all learning, utilizing formative and summative assessment/cycles of inquiry, the school calendar/other operational systems, and professional learning and collaboration time. Offering descriptions for the school operator category may exceed the 3-page limit in order to adequately articulate these components.

We recognize many vendors’ offerings are bundled together and support one another. For each offering that is unique and distinct, complete a separate “offering description” (section 4) and corresponding information for sections 4a-f.

When thinking about how to complete this section, consider the following: If your organization:

· offers one “model” that covers many service categories and areas of expertise found in Appendix B, please complete the offering description and sections 4a-f only once.

· offers many types of supports across the service categories and areas of content expertise, but they are often bundled together for clients (for example: academic assessments, followed by professional development and coaching on data review and instructional practice, followed by continued progress monitoring) you may consider completing this section once (and corresponding sections 4a-f) and describe how these services work together.

· offers many distinct supports for schools, districts, and state agencies, please complete the offering description and corresponding sections 4a-f for each service and/or area of content expertise.

4b. Evidence of Effectiveness (Maximum length: 2 pages) Describe the value-add of the work you have conducted for schools, districts and/or state agencies. To the extent possible, provide specific evidence of the influence or impact of your work in helping the school, district and/or state agency to advance and/or achieve its goals, including:

· Information about the district, school, or state agency context, the timeframe in which you engaged in this work and the nature/intensity of services provided.

· How the services you provided built capacity that contributed to sustainability at the school, district, and/or state level; and

· When relevant, include evidence of effectiveness that can be credibly correlated to the assistance provided. This can include quantitative data (e.g., school-level or student level pre-test/post-test results) and qualitative data (e.g., from participant surveys, case studies). Evidence from external evaluations conducted by an independent evaluator is also preferable to organizational self-studies but are not required. Please make a distinction between evidence for the strategies employed, and evidence of your organization’s impact, and provide both. If possible, please attach a copy of any independent evaluations cited in this section. Note: Attached evaluation reports may be added as an appendix and do not count towards the recommended page length.

· If your organization is employing strategies that have evidence that meets the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) “evidence-based’’ criteria, meaning an intervention that demonstrates a statistically significant effect on improving student outcomes or other relevant outcomes, please include this evidence and description as an appendix to this section.

4c. District/School/State Agency Readiness: (Maximum length: 1 page)

Describe the district, school, and/or state agency readiness factors you take into consideration before starting your work. What should your client(s) have in place and be prepared to commit to for your services to be most impactful? If there are certain preconditions or readiness factors you consider before agreeing to work with a district, school, or state agency please indicate what those factors are in this section.

4d. Recent and Current Engagements

Briefly describe any recent or current engagements with schools, districts, and/or state agencies related to the offerings outlined in your service description.

4e. Costs Provide a sample budget for the offering described that is deliverables-based and/or based on hourly/daily rates for this offering. The rates proposed must be inclusive of all expenses and indirect costs – not to exceed 8% (such as travel, supplies, telephone and cell phone charges, fringe benefits, etc.). Even if the budget is deliverables-based, DESE is interested in understanding the average hourly rate of providers, the approximate number of hours spent (and by the number of people), and how those hours are dedicated (e.g., preparation vs actual delivery of services, data analysis, report writing, etc.).

The specific scope of services and total budget for each project will be determined during the work order process, which occurs after an approved bidder has responded to an RFQ and been selected. Please note that vendors will only be able to charge the rates that were approved through this MA (although DESE reserves the right to revisit approved rates every two years). This process will outline detailed project requirements and confirm the final budget.

4f. Alignment with Service Matrix (See Appendix C for service matrix)

Complete the Service Matrix in Appendix C by marking the relevant areas of content expertise and service categories that align with this particular offering. First, identify your core areas of expertise that are relevant to the service (listed on the vertical axis), then review the types of services that are included in this offering (on the horizontal axis). Indicate all service categories and areas of expertise described in your offering description. If multiple offering descriptions are submitted (for sections 4a-f), complete a separate Service Matrix for each description, focusing only on the primary areas of expertise and services relevant to that specific description.

4) Brief Personnel Bios:

Provide a short, one paragraph bio for each individual who would be providing services through your organization’s offerings. For each individual, indicate which offerings they would support and in what capacity. Please also attach a resume for each individual as an appendix. DESE reserves the right to approve or deny any updates to staffing during the life of the contract. Any changes in staff must be presented to DESE, including a resume.

5) References:

Attachment C – Complete all sections of the document

6) Supplier Diversity Program (SDP) Plan Form:

The Supplier Diversity Program (SDP) helps promote supplier diversity in public contracting. The SDP program encourages the award of state contracts in a way that strengthens and increases business opportunities for Minority Business Enterprises (MBEs), Women Business Enterprises (WBEs), Service-Disabled Veteran Business Enterprises (SDVOBEs), Veteran Business Enterprises (VBEs), Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Business Enterprises (LGBTBEs); and Disability-Owned Business Enterprises (DOBEs). Note: this plan accounts for 25% of the total evaluation score. A 1% of higher commitment is required and remains in effect for the life of the contract. Those that do not meet commitment yearly, will be place on suspension and/or terminated from the contract agreement. All awarded vendors must register in the SDO HUB and provide quarterly updates during the life of the contract award. Vendors who fail to do so may be suspended and/or terminated from the contract agreement.

7) Prompt Payment Form:

All contractors/vendors doing business with the Commonwealth must provide a Prompt Payment Discount (PPD) for receiving early payments unless the Contractor/bidder can provide compelling proof that providing a prompt pay discount would be unduly burdensome. Hardships must be approved and accepted by the contract managing unit and the Procurement Office.

Information to Keep in Mind as You Prepare your Submission We recognize that vendors provide a variety of services across areas of content expertise. Please approach and complete the application by describing your holistic offerings, rather than complete the application for each service you provide. Reference Appendix A to see how several different types of organizations could consider completing the application.

If bidders apply for but are not approved in specific areas of content expertise and/or service categories, they may submit additional evidence or information as requested. Bidders do not need to resubmit a completed new application to reapply for categories previously not approved OR new categories they would like to add after an initial approval.

This is a Rolling Enrollment Departmental Master Agreement. Responses can be submitted on a rolling basis from the posting date until December 31, 2027 – 12:00 PM ET. Responses not posted to COMMBUYS will not be considered for evaluation. Do not email and/or mail responses to the department. Be sure to check off “no charge” when uploading your files / response to COMMBUYS (do not select “no bid” this will block the response from being available for download).

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

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