26MACISON1 - Attachment A - final.docx

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PRISM Curriculum and Instruction Coaches to Support PRISM Districts Attachment A

Alternate ID #: 26MACISON1 COMMBUYS Bid #:BD-25-1026-DOE02-DOE01-116249

Background:

Massachusetts’ FY25 state budget created Literacy Launch, a new 5-year multipronged initiative focused on strengthening early literacy outcomes from age three to grade three across the state. The stated goal of Literacy Launch is to increase the number of public schools and licensed Early Education and Care providers in the Commonwealth providing evidence-based, culturally and linguistically sustaining early literacy instruction to students in preschool through grade 3. Additionally, in 2024, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) was awarded a Comprehensive Literacy State Development grant, a five-year federally funded grant program intended to support improved teaching and learning in literacy from grades PreK-12.

Using both of these funding sources, DESE has developed two grant programs to support the evaluation, selection, launch, and implementation of high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) in core ELA/Literacy classrooms. The two grant programs are:

1. Partnership for Reading Success - Massachusetts (PRISM) II: This grant will support local education agencies (LEAs), including districts, collaboratives and charter schools, to evaluate, select, purchase, launch and implement high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) in ELA/literacy across grades PreK-3. Recipients will receive up to 2 years of funding, subject to appropriation. PRISM II districts may elect to include community-based preschool classrooms in their grant work. If that is the case, DESE will award additional funds for those LEAs to support extending the work into community-based preschools. DESE will provide grant funding to LEAs only (public school districts and/or charter schools). It is the responsibility of the LEA to form and maintain partnerships with their own community-based preschool providers.

2. Partnership for Reading Success - Massachusetts (PRISM) III: This grant will support local education agencies (LEAs), including districts, collaboratives and charter schools, to evaluate, select, purchase, launch and implement high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) in ELA/literacy across grades 4-12. Recipients will receive up to 3 years of funding, subject to appropriation. Please see information about PRISM III grants below for more details.

Both grants are intended to empower educators to create inspiring, engaging experiences for every student with materials and instruction that make a difference. Both grant RFPs for LEAs will be publicly available at https://www.doe.mass.edu/grants/current.html in spring 2025. For year 1 of this grant, DESE anticipates funding 13-15 LEAs for PRISM II and 13-15 LEAs for PRISM III. Over the course of the PRISM II and PRISM III programs, DESE anticipates awarding between 40-70 LEAs total for both grants, depending on LEA size and pending continued appropriation. More specific details about each grant program are outlined in the chart below:

*LEAs have the option to apply for specific grade bands within PreK-3 LEAs without HQIM in place:

Track 1: LEAs that are spending the 24-25 school year evaluating and selecting HQIM Track 2: LEAs that intend to spend the 25-26 school year evaluating and selecting HQIM

Note: PRISM III includes a third track that is open to LEAs with HQIM in place that intend to focus on implementation 3 cohorts (up to 2 years of support) Cohort 1: Summer 25-27 Cohort 2: Summer 26-28 Cohort 3: Summer 27-29 Literacy Launch

*LEAs can select to focus on 1 or more specific grade bands within grades 4-12

2 cohorts (up to 3 and half years of support) Cohort 1: Summer 25-28 Cohort 2: Summer 26-29 State Literacy funding and CLSD

PRISM II and PRISM III grants will also provide different tracks to ensure all LEAs have an entry point to the program.

For PRISM II, two tracks are available:

· Track 1 is intended for LEAs that have spent SY 24-25 going through a process to evaluate and select HQIM in ELA/literacy.

· Track 2 is intended for LEAs who have not yet started a process to evaluate and select HQIM and will begin that process at the start of SY 25-26.

· See Appendix A for PRISM II Coach Activities and Timeline

For PRISM III, three tracks are available:

· Track 1 is intended for LEAs that have spent the 24-25 SY going through a process of evaluating and selecting materials and are ready to purchase materials this spring for implementation in the 25-26 SY.

· Track 2 is intended for LEAs that do not yet have HQIM in place and intend to spend the 25-26 SY evaluating, selecting, and purchasing materials.

· Track 3 is for LEAs that already have HQIM in place and are in need of additional support for implementation.

· See Appendix B for PRISM III Coach Activities and Timeline

DESE will approve vendors for a Departmental Master Agreement (MA) to act as PRISM Curriculum and Instruction Coaches. These Coaches will provide leadership coaching and customized support to PRISM II and PRISM III LEAs; and will design and facilitate curriculum-specific professional learning for participating LEAs. All PRISM II and PRISM III LEAs will enter into a contract with one vendor from the prequalified list that results from this MA. PRISM II and PRISM III LEAs will enter into their own contracts with the vendor that best fits the grade span and curriculum they are implementing. DESE will not be a party to these contracts. Vendors pre-approved through this MA are not guaranteed to receive a contract with a PRISM II or PRISM III LEA. DESE will maintain a list of all preapproved vendors for use by the LEAs.

Vendors may elect to submit proposals to support PRISM II LEAs (PreK-3), PRISM III LEAs (Gr. 4-12), or both, so long as that is clearly stated in the response submission.

It is expected that the selected vendor(s) has expertise in evidence-based and culturally and linguistically sustaining preschool, early literacy, and/or adolescent literacy practices, and has experience supporting LEAs in implementing high -quality core tier 1 instructional materials in ELA/literacy. Specific considerations and/or adjustments needed to best support the preschool portion of this work will be finalized in collaboration between DESE and the selected vendor.

Vendors may choose to contract with other organizations to apply jointly and/or subcontract to meet the breadth and depth of the scopes of work, including PreK and expertise with the curricula chosen by LEAs. A core component of the PRISM II and PRISM III programming is engaging with curriculum-based professional learning. To effectively meet the scopes of services, vendors should be thinking about their team’s curriculum expertise in specific curricula and how they can use subcontracting to meet that need.

Scope of Service:

PRISM Curriculum and Instruction Coaches. These Coaches will provide leadership coaching and customized support to PRISM II and PRISM III LEAs; and will design and facilitate curriculum-specific professional learning for participating LEAs.

Throughout the course of PRISM II and/or PRISM III, it is expected that the selected vendor will align their work with PRISM LEAs to DESE’s messaging, focus on grade-band-specific culturally and linguistically sustaining literacy practices and instruction, and utilize DESE-approved instructional tools and routines. To support progress monitoring, evaluation, and assessment of LEAs, the selected vendor is expected to use a normed and valid tool for classroom observations and to provide observation data to DESE for use in program evaluation. The final classroom observation tool will be decided in collaboration with DESE.

This project encompasses scopes of work across five fiscal years, pending funding and successful contract renewals with LEAs (contracts will be set up and paid directly by districts). The scopes of work are described in detail below. See the appendices for year-specific details for PRISM II and PRISM III.

Scope of Service 1: PRISM II

· Meet and work collaboratively with DESE to ensure coherence and alignment among DESE staff, PRISM Curriculum and Instruction Coaches, and PRISM LEAs. This collaboration will extend throughout the entire PRISM grant and includes:

· Comprehensive onboarding with the DESE PRISM team which will require at minimum meetings and tasks throughout programming

· Development of a comprehensive PRISM Curriculum and Instruction Coaching Plan in collaboration with DESE based on IMplementMA guidance. This plan should align to the PRISM goals and vision, DESE’s Academic Vision, and DESE’s Instructional Tools and Routines. The selected vendor will integrate DESE and other stakeholder feedback when revising and refining coaching plans.

· Development and facilitation of curriculum-based professional learning that is evidence-based, inclusive, and culturally and linguistically sustaining. The professional learning should be in alignment to IMplementMA, the Mass Literacy Guide and DESE’s Instructional Planning and Observation Tools Collection.

· In collaboration with DESE, continually monitor and assess the quality of districts’ progress toward their implementation goals. It is expected that the selected vendor will work closely with DESE to ensure the implementation of an aligned and effective progress monitoring plan. This includes collecting and submitting data required by the third-party evaluator.

· Meet regularly with DESE and the third-party evaluator for this program on a regular basis to discuss short- and long-term progress toward goals.

· Develop and execute a coaching and professional learning plan to build and sustain administrative leadership capacity (school and district), systems, and structures for effective HQIM implementation, emphasizing evidence-based, inclusive, and culturally and linguistically sustaining early literacy practices for all learners, with a focus on enacting all of the activities outlined in Appendix A for PRISM II Coach Activities and Timeline for Track 1 and Track 2.

· For any awarded LEAs that elect to include community-based preschools in their grant, the vendor will also work with those community-based preschool classrooms and leadership.

Scope of Service 2: PRISM III

· Meet and work collaboratively with DESE to ensure coherence and alignment among DESE staff, PRISM Curriculum and Instruction Coaches, and PRISM LEAs. This collaboration will extend throughout the entire PRISM grant and includes:

· Comprehensive onboarding with the DESE PRISM team which will require at minimum meetings and tasks throughout programming

· Development of a comprehensive PRISM Curriculum and Instruction Coaching Plan in collaboration with DESE based on IMplementMA guidance. This plan should align to the PRISM goals and vision, DESE’s Academic Vision, and DESE’s Instructional Tools and Routines. The selected vendor will integrate DESE and other stakeholder feedback when revising and refining coaching plans.

· Development and facilitation of curriculum-based professional learning that is evidence-based, inclusive, and culturally and linguistically sustaining. The professional learning should be in alignment to IMplementMA, the Mass Literacy Guide and DESE’s Instructional Planning and Observation Tools Collection.

· In collaboration with DESE, continually monitor and assess the quality of districts’ progress toward their implementation goals. It is expected that the vendor work closely with DESE to ensure the implementation of an aligned and effective progress monitoring plan. This includes collecting and submitting data, as required by DESE.

· Meet regularly with DESE on a regular basis to discuss short- and long-term progress toward goals.

· Develop and execute a coaching and professional learning plan to build and sustain administrative leadership capacity (school and district), systems, and structures for effective HQIM implementation, emphasizing evidence-based, inclusive, and culturally and linguistically sustaining literacy practices for all learners, with a focus on enacting all of the activities outlined in Appendix B for PRISM III Coach Activities and Timeline.

Budget:

The vendor(s) will be paid directly by participating districts. In their PRISM grant awards, LEAs will be allocated funding to contract directly with the vendor. The Department has an interest in keeping the cost affordable for districts, and vendors’ proposed costs will be an important criterion in the Department’s provider selection process.

Pending funding and approval, it is anticipated that each average-sized LEA (3 schools) will receive approximate amounts as described below per year to contract with their PRISM Curriculum and Instruction Coach. Please note that these figures are estimates and that actual funding amounts will be dependent on each district’s selected grade bands and number of participating schools.

PRISM II

Cohort 1, 2 and 3 *Please note that after Cohort 1, there will only be Track 2 offered for PRISM II.

PRISM III

Cohort 1

July 1, 2025 – August 31, 2025

$15,000

Cohort 2 *Please note that after Cohort 1, there will only be Track 2 and 3 offered for PRISM III.

Required Qualifications:

The selected vendor must demonstrate the ability to equitably support all participating LEAs through high-quality, curriculum-specific coaching and professional learning in ELA/Literacy, including preschool materials.

The selected vendor must have expertise in:

· Evidence-based, culturally and linguistically sustaining early and/or adolescent literacy practices in alignment with the MA Curriculum Frameworks and Mass Literacy

· Supporting curriculum implementation with attention to:

· evidence-based literacy practices

· supports for students with disabilities

· unit unpacking

· lesson internalization

· examining student work through observation and coaching cycles

· multilingual learner support around structured literacy and second language acquisition

The selected vendor must have experience in:

· Supporting schools and districts with evaluating, selecting, launching, and implementing high-quality core ELA/Literacy instructional materials. This includes providing both technical and adaptive support, such as developing foundational knowledge of the curriculum’s structure, facilitating module unpacking, and determining culturally responsive adaptations based on context-specific needs.

· Providing services in a manner that differentiates the coaching and professional development provided based on the HQIM selected and the needs of each school and district context.

· Specific ELA/literacy curricula that are considered high quality based upon DESE’s CURATE reviews.

The selected vendor must be able to:

· Deliver high-quality curriculum-specific professional learning with a strong emphasis on culturally responsive technical and adaptive support

· Collect and analyze data through an equity lens to assess impact, refine coaching strategies, and continuously enhance service delivery for all learners

· Build and sustain strong relationships with stakeholders to support LEA and consortia improvement goals

· Provide customized curriculum-embedded coaching support to meet the unique needs of each LEA

· Determine district-specific solutions for ensuring all LEAs, regardless of size, demographics, or resource levels, receive equitable access to coaching and professional learning

· Work in close partnership with DESE, LEAs, and other stakeholders, adapting to evolving needs with flexibility and efficiency

· Demonstrate adequate capacity and internal infrastructure to fulfill the requirements of at least one of the listed scopes of services

· Demonstrate evidence of internal systems and structures for measuring efficacy

Preferred Qualifications:

· Experience operating in Massachusetts; familiarity with Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for ELA/Literacy, IMplement MA Process, Mass Literacy and with MA schools and districts

· Ability to present information and support so that all content-specific knowledge and practices are grounded in culturally and linguistically sustaining practices

· Evidence that past professional learning and/or coaching have resulted in positive impact on students

Submission Requirements:

1. Brief introduction/overview of your organization: Describe your organization’s experience with HQIM implementation in ELA/literacy, leadership coaching, and evidence-based and culturally and linguistically sustaining literacy practices and your expertise that qualifies you for this opportunity. Please describe how your organization has an appropriate background to complete the scope of work inclusive of subcontracting if needed, including evidence of each of the Required Qualifications, and the Preferred Qualifications as appropriate. Not to exceed 7 pages

2. Proposal Submission Choices:

· Indicate if you are bidding on Scope of Work 1 for PRISM II LEAs (PreK-3), Scope of Work 2 for PRISM III LEAs (Grades 4-12), or both.

· Please provide a list of all of the ELA/literacy curricula with which your organization has experience providing professional learning and coaching/technical assistance, including preschool materials if applying to support PRISM II (Scope 1).

· For those ELA/literacy curricula with which your organization does not have experience, please list the subcontractors you intend to work with and/or other plans to ensure your organization can support LEAs with implementation of all ELA/literacy curricula that are considered high quality based upon DESE’s CURATE reviews.

3. Coaching Proposal: Although the scope and sequence of the coaching will be co-created with DESE and each LEA, please provide a proposal for a coaching plan that demonstrates your ability to assist districts in evaluating, selecting, launching, and implementing high-quality instructional materials, ensuring alignment with DESE’s IMplement MA Process. Please include preschool in this proposal if applying to support PRISM II. Not to exceed 5 pages

4. Curriculum-Specific Professional Learning Samples: Please provide a:

· List of all the ELA/Literacy curricula your organization has expertise delivering professional learning in

· At least one HQIM aligned sample professional learning session for launching and implementing for each listed high-quality instructional material in core ELA/Literacy classrooms, including preschool materials if applying for PRISM II. Please make sure the session materials showcase your approach to delivering technical and adaptive curriculum-specific training.

· Please note: The final scope and sequence to support each LEA will be co-created with DESE and each LEA, but this sample should reflect an individualized and comprehensive strategy. Not to exceed 5 pages

5. Budget: Indicate your proposed deliverables-based budget for the services offered, ensuring it aligns with DESE’s goal of keeping costs affordable for districts. Not to exceed 3 pages.

6. Commitment to Equity Statement: DESE is committed to addressing inequities in education across the Commonwealth. Pease describe how your organization integrates equity into your services. Specifically, outline how you tangibly incorporate culturally and linguistically sustaining practices (CLSP) in the development, delivery, and ongoing support of your services. Include any actions your organization has taken to promote equity both internally and when working with LEAs. Not to exceed 2 pages

7. Samples of previous on-site coaching plans, educator-facing professional learning sessions on specific high-quality instructional materials in ELA/Literacy (in-person and virtual), including preschool if applying for PRISM II, impact on systems-level improvement on literacy instruction and achievement that includes a clear focus on culturally and linguistically sustaining practices. No page limit

8. Resumes of key personnel who will be part of this project. Please include the resumes of personnel who will support this project and demonstrate the required expertise outlined in the Required Qualifications, as well as a staffing plan detailing the roles and responsibilities of each team member.

Responses will be reviewed by a DESE team using the uploaded Evaluation Criteria Scorecard. Vendors whose responses meet the specified qualifications will be prequalified under this Departmental Master Agreement and will be required to complete the official state forms. You will be notified by email of your prequalification status with further information, along with the attachment of documents that make up the contract packet. The documentation to be submitted will include the approved budget that will apply to all eligible users of the contract. Once prequalified and awarded under this MA, districts will be able to reach out directly to enter into a contract, separate from this MA, for services and payment.

Approved vendors will be placed on a Departmental Master Agreement (MA) through June 30, 2029, to provide services to districts. This is a rolling MA. Bidders can submit a response at any time while this posting is open on COMMBUYS until 12/31/2027 - 12:00 PM ET. June 9, 2025 is the priority deadline to be considered for an award for PRISM 2 and PRISM 3 Cohort 1 for SY 2025/2026. Responses submitted after June 9, 2025 will be reviewed on an as needed basis. All awarded vendors will be placed n the approved prequalified list, available on the PRISM website.

Responses MUST be uploaded to COMMBUYS. 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 contact the OSD Help Desk at OSDHelpDesk@mass.gov or (8am - 5pm ET Monday – Friday) at 1-888-627-8283 or 617-720-3197.

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