27TALKT4 - Attachmnent A - final~1.docx

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Foundational Skills Curricular Materials Reviews for K-3 Literacy Approved List Attachment A

Alternate ID #: 27TALKT4 COMMBUYS Bid #: BD-27-1026-DOE02-DOE01-134219

Background:

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is establishing and maintaining an approved list of high-quality K-3 literacy curricula from which public school districts may choose, as required by Chapter 113 of the Acts of 2026 (G.L. c. 69, §1E½).

The purpose of this Request for Response (RFR) is to select a provider of existing, high-quality reviews and quality determinations of widely used K-3 foundational skills materials for DESE’s use in establishing an Approved List of K-3 Foundational Skills Materials. DESE intends to point Massachusetts schools and districts to the selected vendor’s reviews as a means of establishing Massachusetts approval.

By K-3 foundational skills materials, we mean:

· A standalone material that is used in daily core instruction for all students and can be packaged with knowledge-building/comprehension and writing instructional materials in order to create a comprehensive core curriculum package.

· A material that provides instruction in foundational skills only, which typically includes, but is not necessarily limited to, print concepts, phonological awareness (including phonemic awareness), phonics and decoding, automatic word recognition, and fluency.

· A material that provides a coherent, systematic scope and sequence for foundational skills instruction across the grade(s) it serves.

· A material that is used as the basis for core instruction in foundational skills, not as a supplement or as an intervention.

Under Chapter 113, qualifying materials must reflect evidence-based literacy instruction, meaning they are grounded in scientific research with a demonstrated record of improving student reading outcomes, and may not use three-cueing / MSV (context or picture-cue guessing, whole-word memorization) as a substitute for direct word identification (§1E½(a) and (b)).

Scope of Service:

DESE seeks a trusted, established, reliable evaluator of widely used K-3 foundational skills curricular materials that will:

· Provide results of existing evaluations of materials with educator-generated ratings of foundational skills materials’ alignment to evidence-based expectations for foundational skills instruction, including but not necessarily limited to print concepts, phonological awareness (including phonemic awareness), phonics and decoding (including advanced phonics), automatic word recognition, and fluency, along with clear and comprehensive documentation of the rationale for those ratings;

· Indicate whether and how its reviews screen for reliance on three-cueing / MSV approaches;

· Identify the rubric or review tool, including the version and date, and describe the skills and criteria it evaluates, the methodology by which ratings are determined, and the evidence that the tool is grounded in evidence-based literacy instruction and aligned to the statutory requirements of Chapter 113;

· Engage informally with DESE, for example, through periodic phone calls, to answer questions about those ratings and documentation and to provide further context as needed (e.g., explain or share the protocols used to generate ratings), and

· Deliver the reviews and ratings as an easy-to-navigate list or web page, and work with DESE to determine and create user-friendly placement of Massachusetts-specific information.

The reviews should assess K-3 foundational skills materials against criteria that include:

· Explicit instruction and regular practice in phonological and phonemic awareness.

· Explicit instruction and regular practice in phonics and, in Kindergarten, materials should also include explicit instruction and regular practice in print concepts.

· Frequent opportunities for students to practice and gain automatic word recognition (Grades K-3), for teachers to model fluency, and for students to practice building fluency (Grades 1-3).

· Lessons and activities that allow for high-quality, daily differentiation of foundational skills so all students achieve mastery of foundational skills.

· A coherent, systematic scope and sequence for foundational skills instruction across the grade levels served, reflecting a research-based progression of skills.

· No reliance on three-cueing or other context- or picture-cue guessing.

DESE intends to select a qualified partner and draw on the full set of materials that partner has reviewed to determine which foundational skills materials meet the statutory bar for the Approved List of K-3 Foundational Skills Materials. DESE will establish the threshold for Massachusetts approval based on the selected partner's ratings, review criteria, and documented rationales.

Budget:

These services will be provided at no cost to DESE for the duration of this contract.

The duration of this contract is one year with the option of up to four renewals.

Requirements:

1. Bidder is an established and respected organization and can demonstrate viability to continue to exist and publish reports for at least the next 5 years.

2. Bidder currently publishes reviews and ratings of the foundational skills curricula most commonly used nationwide and in Massachusetts

3. Reports and ratings of foundational skills materials and accompanying documentation are:

a. Generated by a thorough, transparent, consistent, and largely educator-driven process;

b. Focused on evidence-based literacy instruction as defined in §1E½(a);

c. Inclusive of all research-based reading areas for foundational skills as stated in the Scope of Service;

d. Structured to identify and exclude materials that rely on three-cueing / MSV as a substitute for direct word identification;

e. Structured to allow DESE to communicate a clear cut point for approval in Massachusetts (e.g., green/yellow/red or other clear-cut approval designation)

f. Visually appealing, easily navigable, and supportive of educators seeking information about products

4. Bidder provides a complete list of the foundational skills materials it has reviewed or plans to review, including:

a. materials with publicly available ratings or reviews

b. materials reviewed that did not meet the evaluator's threshold for quality

c. materials currently planned or in process for review, with anticipated publication timelines where available

d. materials reviewed but not published, where the respondent has a practice of not publishing for other reasons

5. Through its documented review procedures, Bidder demonstrates an intention and ability to review promising and emerging foundational skills products at a satisfactory cadence for at least the next 5 years.

6. Bidder is available for periodic phone calls with DESE and is willing to make Massachusetts-specific information available on the website.

Submission Requirements:

Please respond to prompts 1-5 below in narrative format, numbering your responses as they are numbered here. Please limit your response to 10 pages maximum. Links and attachments may be used and do not count against the 10-page limit.

1. Provide brief background on your organization. Provide evidence that your organization is established, respected, and is positioned to continue to exist and publish reports for at least the next 5 years.

2. Provide the web link to your publicly available reviews of Foundational Skills curricular materials. Provide evidence that you have reviewed, or have a plan to review, the foundational skills curricula most commonly used nationwide and in Massachusetts.

3. Describe the process and personnel involved in your evaluations of foundational skills materials. Demonstrate that the process is thorough, transparent, consistent, and largely educator-driven. Describe your process for identifying, scheduling, and reviewing new products and your timeline for producing new reports.

4. Provide the web link to your rubric for foundational skills materials, and describe how your reviews evaluate each of the K-3 foundational skills, including print concepts, phonological awareness (including phonemic awareness), phonics and decoding, automatic word recognition, and fluency, and how they assess a material’s evidence base consistent with §1E½(a). Describe how your reviews identify three-cueing / MSV approaches

5. Indicate whether you would be available for periodic phone calls with DESE and willing to make Massachusetts-specific information available on the website.

6. Required forms:

1. Attachment B – Contact information form (complete and upload with COMMBUYS submission 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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