30DOE-S2100 RFP Online Assessments Career and Technical Education Employability and Technical Skills.docx

STATE OF NEVADA

DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATION

Purchasing Division 515 East Musser Street, Suite 300 │ Carson City, NV 89701 Phone: 775-684-0170 │ Fax: 775-684-0188

Solicitation: 30DOE-S2100 For Online Assessments: Career and Technical Education Employability and Technical Skills

Release Date: 07/20/2022 Deadline for Submission and Opening Date and Time: 08/16/2022 @ 2:00 pm

Single point of contact for the solicitation:

Joel Smedes, Purchasing Officer Phone, 775-6840172 Email Address, j.smedes@admin.nv.gov

(TTY for Deaf and Hard of Hearing, 800-326-6868 Ask the relay agent to dial, 1-775-515-5173/V.)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

APPLICABLE REGULATIONS GOVERNING PROCUREMENT

All applicable Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) and Nevada Administrative Code (NAC) documentation can be found at: www.leg.state.nv.us/law1.cfm.

Prospective vendors are advised to review Nevada’s ethical standards requirements, including but not limited to NRS 281A, NRS 333.800, and NAC 333.155.

PROJECT OVERVIEW

The State of Nevada Purchasing Division, on behalf of on behalf of the Nevada Department of Education (NDE), Office of Career Readiness, Adult Learning, and Education Options (CRALEO) is seeking proposals from qualified vendors for two separate scopes of work (SOW).

Online Career and Technical Education (CTE) employability skills assessments for students who complete a CTE course sequence in accordance with NAC 389.800. as described in the scope of work and attachments.

Online Career and Technical Education (CTE) technical skills assessments for students who complete a CTE course sequence in accordance with NAC 389.800. as described in the scope of work and attachments.

The State intends to award up to two (2) contracts in conjunction with this Request for Proposals (RFP), as determined in the best interests of the State. NDE shall administer the contract(s) resulting from this solicitation. The resulting contract(s) are expected to be for a contract term of two years beginning with the 2022-2023 school year through the school year of 2023-2024, with the project being scheduled to end June 30, 2024, subject to Board of Examiners approval.

AGENCY BACKGROUND

The Nevada Department of Education (NDE) is an executive state agency that works to provide comprehensive pre-K-12 programs and supports. NDE develops and implements education policy, conducts educator licensure, and supports students, families, schools, educators, and districts via programmatic and technical supports. This work supports our mission to improve student achievement and educator effectiveness by ensuring opportunities, facilitating learning, and promoting excellence.

PROJECT BACKGROUND

CRALEO has reached a point within Nevada’s CTE program development and is responding to Nevada’s workforce and labor market needs. Creating more access and equity for students has required NDE to review, combine, and revise standards for CTE programs of study, resulting in strategically transitioning out of the current assessment model.

Per the Nevada Administrative Code 389.800, a CTE program of study must include instruction in employability skills for career readiness and measure the proficiency of the student. In addition, an employability skills assessment is tied to earning the Career and College Ready Diploma and CTE articulated college credits.

A technical skills assessment is tied to earning the Career and College Ready Diploma and CTE articulated college credits.

To phase out of the current assessment model in a way that will minimize impact that this could have on secondary students, two-year contracts with qualified vendor are required. At the end of the 2-year contracts, a new model will be determined and developed.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

Provide employability skills assessments and a technical skills assessment for students who complete a CTE course sequence in accordance with NAC 389.800. The qualified vendor must be able to deliver the following.

Provide online assessment delivery Conduct a review of state standards for assessment alignment.

Provide ongoing technical assistance support throughout the process to the Nevada CTE test coordinator, and local school coordinators to ensure an appropriate level of technical support is available during all testing times.

Ensure student data is kept confidential and will be securely transmitted via NDE Bighorn Portal and/or the vendor’s secure portal.

Provide accommodations (i.e., extra time, text-to-speech, enlarged graphics, four-function calculator) Secure browser capability.

Delivery via multiple devices (desktop workstations, Chromebooks, and laptops) Immediate score results reporting.

Provide a complete statewide assessment results file to CRALEO at the end of each school year.

STATE RESOURCES

Project Manager. A Project Manager has been appointed to coordinate the activities of all individuals and organizations involved in the project. The Project Manager shall provide on-going daily direction and oversight to State project staff and Contractor and report progress and problems to the Steering Committee. The Project Manager shall coordinate all organizations involved in the project and ensure resource requirements are identified and addressed. The Project Manager sets priorities when choices of alternatives are required.

SYSTEM REQUIRMENTS

VENDOR RESPONSE TO SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Vendor shall explain in sufficient detail how Vendor shall satisfy project requirements described below. If subcontractors shall be used for any tasks, vendors shall indicate what tasks and the percentage of time subcontractor(s) shall spend on those tasks.

COMPUTING PLATFORM

The Computing Platform – System Requirements Section should include, at a minimum:

Agency project platform.

LAN/WAN.

Output requirements; and Any other requirements, as applicable.

The vendor must be able to provide a secure online assessment delivery.

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

The System Requirements – Technical Requirements Section should include, at a minimum:

Presentation requirements.

Data requirements.

Processing requirements.

Reporting architecture.

Programming requirements.

Development environment.

Testing environment.

Training environment.

Error control.

On-line help.

System interfaces.

Search tools; and Any other requirements, as applicable.

FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS

Once the vendor has been selected, business rules will be determined. NDE will supply the vendor with the required student data via Bighorn, NDE’s secured portal or the vendor’s secured portal

SCOPE OF WORK

See two separate Scope of Work attachments.

Cost Proposal (s)

Employability Skills Assessment

Vendors must submit a per-student cost for the CTE employability skills assessment for each fiscal year. For aggregate costs associated with an entire class/year of students, the projected student population of 13,000 students should be used and noted in the cost provided. Any support costs for products or services not included in the per-student cost for the technical skills assessment should be listed on a fee schedule with the following information:

Listing of each product or service.

Annual licensing fee, if applicable.

Annual maintenance fee.

The Cost Schedule should include all of the following:

Development and Data Conversion Environments.

Integration, System Test and User Acceptance Testing (UAT) Environments.

Training Environment.

Production Environment.

Other Associated Costs.

Rate Schedule for Changes Orders.

Annual Product Licensing and Maintenance.

Technical Skills Assessment

Vendors must submit a per-student cost for the CTE technical skills assessment for each fiscal year. For aggregate costs associated with an entire class/year of students, the projected student population of 16,000 students should be used and noted in the cost provided. Any support costs for products or services not included in the per-student cost for the technical skills assessment should be listed on a fee schedule with the following information:

Listing of each product or service.

Annual licensing fee, if applicable.

Annual maintenance fee.

The Cost Schedule should include all of the following:

Development and Data Conversion Environments.

Integration, System Test and User Acceptance Testing (UAT) Environments.

Training Environment.

Production Environment.

Other Associated Costs.

Rate Schedule for Changes Orders.

Annual Product Licensing and Maintenance.

VENDOR DOCUMENTATION

PRELIMINARY PROJECT PLAN

Vendor shall submit a preliminary project plan as part of the proposal, including, but not limited to:

Gantt charts that show all proposed project activities Planning methodologies Milestones Task conflicts and/or interdependencies Estimated time frame for each task identified in Scope of Work Overall estimated time frame from project start to completion for both Vendor and State activities, including strategies to avoid schedule slippage

Vendors shall provide a written plan addressing the roles and responsibilities and method of communication between the contractor and any subcontractor(s).

The preliminary project plan shall be incorporated into the contract.

The first project deliverable is the finalized detailed project plan that shall include fixed deliverable due dates for all subsequent project tasks as defined in Scope of Work. The contract shall be amended to include the State approved detailed project plan.

Vendors shall identify all potential risks associated with the project, their proposed plan to mitigate the potential risks and include recommended strategies for managing those risks.

Vendors shall provide information on the staff that shall be located onsite in Carson City. If staff shall be located at remote locations, vendors shall include specific information on plans to accommodate the exchange of information and transfer of technical and procedural knowledge. The State encourages alternate methods of communication other than in person meetings, such as transmission of documents via email and teleconferencing, as appropriate.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT. Vendors shall describe the project management methodology and processes utilized for:

Project integration to ensure that the various elements of the project are properly coordinated.

Project scope to ensure that the project includes all the work required and only the work required to complete the project successfully.

Time management to ensure timely completion of the project. Include defining activities, estimating activity duration, developing and controlling the project schedule.

Management of contractor and/or subcontractor issues and resolution process.

Responding to and covering requested changes in the project time frames.

Responding to State generated issues.

Cost management to ensure that the project is completed within the approved budget. Include resource planning, cost estimating, cost budgeting and cost control.

Resource management to ensure the most effective use of people involved in the project including subcontractors.

Communications management to ensure effective information generation, documentation, storage, transmission, and disposal of project information.

Risk management to ensure that risks are identified, planned for, analyzed, communicated, and acted upon effectively.

QUALITY ASSURANCE. Vendors shall describe the quality assurance methodology and processes utilized to ensure that the project shall satisfy State requirements as outlined in Scope of Work.

METRICS MANAGEMENT. Vendors shall describe the metrics management methodology and processes utilized to satisfy State requirements as outlined in Scope of Work. The methodology shall include the metrics captured and how they are tracked and measured.

DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT PROCESSES. Vendors shall describe the methodology, processes and tools utilized for:

Analyzing potential solutions, including identifying alternatives for evaluation in addition to those suggested by the State.

Developing a detailed operational concept of the interaction of the system, the user and the environment that satisfies the operational need.

Identifying the key design issues that shall be resolved to support successful development of the system.

Integrating the disciplines that are essential to system functional requirements definition.

CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT. Vendors shall describe the methodology, processes and tools utilized for:

Control of changes to requirements, design, and code Control of interface changes Traceability of requirements, design, and code Tools to help control versions, and builds Parameters established for regression testing Baselines established for tools, change log and modules Documentation of the change request process including check in/out, review, and regular testing Documentation of the change control board and change proposal process Change log that tracks open/closed change requests.

ATTACHMENTS

ATTACHMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE. To be read and not returned.

Scope of Work Employability Skills Assessment Scope of Work Technical Skills Assessment Terms and Conditions for Services

ATTACHMENTS FOR REVIEW. To be read and not returned (unless redlining).

Contract Form Insurance Schedule

PROPOSAL ATTACHMENTS. To be completed and returned.

Proposed Staff Resume Reference Questionnaire Attachments for Signature

Vendor Information Response Vendor Certifications Certification Regarding Lobbying Confidentiality and Certification of Indemnification

TIMELINE

QUESTIONS. All questions regarding this solicitation shall be submitted using the Bid Q&A feature in NevadaEPro.

TIMELINE. The following represents the proposed timeline for this project.

All times stated are Pacific Time (PT).

These dates represent a tentative schedule of events.

The State reserves the right to modify these dates at any time.

EVALUATION

Evaluation and scoring are conducted in accordance with NRS 333.335 and NAC 333.160-333.165.

Proposals shall be kept confidential until a contract is awarded.

In the event the solicitation is withdrawn prior to award, proposals remain confidential.

The evaluation committee is an independent committee established to evaluate and score proposals submitted in response to the solicitation.

Financial stability shall be scored on a pass/fail basis.

Proposals shall be consistently evaluated and scored based upon the following factors and relative weights.

Cost proposals will be evaluated based on the following formula.

Cost Factor Weight x (Lowest Cost Submitted by a Vendor / Proposer Total Cost) = Cost Score

NEVADA-BASED BUSINESS PREFERENCE

The State awards a five percent (5%) preference to Nevada-based businesses pursuant to NRS 333.3351 to 333.3356, inclusive.

Nevada-based business is defined in NRS 333.3352(1).

The term ‘principal place of business’ has the meaning outlined by the United States Supreme Court in Hertz Corp v. Friend, 559 U.S. 77 (2010), typically meaning a business’s corporate headquarters.

To claim this preference a vendor must indicate it on their vendor account and submitted Quote in NevadaEPro.

This preference cannot be combined with any other preference, granted for the award of a contract using federal funds, or granted for the award of a contract procured on a multi-state basis.

INVERSE PREFERENCE

The State applies an inverse preference to vendors that have a principal place of business in a state other than Nevada and that state applies an in-state preference not afforded to Nevada based vendors, pursuant to AB28 passed in the 81st session of the Nevada Legislature.

The amount of the inverse preference is correlated to the amount of preference applied in the other state.

Vendors who meet this criterion must indicated it on their submitted Quote in NevadaEPro.

This preference cannot be combined with any other preference, granted for the award of a contract using federal funds, or granted for the award of a contract procured on a multi-state basis.

MANDATORY MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

Pursuant to NRS 333.311 a contact cannot be awarded to a proposal that does not comply with the requirements listed in this section. Proposal shall include confirmation of compliance with all mandatory minimum requirements.

NEVADA LAW AND STATE INDEMNITY. Pursuant to NRS 333.339, any contract that is entered into may not: (1) Require the filing of any action or the arbitration of any dispute that arises from the contract to be instituted or heard in another state or nation; or (2) Require the State to indemnify another party against liability for damages.

NO BOYCOTT OF ISRAEL. Pursuant to NRS 333.338, the State of Nevada cannot enter a contract with a company unless that company agrees for the duration of the contract not to engage in a boycott of Israel. By submitting a proposal or bid, vendor agrees that if it is awarded a contract, it will not engage in a boycott of Israel as defined in NRS 333.338(3)(a).

INDEMNIFICATION. Required contract terms on Indemnification: "To the fullest extent permitted by law, Contractor shall indemnify, hold harmless and defend, not excluding the State’s right to participate, the State from and against all liability, claims, actions, damages, losses, and expenses, including, without limitation, reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs, arising out of any breach of the obligations of Contractor under this contract, or any alleged negligent or willful acts or omissions of Contractor, its officers, employees and agents. Contractor’s obligation to indemnify the State shall apply in all cases except for claims arising solely from the State’s own negligence or willful misconduct. Contractor waives any rights of subrogation against the State. Contractor’s duty to defend begins when the State requests defense of any claim arising from this Contract."

LIMITED LIABILITY. Required contract terms on Limited Liability: "The State will not waive and intends to assert available NRS Chapter 41 liability limitations in all cases. Contract liability of both parties shall not be subject to punitive damages. Damages for any State breach shall never exceed the amount of funds appropriated for payment under this Contract, but not yet paid to Contractor, for the Fiscal Year budget in existence at the time of the breach. Contractor’s tort liability shall not be limited."

CONTRACT RESPONSIBILITY. Awarded vendor shall be the sole point of contract responsibility. The State shall look solely to the awarded vendor for the performance of all contractual obligations which may result from an award based on this solicitation, and the awarded vendor shall not be relieved for the non-performance of any or all subcontractors.

DATA ENCRYPTION. State IT requires that data be encrypted in transit and in rest.

STATESIDE DATA. State IT requires that State data assets must be maintained in the United States and data will not be held offshore.

NEVADA BUSINESS LICENSE. Pursuant to NRS 353.007, prior to contract execution awarded vendor must hold a state business license pursuant to NRS chapter 76 unless exempted by NRS 76.100(7)(b).

DISCLOSURE. Each vendor shall include in its proposal a complete disclosure of any alleged significant prior or ongoing contract failures, contract breaches, any civil or criminal litigation or investigations pending which involves the vendor or in which the vendor has been judged guilty or liable.

CRITICAL ITEMS

In addition to the Scope of Work and Attachments, the items listed in this section are critical to the success of the project. These items will be used in evaluating and scoring the proposal. Vendor proposal should address items in this section in enough detail to provide evaluators an accurate understanding of vendor capabilities. Proposals that fail to sufficiently respond to these items may be considered non-responsive.

CONTRACT FORM. The State strongly prefers vendors agree to the terms of the attached Contract Form as is. Ability to agree to contract terms is a high priority to the State. Vendors who cannot agree to the contract as is must include a redlined Word version of the attached Contract Form with their proposal response. To the extent a vendor has prior contractual dealings with the State, no assumption should be made that terms outside those provided herein have any influence on this project.

INSURANCE SCHEDULE

The State strongly prefers vendors agree to the terms of the attached Insurance Schedule as is. Vendors who cannot agree must explain which areas are causing non-compliance and attach a red line if necessary.

Awarded vendor shall maintain, for the duration of the contract, insurance coverages as set forth in the fully executed contract.

Work on the contract shall not begin until after the awarded vendor has submitted acceptable evidence of the required insurance coverages.

Failure to maintain any required insurance coverage or acceptable alternative method of insurance shall be deemed a breach of contract.

VENDOR BACKGROUND

Company background/history and why vendor is qualified to provide the services described in this solicitation.

Provide a brief description of the length of time vendor has been providing services described in this solicitation to the public and/or private sector.

VENDOR STAFF RESUMES

A resume shall be included for each proposed key personnel, including, at a minimum, a Project Manager and an Implementation Lead see Proposed Staff Resume.

A resume shall also be included for any proposed key subcontractor personnel.

SUBCONTRACTORS

Subcontractors are defined as a third party, not directly employed by the contractor, who shall provide services identified in this solicitation. This does not include third parties who provide support or incidental services to the contractor.

Proposal should include a completed Vendor Information Response form for each subcontractor.

Vendor shall not allow any subcontractor to commence work until all insurance required of the subcontractor is provided to the vendor.

Vendor proposal shall identify specific requirements of the project for which each subcontractor shall perform services.

How the work of any subcontractor(s) shall be supervised How channels of communication shall be maintained How compliance with contracts terms and conditions will be assured Previous experience with subcontractor(s)

VENDOR FINANCIAL INFORMATION

The information requested in this section is designated as confidential business information by the Administrator pursuant to NRS 333.020(5)(b) and is not public information pursuant to NRS 333.333.

This information should be submitted as a separate attachment, flagged as confidential in NevadaEPro.

Proposing vendor shall provide the following financial information and documentation:

Dun and Bradstreet Number Federal Tax Identification Number The last two (2) full years and current year interim:

1. Profit and Loss Statements

2. Balance Statements

BUSINESS REFERENCES

The information requested in this section is designated as confidential business information by the Administrator pursuant to NRS 333.020(5)(b) and is not public information pursuant to NRS 333.333.

Vendors shall provide a minimum of three (3) business references from similar projects performed for private and/or public sector clients within the last five (5) years, see Reference Questionnaire.

The purpose of these references is to document relevant experience and aid in the evaluation process.

Business references should return Reference Questionnaire directly to Single Point of Contact via email.

Business references will not be accepted directly from proposing vendor.

The State will not disclose submitted references, but will confirm if a reference has been received.

The State reserves the right to contact references during evaluation.

SUBMISSION CHECKLIST

This section identifies documents that shall be submitted to be considered responsive. Vendors are encouraged to review all requirements to ensure all requested information is included in their response.

Proposals must be submitted as a Quote through NevadaEPro, https://NevadaEPro.com.

Vendors are encouraged to submit a single file attachment per proposal section if possible.

Technical proposal information and Cost proposal information shall not be included in the same attachment.

Cost proposal attachment shall not be flagged as confidential in NevadaEPro.

Additional attachments may be included, but are discouraged and should be kept to a minimum.

TECHNICAL PROPOSAL

Title Page Table of Contents Response to Mandatory Minimum Requirements Response to Critical Items Response to Scope of Work Proposed Staff Resumes Other Informational Material

PROPRIETARY INFORMATION. If necessary. Attachment should be flagged confidential in NevadaEPro.

Title Page Table of Contents Trade Secret information, cross referenced to the technical proposal

COST PROPOSAL

VENDOR FINANCIAL INFORMATION. Attachment should be flagged confidential in NevadaEPro.

SIGNED ATTACHMENTS

Vendor Information Response Vendor Certifications Confidentiality and Certification of Indemnification Certification Regarding Lobbying

OTHER ATTACHMENTS. If necessary, not recommended.

REFERENCE QUESTIONNAIRES. Not submitted directly by vendor.

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