30DOE-S2382 Q and A Answered_Final.pdf

QUESTION_NBR CREATED_BY QUESTION_SUBJECT QUESTION_TEXT ANSWER_TEXT

1 KACYKISH Reference Questionnaire Companies providing a reference for the proposing vendor are required to submit a completed Reference Questionnaire by July 10 to the ?email address in Section 2.? Section 2 of the form does not include an email address. Please confirm the email address that should be used.

References should be sent to j.smedes@admin.nv.gov

2 KACYKISH RFP Section 2.6.3

Section 2.6.3 of the RFP requires that the vendor follow large-scale assessment industry best practices. With the exception of non-standard answer documents (e.g., large print, Braille), please confirm that scannable answer documents are required for students that take the test on paper.

Scanable answer documents are not required.

3 WINWARDACADEMY Type of Assessments 2.1.3- Reduce the total number of assessments given to high school students- what assessments are you students currently taking and how often? ACT, once in High School

4 WINWARDACADEMY ACT or SAT?

5.1.1. The vendor must demonstrate how the College and Career Readiness Assessment will be aligned with widely accepted admissions requirements for colleges and universities and/or scholarship requirements, as well as predict student preparedness for college and career. Will provide consistent data to compare student progress year over year. Will provide data for schools and districts to make instructional decisions during a student?s 12th grade year. Will reduce the number of assessments given to high school students. Vendor must also demonstrate an alignment with the Nevada Academic Content Standards in at least English Language Arts and Mathematics. Are they looking for something that is specifically NOT an ACT or SAT?

A proposal should adress all element contained in the Request for Proposal.

5 WINWARDACADEMY Current asessements being used 3.1- Vendors must submit a preliminary project timeline to administer the college and career readiness assessment. - What have yo used in the past to adminster college and career readiness assessment they used in the past?

ACT is the current Nevada High School assessment.

6 WINWARDACADEMY TAC Meetings 4.1.7- Attendance at all Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) meetings each contract year when requested by the SEA.- When/how often are these?

TAC meetings are scheduled as needed by the Department and have not exceeded two meetings per year.

7 WINWARDACADEMY Meeting Rooms

4.1.8- The vendor will pay for meeting room and meals provided for the meeting topics to include all matters and questions related to the administration, scoring, and reporting of the solution.- Does this requires for vendor to be in person? Not via zoom, even if they pay for meeting room and provide meals? In addition, do you all have access to meeting rooms or do we have to identify and find meeting room?

The vendor expected to attend in person. Any decision on modifying meeting format is at the discretion of the Department.

8 WINWARDACADEMY Virtua Meetings? 4.1.9. Attendance at relevant Test Security and Administration trainings. - When and how often are these? Virtual or live?

Virtual, once a year, but may incldue any number of regional trainings as needed.

9 WINWARDACADEMY State Identified Portal

5.3.2. The vendor must score all assessments. The vendor must utilize the State identified portal for secure data transfer to and from Department and to and from School districts. - What options do you have around this? What portal is currently used? Our platform is an online platform.

At this time, the Department uses a SharePoint portal.

10 WINWARDACADEMY Eligibility

5.2.8. Include a demonstrable proof: how many state-wide testing irregularities did the vendor have in the last five years; describe in detail what happened, the impact on the SEA and LEAs; what remediation was completed to ensure it would not happen again.- What if we do not have this? Can we still apply?

Nevada has had no state-wide testing irregularities in the last 5 years.

11 WINWARDACADEMY Qualification

We offer an award-winning, online research-based personalized learning platform with English (standard writing conventions and ability to revise and edit texts), Math (content from Algebra I through Trigonometry), Reading (ability to read closely, synthesize information from multiple sources, and logically reason about texts), Writing (ability to evaluate multiple perspectives and craft an essay response), and Science (ability to interpret, analyze, evaluate, reason, and problem solve from texts, figures, tables, and diagrams) curriculum and platform features that emphasize the skills and content knowledge needed for college and career readiness (CCR) and 16 full-length ACT and SAT practice exams testing CCR content knowledge along with Professional Development. Do we qualify for this bid?

Vendors who believe they are qualified should propose.

QUESTION_NBR CREATED_BY QUESTION_SUBJECT QUESTION_TEXT ANSWER_TEXT

12 COLLEGEBOARD1 Proprietary information Should the propriety information section include the entire technical proposal with confidential information, or should it only contain the confidential information redacted from the main technical proposal?

The state will accept either: (a) a technical proposal with no confidenital information cross-referenced to a confidential propsoal with only confidenital information or (b) a full technical proposal marked confidential and a redacted version for public release.

13 COLLEGEBOARD1 Technical proposal Can links be included in the technical proposal in lieu of attachments? Attachements are required, links may be provided additionally.

14 PROPOSALS Confidential information

We understand per RFP section 8.7.1 that Vendor Financial Information is designated as confidential business information. As such, do vendors still need to list and provide justification for keeping confidential the Vendor Financial Information (D&B Number, P&L Statements, Balance Statements etc.) on the Confidentiality and Certification of Indemnification form?

All information requiested in section 8.7.1 has been declared confidential by the Administrator and additional justification is not required

15 PROPOSALS Administrative fee In the Terms and Conditions document, section 3.2.1 indicates that a 1% Administrative Fee may be imposed. Can the State please confirm whether or not that fee will be imposed on this contract?

This fee does not apply.

16 PROPOSALS Standard setting Does the State anticipate that a standard setting will be required for this program? Yes.

17 PROPOSALS Print quantities Please provide the anticipated print quantities for large print assessment booklets for vision-impaired students and Braille assessment booklets.

The total number of large print and Braille test materials for grades 3-8 ELA and Math and grades 3,5,and high school Science was approximately 123.

30DOE-S2382 College and Career Readiness High School Assessment Bid Q&A

18 PROPOSALS Graduation requirement Can NDE confirm that student participation in the HS assessment is a graduation requirement?

NRS 390.610 requires students to participate in the CCR assessment in order to earn Nevada’s standard high school diploma.

19 PROPOSALS TAC meetings At how many annual TAC meetings will vendor attendance/participation be required? TAC meetings are scheduled as needed by the Department and have not exceeded two meetings per year.

20 PROPOSALS Accommodations Is computer-based Refreshable Braille a desired accommodation? Paper is desirable; a vendor may propose a computer-based solution.

21 PROPOSALS@PEARS

ON.COM RFP p. 2, 2. Project Overview Will NDE please confirm the first admin is Spring 2024? At this time Spring 2024 is the anticipated administration of the selected and approved solution.

22 PROPOSALS@PEARS

ON.COM RFP p. 7, 8.8. Business References Are business references from organizations used as subcontractors acceptable? No.

23 PROPOSALS@PEARS

ON.COM

Attachments for Signature p. 3, Vendor Information, 2.4 Current or Former Employee

Regarding the requirement of disclosure of current or prior state employees, Pearson presumes that this requirement only applies to key personnel involved in the overall management and administration of the tasks to be performed under the contract and not to temporary employees that may serve as scorers, item writers, trainers, and other positions. Is this correct?

Yes.

24 PROPOSALS@PEARS

ON.COM RFP p. 5, 7.4. Indemnification

Regarding Pearson?s obligation to indemnify the State, if there is some degree of fault shared between the State and Pearson, is it correct to assume that Pearson is only responsible to indemnify up to the extent to which Pearson is the cause of the damage or the breach and not the portion for which the State is at fault?

The duty to defend applies no matter the apportionment of responsibility, but it is correct that the duty of indemnification relates to the extent the vendor is responsible.

25 PROPOSALS@PEARS

ON.COM General

Does the State accept that Pearson is not transferring ownership rights in, and retains all intellectual property rights and exclusive ownership of any and all pre-existing intellectual property, derivatives thereof, and any newly developed intellectual property during the course of the completion of the contract that is provided to the State or any end user including a school or district?

The Department must be provided access to all relevant materials required for Federal Peer Review.

Bid Q&A for Export Report