AMENDMENT 1.doc

SAP

State of South Carolina

Request for Proposal Amendment #1

Solicitation Number:

Date Issued:

Procurement Officer:

Phone:

E-Mail Address:

Mailing Address:

5400022489 2/17/2022 Faith Williams

803 896-6677 fwilliams@mmo.sc.gov SFAA, Div. of Procurement Services, OSP 1201 Main Street, Suite 600 Columbia SC 29201

DESCRIPTION: MULTILINGUAL LEARNER PROGRAM DATA MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

USING GOVERNMENTAL UNIT: SC Department of Education Admin

The Term "Offer" Means Your "Bid" or "Proposal". Unless submitted on-line, your offer must be submitted in a sealed package. Solicitation Number & Opening Date must appear on package exterior. See "Submitting Your Offer" provision.

SUBMIT YOUR OFFER ON-LINE AT THE FOLLOWING URL: http://www.procurement.sc.gov

SUBMIT OFFER BY (Opening Date/Time): 03/10/2022 11:00 AM EST (See "Deadline For Submission Of Offer" provision)

QUESTIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY: 02/11/2022 3:00 PM EST Send emails to: fwilliams@mmo.sc.gov (See "Questions From Offerors" provision)

NUMBER OF COPIES TO BE SUBMITTED ON-LINE BID

CONFERENCE TYPE: Not Applicable

(As appropriate, see "Conferences - Pre-Bid/Proposal" & "Site Visit" provisions) LOCATION: Not Applicable

You must submit a signed copy of this form with Your Offer. By signing, You agree to be bound by the terms of the Solicitation. You agree to hold Your Offer open for a minimum of one hundred twenty (120) calendar days after the Opening Date. (See "Signing Your Offer" provision.)

NAME OF OFFEROR

(full legal name of business submitting the offer) Any award issued will be issued to, and the contract will be formed with, the entity identified as the Offeror. The entity named as the offeror must be a single and distinct legal entity. Do not use the name of a branch office or a division of a larger entity if the branch or division is not a separate legal entity, i.e., a separate corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, etc.

AUTHORIZED SIGNATURE

(Person must be authorized to submit binding offer to contract on behalf of Offeror.)

DATE SIGNED

TITLE

(business title of person signing above)

STATE VENDOR NO.

(Register to Obtain S.C. Vendor No. at www.procurement.sc.gov)

PRINTED NAME

(printed name of person signing above)

STATE OF INCORPORATION

(If you are a corporation, identify the state of incorporation.)

OFFEROR'S TYPE OF ENTITY: (Check one) (See "Signing Your Offer" provision.)

___ Sole Proprietorship ___ Partnership ___ Other_____________________________

___ Corporate entity (not tax-exempt) ___ Corporation (tax-exempt) ___ Government entity (federal, state, or local)

COVER PAGE – ON-LINE ONLY (MAR. 2015)SAP

AMENDMENTS TO SOLICITATION (JANUARY 2006) (a) The Solicitation may be amended at any time prior to opening. All actual and prospective Offerors should monitor the following web site for the issuance of Amendments: www.procurement.sc.gov . (b) Offerors shall acknowledge receipt of any amendment to this solicitation (1) by signing and returning the amendment, (2) by identifying the amendment number and date in the space provided for this purpose on Page Two, (3) by letter, or (4) by submitting a bid that indicates in some way that the bidder received the amendment. (c) If this solicitation is amended, then all terms and conditions which are not modified remain unchanged.

THE SOLICITATION IS AMENDED AS PROVIDED HEREIN. INFORMATION OR CHANGES RESULTING FROM QUESTIONS WILL BE SHOWN IN A QUESTION-AND-ANSWER FORMAT. ALL QUESTIONS RECEIVED HAVE BEEN REPRINTED BELOW. THE “STATE’S RESPONSE” SHOULD BE READ WITHOUT REFERENCE TO THE QUESTIONS. THE QUESTIONS ARE INCLUDED SOLELY TO PROVIDE A CROSS-REFERENCE TO THE POTENTIAL OFFEROR THAT SUBMITTED THE QUESTION. QUESTIONS DO NOT FORM A PART OF THE CONTRACT; THE “STATE’S RESPONSE” DOES. ANY RESTATEMENT OF PART OR ALL OF AN EXISTING PROVISION OF THE SOLICITATION IN AN ANSWER DOES NOT MODIFY THE ORIGINAL PROVISION EXCEPT AS FOLLOWS: UNDERLINED TEXT IS ADDED TO THE ORIGINAL PROVISON. STRICKEN TEXT IS DELETED.

CHANGES TO THE SOLICITATION: ANSWER QUESTIONS SUBMITTED

1. Do you anticipate the DMIP tool being deployed to all LEAs in SC as part of mandatory requirement, or only for those LEAs that “opt-in”? If the former, how would you ask us to plan the rollout and training?

The State’s Response: The DMIP will be fully operational in all LEAs by the 2023-2024 school year. During the 2022-2023 school year, districts will be able to “opt-in”. Rollout and training will be provided to all districts in stages:

· Title III Coordinators

· Multilingual Learner Program Coordinator/Coaches (MLPC)

· Multilingual Learner Program Specialists (MLPS)/ ESOL Teachers

· Content teachers and administrators

All districts implementing the DMIP in 2022-2023 will participate in training.

Training for all districts will continue in 2023-2024 with ongoing technical assistance for the duration of the contract.

The SCDE will run a 135 – day count pulled from the ‘English Proficiency Level (PL)’ field on the SC Student Information page and prepare for a True Up to be reviewed each July for the active students in the system using these published numbers.

2. DMIP User Interface p. 18 Provide a fully customizable data dashboard for all users based on specific needs (state, LEA district and school administration, MLPS, and content teacher levels).

For dashboards, what are you hoping to see at the SEA-level? Are there particular trends the SEA wants to see aggregated across districts, or is the main focus on being able to observe trends at each LEA?

The State’s Response: The SEA needs a visual presentation which shows a summary of information about the MLs for each LEA. Examples include:

· percentage of MLs who increase overall ELP composite score yearly over the years of the contract

· South Carolina accountability information based on number of years in a Multilingual Learner Program within an LEA

· Data that can be drilled down to the details of the student while retaining Personal Identifiable Information (PII).

· A snapshot of current trends across LEAs

3. DMIP User Interface p. 18 Allow users to create, save, sign, and print ILAPs.

In clarifying the need for ‘electronic signatures for ILAPs’, will an electronic signature memorializing the ILAP meeting achieve your desired result? Related, who must sign the ILAP documentation?

The State’s Response:

· Multilingual Learner Program Specialists (MLPS), previously known as ESOL teacher, and Content Teacher(s)

· Each participant signing the ILAP must have a unique log in to sign the document

· All participants must indicate they know the result of the signature

4. Will technology integration with the State SIS be performed at the state level, with a single “pipe” to the SEA, or will data integration need to happen at the LEA level?

The State’s Response: South Carolina has a two-tiered Ed-Fi ODS and offers a deidentified test ODS to certify against. The application should integrate using the Ed-Fi Application Program Interface (Ed-Fi API) Information describing South Carolina’s implementation can be found here Ed-Fi In South Carolina - South Carolina Department of Education - 02/13/2022 9:21 AM (sc.gov).

5. Scope of Solicitation p. 6 An estimated number of users for 2022–23 are 4,000 administrators (to include school and district administrators, state staff) and at least 50,000 teachers.

Are Charter Schools included in this number? In the DMIP, do you desire Charter Schools to be ‘organized’ under the LEA where their charter resides?

The State’s Response: This estimated number includes SC Public Charter School District, Erskine and Limestone Charter and should be ‘organized’ under their own ‘account.’ These districts will also be counted in the 135 – day to prepare for the True Up each July.

6. DMIP Videos & Resources p. 18 include a list of videos and resources referenced by academic content area, grade span, ML language proficiency levels and South Caroling state standards.

Is content expected to meet South Carolina State Standards, WIDA Standards, or both?

The State’s Response: Content must provide best practices for MLs, which includes WIDA ELD Standards, where teachers access a strategy to embed within a lesson teaching a South Carolina State Standards. SC content standards are published in IMS Global’s CASE format and are available here. https://standards.ed.sc.gov/align/#/SCDOE/home or here Frost align : Taxonomies (sc.gov)

7. Technical & Support Specifications p. 18 Meet Federal and state of South Carolina’s accessibility laws and standards for users with disabilities including closed-captioned videos.

Can SCDE provide a link to the state’s accessibility laws and standards, or a list of accessibility features that you are seeking?

The State’s Response: The link can be found at https://ed.sc.gov/about/division-of-data-technology-agency-operations/chief-information-office/total-quality-management/district-web-requirements/web-accessibility-resources/

8. Technical & Support Specifications p. 19 Have the flexibility to work with other technologies, as needed by the SCDE and LEAs.

Can SCDE be more specific and/or provide examples?

The State’s Response: SCDE has adopted IMS Global’s LTI standard and content can be linked and distributed through that interface. A partial description of Ed-Fi reporting fields can be found here: https://techdocs.ed-fi.org/display/EFDS32/Alternative+and+Supplemental+Services+Domain+-+Entities%2C+References%2C+and+Descriptors

Additional support can be accessed through For Vendors | Ed-Fi Alliance

The Instructional Hub, formerly known as the Learning Object Repository (LOR) utilizes LTI Lite.

9. Technical & Support Specifications p. 19 Application Programming Interface (API): ability to add, update, and delete users.

What is the use case the SDCE desires to support by way of such an API? Is there a need for an API to manage users that way, vs a UI capability in the software facing (e.g. district admins)?

The State’s Response: The SCDE is exploring a SSO solution and increasing data access, flexibility and security using API’s this minimally acceptable access ensures forward compatibility with large scale user maintenance.

10. On page 23 of the RFP it states that the Business Proposal (which includes all costs) is worth up to 20 points on the scoring matrix. However, there is no matrix or formula of how those points will be calculated which leaves scoring open to subjective scoring. Pricing on Proposals is generally very formulaic and not subjective in nature. Would it be possible to include the formula for the 20 possible points will be calculated or confirm that the Business Proposal point scoring will be subjective in nature?

The State’s Response: See below as an example on how scoring is addressed.

11. Page 18 of the RFP includes the following section in the Mandatory System Requirements:

DMIP Videos and Resources

· Feature videos and resources that highlight research-based best-practices for MLs.

· Include videos with a diverse student population, including students of MLs, different races, students with disabilities in an inclusion setting, and multilingual learners with disabilities (MLWD) in special education classroom settings (including, self-contained and co-teaching classrooms).

· Feature diverse classrooms, including urban and rural settings, classrooms with high percentages of socioeconomically disadvantaged students, and early childhood classrooms. Include videos of various grade spans (elementary, middle, high) and academic content areas (math, English Language Arts, science, social studies, career technology education, visual and performing arts, world language, health and physical education, etc.).

· Include a list of videos and resources referenced by academic content area, grade span, ML language proficiency levels and South Caroling state standards.

· Ensure resources must be in pdf or Word format, with the option to print.

This section breaks into three main requirements

· the ability to deliver the videos and content in the proposed system;

· The production of the actual videos and resources; and

· The content/scripting of the videos and resources for research-based Best Practices for the Multilingual Program

It is clear that the capability of hosting/modifying/deactivating the videos and content is a system requirement and that the vendor selected would produce the videos and resources. Would the SDCOE be involved in providing subject matter expertise developing the Best Practices content/scripting for the videos and resources to be produced or would the vendor be responsible for providing that subject matter expertise?

The State’s Response: The vendor would be responsible for providing the subject matter expertise. The SCDE would review the content shared to ensure that it aligns with SCDE policy and with appropriate best practices for MLs.

12. Certifications: Are we limited to working with vendors that are certified as South Carolina Minority Businesses? As an example, can we use a vendor that is certified by the National Minority Supplier Development Council, or another State certifying agency?

The State’s Response: Offerors are not limited to working with certified SC Minority vendors. The Minority Participation clause allows the State to report work completed by SC certified firms.

13. What is the required participation percentage for this RFP?

The State’s Response: There is no requirement for minority participation in this solicitation. The offeror should propose the best solution for the scope of work presented in the solicitation.

14. In the performance of the contract, can indirect minority participation be used for 100% of the requirement?

The State’s Response: There is no requirement for minority participation in this solicitation. The offeror should propose the best solution for the scope of work presented in the solicitation.

END OF AMENDMENT 1

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