Amendment 1.docx

SAP

State of South Carolina

Request for Proposal Amendment 1

Solicitation:

Date Issued:

Procurement Officer:

Phone:

E-Mail Address:

Mailing Address:

5400021282 07/07/2021

NAKENDRA PERRY

(803) 896-0022 nperry@mmo.sc.gov SFAA, Div. of Procurement Services, MMO PO Box 101103 Columbia SC 29211

DESCRIPTION: Alternate Assessment for Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities

USING GOVERNMENTAL UNIT: SC Department of Education Admin

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

SUBMIT OFFER BY (Opening Date/Time): 07/15/2021 11:00 AM (See "Deadline for Submission of Offer" provision)

QUESTIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY: 07/02/2021 11:00 AM Question and Answer period has expired (See "Questions from Offerors" provision)

NUMBER OF COPIES TO BE SUBMITTED: Submit all offers on-line. One (1) Electronic Technical marked "Original", One (1) Electronic Technical Copy marked "Copy", One (1) Redacted Electronic Technical Copy marked "Redacted”, One (1) Electronic Price marked “Original”, and One (1) Electronic Price Copy marked “Copy” See “Submitting Redacted Offers” provision Section IV., “Submitting Confidential Information” Section II.A., & “Electronic Copies-Required Media & Format” provision Section II. B. Initial here_____ if a redacted copy is NOT necessary

CONFERENCE TYPE: N/A

DATE & TIME:

(As appropriate, see "Conferences - Pre-Bid/Proposal" & "Site Visit" provisions)

LOCATION: N/A

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

SAP

PAGE TWO

(Return Page Two with Your Offer) HOME OFFICE ADDRESS (Address for offeror's home office / principal place of business)

NOTICE ADDRESS (Address to which all procurement and contract related notices should be sent.) (See "Notice" clause)

_________________________________________________ Area Code - Number - Extension Facsimile

_________________________________________________ E-mail Address

PAYMENT ADDRESS (Address to which payments will be sent.) (See "Payment" clause)

____Payment Address same as Home Office Address ____Payment Address same as Notice Address (check only one) ORDER ADDRESS (Address to which purchase orders will be sent) (See "Purchase Orders and "Contract Documents" clauses)

____Order Address same as Home Office Address ____Order Address same as Notice Address (check only one)

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF AMENDMENTS

Offerors acknowledges receipt of amendments by indicating amendment number and its date of issue. (See "Amendments to Solicitation" Provision)

DISCOUNT FOR PROMPT PAYMENT

(See "Discount for Prompt Payment" clause)

PREFERENCES – DO NOT APPLY PER SC CONSOLIDATED PROCUREMENT CODE [11-35-1524(E)(5)]

PAGE TWO (SEP 2009)

End of PAGE TWO

AMENDMENTS TO SOLICIATION (JUN 2017)

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. [02-2A097-1]

1. Question: Page 17 of the RFP states the following: “Producing translated parent brochures and individual score reports”. Are parent brochures and individual score reports to be translated? If so, in what languages?

State’s Response: Parent brochures and individual score reports must be provided in English or in one of the three most common foreign languages in South Carolina (currently Mandarin, Russian, and Spanish), as designated by the district based on the first home language.

2. Is there an expectation that the online test administration platform will be utilized and available for all of the cognitive labs? Section 2.1 - Cognitive Labs. Page 21 State’s Response: Yes.

3. Please confirm how the tests are adaptive by subject area, e.g., math by item, ELA by passage, etc. Section 1.3, 1.4, & 3.1- CAT Algorithm. Page 14 & 22 State’s Response: The online tests are adaptive. The adaptive engine developed for the Smarter Balanced assessment system is used.

4. Please provide additional details on the training system required for the TAs, including any specifications for the Learning Management System. Section 3.4. Page 23 State’s Response: The training system needs to be accessible online in the Alternate Assessment Portal. The system must monitor that the entire training session was played. Upon completion of the course, the TA must take summative quiz and score 80% or above. Upon a qualifying score, the TA will be granted access to the online testing system.

5. Please confirm the 50-page technical proposal limit excludes resumes and supporting documentation.

State’s Response: Instead of the 50-page Technical Proposal Limit specified in the RFP, the state will allow proposals up to 75 pages but must encompass Corporate Capability/Qualifications, Supporting Documentation, and Program Management Plan Resumes and the Project Schedule may be attached in appendices and not included in the 75-page limit.

6. Pease clarify if only section ‘A. Technical Proposal’ (RFP pages 36-40) has a 50-page limit, and if RFP sections ‘B. Corporate Capability/Qualifications’ and ‘C. Program Management Plan’ are excluded from the 50-page limit.

State’s Response: Refer to response for Question 5.

7. Can the requested project schedule be included as appendix, thus not counting towards the 50-page limit for the technical response? A. Technical Proposal page limit (pg. 36) State’s Response: Refer to response for Question 5.

8. Please confirm that parts B. Corporate Capability/Qualifications and C. Program Management Plan do not count towards the 50-page limit of the technical response. A. Technical Proposal page limit (pg. 36) State’s Response: Refer to response for Question 5.

9. Can the Contractor’s staffing plan, including the responsibilities of the Project Manager, be detailed in Section C. Program Management Plan? The RFP appears to ask for similar information in two places. General Requirements (pg. 36) State’s Response: Yes, the staffing plan, including the responsibilities of the Project Manager should be under Section C.

10. Could SCDE provide the anticipated quantity of the accommodated paper tests, by grade, for cost purposes for printing/shipping? Paper Forms 1.6 General Contractor Responsibilities (pg. 16) State’s Response: For costing purposes, the Offeror should assume 10% of tests, per subject will be paper. The state will pay for actual numbers of paper materials.

11. Could SCDE provide an estimate of the number of Braille Code (UEB) and English Braille American Edition (EBAE) test forms required at each grade for cost purposes for printing/shipping? Further, could SCDE estimate the number of contracted and uncontracted Braille forms at each grade. Braille Forms 1.6 General Contractor Responsibilities (pg. 16) State’s Response: Contractor must provide paper test copies to the SCDE, but the individual district is responsible for Brailling all materials.

12. Does Table 3 include items not owned by SCDE (i.e., items leased through the MOU)? If so, please provide a version of Table 3 that includes only items owned by SCDE. 2.1 Development (pg. 19) State’s Response: Table 3 includes only South Carolina owned items.

13. Could SCDE please provide access to the current item specifications? 2.1 Development (pg. 20) State’s Response: These are secure documents (averaging 200-300 pages for each subject) and will be provided to the vendor upon award.

14. The RFP states, “The Contractor is responsible for conducting studies to support that allowable accommodations are valid and for writing reports of the studies that are acceptable for submission for Peer Review.” For budgeting purposes, how many studies per year should Contractors anticipate completing? 2.2 Special Populations (pg. 22) State’s Response: Studies will be conducted on all accommodations following adoption of new academic standards.

15. The text on page 24 indicates that the SC-Alt is computer adaptive and meets blueprint requirements for individual students. This combination of adaptive goals/constraints suggests that the adaptive approach for SC-Alt is shadow testing. Please confirm or correct. Computer Adaptive Testing (pg. 24) State’s Response: We do not know what is meant by “shadow testing,” but the algorithm used in our testing is linear-on-the-fly.

ALL OTHER TERMS, CONDITIONS, BIDDING INSTRUCTIONS, AND SPECIFICATIONS REMAIN UNCHANGED. IF THERE ARE ANY QUESTIONS OR IF ANY CONFUSION OR UNCERTAINTY ARISES AS A RESULT OF THIS AMENDMENT, IT IS THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE OFFEROR TO CONTACT THE PROCUREMENT OFFICER FOR CLARIFICATION. CONTACT INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND IN THE TOP RIGHT HAND CORNER OF THE COVER PAGE OF THIS AMENDMENT. REFERENCE THE “DUTY TO INQUIRE” CLAUSE IN THE ORIGINAL REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL.

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