ESBD_File_330958_RFI - Reading Interventions Dyslexia Instruction FINAL DRAFT 5.31.23.docx

TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY

William B. Travis Building 1701 North Congress Avenue Austin, Texas 78701-1494

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)

for Reading and Dyslexia Interventions

RFI # 701-23-027

RESPONSE DELIVERY LOCATION:

Contracts and Purchasing Division Texas Education Agency 1701 N. Congress Ave.

Austin, TX 78701-1494

(512) 463-9041

For the purposes of this RFI only, TEA will accept electronic submissions to the following secure ShareFile:

https://tea.sharefile.com/r-r19f87f2dbf7e4bcdb2ad7e59fc5c0ec9

REFER INQUIRIES TO:

TEASolicitations@tea.texas.gov

Please Respond by 2:00 P.M., Central Time [August 25, 2023]

To ensure that no prospective Respondent may obtain a competitive advantage because of acquisition of information unknown to other prospective Respondents, any additional information that is different from or in addition to information provided in the RFI will be provided only in response to written inquires. Copies of all such inquiries and the written answers will be posted as an Addendum to the RFI on the Electronic State Business Daily (ESBD) at https://www.txsmartbuy.com/esbd. The addendum list will be updated as needed during the time the RFI is advertised. It is the responsibility of interested parties to periodically check the ESBD for updates. PHONE INQUIRIES WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.

Upon publication of this RFI, except for written inquiries as described above, employees and representatives of TEA will not answer questions or otherwise discuss the contents of the RFI with any potential vendor or their representatives. This restriction does not preclude discussions for conducting business unrelated to this RFI. TEA will not be bound by any communication with respondents other than the written addenda issued by TEA.

All communications regarding this RFI must be submitted through the following email address: TEASolicitations@tea.texas.gov.

TEA RFI # 701-23-027 2

INTRODUCTION

The intent of this Request for Information (RFI) is to obtain information regarding the current landscape of existing:

1.) reading interventions, curriculums, and platforms, and 2.) dyslexia instruction, curriculums, and platforms.

Information provided in response to this RFI could potentially be used to inform a future solicitation or purchase.

TEA recognizes that information relative to this RFI may exist in a variety of formats. TEA will accept responses to this RFI in any format the respondent deems sufficient. No contracts will be awarded from this process and there is no guarantee that TEA will develop a solicitation for bids or proposals.

BACKGROUND

Texas has a long history of supporting the fundamental skill of reading. This history includes a focus on early identification and intervention for children who experience reading difficulties. In accordance with 19 TAC §74.28(e), districts must purchase or develop an evidence-based reading program for students with dyslexia and related disorders that incorporates all the components of instruction and instructional approaches described in the 2021 Dyslexia Handbook. (Please see IV. Critical Evidence-Based Components of Dyslexia Instruction starting on page 39 of the handbook for more information.)

In addition to districts purchasing or developing an evidence-based reading program, TEC §28.006 (g) states:

A school district shall notify the parent or guardian of each student in kindergarten or first or second grade who is determined, on the basis of reading instrument results, to be at risk for dyslexia or other reading difficulties. The district shall implement an accelerated reading instruction program that provides reading instruction that addresses reading deficiencies to those students and shall determine the form, content, and timing of that program. The admission, review, and dismissal (ARD) committee of a student who participates in a district's special education program under Subchapter B, Chapter 29, and who does not perform satisfactorily on a reading instrument under this section shall determine the manner in which the student will participate in an accelerated reading instruction program under this subsection.

(g-1) A school district shall provide additional reading instruction and intervention to each student in seventh grade assessed under Subsection (c-1), as appropriate to improve the student's reading skills in the relevant areas identified through the assessment instrument. Training and support for activities required by this subsection shall be provided by regional education service centers and teacher literacy achievement academies established under Section 21.4552 and may be provided by other public and private providers.

Effective literacy instruction is essential for all students and is especially critical for students identified with dyslexia. High-quality core classroom reading instruction can give students identified with dyslexia a foundation upon which intervention instruction can have a more significant impact.

For the student who has not benefited from the research-based core reading instruction, the components of instruction will include additional focused intervention as appropriate for the reading needs of the student with dyslexia. Dyslexia instruction provides evidence-based, multisensory structured literacy instruction for students with dyslexia. Dyslexia instructional programs must be explicit, systematic, and intentional in their approach. This instruction is designed for all students with dyslexia and will often take place in a small group setting. Dyslexia instruction must be:

• evidence-based and effective for students with dyslexia;

• taught by an appropriately trained instructor; and

• implemented with fidelity.

The Dyslexia Handbook states:

“In the state of Texas, students who continue to struggle with reading, despite appropriate or intensified instruction, are provided organized systems of reading support. Some students struggle during early reading acquisition while others do not struggle until the later grades, even at the postsecondary level. Here they face more complex language demands, for example reading textbooks, academic texts, and other print materials. For many struggling readers, the difficulty may be due to dyslexia. Dyslexia is found in all student populations and languages. Some students with dyslexia may be English Learners (ELs) who struggle with reading not only in English, but also in their native language. In Texas, evaluation for dyslexia is conducted from kindergarten through grade 12.”

Local schools across Texas are eager to purchase the most effective, research-based materials to help with reading interventions and dyslexia instruction, but the selection process is time-consuming. Tens of thousands of teachers spend precious instructional days reviewing products of wide-ranging quality and reliable outcomes. Information regarding reading interventions, curriculums, and platforms as well as dyslexia instruction, curriculums, and platforms are often overwhelming, and products are oftentimes expensive. These challenges disproportionately impact smaller districts with fewer resources.

INFORMATION REQUESTED

Reading Intervention and Curriculum, Including Dyslexia Instruction and Curriculum (This section should be completed for all RFI submissions)

A. “Attachment B: Reading Interventions and Dyslexia Instruction Worksheet” Please complete the attached worksheet and include it with your response.

Physical Materials Only: Reading Intervention and Curriculum, Including Dyslexia Instruction and Curriculum (This section should be completed for RFI submissions that DO NOT include software platform)

A. Company Profile Provide a profile of your company or organization (two pages or less) that includes the following information:

· Outline your company’s background and history

· Describe your existing customer base and include any relevant case studies

· Outline the company’s experience in Texas, particularly highlighting experience in the education sector or other relevant sectors

· Describe any experience managing different levels of customer interaction (e.g., training users in schools, administrator onboarding, family communication)

· Describe any engagements where product customization and/or implementation flexibility has been necessary and briefly explain how the relationship was managed (e.g. update frequency, scope of product/process changes, relevant cost breakdown)

B. Product Profile Provide a profile for the product (five pages or less) that includes the following:

· Product name

· Product description

· Current number of Texas school districts that use the product (intervention, instruction, or curriculum)

· Describe the target user group(s) for this product: What types of users are currently supported?

· Describe how the product meets the need of students whose primary language is not English.

· Describe how the product meets the needs of students with identified disabilities that impact communication.

C. Product Pricing Briefly describe (one page or less) product pricing for reading intervention and curriculum and dyslexia instruction and curriculum physical materials only (do not include software platform).

· Application cost: Please explain your unit of measurement (e.g. price per user, price per school, price per district). In addition to describing your typical pricing structure, please explain any volume discounts you have historically provided or would consider providing in the future. Please also indicate if there is a baseline version of the product that could be offered for free at the state level with costs for additive features, such as reports, training, or other customization requests.

· Describe how your product is typically licensed, including outlining any options you offer.

· Describe the process for updates for this product: How often is this product updated?

Software Platform (including physical materials): Reading Intervention and Curriculum Including Dyslexia Instruction and Curriculum (This section should be completed ONLY for software platforms and MAY include physical materials)

A. Company Profile Provide a profile of your company or organization (two pages or less) that highlights its experience in reading intervention software applications, particularly in the education sector or other relevant sectors.

· Outline your company’s background and history

· Describe your existing customer base and include any relevant case studies

· Outline the company’s experience in Texas, particularly highlighting experience in the education sector or other relevant sectors

· Describe any experience managing different levels of customer interaction (e.g. training users in schools, administrator onboarding, family communication)

· Describe any engagements where product customization and/or implementation flexibility has been necessary and briefly explain how the relationship was managed (e.g. update frequency, scope of product/process changes, relevant cost breakdown)

B. Product Profile Provide a profile for the product (five pages or less) that includes the following:

· Product name

· Product description – if the product includes physical materials, include in your description their purpose and how these materials are intended to be used.

· Current number of active users:

· Explain how you define active users.

· Indicate the number of Texas school districts, schools, and students using your application.

· What is the current number of active users nationally and/or total?

· Describe the target user group(s) for this product: What types of users are currently supported?

· Describe how the product meets the need of students whose primary language is not English.

· Describe how the product meets the needs of students with identified disabilities that impact communication.

· Describe the installation and configuration requirements for reading platforms: What are the steps involved in configuring the product? Are there any unique configuration issues?

· Describe the release cycles for this product: How often are releases delivered? What is the lead time for notification? How are emergency fixes obtained?

· Describe practices, policies, and systems for collecting, storing, and protecting user data to ensure compliance with Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)/Children’s Online Privacy & Protection Act (COPPA) and other student privacy requirements. How do you ensure proper management and disposal of data? What happens if you have a data breach?

· Describe the development and change management process for the software platforms. Does the provider follow standardized and documented procedures for coding, configuration management, patch installation, and change management for all servers involved in the delivery of contracted services? Are the practices audited? Do you notify the customer about any changes that will affect the security, storage, usage, or disposal of any information received or collected directly from users?

· Describe the guaranteed level of service: What is the back-up-and-restore process in case of a disaster? What is the protection against denial-of-service attacks?

· Describe data interoperability of the product, specifically:

· Data quality – What is the level of quality of product data (e.g., linguistic student identifiers, linguistic plus numeric student identifiers, unique student identifiers used over time, integrated or imported unique student identifiers used by schools and other tools)?

· Data granularity – How many units of data (e.g., section, school, district, student) are available for immediate export or import?

· Export process – How is system data made available to schools and districts (e.g., no export, manually downloaded file, scheduled SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) or third-party integration, application programming interface (API)

· Export security – How is security of exports handled (e.g., unencrypted transfer with minimal data restrictions, encrypted transfer with data restrictions and procedural safeguards such as VPN)?

· Export frequency – How often are exports available (e.g., on request, weekly, daily, real time)?

· Export format – What format is used for exports (e.g., no file format, custom file format unique to tool, industry standard format such as IMS Question and Test Interoperability Specification (QTI; http://imsglobal.org/questions/index.html) or Ed-Fi (http://techdocs.ed-fi.org/display/ETKB/Ed-Fi+Data+Standard/)?

· Import process – How is data imported into the product (e.g., no import, manual upload, scheduled SFTP, API)

· Import security – How is security of imports handled (e.g., unencrypted transfer with minimal data restrictions, encrypted transfer with data restrictions and procedural safeguards such as VPN)?

· Import frequency – How often are imports available (e.g., on request, weekly, daily, real time)?

· Import format – What format is used for imports (e.g., no file format, custom file format unique to tool, industry standard format such as QTI or Ed-Fi)?

C. Product Pricing Briefly describe (one page or less) product pricing.

· Application cost: Please explain your unit of measurement (e.g. price per user, price per school, price per district). In addition to describing your typical pricing structure, please explain any volume discounts you have historically provided or would consider providing in the future. Please also indicate if there is a baseline version of the product that could be offered for free at the state level with costs for additive features, such as reports, training, or other customization requests.

· Describe how your product is typically licensed, including outlining any options you offer.

If your response relates to a new product offering or feature enhancements yet to be developed, please also provide:

D. Development Recommendations Briefly describe (two pages or less) recommendations for developing a new software application or enhancing an existing application specifically for purposes of collecting, analyzing, monitoring, and reporting work-based learning data for all Texas students. Please consider the following questions.

· What is your proposed prioritization of the identified capabilities for an initial release or future product modifications?

· Provide a timeline for proposed product modifications or the estimated time to completion for an initial release of a new software application.

· What staff resources are available to complete this project? Please describe any existing architecture or software components that would be leveraged for this project.

E. Pricing Implications Briefly describe (one page or less) how pricing would likely be affected if the new application or proposed modifications were developed as outlined in your response to part D.

· What are the estimated costs for development of the application or proposed modifications, including ongoing maintenance and support?

TIMELINE

The RFI does not constitute a solicitation for proposals, a commitment to develop or publish a solicitation, or an offer of contract or prospective contract. NO CONTRACTS WILL BE AWARDED AS A RESULT OF THIS RFI AND TEA IS NOT LIABLE FOR ANY COSTS INCURRED BY A RESPONDENT IN THE PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION IN RESPONSE TO THIS RFI.

All information received in response to this RFI becomes the property of TEA and will not be returned to sender. TEA will not send acknowledgment of receipt of the information and acceptance of responses to this RFI and places no obligations of any kind upon TEA to the Respondents.

Critical Dates

Responses are subject to release under the TGC, Chapter 552, Public Information Act. If a Respondent believes that parts of the response should be excepted, the respondent should specify those parts and the exemption(s) that may apply. Respondents should consult the Texas Attorney General’s website at https://texasattorneygeneral.gov/og/open-government for information concerning the application of the Act’s provisions to responses and potentially proprietary information.

TEA prefers that respondents provide information to address the entire RFI but will accept related information for a portion of the RFI. TEA requests respondents cite the specific portion(s) of the RFI being addressed.

COVER PAGE

Submitted to the Texas Education Agency In response to

RFI # 701-23-027

Reading and Dyslexia Interventions

RESPONDENT ORGANIZATION:

(Name and address of organization, including zip code.)

CONTACT:

Name, position, telephone number, and email address of person(s) who may provide clarification and additional information, if requested.

INFORMATION PROVIDED

☐ [Insert item/portion name if applicable]

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SIGNATURE:

Printed Name and Title

Signature

Date

Response contains proprietary information? |_| Yes |_| No