K-12 Curriculum and Customized Services SAM.docx

Sources Sought (SS)

Project Title: Commercially available K-12 Newcomer Curriculum and Customization Services Primary SIN/NAICS: 611710 (Educational Support Services)

Objective: The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) is conducting market research to identify qualified contractors capable of providing a commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) K-12 educational curriculum tailored for newcomer and migrant students, along with professional services to customize the material to fit specific regional, demographic, and compliance requirements. The curriculum model should include child assessments (initial assessment, assessment every 30 days, and an exit assessment). The curriculum model shall be trauma informed and integrate social emotional learning; and be customizable to the different ORR funded residential care programs such as shelters, secure care, long-term foster care, therapeutic care sites, and a potential home-schooling model.

Background and Target Population

The target student population consist of K-12 newcomers, immigrant children, and migrant youth. These students often present unique educational needs including:

· Varying levels of English Language Proficiency (ELP), including students with Interrupted Formal Education (SIFE).

· A critical need for rapid acculturation, social-emotional learning (SEL) support, foundational literacy/numeracy, including trauma informed teaching strategies and guidance.

· Highly transient lifestyles requiring flexible, modular learning units.

Scope of Work: The selected contractor shall deliver a comprehensive solution consisting of both curriculum materials and instructional design customization services; including professional services contractors to support ORR headquarters with successful implementation and monitoring of K-12 curriculum for newcomers in all ORR funded residential and care programs for unaccompanied alien children (UAC), as well as providing ORR funded program teaching staff with training and technical assistance. It shall include child assessments (initial assessment, assessment every 30 days, and an exit assessment), and be trauma informed and integrate social emotional learning.

Task 1: Commercial Base Curriculum Supply The contractor shall provide access to an existing, evidence-based COTS K-12 curriculum designed for English Language Learners (ELL) or newcomers. The base curriculum should ideally feature:

· Age-appropriate instructional materials spanning elementary, middle, and high school levels.

· Multilingual support or scaffolds for core academic vocabulary.

· Embedded formative assessments to gauge rapid language and skill acquisition.

· Individual student assessment schedule for students that informs and guides instruction, measures genuine growth, and provides clear, fair feedback to support student development and success.

· Teacher support materials, lesson plans, classroom materials, and other complimentary tools.

Task 2: Curriculum Customization and Modification Services The contractor shall utilize qualified professional staff (e.g., Instructional Designers, Curriculum Specialists) to customize the base commercial curriculum to align with specific agency parameters. Customization may include, but is not limited to:

· Aligning content with specific state or federal English Language Proficiency standards (e.g., WIDA, ELPA21).

· Modifying pacing guides to accommodate variable enrollment cycles (e.g., 4-week, 6-week, 9-week entry blocks, and stays 6 months or longer for migrant programs).

· Integrating local community resources, regional cultural contexts, or specific safety and health literacy modules into the curriculum.

· Formatting the final customized outputs for deployment on the agency’s preferred platform (e.g., specific learning management systems, or physical print-ready kits).

· Provide training and ongoing technical support to education personnel.

Capability Statement Requested Responses

Interested GSA vendors are requested to provide a brief capability statement (not to exceed five pages) addressing the following:

1. GSA Contract Information: provide your active GSA Contract Number, business size standard, and verify that SIN 611710 is on your schedule.

1. Core COTS Product: briefly describe your existing commercial K-12 newcomer/ELL curriculum offering.

1. Customization Capability: Describe your team’s experience with instructional design, curriculum modification, and alignment with language proficiency frameworks.

1. Past Performance: Provide up to two (2) examples of similar curriculum delivery or educational support services provided to federal, state, or local government agencies.

In addition, interested GSA vendors are requested to provide a brief response to the following K-12 curriculum and curriculum support questions:

1. Commercial Availability and Curriculum Overview Does your company offer a commercially available Kindergarten through Grade 12 curriculum designed for newcomer students? If yes, please describe the curriculum, including grade levels served, intended student populations, instructional model, subject areas, language-development components, and delivery formats. Please also describe the assessments linked to the curriculum.

1. Evidence Base and Distinguishing Features What evidence, research, evaluation findings, implementation data, or customer outcomes support the effectiveness of your curriculum for newcomer students, English learners, students with interrupted or limited form education, and students with varying literacy levels? Please also describe the curriculum’s distinguishing features.

1. Instructional Content and Classroom Materials What instructional materials are included in the curriculum package, such as student texts, classroom literature, workbooks, digital resources, lesson activities, real-world communication practice, grammar instruction, cultural orientation materials, and independent and group practice resources? Are all instructional content and classroom materials available in English and Spanish? Are all instructional content and classroom materials available in on-line (digital) formats?

1. Supplemental and Enrichment Resources What additional literature, instructional supplies, digital tools, enrichment materials, or optional modules are available to enhance individual instruction, small-group instruction, group learning, skill practice, and student engagement?

1. Supplemental Resources for children with special educational needs What additional literature, instructional supplies, digital tools, enrichment materials, or optional modules are available to enhance individual instruction, small-group instruction, group learning, skill practice, and student engagement for children with special educational needs?

1. Teacher Manuals and Instructional Supports Does the curriculum include teacher manuals, lesson plans, pacing guides, scope and sequence documents, rubrics, classroom routines, implementation guides, or other educator-facing materials? Please describe how these resources support consistent and effective instruction.

1. Assessment, Placement, and Student Evaluation What standardized, diagnostic, formative, summative, placement, progress-monitoring, or performance-based assessments are included? Please describe what each assessment measures, administration frequency, scoring approach, validity or reliability information if available, and how results inform instruction.

1. Individualized Learning and Differentiation How does the curriculum support individualized learning plans, differentiated instruction, accommodations, interventions, accelerated learning, progress monitoring, and supports for students with diverse academic, language, developmental, and social-emotional needs?

1. Standardized Competency Alignment How does the curriculum align with applicable state academic standards, English language development standards, workforce readiness competencies, professional standards, and program or mission-critical performance outcomes? Please describe how alignment is documented and updated.

1. Teacher Training, Professional Development, and Technical Assistance What training, coaching, certifications, implementation support, or technical assistance do you provide for teachers, instructors, administrators, or other staff? Please describe format, duration, frequency, languages available, virtual, or in-person options, and associated costs.

1. Implementation Model and Timeline What is the typical timeline for procurement, onboarding, training, launch, full implementation, and ongoing support? What staffing, scheduling, classroom, technology, and administrative resources are required for successful implementation?

1. Adaptability Across Settings How does the curriculum support implementation across geographically dispersed and operationally diverse settings, including urban, rural, school-based, community-based, newcomer center, virtual, hybrid, sheltered instruction, and mainstream classroom models?

1. Technology, Tools, and Platform Capabilities What technologies, platforms, or tools are included? Please describe content delivery, learner engagement features, teacher dashboards, learning management system integration, offline access, mobile access, and performance tracking at scale.

1. Artificial Intelligence and Automation Does the curriculum use artificial intelligence, automation, adaptive learning, automated scoring, chatbots, recommendation engines, or other automated tools? If yes, please describe the functionality, human oversight processes, data protections, limitations, and how errors or bias risks are monitored and mitigated.

1. Accessibility, Language Access, and Inclusive Design How does the curriculum support accessibility, language access, and meaningful learning opportunities for students with diverse language backgrounds, disabilities, literacy levels, and educational histories? Please identify supported languages, accessibility features, and family-facing resources.

1. Data, Reporting, and Analytics What student-level, classroom-level, school-level, or program-level reports and analytics are available? Please describe how users can monitor student progress, language development, academic growth, competency attainment, participation, implementation fidelity, and program effectiveness.

1. Privacy, Security, and Data Governance What privacy, cybersecurity, data protection, and data governance practices apply to the curriculum and related technology platforms? Please describe compliance with applicable federal, state, and local requirements related to student data privacy and secure information handling.

1. Family and Community Engagement Does the curriculum include resources for family engagement, caregiver communication, orientation to the U.S. school system, or community-based supports? If yes, please describe the materials, languages, and formats available.

1. Cost and Licensing Structure Please describe your pricing model, including licensing fees, per-student or per-site costs, digital platform costs, print material costs, training costs, technical assistance costs, customization costs, renewal fees, and optional add-ons.

1. Past Performance and References Please describe prior implementations with K-12 newcomer, English learner, refugee, immigrant, or similar student populations. Include scale, setting, duration, outcomes measured, lessons learned, and references if available.

1. Quality Assurance and Continuous Improvement How does your company maintain, update, and improve curriculum content over time? Please describe processes for incorporating educator feedback, updating standards alignment, monitoring implementation quality, and addressing identified gaps.

1. Risks, Limitations, and Mitigation Strategies What are the known limitations, implementation risks, or conditions under which your curriculum may be less effective? What mitigation strategies or implementation practices do you recommend?

1. Future Readiness and Emerging Practices Based on your experience, what emerging trends, innovations, or best practices should organizations consider when building a sustainable K-12 newcomer curriculum program over the next five years?

1. Optional Supporting Materials Please provide sample lesson plans, student materials, teacher guides, assessment samples, training outlines, implementation plans, standards alignment documentation, screenshots or demonstrations of technology tools, and sample reports or dashboards, if available.

1. Convenings of Program Education Staff Please provide examples of convenings that you have conducted for program education staff.