Licensing System RFI.docx

Title: Request for Information: Online educator credentialing, preparation, and investigation/case management system

Request for Information Number: RFI DAAA 2027000003 This is a Request for Information (RFI) only.

This is not a formal bid solicitation.

It will not result in an award.

RFI CORE ID# 2027000003 Page 1 of 8

OVERVIEW

PURPOSE OF THIS REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)

The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to gather information. The Colorado Department of Education (“CDE”) may use responses received from this RFI as background information for the development of a future solicitation for an online educator credentialing, preparation, and investigation/case management system; to inform budget decisions; to determine whether to issue a solicitation; and for additional decision-making purposes.

CDE seeks to gather information from vendor organizations with experience in implementing and maintaining an online educator credentialing, preparation, and investigation/case management system. For more information, see the below detailed statement of work and the excel document entitled System Functionality Information.

CDE has a current contract with Level Data, LLC for an online educator credentialing, preparation, and investigation/case management system with renewal years through June 30, 2030. CDE is issuing this RFI and starting market research early as budget processes and planning often take several years.

At this time, CDE does not know whether and if so, at what time it may post a solicitation. Vendors are encouraged to monitor the ColoradoVSS website for any forthcoming solicitation of an online educator credentialing, preparation, and investigation/case management system.

This RFI is solely for CDE’s informational and planning purposes and does not constitute a formal solicitation for a product or service and WILL NOT RESULT IN AN AWARD.

Department background CDE provides leadership, resources, support, and accountability to the state’s 178 school districts, 1,836 schools, close to 56,000 teachers and more than 2,800 administrators to help build capacity to meet the needs of the state’s approximately 889,000 public school students. CDE also provides services and support to boards of cooperative educational services (BOCES), early learning centers, state correctional schools, facility schools, the state’s libraries, adult/family literacy centers, and General Education Development (GED) testing centers reaching learners of all ages. CDE operates the Colorado Talking Book Library, which provides support for people who have vision, print, and reading disabilities.

This RFI is being issued on behalf of CDE’s Educator Talent Licensing Office. The Educator Talent Licensing Office certifies Colorado educators by evaluating applications and issuing licenses and authorizations to qualifying individuals. Four license types – teacher, special services provider, principal, and administrator – are issued with one or more of 60-plus endorsements, pending license type and applicant qualifications. Eighteen types of authorizations, including 40 different Career and Technical Education (CTE) credentials are also offered. All credentials have various lengths depending on the credentials and qualifications. For more information about the Educator Talent Division, visit its website.

background CDE via this request for information is conducting market research and seeking information from vendors experienced in implementing and maintaining an online educator credentialing, preparation, and investigation/case management system. CDE may in the future seek a vendor to develop and deploy a user-friendly, secure, legally compliant, and dynamic online credentialing system that has the capacity to serve internal CDE users and educators seeking licensure as well as educator preparation and talent development.

CDE is interested in hearing from vendors on the benefits and risks of the following potential solutions:

A Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) or Modified-Off-the-Shelf (MOTS) or Software as a Service (SaaS), web-based software in a fully hosted environment.

A system built by a vendor from scratch that would then be owned by the Colorado Department of Education.

PROJECT BACKGROUND — EDUCATOR LICENSING

To assist Offerors in understanding the projected scope for the system implementation, in State Fiscal Year 2025-2026, the CDE Licensing Unit:

Received more than 50,000 applications;

Issued more than 41,000 licenses and authorizations; and Opened over 1,000 background investigation cases.

Approximately 25 to 35 state agency users, including users from CDE and the Attorney General’s Office, will need access to the system. The CDE Licensing Unit personnel currently reviews and approves in the system, and/or issues:

Four license types with varying levels of professional qualifications along with many possible endorsement (content) areas for each type of license.

Eighteen authorizations with varying requirements, durations, and specific evaluation needs.

Twelve application processes that allow educators to add endorsements to current licenses, inactivate, and reactivate their license, receive stipends, etc.

In addition to the basic initial licensure functions described above, the current system also supports educator induction, license renewals, review and evaluation of applications, and analytics/reporting.

The current system has a payment processing function on the website because when applicants submit their applications, an application fee may be collected. CDE would need the system to allow an applicant to submit applications, documents, and to connect to a payment processor to allow payment of licensing fees through an online account (via either the vendor's payment processing system or vendor's subcontractor's payment processing system).

Per Colorado Revised Statute 22-60.5-112, the State Board of Education sets a fee for the examination and review of an application for any license, endorsement, or authorization. The state board of education adjusts, if necessary, all such fees annually so that they generate an amount of revenue that approximates the direct and indirect costs of the Board and CDE for the administration of the teacher licensing program.

Applicants for an educator license must pay a non-refundable licensing fee. The current online educator credentialing, preparation, and investigation/case management system serves as the credit card payment authorizer, and the vendor collects a transaction fee from applicants for each transaction as payment for serving as the credit card payment authorizer. Fees collected are transmitted to the State.

PROJECT BACKGROUND — EDUCATOR PREPARATION AND TALENT DEVELOPMENT

CDE does not know at this time if it will include Educator Preparation and Development (EPD) functionalities in any future solicitation and is seeking feedback on whether Educator Preparation and Development (EPD) functionalities should be included as part of the Online educator credentialing, preparation, and investigation/case management system or a standalone system.

In addition to electronic licensing system functionalities, CDE’s Educator Preparation Office may desire that the system serves to facilitate the collection, tracking, and management of electronic documentation for state-approved educator preparation, induction, and development programs.

The Educator Preparation Office oversees program authorization and reauthorization for institutions of higher education and other educator preparation programs for traditional, alternative, and teacher apprenticeship programs.

This office also provides initial approval, guidance, and support of induction programs. Induction programs help set the stage for continuous growth and support of educators at the beginning of their careers or as they transition to new organizations or new roles within an organization. This office also sets guidelines for required professional development provided to Colorado educators.

Therefore, CDE also desires that the system allow forms and documents to be uploaded, authenticated, tracked, stored, and distributed electronically. CDE would desire a system that allows electronic submissions, such as educator preparation approval documents, induction documents for districts, creating an efficient real-time process that saves time for both the submitter and recipient. As such, the system would need to handle uploaded files quickly and efficiently, allow for flexibility in creation of submission types (i.e., allow CDE to generate new submission forms as needed without vendor involvement), and ensure ease of use for the submitter and CDE as the end user connecting these forms to educator profiles and program requirements while providing access for educators as they complete preparation, induction or required professional development programs.

CURRENT TECHNICAL ENVIRONMENT AND KEY OBJECTIVES

Vendors are asked to review the System Functionality Information Excel worksheet attached to this RFI on the ColoradoVSS website. Note that any cells that are highlighted red, CDE is considering making required functionalities and features in a potential future solicitation. CDE is seeking feedback from vendors on whether there are currently COTS/MOTS/SaaS systems in existence that have or could be modified to have these required functionalities and features. Or if any of these mandatory functionalities or features are not at this time technologically feasible or could have significant costs.

The current online educator credentialing, preparation, and investigation/case management system contains approximately 93MB of educator data. The system also contains approximately 4 TB of supporting information, such as scanned identification and records in approximately 3 to 4 million files.

Vendors would be required to migrate all existing licensure content efficiently and faultlessly from the hundreds of tables and fields managed by the current system for every educator, identified by social security number, as well as any and all supporting documents.

External systems with which the system should integrate include, but are not limited to, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification (NASDTEC) and myColorado App.

Internal systems the system should integrate with include, but are not limited to, CDE’s internal Oracle Database, CDE’s internal Human Resources Collection, CDE’s internal RITS system, our financial system Colorado Operations Resource Engine (CORE) for fees/reports, and Educational Testing Services Exam.

The current system provides support for the look-up of educators by internal users and the public, using a variety of criteria including name, date of birth, social security number, and educator identification number (EDID). Any new system must provide native support for real-time access to educator information.

There will be large quantities of personally identifiable information from educators. Contractor shall use, hold, and maintain State Confidential Information in compliance with any and all applicable laws and regulations only in facilities located within the United States, and shall maintain a secure environment that ensures confidentiality of all State Confidential Information.

Information Requested/RFI Questions Completion of Appendix A CDE requests that vendors complete Appendix A – Vendor Response Form to answer the questions provided in that form.

Vendors may respond to as few or as many RFI Questions or parts of Questions as they would like, with as little or as much information as they are able to provide. All vendors submitting a response are asked to answer RFI Question 1 in order to provide background information on their organization. Pursuant to C.R.S. § 24-103-201.5, submission of pricing information is voluntary although greatly appreciated by CDE Administrative information Point of Contact All communications related to this RFI must be submitted to the sole point of contact below.

The Department’s sole point of contact for this RFI is:

Sarah Fischman CDE_Purchasing@cde.state.co.us Do not contact any other individuals at CDE. At this time, all feedback is being sought via this RFI mechanism. Other Department personnel, including those in CDE’s Educator Talent Licensing Office, are not allowed to discuss this project, the RFI, or a potential RFP with any potential vendors. Contact with any of these personnel regarding this RFI or any subsequent RFP is strictly prohibited and could result in vendor disqualification from bidding on an RFP.

Notices and communications Notices pertaining to this RFI are posted on the Vendor Self Service (VSS) website (ColoradoVSS website). It is important that vendors check VSS on a regular basis, as this is the sole means for communicating any clarifications or changes to RFI content.

Timeline The timeline for this RFI is as follows:

Early inquiries are appreciated.

Early responses are appreciated.

Responses Inquiries Submit all inquiries by electronic mail (e-mail) to CDE_Purchasing@cde.state.co.us. The e-mail should include the following:

The RFI number and title listed in the e-mail subject line.

1.1.1.1. Inquiries are to be in a WORD attachment to the email. The WORD attachment should list the section or line numbering in this RFI the Vendor’s inquiry pertains to.

Inquiries received by CDE by the Inquiry Deadline will be responded to by CDE via a posting on the ColoradoVSS website. Inquiries received after the Inquiry Deadline may not be included in CDE’s response.

RESPONSE FORMAT

Submit all responses by e-mail to CDE_Purchasing@cde.state.co.us and include the RFI number and title listed in the e-mail subject line.

The responses should include a completed Attachment A – Response Questions Worksheet. Responses should:

Be provided in Microsoft Word and present writing that is self-explanatory on pages that are consecutively numbered in a consistent numbering format.

Present attachments, if any, with labels according to the numbered RFI Response item or topic covered within the attachment.

Vendors do not have to answer every Response Question. Vendors are encouraged to respond to as many Response questions as they are able.

Clarification To fully comprehend the information contained within a response to this RFI, CDE may seek further clarification from vendor(s).

General Considerations This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a solicitation. Information about costs and pricing is submitted voluntarily and is non-binding on the vendor. Responses to this RFI will not be considered legal offers nor will they result in an award of any type of contract.

CDE is not responsible for any costs incurred by a vendor organization for the development and provision of a response to this RFI.

All material and information provided to CDE will not be returned.

CDE reserves the right to copy any information provided by responding vendor organizations for the purposes of facilitating CDE’s review of use of the information.

CDE reserves the right to use information or ideas that are provided by responding vendors in developing a subsequent Request for Proposal. Vendor represents that such copying or use of information will not violate any copyrights, licenses, or other agreements with respect to information submitted.

CONFIDENTIALITY

Pursuant to C.R.S. § 24-103-201.5(4), “all responses to requests for information are confidential until after an award based on a subsequent solicitation has been made or until the procurement official determines that the state will not pursue a solicitation based on the request for information. After such time, the responses to a request for information shall be open to public inspection in accordance with the provisions of the ‘Colorado Open Records Act,’ part 2 of article 72 of this title 24.”

After such time that the state determines it will not pursue or a solicitation or an award is made pursuant to a solicitation, the response to the RFI will become open to CORA. Should a vendor determine that submission of confidential information is necessary to aid the Department’s understanding of a response to this RFI, Respondents must submit a confidentiality request along with their response to the RFI, which shall include the following:

A written statement that specifically identifies the portions of the response sought to be designated as confidential/proprietary and indicates what portion of the Colorado Open Records Act allows that information to be exempted from open records requests; and A separate document containing the RFI response with any confidential/proprietary information redacted. The redacted version of the RFI response should be clearly marked CONFIDENTIAL/PROPRIETARY.

Only those redactions allowed by the CORA statute can be granted by CDE.

If possible, the Department prefers that all information submitted in response to this RFI be non-confidential / non-proprietary.

Respondents should not mark any portion of their responses as confidential/proprietary unless they specifically request confidentiality in accordance with the requirements in this section.

A Response in its entirety will not be granted confidential/proprietary status.

The Department will make a written determination as to the apparent validity of any written request for confidentiality. The written determination will be sent to the vendor. The vendor may protest the decision per Procurement Rule 24-101-401-03.

image1.png