Penda_23107-SSD-SK_24-25_Sole_Source_Notification_070725.pdf

HillsboroughSchools.org • P.O. Box 3408 • Tampa, FL 33601-3408 • (813) 272-4000 Raymond O. Shelton School Administrative Center • 901 East Kennedy Blvd. • Tampa, FL 33602-3507

NOTICE OF INTENT TO PURCHASE SINGLE/SOLE SOURCE

COMMODITIES AND CONTRACTUAL SERVICES

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

PROCUREMENT SERVICES

The following commodities and contractual services listed below may be a “Single Source” or a “Sole Source” (only one

(1) source from which to purchase the commodities or contractual services.

Single/Sole Source No. & Vendor Name: 23107-SSD-SK (SY '25-'26) Digital Science Curriculum/Penda Learning Single/Sole Source Posting Date (seven (7) business days):

Beginning: July 7, 2025 Ending: July 16, 2025

Notice of Intent to Sole Source (three (3) business days):

Beginning: July 16, 2025 Ending: July 21, 2025

Commodities and Contractual Services: See Exhibit A.

This NOTICE OF INTENT TO PURCHASE SINGLE/SOLE SOURCE shall serve as a notification that a recommendation will be made to The School Board of Hillsborough County, Florida (the “Board”) to award this single or sole source procurement to the referenced vendor of the commodities and contractual services described in Exhibit A: SINGLE/SOLE SOURCE COMMODITIES AND CONTRACTUAL SERVICES. The description of the commodities and contractual services intended for purchase from a single/sole source is posted per Rule 6A-1.012(12)(d), Florida Administrative Code, and will remain posted for seven (7) business days.

This is not a request for bids, proposals, or replies and there is no competitive solicitation available. HCPS will not consider any response as a bid, proposal, or reply. Any responses received because of this notice will be considered solely for determining whether bonafide competition exists.

Interested firms or individuals may identify their interest and capability to respond to the requirement by emailing EXHIBIT B: RESPONSE TO PURCHASE SINGLE/SOLE SOURCE COMMODITIES AND CONTRACTUAL SERVICES and all relevant documents to the Procurement Services representative, see Exhibit B. “Like” shall mean equal, equivalent, and/or identical. Interested firms will be considered only if they respond with clear and convincing documentation that they are capable of meeting or exceeding the requirements stated herein. All responses received within seven (7) calendar days after the date of publication of this Notice of Intent To Purchase Single/Sole Source will be reviewed by HCPS.

A determination by the General Manager of Procurement Services, or designee, and the Procurement Officer not to compete this proposed action based on the responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the General Manager of Procurement Services.

Notice of Intent to Sole Source: If Procurement Services does not receive “like” goods or services information during the Single/Sole Source posting period, above, the purchase request shall be issued to the Board or renewed as approved by the Board. This section shall serve as notice of the intended decision to enter a single/sole source contract in the manner specified in § 120.57(3), Florida Statutes, and may negotiate on the best terms and conditions with the single/sole source vendor. HCPS shall submit a recommendation to the Board (www.hillsboroughschools.org/Page/3643) requesting approval to waive the solicitation process and proceed with the single/sole source purchase. Decisions concerning multiple-year sole sourcing are valid for 1-year after the approval by the Board and must be re-posted and validated before the renewal period.

Failure to file a protest within the time prescribed in § 120.57(3), Florida Statutes, or failure to post the bond or other security required by law within the time allowed for filing a bond shall constitute a waiver of proceedings under Chapter 120, Florida Statutes. Any protest concerning HCPS’ decision must be timely received by the General Manager of Procurement Services at the address below.

http://www.hillsboroughschools.org/Page/3643

Hillsborough County Public Schools Page 2 of 5 23107-SSD-SK (25-26) Digital Science Curriculum/Penda Learning

EXHIBIT A

SINGLE/SOLE SOURCE COMMODITIES AND CONTRACTUAL SERVICES

1. Describe what the item commodity and contractual service is and how it is to be used by HCPS.

Penda Learning will partner with Hillsborough County Public Schools to provide science intervention support across HCPS’ schools. Penda Learning has been used in various Title I and Transformation Schools in years past, for which positive feedback was received by teachers and school administrators.

Penda Learning is a science intervention resource for grades 3 - biology that authentically engages students in research-based pedagogy. With no additional effort by district or school staff, Penda tailors standards-based science activities to the district’s science curriculum scope and sequence, then automatically assigns activities to students on a weekly basis.

This helps keep science instruction going, no matter the situation. Teachers also have the ability of assigning additional science activities to classes (for Tier 1), intervention groups (for Tier 2), or individual students (for Tier 3) to more efficiently execute Response to Intervention (RTI).

In addition to 1,000 science activities that provide both remediation and enrichment, Penda offers mini assessments, grade-level assessment activities (for diagnostic, formative, or summative purposes), SSA/EOC prep assessment activities. Penda completed an acquisition of Scantron’s entire science assessment bank, for which all assessment items have undergone rigorous normed reference, bias sensitivity, and psychometrician. A suite of standards-based reports for district staff, school admin, and teachers is available to support data-driven instruction, RTI, and ongoing progress monitoring.

Independent efficacy research shows 78% of all grade 8 students who completed as little as 10 hours on Penda achieved proficiency on the FL Science State Assessment. Other key findings from an efficacy research report show there is a statistically significant relationship between a student’s use of Penda and their subsequent state assessment performance in science - approximately 10 percentage point differential, including economically disadvantaged students.

Specific to Hillsborough County Public Schools, in 2020-2021, 22 schools across the district utilized Penda, including a successful pilot among Transformation Schools involving 10 elementary schools (grade 5 only) and 3 middle schools (grades 6 – 8). In 2021 – 2022, Penda Science was implemented in grades 3 – 8 in all 46 HCPS transformation schools.

Fifty-six percent of HCPS TN elementary schools maintained or improved their mean scale score on grade 5 SSA. Sixty-eight percent of HCPS TN elementary schools maintained or improved their percentage of students scoring at Level 3 or above on grade 5 SSA. Statistical analysis via Spearman Rank-Order Correlation Coefficient (2-tail) revealed the presence of a statistically significant relationship between both mean scale score and Penda Science activities mastered by students (n=38, p<0.05) and percentage at Level 3 or above and Penda Science activities mastered (n=38, p<0.05). With respect to grade 8 SSA, sixty percent of HCPS TN middle schools maintained or improved their mean scale score. Sixty percent of HCPS TN middle schools maintained or improved their percentage of students scoring at Level 3 or above.

Statistical analysis via Spearman Rank-Order Correlation Coefficient (2-tail) revealed the presence of a statistically significant relationship between the percentage at Level 3 or above and Penda Science activities mastered (n=10, p<0.05).

Hillsborough County Public Schools Page 3 of 5

2. What feature or special condition of this commodity and contractual service is unique and cannot be obtained from any other source?

Science Curriculum

• "Fitness" to FL NGSSS: Penda Science has crafted science activities for grades 3 - biology, specifically to the FL

NGSSS standards using CPALMS and Florida DOE item specifications as the basis of their activity creation. Their unique approach includes scaffolding pedagogy and Marzano high-yield learning strategies, for which they have created 3 differentiated, scaffolded activities (Developing, Achieving, Exceeding) for each FL NGSSS standard.

• High-Quality Assessment Items: In addition to over 1,000 science activities, Penda also offers mini assessment, grade-level assessment, and SSA/EOC assessment activities. Fourteen thousand unique science assessment items that have been hand-curated into 5 multiple-choice mini assessment questions for every FL NGSSS standard, via Learning 2020’s acquisition of Scantron’s entire bank of science assessment items. These assessment items are exclusive to Penda Science only.

• Customized to HCPS Science Curriculum: Penda’s Pacing Assistance Service (PAS) automatically aligns standards-based activities to each Hillsborough County Public Schools science course (curriculum guides) without any additional work by district staff or teachers. Activities are then assigned weekly to students via Penda's automated Pacing Assistance Service. Activities are auto-graded by the system, providing students with instant feedback and scoring. This function is beneficial to our schools where science teacher vacancies and teacher coverage are ongoing issues (long-term subs, 'out-of-field' teachers, coverage issues, etc).

Student Support & Learning Experience

• Level 1 & 2 / Struggling Reader Support: Penda activities are fully accessible to students struggling to read and can even help build fluency and comprehension. Features like text read-aloud with simultaneous highlighting, breaking words into syllables, isolating parts of speech, and a picture dictionary help students navigate text and engage with content that may be at a higher level than their reading ability.

• IEP/504 Accommodations: Students with word-reading difficulties such as dyslexia will also benefit from flexible display features like increasing the space between lines and letters, changing the background color of text, and narrowing the focus of their reading to just one, three, or five lines at a time.

• ELL/ESOL (Inclusive Science Instruction): Using cutting-edge natural language processing (NLP) technology, Penda activities can be translated into more than 60 languages. English Language Learners (ELLs) can choose to view activities completely in their native language or select individual words for translation. Read-aloud in English and other languages further increases access to science content as ELLs develop their language skills.

• Student Engagement: The all-new Penda Science student experience incorporates a unique combination of gamification mechanics, including activity and experience points, levels, streaks, achievement items (aka digital badges), leaderboards, standards mastered recognition, weekly & monthly challenges, inclusive customizable avatars, and a collaborative/co-op year-long class mission.

MTSS/RTI Support

• Automated & On-Demand Standards-Based Reporting: Standards-based reports, including Penda’s Class Mastery Report, are delivered weekly to teachers via automated emails. Monthly reports are sent to school administrators and district staff via automated emails. Penda’s automated reports provide the data needed to monitor progress, differentiate instruction, and target interventions within an RTI or MTSS framework, even when students are learning from home.

• Differentiated Instruction & RTI (Tier 2 & 3) Support: Teachers can create classroom intervention groups to group students of like ability. Then, they can assign different activities to different groups based on small group need. Additionally, teachers can assign activities to fill in learning gaps or address individual student needs, as teachers have access to all grade levels of science content on Penda.

Hillsborough County Public Schools Page 4 of 5

3. Vendor-provided information.

Learning 2020, Inc. DBA Penda Learning is a private company registered in Florida and has obtained a SINGLE SOURCE to market and sell in the United States an online subscription service available via the website https://www.pendalearning.com. The online subscription service was developed by Learning 2020, Inc., OBA Penda Learning is a registered corporation, FEI/EIN Number 84-2197909, with registered address: Learning 2020, Inc., 2400 SE Federal Highway, Fourth Floor, Stuart, FL. 34994.

The online subscription service provides students and teachers in K-12 districts, organizations, and schools with access to online science content that's built on a gaming (gamification) platform, complete with instant feedback and various reports.

We work directly with schools and district/organization partners to also provide professional development and implementation consultancy visits to support subscribing schools. Penda Learning uses a unique student-directed approach that utilizes gamification elements, including customizable avatars, class and grade-level leaderboards, challenges/competitions, and points to engage students in learning. Penda Learning also uses a unique approach to scaffolding pedagogy (3 differentiated, scaffolded activities per standard) that helps students reinforce their learning of key standards assessed on high-stakes assessments. No other supplier, to our knowledge, has taken or followed this approach.

We sell directly to schools, districts/and organizations to ensure an affordable pricing structure based on a per student seat subscription and/or the number of sites. Our service is provided only by us. Penda Learning is consequently regarded as a proprietary product for the purposes of volume sales to districts.

Unique Features of Penda Learning:

• Unique approach to scaffolding pedagogy including 3 differentiated, scaffolded activities per FL NGSSS standard

• 14,000 unique science assessment items that have been hand-curated into 5 multiple-choice mini assessment questions for every FL NGSSS standard, via Learning 2020's acquisition of Scantron's entire bank of science assessment items

• Penda's Pacing Assistance Service (PAS) that automatically aligns standards-based activities to a school or district's unique scope and sequence/instructional progression calendars.

• Activities assigned weekly to students automated by Penda's Pacing Assistance Service.

• Student-driven approach incorporating a unique combination of gamification mechanics, including activity and experience points, levels, streaks, achievement items (aka digital badges), leaderboards, standards mastered recognition, weekly & monthly challenges, inclusive customizable avatars, and a collaborative/co-op year-long class mission.

• Standards-based reports, including Penda's Class Mastery Report, delivered weekly to teachers via automated emails.

Monthly reports sent to school administrators and district staff via automated emails.

Hillsborough County Public Schools Page 5 of 5

EXHIBIT B

RESPONSE TO PURCHASE SINGLE/SOLE SOURCE

COMMODITIES AND CONTRACTUAL SERVICES

Interested firms or individuals may identify their interest and capability to respond to the requirement by uploading EXHIBIT B: RESPONSE TO PURCHASE SINGLE/SOLE SOURCE COMMODITIES AND CONTRACTUAL SERVICES, and all relevant documents via the vendor portal: www.myvendorlink.com.

Note: Responses received after the Response Due Date and Time, as specified on page one, will not be accepted.

Respondents who believe they have a “like” product or have a “like” service must upload EXHIBIT B: RESPONSE TO PURCHASE SINGLE/SOLE SOURCE COMMODITIES AND CONTRACTUAL SERVICES and provide sufficient information regarding their ability to supply the described commodities and contractual services to allow for an evaluation to determine “like” commodities or “like” services.

The following must be completed, signed, and returned as part of your response. Your response will not be accepted without this form, signed by a supplier’s authorized agent.

Company Name:

Mailing Address:

City, State, Zip:

Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN):

Telephone Number:

Email:

Signature

Title Date http://www.myvendorlink.com/