RFI-K-5 Literacy Instructional Resources.pdf

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION - HE125427RFI0001

K-5 LITERACY: Core, Strategic & Assessment Resources

1.0 Description

1.1 The Department of War Education Activity (DoWEA) seeks information on how an interested contractor could provide commercial off-the-shelf (COTS), print and digital core instruction, strategic instruction and assessment resources for students, classroom teachers and above-school-level subject matter experts (SMEs) as well as related professional learning, correlations to standards, and technical support. In addition, DoWEA requires a literacy proficiency tool to measure student literacy skills and monitor student progress.

1.2 DoWEA prefers to make one award but may make an award for the K-5 core resources and one for K-5 strategic resources. The solicitation will be posted on SAM.gov in the September-October timeframe. The anticipated period of performance is April 5, 2027 - April 4, 2033.

1.3 This request for information (RFI) is issued solely for information and planning and does not constitute a request for quote (RFQ) or a promise to issue an RFQ in the future.

The Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI;

i.e., all costs associated with responding to this RFI are solely the responder’s responsibility.

Not responding to the RFI does not preclude a contractor from responding to a future RFQ/RFP. If a solicitation is released, it will be synopsized on the SAM.gov website. Potential responders are responsible to monitor the relevant site for additional information pertaining to this requirement.

2.0 Overview

2.1 Agency: For school year 2026-27, the Department of War Education Activity (DoWEA) will provide PK-12 instruction in 160 schools to approximately 66,000 dependents of active-duty military and civilian employees. In the Americas, DoWEA operates 50 schools located in seven states, Puerto Rico, and Cuba. In Europe and the Middle East, DoWEA operates 64 schools located in Germany, England, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Turkey, and Bahrain. In the Pacific, DoWEA operates 45 schools located in Korea, Japan (mainland and Okinawa), and Guam. DoWEA also operates a fully accredited virtual high school with teaching hubs in each region. Our curriculum, resources and student achievement scores on standardized assessments compare favorably to those of high-performing US public school systems.

2.2 Scope: DoWEA requires commercial off-the-shelf (COTS), print and digital K-5 core literacy, K-5 strategic literacy, and related assessment resources for students, teachers and SMEs as well as related professional learning, correlations to standards, and technical support. In addition, DoWEA requires a literacy proficiency tool that can measure student literacy skills and monitor student progress. Note: The proficiency tool may include a writing component, but a writing component is not required.

More specifically, DoWEA requires both core literacy resources and strategic literacy resources. The latter shall

(1) help build reading proficiency levels of struggling/striving students whose literacy performance is six months or more below grade-level and (2) support instruction for foundational reading skills, reading compre-hension, composition writing, and written expression. Note: The proposed strategic resources may be included with the core resources or as separate products.

2.3 General Instruction Students and Teachers

Projected Student Enrollment* for the 2026-27 School Year (rounded to the nearest 25 students)

Grade Students Grade Students Grade Students Grade Students

K 5,700 2 5,800 4 5,575 K-5 Total 33,900

1 5,750 3 5,650 5 5,425

* Actual enrollment and teacher numbers will vary slightly throughout the life of the contract, unless base closures, force reductions, or base consolidations occur.

Projected Classroom Teachers for the 2026-27 School Year (rounded to the nearest five teachers)

Grade Teachers Grade Teachers Grade Teachers Grade Teachers

K 345 2 355 4 260 K-5 Total 1,835

1 350 3 270 5 255 Approximately 500 gifted education, special education, and multilingual learner teachers require access to digital resources.

Approximately 75 above-school-level SMEs will require access to digital resources.

2.4 Strategic Instruction Students and Teachers

Projected Student Enrollment for Strategic Instruction for the 2026-27 School Year (estimated at 12% of total enrollment)

Grade Students Grade Students Grade Students Grade Students

K 685 2 697 4 669 K-5 Total 4,070

1 689 3 678 5 652 Usually 5-15% of the total population requires services.

To be conservative, the 12% percent figure, rounded up, was used.

Projected Teachers for Special Populations for the 2026-27 School Year (rounded to the nearest five teachers)

Educators Total

Total number of Special

Population Educators

Strategic Literacy Instructors 145

595 Multilingual Learner Program Educators 150 Advanced Academic Programs 100

Learning Impair Mild/Moderate 200 The Special Populations educators will also require access to the digital resources.

Projected Above School Level Subject Matter Experts for the 2026-27 School Year Above School Level Subject Matter Experts 75

The above-school-level SMEs will also require access to the digital resources.

2.5 Background: DoWEA has procured K-5 literacy instructional resources since our inception approximately 80 years ago and currently holds contracts for core literacy and strategic literacy instructional resources. The standards, curriculum, and assessment for these resources are aligned with College and Career Ready Standards - Literacy (CCRSL K-5). The current contract is expiring and, according to Federal regulations, must be recompeted.

2.6 Requirements: DoWEA requires COTS print and digital K-5 core literacy, K-5 strategic literacy, and related assessment resources for students, teachers and SMEs as well as related professional learning, correlations to standards, and technical support. In addition, DoWEA requires a literacy proficiency tool that can measure student literacy skills and monitor student progress. Note: The proficiency tool may include a writing component, but a writing component is not required.

2.6.1 Core Resources: Provide a systematic, explicit, research-based best practices solution that is aligned to the CCRS-L for grades K-5 and that possesses the following features:

1) Literacy Foundations and Progressions

Science of Reading and Science of Writing-based instructional practices for literacy development and knowledge.

Scope & sequence reading, writing, language, speaking and listening, and reading foundational skills development within each grade level and across grade levels.

Developmentally appropriate, logical progression of reading foundational skills within each grade and across grade levels.

Developmentally appropriate, logical progression of reading within each grade and across grade levels.

Developmentally appropriate, logical writing progression within each grade and across grade levels.

Decodable texts with phonics and high-frequency words aligned to the program’s scope and sequence with instructional guides or routines for multiple readings.

2) Content and Rigor Quality, authentic texts aligned to the standards with tasks and questions grounded in primary sources to build core knowledge and vocabulary.

Materials build core content knowledge across literature, history, civics, and science through reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language.

Materials progress from retelling to the "why" and "how" of information to analyzing the relationships between ideas.

Texts and tasks require students to demonstrate their knowledge of a unit's topic(s) through integrated literacy skills.

3) Assessment, Alignment, and Reporting

Print and digital assessment system for ongoing monitoring of student performance, progress, and proficiency.

Standards alignment correlation document (digital) showing how all proposed materials align to DoWEA’s Literacy Learning standards and shall be updated to align to DoWEA standards for the life of the contract.

Digital reporting category scope and sequence aligned document provided post-award showing how proposed resources instruct and assess student progress, performance, and proficiency across the school year.

2.6.2 Teacher Resources: Provide teacher resources (print and digital) that possess the following features:

1) Foundational Resources Standards alignment correlation showing how all proposed resources align to the CCSR-L found at https://www.dodea.edu/curriculum/english-language-arts-ela/standards.

Standard-aligned scope and sequence with annotated standard progression by unit.

Teacher guides to help teachers plan and use resources with fidelity.

Resources for educators to improve their knowledge of literacy and literacy instruction

(embedded in the teacher guides and/or independently).

2) Classroom Environment

Resources, scaffolds, and extensions for students in special populations to read, write, speak, and/or listen to grade-level content to meet or exceed grade-level standards.

Logical visual design with references and integration of digital technology.

Aligned and mirrored print and digital instructional resources to support varied instructional approaches, provide multiple ways for students to demonstrate learning, and include opportunities for students to reflect on and monitor their learning/progress.

Ability for educators to assign content to individuals, small groups, or the whole class.

Core re-teaching resources to enable direct, explicit instruction with formative and summative assessments for ongoing assessment of student progress.

3) Assessment, Intervention, and Reporting

System of assessments with multiple formative and summative assessment options for reading, writing, language, speaking and listening, and reading foundational skills by standard that are machine and/or hand-scorable for teachers to collect, interpret, and act on data to ensure students’ progress toward the standards and includes follow-up guidance and aligned resources.

Tools that communicate individual student progress and achievement to students and their parents/sponsors and that provide individual and aggregate student progress and achievement data for school-level monitoring and above-school-level analysis.

System that processes, scores, and renders student, class, school, district, and system-level performance reports within 24 hours of assessment completion to allow for timely instructional response.

2.6.3 Student Resources: Provide print and digital student resources with the following features:

1) Hands-on print materials (to include texts) complemented by digital resources that engage students in tasks that support Literacy standards instruction.

2) Digital resources via a vendor-hosted platform that includes age-appropriate access and user-friendly navigation.

3) Digital resources with interactive activities that build deep comprehension using multi-sensory texts, graphic organizers, and real-world connections, while providing scaffolding and immediate feedback to readers.

4) Visual design with a clear, coherent, student-focused layout that promotes intentional student engagement with the content.

5) Digital materials are personalized for all students, using adaptive and other technological support.

2.6.4 Strategic Resources & Instruction (Objective #2): Provide a systematic, explicit, research-based practices solution that is aligned to the CCRS-L for grades K-5 and that possesses the following features:

1) Standards alignment correlation showing how all proposed resources align to the CCSR-L found at https://www.dodea.edu/curriculum/english-language-arts-ela/standards

2) Cited, peer-reviewed, and research-based resources with evidence proving their reliability and validity.

3) Direct, explicit, systematic, interactive, evidence-based instruction to support students with acquiring and/or accelerating the requisite skills needed at grade level to increase their (1) reading foundational skills, (2) reading comprehension, (3) writing composition, and (4) written expression. Note: DoWEA educators will provide direct, explicit instruction, digital instruction is not acceptable.

4) Multiple assessments (print and/or digital) to monitor student progress (pre-assessment, diagnostic, formative, and summative).

5) Resources designed to be used with any grade combinations within K-5. Note: Although the proposed strategic resources can align with the core instruction and/or with the literacy proficiency tool, such alignment is preferred but not required.

6) Assessment system that processes, scores, and renders student, class, school, district, and system-level performance reports within 24 hours of assessment completion to allow for timely instructional interventions.

2.6.5 K-5 Literacy Proficiency Tool: Provide a proficiency tool for grades K-5—approximately 33,900 students. Students will take the assessment twice each year. The tool shall possess, at a minimum, the following features:

1) Is cited, peer-reviewed, and research-based with evidence of proven reliability and validity.

2) Measures foundational skills, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension. Note: A writing assessment is preferred by not required.

3) Is an adaptive assessment(s) administered digitally with administration components available for further teacher-led assessment of student deficits using the Contractor’s assessment resources. Note: Those remedial assessment resources may be print and/or digital.

4) Assesses systematically student reading comprehension growth over time.

5) Can communicate individual student progress and achievement to both students and their parents/sponsors and provide individual and aggregate student progress and achievement data for school-level monitoring and above-school-level analysis.

6) Can aggregate data at the classroom, school, district, and system levels.

7) Preferred but not required: Assesses and tracks student writing composition and expression growth systematically over time.

2.6.6 Product Training: Provide synchronous and/or asynchronous webinars and/or SCORM®-compliant modules that prepares educators to understand the purpose and design of the resources; navigate materials and assessments; implement essential instructional routines with the intended sequence, pacing, and dosage; distinguish fidelity expectations from appropriate adaptations; and use available supports to plan, deliver, and refine instruction. Note: No hours are listed in the tables below for product training.

2.6.6 Professional Learning (PL): Provide synchronous and asynchronous webinars per the tables below.

Deliver synchronous webinars during normal business hours in each region (US, Europe, and Pacific). Note: The Government in consultation with the Contractor will determine the specific topics, dates, and times for each webinar post-award.

2.4.1.1 Dry Run: Present the professional learning to DoWEA staff at least 15 business days before the first regional presentation. Finalize the professional learning within five business days based on written feedback from the COR.

2.4.1.2 LMS: Post each webinar on our learning management system (LMS, Schoology).

2.6.7 Asynchronous Modules: product training and professional learning modules must provide participants with the exact same knowledge and skills of the materials the initial synchronous training. These will be finalized based on written feedback from DoWEA.

Table 1: K-5 Literacy Core Instruction and Literacy Proficiency Tool PL

Audience: K-5 Classroom Teachers, Strategic Literacy Instruction Teachers, Special Education Teachers, and Multilingual Learner

Teachers General Topic Mode Contact Hours Contract Years

Core Instruction Synchronous & asynchronous

Synchronous: 36* Asynchronous: 12

Base Year and Option Years 1-2

Literacy Proficiency Tool Synchronous & asynchronous

Synchronous: 18* Asynchronous: 6

Base Year and Option Years 1-2

* 12.0 hours of synchronous PL delivered three times each of the first three contract years once per DoWEA region.

Table 2: K-5 Strategic Literacy Instruction PL

Audience: Strategic Instruction Teachers General Topic Mode Contact Hours Contract Years

Strategic Instruction Synchronous & asynchronous

Synchronous: 36* Asynchronous: 12

Base Year and Option Years 1-2

* 12.0 hours of synchronous PL delivered three times each of the first three contract years once per DoWEA region.

Table 3: K-5 Literacy Core Instruction, Strategic Literacy Instruction, and Literacy Proficiency Tool PL

Audience: Above-School-Level Subject Matter Experts

General Topic Mode Contact Hours Contract Years Core Instruction Synchronous or Live 18* Base Year

Literacy Proficiency Tool Synchronous or Live 9* Base Year Strategic Instruction Synchronous or Live 9* Base Year

* All PL delivered three times, once per DoWEA region or once to the worldwide team.

Table 4: Train-the-Trainer K-5 Literacy Core Instruction, Strategic Instruction, Audience: Above-School-Level Subject Matter Experts

General Topic Mode Contact Hours Contract Years Core Instruction Synchronous or Live 6* Base Year

Literacy Proficiency Tool Synchronous or Live 6* Base Year Strategic Instruction Synchronous or Live 6* Base Year

* All PL delivered three times, once per DoWEA region or once to the worldwide team.

This training will prepare Above-School Level Subject Matter Experts to facilitate product training to educators or school leaders when needed.

Table 5: K-5 Literacy Core Instruction, Strategic Instruction, Audience: 180-190 School-Level Administrators

General Topic Mode Contact Hours Contract Years

Core Instruction Synchronous & asynchronous

Synchronous: 4.5* Asynchronous: 1.5 Base Year

Literacy Proficiency Tool Synchronous & asynchronous

Synchronous: 3* Asynchronous: 1 Base Year

Strategic Instruction Synchronous & asynchronous

Synchronous: 3* Asynchronous: 1 Base Year

* 1-1.5 hours of synchronous PL delivered three times, once per DoWEA region.

Table 6: K-5 Literacy Core Instruction/Intervention, Strategic Instruction/Intervention, and Literacy Proficiency Tool PL

Audience: Above-School-Level Leaders

General Topic Mode Contact Hours Contract Years

Core Instruction Synchronous & asynchronous

Synchronous: 3* Asynchronous: 1 Base Year

Literacy Proficiency Tool Synchronous & asynchronous

Synchronous: 3* Asynchronous: 1 Base Year

Strategic Instruction Synchronous & asynchronous

Synchronous: 3* Asynchronous: 1 Base Year

* 1.0 hours of synchronous PL delivered three times, once per DoWEA region.

2.6.8 General Requirements

1) Age-Appropriate Navigation and Student Accommodations: Provide a secure, browser-based digital literacy platform engineered specifically for students in grades K–5. The digital platform incorporates developmentally responsive user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) designs that minimize cognitive overhead for non-readers and early readers, while offering progressive complexity for upper elementary learners. Deliver age-differentiated navigation interfaces with a configuration that meets or exceeds the following features:

Grade Band Navigation Architecture Requirement Visual and Auditory Controls

Early Primary (Grades K–2)

Single-click execution paths, zero nested drop-down menus, and pictorial menu navigation with auto-narrated voiceovers upon mouseover or screen tap.

High-contrast visual cards, pictorial signifiers (e.g., oversized icons for "Read," "Listen," "Library"), and auto-saved session progress requiring no manual file handling.

Intermediate (Grades 3–5)

Progressive disclosure workflows, search and filter facets (by Lexile, genre, or topic), breadcrumb navigational trails, and persistent dashboard access.

Standardized search bars with predictive text, bookmarking tools, digital reading logs, and multi-step task toggles.

2) Platform: Provide a platform that complies with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (36 CFR Part 1194) and conforms to WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards. Embed built-in accessibility tools directly into the student reading interface without requiring third-party browser extensions. Meet or exceed the following features:

Accommodation Category Technical Specification Operational Target

Text-to-Speech Embedded multi-voice synthesizer with synchronized dual-color word and phrase tracking.

Adjustable playback speed (0.5x to 2.0x) and non-robotic synthetic speech available on all student-facing texts.

Visual Customization

User-toggleable font options specifically optimized for readers with visual & learning differences.

This must include, at a minimum, one free-use specialized typeface (such as OpenDyslexic or Lexend) and a highly legible, standard sans-serif font (such as Verdana or Comic Sans).

Settings persist across all logins, devices, and sessions without user re-configuration.

Embedded Scaffolding

Point-of-use visual and spoken student dictionaries, translation support for multilingual learners, and closed-captioned media.

Accommodations operable via both keyboard navigation (tabbing/arrow keys) and touch interfaces.

3) Technical Support: Provide industry-standard technical support for its digital resources for the life of the contract via telephone or email within one business day from the initial contact to include but not limited to assisting with service problems, product setup, upgrades, and troubleshooting.

4) Technical Requirements for Digital Instructional Resources: Ensure the following:

Provide digital resources designed to run in DoWEA learning management system (LMS, Schoology) and Google Classroom, both of which operate within our virtual learning environment (VLE). In addition, provide teacher and student access to the Contractor’s digital resources through a single sign-on platform that uses one username and password to access what is needed, specifically, via DoWEA’s identity, rostering, and management platform, e.g., ClassLink.

Deliver digital resources are either (1) integrated via our LMS to the digital resources hosted by the Contractor or (2) hosted externally by the Contractor but accessible via DoWEA’s LMS and Google Classroom to the digital assignments and assessments imported, hosted, and maintained in the LMS.

Ensure the course content meets the following specifications:

o Conforms to IMS Learning Global Consortium (IMS) content packaging specifications.

o Uses imported content, if required, conforming to IMS content packaging specifications.

o Uses code that does not disable LMS features when digital resources are accessed.

o Requires single—not multiple—authentications to access content via our LMS.

o Incorporates, where applicable, assessments that are IMS Test and Question Interoper-ability (QTI)-conformant.

o Uses content-hosted externally that conforms to any of the existing versions of IMS

Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI), per www.imsglobal.org.

5) Third-Party Programs, Software, and Applications: Ensure its own and its subcontractors’ (third-party) programs, software, and applications meet—at a minimum—the same technical require-ments as the Contractor must meet, such as single sign on (SSO) and Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) Level 2, etc. On a case-by-case basis, DoWEA may honor requests to waive the FedRAMP Level 2 requirement.

6) Digital Resources: Deliver digital materials with instructions detailing how the resources can be accessed by teachers, students, and above-school-level educators, using DoWEA’s LMS and/or DoWEA’s single-sign on rostering platform (ClassLink). Allow DoWEA to download resources as needed. A teacher, e.g., may want to provide a printed worksheet for students or a student with an individual educational program (IEP) may require the textbook in print form. Note: All printed resources will be for internal use only.

7) Print Resources: Ship all print/physical materials according to the latest version of the DoWEA shipping guide, found at https://webapps.dodea.edu/dodaac/DoDEA_Shipping_Guide.pdf.

Unless specified otherwise in the shipping guide, ship materials to the Americas by commercial carrier or USPS and to Europe and the Pacific only by commercial carrier. Delivery orders use door-to-door addresses. Provide, upon shipment of materials, a digital shipment notification that includes:

Contract number and delivery order number Contract line item number (CLIN) indicating materials and quantities being shipped Destination and date of shipment Shipping carrier name and the tracking number of each shipment Estimated date of arrival of shipment and, if applicable, shipping slip

8) Meetings: Attend virtual meetings at no additional cost to the Government and provide the medium through which each meeting occurs, record each meeting’s minutes. Submit the draft minutes to the contracting officer’s representative (COR) within two business days of the event and finalize the minutes two business days after receiving written feedback from the COR. Note:

Costs associated with attending any face-to-face meetings shall be handled/ paid for as stated in the contract.

Post-Award Conference: Participate in a video- or teleconference with the COR five business days after award IAW FAR Subpart 42.5.

IT Meeting: Convene a video- or teleconference with the Agency’s Information Technology staff ten business days after award, per Technical Exhibit #1.

Other Post-Award Meetings: Meet with the Contracting Officer (KO), COR, and/or other

Agency personnel, as appropriate, to review Contractor performance, as required by the Agency. The KO may discuss the Agency’s view of Contractor performance, and the Contractor shall apprise the Agency of any problems being experienced. The Contractor shall take appropriate action to resolve any outstanding issues DoWEA raises.

3.0 Responses

3.1 Interested parties are requested to respond to this RFI using Microsoft Word or a compatible format. DoWEA fully realizes that more refined answers will be possible once the solicitation is released, but we hope you can provide information that will help us create an excellent performance work statement and cost estimate. In that regard, please include the following information:

3.1.1 Administration & Subcontracting

1) Company name, DBA name (if applicable), mailing address, CAGE code, unique entity identifier

(UEI), and North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes.

2) Designated point of contact’s name, title, phone number, and email address.

3) Describe, if applicable, any subcontracting possibilities. Note: The prime must perform at least 51 percent of the work.

3.1.2 Core Literacy: Describe, if applicable, your proposed solution for the K-5 core literacy requirement to include related assessments.

3.1.3 Strategic Literacy: Describe, if applicable, your proposed solution for the K-5 strategic literacy requirement.

3.1.4 Literacy Proficiency Tool: Describe, if applicable, your proposed solution for the literacy proficiency tool requirement.

3.1.5 Professional Learning: Briefly describe your experience providing virtual professional learning on this topic. If available, please provide a link to professional learning examples (webinars and/or digital modules) and relevant supplemental resources.

3.1.6 Pricing: Provide a non-binding price estimate or estimated range—that will be kept confidential.

Please use the attached Excel spreadsheet. If the breakdown that is provided does not fit your solution, please revise the spreadsheet as needed.

3.1.7 Recommendations: Please provide any recommendations you believe might improve the Government’s performance work statement.

3.2 Proprietary information, if any, should be minimized and be clearly marked. Please segregate the proprietary information. Note: All submissions become Government property and will not be returned.

4.0 Industry Discussions

DoWEA representatives may or may not choose to speak with potential offerors. Such discussions would only be intended to get greater clarification on such things as capability and pricing.

5.0 Questions

Questions regarding this announcement shall be submitted by email to Contract Specialists, London Thomas and Kevin Cruz at london.thomas@dodea.edu and kevin.cruz@dodea.edu, respectively. Verbal questions will not be accepted. Questions will be answered via email and will not contain proprietary or classified information. The Government does not guarantee that questions received after October 12, 2026 will be answered.

6.0 Summary

This RFI is issued solely for information and planning and does not constitute an RFQ/RFP. The information herein is subject to change and not binding on the Government. Release of this RFI is not a commitment that DoWEA will issue an RFQ/RFP in the future or that it authorizes costs to be incurred for which reimbursement would be required or sought. All submissions become Government property and will not be returned.

SUSPENSE

Submit your RFI response no later than 1PM EST on Friday, October 16, 2026. Please email your responses to London Thomas and Kevin Cruz at london.thomas@dodea.edu and kevin.cruz@dodea.edu, respectively.