S2586 SOW Revised Final.docx

Vendor Responsibilities

The Vendor shall provide all goods or services and deliverables as required, described, and detailed below and shall meet all service and delivery timelines as specified by the Contract.

The Vendor shall provide a comprehensively designed Kindergarten Entry Assessment (KEA) to be administered by local education agency kindergarten teachers/school personnel to all public and charter kindergarten students in Nevada.

The KEA shall:

Comply with current State Board of Education policies and the laws in Nevada.

Align with the Nevada Pre-Kindergarten Standards, Revised 2023 Measure multiple domains of learning, beyond reading and math.

Assess language and early literacy development.

The emphasis on early literacy is consistent and aligned with early childhood research and the State’s Read by Grade 3 initiative, Assembly Bill No. 289 (2019).

Vendors’ response shall include accessibility features for use with any student.

Provide all services in a linguistically appropriate and culturally sensitive manner.

Have capacity to accommodate children with disabilities and those who are multilingual learners. The KEA assessment should be able to measure a student’s foundational knowledge in any language, not merely measure their abilities to comprehend and speak English. The KEA should be in alignment with NDE’s language access plan.

Referring to the reliability and validity of the assessment, the KEA must have included a subset of students in the norming sample who are “Dual Language Learners”, but not yet formally identified as “English Learners”.

Have capacity to accommodate multilingual leaners with disabilities.

Reporting Requirements

Provide an assessment solution that will include a user-friendly online data management system for school, district, and state use.

Produce timely and high-quality parent, teacher, school, district, and state reports.

Connect student data to each student’s Nevada State Student Identification Number in Infinite Campus (also referred to as unique identifier number).

Provide monthly and year end status reports to the Office of Early Learning and Development (NDE OELD). Key information in these reports include, but are not limited to, achievement trends across districts/state, how many kindergarten students have been assessed (yearly and cumulative), how many teachers/hours of professional development and technical assistance have been provided to Nevada personnel, etc.

Administration Requirements

The assessment is not a computer-based assessment (ex. student sitting at a computer).

The assessment takes a minimal amount of time to administer and score.

The assessment can appropriately be administered between 15 days before school starts to 45 days after school starts.

The assessment Vendor will provide direct technical support for administration to schools and districts as needed.

Mandatory Requirements

Determining the Vendor’s ability to meet the minimum requirements is the first step of the evaluation process. The Vendor must demonstrate, it meets all minimum requirements listed in the Mandatory Requirements section (Table 1). The Vendor’s response to the minimum requirements must be clearly labeled “Mandatory Requirements”.

Table 1. Mandatory Proposal Requirements

Kindergarten Entry Assessment that fulfills all requirements for a Kindergarten Entry Assessment as specified by the State of Nevada.

Includes professional development training, technical assistance, and methods of use for the Kindergarten Entry Assessment that includes a variety of professional development approaches and formats.

Provides guidance on assessment practice that are inclusive of diverse student populations including students with disabilities and students who are multilingual learners.

Identifies a comprehensive assessment infrastructure that accommodates the Kindergarten Entry Assessment.

Explains how students who are “Dual Language Learners”, but not yet formally identified as “English Learners” were included as a subgroup in the KEA assessment norming process.

Key Deliverables Required

A KEA assessment that is valid, reliable, and highly aligned to the Nevada Pre-Kindergarten Standards (revised 2023).

Materials (physical and/or digital) for all of Nevada’s Kindergarten teachers to use the KEA, and additional materials for new teachers in year two, three, and four of the contracts.

Examples of high-quality parent and teacher reports which include suggestions for standards-based next steps, based on student data. Parent reports should be available in a variety of languages.

An online data management system for KEA data, to be used by teachers, school districts, and NDE, which utilizes students’ unique identifier numbers which are pulled in from Infinite Campus.

Establish and submit an organizational structure, work plan, timeline, and benchmark data to NDE OELD. The work plan must address how the organization plan and structure adheres to all elements of the Scope of Work. This plan should demonstrate that the Vendor has the expertise, knowledge, qualified staff, and experience to meet all monthly benchmarks and be ready for teachers to use the KEA with students on 7/25/2024 Note: Most public-school teachers in Nevada do not work in the summer.

Identify and submit a working plan and timeline for the deployment of the KEA.

Provide a training plan with cost-effective strategies that include training, associated materials, and ongoing support in administration of the assessment.

Outline the use and deployment of the Kindergarten Entry Assessment with monthly benchmarks.

Meeting monthly benchmarks and deploying KEA system ready for use with trained and prepared teachers/materials/database by 7/25/24.

Updates and revisions: The working plan and timeline must be evaluated and approved by state leadership after each revision or addition.

Identify and submit a specification sheet of the proposed assessment infrastructure that is inclusive of:

Multiple access points such as mobile application and online access Data onboarding, sharing, and storing capabilities.

Reporting functionality and capacities Capacity for Professional Development content storage and maintenance Adherence to state policies surrounding data security and data sharing.

Updates and revisions: The specification sheet must be evaluated and approved by state leadership after each revision.

Provide detailed descriptions of the capabilities that will be integrated into the State of Nevada Learning Management System and an implementation plan and timeline for statewide fidelity checks.

Submit a Comprehensive Professional Development Plan that includes a(an):

Timeline and schedule of professional development access and delivery A detailed description of the capabilities that will be integrated in the State of Nevada Learning Management System Implementation and timeline for statewide fidelity checks

Updates and revisions: The PD plan must be evaluated and approved by state leadership after each revision or addition.

Identify and submit a communication plan that supports Networking and Collaboration with the Nevada Department of Education Office of Early Learning and Development (NDE OELD) that:

Includes weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly meetings (conference calls or face to face) with state leadership to discuss the progress of KEA project activities.

Schedule of no less than four, and up to 10, train the trainer PD events per annual year, including, but not limited to rural counties.

PROJECT REPORTS

The Vendor will provide monthly and year-end reports documenting the progress of achievements related to the Objectives, Scope of Work and the Deliverables identified in this RFP.

Work with NDE OELD to develop/determine the format of monthly and year end reports. At a minimum, the report must include a description of the task completed, the outcome of the task, the level of participation in the activity, and material/resources utilized. The report must include the date and description of training, in-services, or other presentations, including locations and participants by type. The Vendor will assimilate all activities performed and prepare a year-end report (for the period of each calendar year, due no later than January 30) in collaboration with the NDE OELD, which summarizes and provides evidence of the impact for the state. The report shall be in an electronic and reproducible format to be shared across a variety of contexts. Submit all data and final reports to the attention of: Patti Oya, Nevada Department of Education, Matthew Hoffman, Nevada Department of Education and Kelly Carr, Nevada Department of Education.

WORK REQUIRMENTS

To ensure effective use of the KEA as a tool, provide professional development activities from previously developed content that is organized around the three stages of the assessment process from pre-administration, administration, and post-administration that support the following areas:

The knowledge and experience of a wide variety of users Provide specific Instructions for early childhood professionals administering the assessment.

Provide specific Instructions that provide directions on how to administer assessments to a diverse population of students and what accommodations are supported for students with special needs or whose primary home language is other than English.

Clear interpretation of assessment score results that can be shared with families, used to improve instruction, and provided as needed to improve continued professional development.

The ability to give Nevada’s approximately 1,412 kindergarten teachers access to all previously created professional development assessment materials, as needed. Additional personnel that will need access to PD include teacher aides, literacy coaches, district level administrators and state staff.

The Vendor will not create new content, but may be asked to re-post updated content, which is created by NDE OELD during the duration of the contract.

Professional learning will be offered in a variety of formats in order to reach all districts and schools in the state including rural districts with limited or inconsistent internet access.

The professional learning will include direct support to the Nevada Department of Education, including ongoing technical assistance and professional learning, as directed by the Nevada Department of Education, for the life of the contract.

Plan for and deliver professional development for teachers/aides, school administrators, literacy coaches, district personnel and Nevada Department of Education personnel. This professional development should center around how to use the tool, how to enter data, how to use the database/reports, and how to analyze and utilize data from the Kindergarten Entry Assessment at the various levels (classroom level, building level, district level, and state level).

Provide professional development activities in a train-the-trainer model available to all early childhood State Support Teams (SST’s) consultants that is inclusive of:

Online resources, with the option to participate in blended, online, and face-to-face approaches that provide effective support for professionals with varying levels of experience in the administration of early childhood assessments.

A facilitator and web-based portal that includes training, coaching, technical assistance, online learning communities and simulation technology.

Maintenance and Deployment of an Assessment Infrastructure - It is expected that the successful Vendor will implement Nevada-owned code into their existing technology system. The successful Vendor will be expected to maintain and deploy a fully developed assessment infrastructure that Nevada’s approximately 1,412 kindergarten teachers and numerous select data coordinators will use during administration of the KEA between July and November each year, including:

Support the ease and standardization of the data collection process inclusive of:

A variety of access points that support adaptability to technology and are user friendly to the data collection processes and administration of the assessment (i.e., application features for mobile and desktop devices).

A standardized process for data onboarding and exporting as well as the management of multi-level data.

The integration of continued improvements in content, data, and functionality.

The ability to store and update a large amount of content and professional development information that allows for active user interface features such as asynchronous and synchronous experiences and simulations.

Processes that adhere to state information technology security laws and policies relating to data storing and sharing.

Provide a robust reporting functionality that presents data on multiple levels that includes:

Individual student, school, district, and state level reports as well as language and literacy reports.

Accessible reports that are available with immediate feedback of assessment data once the kindergarten student has completed the KEA (i.e., Instant Individual Student Reports- IISR).

Family reports are available in a variety of languages.

Functionality that allows for longitudinal measurement, tracking, and use of data from multiple assessment time periods that supports targeted use of data.

The Vendor will not be asked to create new functionality or reporting tools but will provide the updates that are necessary to maintain properly functioning and accessible tools.

Collaboration and Networking - Maintain collaboration and consistent communication via e-mail, internet, telephone, and as needed, in-person meetings with the NDE OELD.

Provide inputs and support to the development of resources for various users of the assessment tools (educators, administrators, literacy specialists and data management analysists).

Submit monthly and year-end reports that include a summary and evidence of the activities completed from the approved work plan.

Milestone, Delivery and Completion Dates

The Vendor will provide a work plan for the implementation of KEA, technology specifications outline, comprehensive professional development plan as well as a communication plan that adheres to the SOW and Deliverables identified in this RFP.

The Vendor will provide monthly and year-end reports documenting the progress of achievements related to the Objectives, Scope of Work and the Deliverables identified in this RFP.

The Vendor will meet with the NDE OELD to review the end-of-year reports and participate in a shared discussion on the annual outcomes of the RFP activities.

Vendor Qualifications

The Vendor demonstrates substantial experiences directly associated with the development and sustainability of educational assessments and developmentally appropriate practices for early childhood.

The Vendor holds a fully developed assessment infrastructure that is responsive to new code and content.

The Vendor employs or contracts with experienced staff who are familiar with current policy guidelines and best practices regarding early childhood assessments.

The Vendor demonstrates the ability to access community and higher-education resources when and where appropriate.

Special Work Information

The Vendor, sub-suppliers and other staff must be able to travel across the state of Nevada as needed.

In accessing Local Education Agency (LEA) school buildings and classrooms, administrative offices, and other facilities, the Vendor, sub-suppliers, and other staff must comply with applicable LEA policies and procedures.

Proposal Format

Each Proposal must include sufficient data to allow the State to verify the total cost for the Project and all of the Vendor claims of meeting the RFP's requirements. Each Proposal must respond to every request for information in this attachment whether the request requires a simple "yes" or "no" or requires a detailed explanation. Simply repeating the RFP's requirement and agreeing to comply will be an unacceptable response and may cause the Proposal to be rejected.

These instructions describe the required format for a responsive Proposal. The Vendor may include any additional information it believes is relevant. An identifiable tab sheet must precede each section of a Proposal, and each Proposal must follow the format outlined below. All pages, except pre-printed technical inserts, must be sequentially numbered. Any material deviation from the format outlined below may result in a rejection of the non-conforming Proposal.

Each Proposal must contain the following information, chronologically in order, with tabbed sections as listed below:

Cover Letter Vendor Profile and Prior Projects Vendor References Staffing Plan Work Plan Conflict of Interest Statement

Vendor Profile and Prior Projects. Each Proposal must include a profile of the Vendor’s capability, capacity, and relevant experience working on projects similar to this Work.

The Vendor shall also provide information on the firm’s background as well as evidence that it has in place the personnel, internal procedures, and any other resources required under the terms of the Contract to ensure successful performance and contract compliance. The Vendor must describe the current operational capacity of the organization and the Vendor’s ability to absorb the additional workload resulting from this Project.

The Vendor must document previous experience and expertise in providing a minimum of three (3) previous projects, similar in size and complexity, in the previous five (5) years. These projects must be of similar size, scope, and nature. Details of the similarities must be included.

Vendors must reiterate the experience being described in the Vendor profile, including the capacity in which the experience was performed and the role of the Vendor on the Project. It is the Vendor’s responsibility to customize the description to clearly substantiate the qualification. Previous experience must include the conduct, management, and coordination of projects.

The description of the related service shows the Vendor’s experience, capability, and capacity to develop this Project’s deliverables and/or to achieve this Project’s milestones. Details such as the size of the contracting organizations, duration of involvement, level of responsibility, significant accomplishments, as well as thorough description of the nature of the experience will be required.

Contact Information. The contact’s name, title, phone number, e-mail address, company name, and mailing address must be filled out completely. If the primary contact cannot be reached, the same information must be included for an alternate contact in lieu of the primary contact.

Project Name. The name of the project where the mandatory experience was obtained and/or service was provided.

Dates of Experience. Must be completed to show the length of time the Vendor performed the experience being described, not the length of time the Vendor was engaged for the reference. The Vendor must complete these dates with a beginning month and year and an ending month and year.

Description of the Related Service Provided. The State does not assume that since the experience requirement is provided at the top of the page that all descriptions on that page relate to that requirement. The Vendor must reiterate the experience being described, including the capacity in which the experience was performed and the role of the Vendor on the Project. It is the Vendor’s responsibility to customize the description to clearly substantiate the qualification.

Description of how the related service shows the Vendor’s experience, capability, and capacity to develop this Project’s deliverables and/or to achieve this Project’s milestones.

The Vendor’s project experience must be listed separately and completely every time it is referenced, regardless of whether it is on the same or different pages of the form.

Staffing Plan. The Vendor must provide a staffing plan that identifies all key personnel required to do the Project and their responsibilities on the Project. The State is seeking a staffing plan that matches the proposed Project personnel and qualifications to the activities and tasks that will be completed on the Project. In addition, the plan must have the following information:

A matrix matching each key team member to the staffing requirements in this RFP.

A contingency plan that shows the ability to add more staff if needed to ensure meeting the Project's due date(s).

A discussion of the Vendor’s ability to provide qualified replacement personnel.

The Vendor must submit a statement and chart that clearly indicate the time commitment of the proposed work team including the Project Manager, to the Project.

Work Plan. The Vendor must fully describe its current capacity, approach, methods, and specific work steps for doing the Work on this Project. The State encourages responses that demonstrate a thorough understanding of the nature of the Project and what the Vendor must do to complete the Project satisfactorily. To this end, the Vendor must submit for this section of the Proposal the Project plan that will be used to create a consistent, coherent management plan of action that will be used to guide the Project. The Project plan should include detail sufficient to give the State an understanding of the Vendor knowledge and approach, including Gantt charts documenting the successful completion of all of the deliverables to complete the Project.

The Work Plan must demonstrate an understanding of the requirements of the project. The Vendor must describe the methodologies, processes, and procedures it will utilize in the implementation and production of the Scope of Work. Provide a comprehensive Work Plan that gives ample description and detail as to how it proposes to accomplish this project and what resources are necessary to meet the deliverables.

The State seeks insightful responses that describe proven state-of-the-art methods. Recommended solutions should demonstrate that the Vendor would be prepared to immediately undertake and successfully complete the required tasks. The Vendor’s Work Plan should clearly and specifically identify key personnel assignments. (NOTE: The staffing plan should be consistent with the Work plans).

Additionally, the Vendor should address potential problem areas, recommended solutions to the problem areas, and any assumptions used in developing those solutions.