2026-2035 Promotion Testing

The State of Illinois, through the Illinois State Police Merit Board, is soliciting proposals for the development and administration of promotional testing tools and job analyses for Illinois State Police officers across a ten-year period from 2026 through 2035. This Request for Proposal (RFP) seeks comprehensive test development services for promotional examinations at four ranks: Sergeant (1,239 eligible candidates), Master Sergeant (223 eligible candidates), Lieutenant (237 eligible candidates), and Captain (74 eligible candidates). Vendors must develop job knowledge exams and assessment center components with job-related, validated exercises aligned to job analyses conducted at specified intervals, with all test content newly developed for each testing cycle, assessor training and assessment administration occurring in-person, and final scoring deliverables provided in rank-specific datasets. The vendor must ensure that standardized scores from job knowledge tests and assessment center components comprise 95 percent of the total promotional score, with validation reports aligned to the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (1978). Pricing from the previous contract cycle ranged from $41,900 to $72,805 for promotional test development and administration, with separate job analysis costs ranging from $16,750 to $20,290, and vendors must provide comprehensive pricing with annual escalation for the full ten-year agreement term. The solicitation was posted on January 23, 2026, with a proposal due date of February 12, 2026, and the contract was awarded on February 18, 2026, to I/O Solutions, Inc., for a total contract value of $1,516,031.00.

The contract includes a small business set-aside designation, and vendors must comply with the State of Illinois Business Enterprise Program Utilization Plan requirements, demonstrating commitments to businesses owned by minorities, women, persons with disabilities, and veterans. Vendors are also subject to Commitment to Diversity evaluation criteria, which comprises 20 percent of the technical score and requires documentation of diversity and equity inclusion spending, time investments, staffing diversity, and actionable diversity policies. All responding vendors must maintain active registration in the Illinois Procurement Gateway (IPG) and complete mandatory state registrations including Illinois Board of Elections registration and Secretary of State registration for conducting business in Illinois. The incumbent vendor from the previous contract cycle was Industrial Organizational Solutions, Inc., and the state will coordinate testing facilities while vendors are responsible for coordinating assessors and administrative staff. The awarded contract to I/O Solutions, Inc., valued at $1,516,031.00 for the nine-year-eleven-month initial term, was selected as the lowest priced responsive and responsible bid, with the unsuccessful bidder National Testing Network, Inc., submitting a proposal of $2,793,000.00.