RFI-Digital Content K12 Education

Office of Finance and Administration Finance Division Procurement & Business Services Procurement Services procurement.ofa.ncsu.edu Campus Box 7212 Raleigh, NC 27695 P: 919.515.2171 F: 919.515.3511 September 3, 2020 Due Date for Responses, 5:00 pm, Monday, October 5, 2020 TO: Digital Content Providers FROM: Jessica Dalton, C.P.M., CPPB SUBJECT: REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) #63-JGD10342 North Carolina K12 Digital Content Contracts NC State University’s William and Ida Friday Institute for Educational Innovation requests information from vendors providing digital content to the North Carolina K12 population. Please note that this is not a request or offer to contract and that no award or contract will result from responses received. However, results may be utilized to develop specifications for a future solicitation. Submission Instructions: Complete instructions are attached. Vendors are asked to complete a survey in response to this RFI no later than Monday October 5, 2020. The

survey may be accessed at the following: https://go.ncsu.edu/2020-digital-content Important Notes: • Each item of the Requested Information will only be visible to NC State after the Closing Date/Time. • This RFI will be advertised at www.ips.state.nc.us https://go.ncsu.edu/2020-digital-content http://www.ips.state.nc.us/ 1 Request for Information (RFI) #63-JGD10342 North Carolina K12 Digital Content 2 Contents I. Introduction 3 II. Background 3 III. Qualifications 3 IV. Information Requested 3 A. Vendor Name 4 B. Website 4 C. Product 4 D. Product Details 4 Grade Level(s) Served 4 Evaluation and Research Data 4 Pedagogical Approach 4 E. Pricing 4 F. Standards and Compliance 5 Educational Standards 5 Authentication 5 Rostering 5 Analytics 5 Integrations 5 Security 5 Privacy 5 Accessibility 5 D. NC PSUs using Product 6 E. Contract Term 6 F. Comments/Clarifications 6 G. Contact Information 6 V. Response Timeline 6 VI. Response Template 6 VII. Questions 7 VIII. Acronyms 7 3 I. Introduction This Request for Information (RFI) is being released by the William and Ida Friday Institute for Educational Innovation at NC State University. The goal is to gather information about existing digital content contracts with Public School Units (PSUs) in the state of North Carolina. To meet that goal, the following objectives have been defined: 1. Release this RFI. 2. Gather vendor responses. 3. Provide a report to PSUs. 4. Publish a guide for digital content purchases, including: a. Evaluating the effectiveness of digital content; b. Evaluating the return on investment (ROI). 5. Collect data on PSU digital content selections from survey results. II. Background The William and Ida Friday Institute for Educational Innovation at North Carolina State University conducts research, develops educational resources, provides professional development programs for educators, advocates to improve teaching and learning, and helps inform policy-making. The Friday Institute for Educational Innovation will provide each PSU with a report compiled from vendor responses to this RFI. The report will allow PSUs to make informed purchasing decisions per their local needs and guidelines. This RFI may also be leveraged to inform possible future collaborative procurement efforts, including local or regional purchasing consortia. III. Qualifications NC Friday Institute for Educational Innovation is seeking vendors that have existing contracts [2020-2021 school year] for digital content with any Public School Unit in the state of North Carolina. This does include any digital content that is used for instruction. It does not include platforms and services that provide digital content delivery only [e.g. a Learning Management System (LMS) or Learning Object Repository (LOR)]. IV. Information Requested The following information is being requested from vendors about each product. 4 A. Vendor Name Official company name. B. Product Official product name. C. Website Web address where product is described. D. Product Details 1. Grade Level(s) Served Specific grade levels for products listed. 2. Evaluation and Research Data Please share a link to any evaluation or research data on product and educational outcomes. 3. Pedagogical Approach Check all items below that are included in the product: ● Integrated Learning System ● Tutorial ● Educational Game ● Simulation ● Drill and Practice E. Pricing Please share the pricing as included in the existing contract and describe what product components and services are included in the price. 5 F. Standards and Compliance 1. Educational Standards Is the content aligned with NC standards? The North Carolina Standard Course of Study (NCSCOS) defines the appropriate content standards for each grade or proficiency level and each high school course to provide a uniform set of learning standards for every public school in North Carolina. Use the following to describe the alignment: ● Greater than 75% professionally evaluated and aligned ● Computer/Artificial Intelligence aligned ● Computer/Artificial Intelligence aligned with human validation ● Unaligned 2. Authentication Does the product utilize SAML 2.0, Clever, ClassLink, or something else for authentication? 3. Rostering Does the product support IMS Global OneRoster v1.2 for class roster data? 4. Analytics Does the product support IMS Global Caliper Analytics v1.1? 5. Integrations NC DPI has a statewide convenience contract for Instructure’s Canvas LMS. ● Does the product integrate with Canvas? ● If yes, and the product includes assessments, does it include LTI Basic Outcomes Service for grade passback? 6. Security Does the product comply with the NC data security and privacy standards as documented in the NC Statewide Information Security Manual? 7. Privacy Please provide a link to your student data use and privacy agreement. 8. Accessibility Please provide a link to your Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT). https://www.dpi.nc.gov/districts-schools/classroom-resources/k-12-standards-curriculum-and-instruction/standard-course-study http://docs.oasis-open.org/security/saml/Post2.0/sstc-saml-tech-overview-2.0.html https://clever.com/ https://www.classlink.com/ http://www.imsglobal.org/ https://www.imsglobal.org/activity/onerosterlis http://www.imsglobal.org/ https://www.imsglobal.org/activity/caliper https://www.instructure.com/ https://www.instructure.com/canvas/ https://it.nc.gov/documents/statewide-information-security-manual https://accessibility.oit.ncsu.edu/it-accessibility-at-nc-state/developers/accessibility-handbook/overview-understanding-the-nature-of-what-is-required-to-design-accessibly/voluntary-product-accessibility-template-vpat/ 6 D. NC PSUs using Product Please only select PSUs that have a current contract. Do not include expired contracts or PSUs that are evaluating. E. Contract Term Please share the start and end date for the current contract. F. Comments/Clarifications Use this space to share any information that would provide clarity to information provided above. G. Contact Information We would like to know who is completing the survey on behalf of the vendor and how to contact them for any clarifications: 1. Full name of person completing survey 2. Position/title of person completing survey 3. Email address of person completing survey 4. Phone number of person completing survey 5. Sales contact name 6. Sales contact email address 7. Sales contact phone number V. Response Timeline ● Posting of RFI 09/03/2020 ● Survey Open 09/04/2020 ● Survey Closes 10/05/2020 VI. Response Template In lieu of a written response, the Friday Institute is requesting vendors complete an online survey. The survey includes the questions as presented in the Information Requested section of this RFI. The survey is designed to gather the requested information in a method that respects the vendors time and effort. Please fill out the survey once for each product. Thank you. https://go.ncsu.edu/2020-digital-content https://go.ncsu.edu/2020-digital-content 7 VII. Questions Please direct all inquiries about this RFI to Jessica Dalton at jgdalton@ncsu.edu. ● Acronyms ● AI - Artificial Intelligence ● ARTS - Action Real-Time Strategy ● NC - North Carolina ● DPI - Department of Public Instruction ● LMS - Learning Management System ● LOR - Learning Object Repository ● NCSCOS - North Carolina Standard Course of Study ● NCSU - North Carolina State University ● PSU - Public School Unit ● RFI - Request for Information ● ROI - Return on Investment ● SAML - Security Assertion Markup Language ● VPAT - Voluntary Product Accessibility Template mailto:jgdalton@ncsu.edu JGD10342RFIdigitalcontentCoverLtr TO: Digital Content Providers Submission Instructions: Complete instructions are attached. JGD10342Digital Content RFI Requirements I. Introduction II. Background III. Qualifications IV. Information Requested A. Vendor Name B. Product C. Website D. Product Details 1. Grade Level(s) Served 2. Evaluation and Research Data 3. Pedagogical Approach E. Pricing F. Standards and Compliance 1. Educational Standards 2. Authentication 3. Rostering 4. Analytics 5. Integrations 6. Security 7. Privacy 8. Accessibility D. NC PSUs using Product E. Contract Term F. Comments/Clarifications G. Contact Information V. Response Timeline VI. Response Template VII. Questions