On Tuesday, May 18, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) issued a formal Notice of Intent to Award on its Request for Proposal (RFP) for contracted services for student assessment.
The student assessment contract will be split between two organizations – Educational Testing Service (ETS) and Pearson. The contract awards are contingent on final negotiations with each vendor.
Based on its stronger response, ETS was selected, for the first three components of the RFP with costs estimated to provide services over a four-year period of approximately $280 million:
- Program Integration;
- STAAR 3–8, State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR®) Item and Test Development, Administration, Scoring, and Reporting for Grades 3–8 Assessments and;
- STAAR EOC, STAAR Item and Test Development, Administration, Scoring, and Reporting for End-of-Course (EOC) Assessments.
Pearson, the long-time assessment contractor, was selected for the last three components of the RFP with costs estimated to provide services over a four-year period is approximately $60 million:
- STAAR Alternate, STAAR Alternate is an alternate assessment based on alternate academic achievement standards that is designed for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities who receive special education services and who also meet the specific participation requirements for this assessment;
- Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS), TELPAS Item and Test Development, Administration, Scoring, and Reporting. TELPAS includes reading, writing, listening, and speaking assessments for English Language Learners (ELLs); and
- Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS), TAKS Administration, Scoring, and Reporting. High school students beyond ninth grade in the 2011–2012 school year must pass TAKS exit level tests in English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies to be eligible to receive a diploma from a Texas public high school.
The notice of intent will allow TEA to begin contract development with the above named organizations which is expected to take at least 30 days. The new contracts are expected to begin Sept. 1, 2015. The term of any contracts resulting from this RFP shall run through Aug. 31, 2019.
ETS is a non-profit organization that has a track record of providing innovative and meaningful measurement solutions that improve teaching and learning, expand educational opportunities, and inform policy. Based in Princeton New Jersey, ETS develops, administers and scores more than 50 million tests annually, including the TOEFL® and TOEIC® tests, the GRE® General and Subject Tests and The Praxis Series® assessments, in more than 180 countries, at more than 9,000 locations worldwide. San Antonio is the home of the ETS K-12 assessment division.
In addition to assessments, ETS conducts educational research, analysis and policy studies and develops a variety of customized services and products for teacher certification, English language learning and elementary, secondary and postsecondary education.
A copy is available of the Request for Proposal on the TEA website, as well as the a copy of the TEA staff recommendation (including an overview of the RFP process, program and financial reviews of the vendor proposals, as well as scoring results for each proposal). Copies of the bid documents will not be available until after the final contracts are signed.
