State Education Agency Looking for Statewide Assessments

The Texas Education Agency (TEA), tasked with overseeing public K-12 education across the state, has issued two related requests for proposals (RFP) seeking academic assessments for emerging bilingual students, including computer-based components.

About 20 percent of Texas public school students are considered emerging bilingual (EB), which means they primarily speak a language other than English. With an estimated 5.7 million students, this puts the number of EB students near 1.15 million.

RFP No. 701-23-023 outlines the need for a single statewide academic assessment for emergent bilingual student reclassification for grades one, two, 11 and 12. This assessment will confirm that students have reached English proficiency.

RFP No. 701-23-024 calls for a single statewide language assessment for emerging bilingual student identification. It will measure language proficiency in listening, speaking, reading and writing.

Each RFP requires that the chosen vendor:

• Has capacity to provide assessments on paper or online
• Ensures computer-based assessments follow accessibility standards
• Provides training sessions for administrators, in person or virtual
• Provides customer service and technical assistance

TEA is facilitating the contracts, but one vendor will have a contract to be paid on a use basis by each local education agency (LEA), and assessments will be conducted on an as-needed basis. There are more than 1,200 LEAs, according to the documentation.

Both RFPs have a due date of 2 p.m. Sept. 27, and questions may be submitted by 2 p.m. Aug. 30. Both contracts will be awarded from March 2024 to Aug. 31, 2029.

TEA posts opportunities at Texas SmartBuy under agency search No. 701.