The Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) Office of Teaching, Learning and Assessment is seeking a Contractor to provide a balanced system of English language arts (ELA), math, and science assessments for general education and alternate education students to be administered operationally beginning in Spring 2025. Test designs must align with Nebraska standards, provide information in addition to an overall score (e.g., sub-scores) in each content area to the degree possible within the purpose of the assessment, require a reasonable amount of testing time, can be delivered successfully to all schools and districts online, are valid and reliable, and are ready for administration no later than September 1, 2025. NDE is open to innovative proposals that meet the state’s theory of action and claims requirements set forth later in this proposal, and encourages vendors to propose systems they feel will bring value to the state. The NDE expects to use the expertise and experience of the educators in Nebraska to participate, to the maximum extent possible, in the maintenance and improvement of the statewide assessments, including in the item writing process. The selected assessment Contractor is expected to provide professional development surrounding assessment literacy and actionable data use via the state’s Certified Facilitator (CF) program.
