Firm Sought for State's High School Black & Latino Studies Curriculum

In June, the Connecticut General Assembly (in Public Act 21‐2) identified the State Education Resource Center (SERC) as the lead organization for coordination and provision of professional learning and implementation support for Connecticut’s African American/Black and Puerto Rican/Latino Course of Studies.

In accordance with the legislation, SERC is now seeking competitive proposals from qualified and interested organizations or individuals with proven expertise and experience in one or more of the following at the high school level: curriculum evaluation, content, pedagogy, instructional coaching, networking, and resource development as outlined below.

SERC is a quasi-public agency established under statute to serve the Connecticut State Board of Education in supporting educational equity and excellence. It was SERC that did much of the groundwork leading up to the establishment of the statewide requirement that high schools must offer coursework in African American/Black and Puerto Rican/Latino history. High schools may offer the course in 2021-2022 and will be required to offer it during the school year that begins in the fall of 2022. The law requires the high school course to be offered, but does not require that every student take the course.

The contract for the project, expected to be executed with the firm that is selected by the end of September, will span from execution of contract until June 30, 2022 with potential for continuation through June 30, 2023, according to SERC. Qualifications include expertise with African American/Black and/or Puerto Rican/Latino studies; experience with K‐12 curriculum design and development, experience with high school curriculum implementation and working with a diverse population of learners, including students with disabilities and English Learners.

Components of the scope of work include:

Field Study: A Field Study will be conducted by an external evaluator during the 2021‐2022 school year with Initial Implementers to inform the next phase of curriculum development. Deliverables will include development and aggregation of pre, mid, and post student knowledge and skill self-assessments, as well as development, gathering, and aggregation of end of unit and semester feedback from students, teachers, families, administrators, and coaches developed in collaboration with the SERC/CSDE Team.

Training:  Support with delivery of unit‐specific content and/or instructional pedagogy for course during summer institutes (virtual) or quarterly sessions (tbd) as outlined in training schedule and determined by the SERC/CSDE Team.

Coaching: Participation in full training series for Cadre 1 and/or 2 (see attached), including lesson review and Coaching debriefs during sessions, as well as provision of quarterly virtual coaching during intersession as assigned by the SERC/CSDE Team (up to 4 teachers/schools for a total of 16 hours of contact time, plus 4 hours prep and reporting time).

Speakers Bureau: Ability to provide virtual mini‐lecture/prerecorded presentation on unit‐specific topics to provide background knowledge for teachers, students, families, and/or community as outlined in curriculum or as determined by SERC/CSDE Team. Coordination (including recordings) of Speakers Bureau in collaboration with the SERC/CSDE Team could be an extension to proposal.

Networking: Development of structure for organization and delivery of regional networking opportunities in collaboration with the SERC/CSDE Team. This could be integrated into existing, standing Administrator or Curriculum Council meetings. And/or development of structure for strategic organization of inter‐district partnerships to support intra and inter‐racial dialogue and exposure to multiple perspectives in collaboration with the SERC/CSDE Team. This could be done at the classroom, school, or community level.

Resource Support: Development of instructional materials based on level of use/requests as determined by the SERC/CSDE Team. And/or rubrics as outlined in the curriculum in collaboration with the SERC/CSDE Team.

The RFP also includes development of a 20 to 30‐minute documentary on implementation. The documentary must provide a full summary account of all aspects of the implementation process.

Proposals are due on September 16, with the award announcement anticipated on September 21.