MEMO TO FILE, Don Kennedy, Chief Financial and Operations Officer Brad Bernatck, Director, Rescarch, Evaluation and Assessment 2009-10 Contract with Northwest Evaluation Association September 10, 2009) In accordance with Seattle Public Schools procurement process, the purpose ofthis, memo to file is two-fold 1, Clarify the selection process of Northwest Evaluation Association's (NWEA) ‘Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) asthe district's assessment system for srades K-0 in reading and math beginning withthe 2009-10 sehool year; 2, Document deviations from the district's established procurement process in the process of approving the contract with NWEA and to identify steps that will be {aken going forward with respect to contacts in future years. With respect to the selection process of MAP, although a competitive Request for Proposal process was not conducted, there was an extensive internal evaluation process at resulted ina song recommendation for the selection of MAD as the district's assessment system, First, an external consultant was engaged to make recommendations for the distret’s assessment system going forward. The consultant's report looked atthe current state of assessment in Seattle Publie Schools, extensive intemal and external interviews, and 2 review of best practices nationwide 1o come up with these recommendations. I should ‘be noted that the external consultant was Jessica deBarros wh has subsequently become an employee ofthe district through the Broad Residency program and isthe projet, ‘manager fr the assessment project. Sccond, a cross-functional team that included literacy, mathematics, bilingual, spectal education, and advanced learning was created to evaluate the district's options and make ‘recommendation fora dstrict-wide assessment system. This group developed a rubric that identified a set of eriteria that delineated the district's priorities around assessment. Furthermore, this group recommended hat the district look to purchase pre-made asoessments rather than build assessments from an item bank that would be purchased fom a vendor due to the resource constraints of managing such a system as well a the challenges of ensuring the validity and reliability of such assessments. In looking atthe dlistiet’s current assessments, MAP, and the Stanford 10, the group recommended MAP asthe district's assessment platform in Reading and Math for grades K-9. ‘Third, a pilot of MAP was conducted in 9 schools during the 2008-9 school year. Extensive and on-going feedback was collected from the schools over the course ofthe Transcript of Evidence Page 2186school year and this data was incorporated into the decision-making process ofthe ross functional team described shove, With respect to deviations from the district's procurement process, the necessary paperwork required fora sole soutee justification was not included in the Board Action. teport. Additionally, the Board Action reported should have documented that the Superintendent, Dr. Maria Goodloe-Iohnson, is member ofthe NWEA board. This could be construed as a potential conflict of interest and in the interest of transparency shold fare docnimented in the Retr Action rep Going forward, we will tke a mimber of actions to address these deviations and ensure compliance with the district's procurement process. First, I will conduct an evaluation of [MAP in the Spring 2010 through focus groups with school principals, focus groups with school sta, and a comprehensive survey to school staff which will provide feedback on the effectiveness ofthe implementation of MAP as wel a the effectiveness of MAP to support decision-making and inform instuetion, Second, I will plan on conducting a competitive RFP to select the distriet’s assessment platform for the 2011-12 school year ‘Third, I will provide the necessary paperwork to document the sole source justification. Finally, Iwill ensure that any future board actions involving NWEA cleafly document the Superintendent's relationship with NWEA as a member ofthe NWEA board ‘Transcript of Evidence Page 2187