Specifications include, but are not limited to: 1.1 The Nevada Department of Education will complete a thorough alignment process, which will greatly improve our teaching, program quality and workforce expectations which will, in turn, inform the professional development that is implemented across state systems. This project will involve reviewing the existing: 1.1.1 Early learning guidelines and pre-K standards to ensure they are appropriate, rigorous, aligned and consistent; 1.1.2 Nevada Silver State Stars QRIS program standards to ensure they are appropriate, rigorous, aligned and consistent. 1.1.3 Professional competencies, pathways and professional development opportunities considering the recommendations submitted by Transforming the Workforce (National Research Council) and Power to the Profession (NAEYC). 1.2 Nevada will hire a contractor qualified to assist in our alignment efforts. The contractor for this work should have national experience in early care and education demonstrated experience and success in convening work groups across state-level agencies and expertise in standards alignment. 2.1 The awarded contractor will facilitate a series of stakeholder work groups that will examine each of the three standard areas that need to be revised and aligned (early learning and development standards, program quality standards and professional workforce standards). 2.2 The contractor will facilitate the projects so that each workgroup will work across and between projects and stages to ensure continuity and alignment. We will rely on the expertise of the contractor to guide us in identifying, selecting and assembling prospective workgroup members. 2.3 The activity across work groups will involve research and analysis to assess the current state of standards in each project. The activity across work groups will subsequently involve revising and aligning the standards both vertically (across age groups) and horizontally (across programmatic elements). 2.4 Finally, the activity across workgroups will involve eliciting feedback around completed work and revision of standards accordingly.