Specifications include, but are not limited to: 1.1 The Nevada Department of Education must determine financing needs and funding streams necessary to support high quality Early Childhood Education in the state. This includes cost of direct services for various programs (programs in the private sector, programs in large urban districts and programs in rural areas) as well as the cost of increasing professional expectations and educational requirements of directors, principals, teachers and assistants. 1.2 The contractor will analyze the current state of Early Childhood Education (ECE) financing and service delivery and determine strengths and challenges. 1.3 The contractor will determine financing requirements of investment under a variety of scenarios (funding ECE for the most at-risk 4-year olds, funding ECE for 50% of all 4-year olds, funding universal pre-K, etc.). 1.4 The contractor will examine wage and financing models from other states to determine which whole models or model components will be practical for Nevada’s purposes. This information will be used by policymakers to determine next steps. 1.5 The Department of Education will manage the subsequent contract for this solicitation. The resulting contract is anticipated to begin August 13, 2019 subject to Board of Examiners approval.