Specifications include, but are not limited to: 2.1 Work with key staff at the State and the South Dakota Department of Labor (SD DLR) to scope the issue and narrow the parameters around a project contract (separately solicited from this RFP). 2.1.1 This RFP encompasses the ideation phase of defining the issue and identifying potential solutions in terms of project work to be completed within two years.; 2.2 Conduct a familiarization of current South Dakota law, rules, and policies regarding the education of 16- and 17-year-olds to determine parameters and gaps.; 2.2.1 South Dakota compels attendance through age 18; however, statute allows for students age 16 and 17 to enter into high school equivalency programs in limited circumstances.; 2.2.2 There is a need to determine the scope of both school-based high school equivalency and outside provider-based high school equivalency programs (funded by the SD Department of Labor) to understand audience and parameters around each.; 2.2.3 A needs analysis is necessary to determine where school-based programs serve adequately and where there is a need for outside-provider based programs.; 2.2.4 The needs assessment could include interviews with providers as needed.; 2.3 Understand current practices and evidence-based practices for student credential completion outside of a traditional school district.; 2.3.1 Have working knowledge of how other states, research groups, and advocacy groups are ensuring students who have discontinued formal education are served by providers in obtaining credentials (including the GED and possibly other career-based certifications) and employability skills.; 2.3.2 This content knowledge should focus on historical best practices as well as best-practices in the age of COVID-19.; 2.4 Engage with the State and the SD DLR to create a draft workplan for a contract. 2.4.1 Workplan shall be an RFP template that the State would use to solicitate a contract. The workplan would outline the scope of the project that could be completed within budget, within the timeframe available (no later than September 2024) and with the resources available to the State to support the contract. Workplan shall be goal-oriented to achieve measurable outcomes, realistic within the context of South Dakota learners, that increase the credential-completion of 16- and 17- year old youth.
