STEAM Curriculum Consultant

The Big Lift seeks a qualified Expanded Learning Curriculum Consultant to revise and strengthen selected lessons within its Inspiring Summers program. Inspiring Summers is a four-week, full-day summer learning program serving students entering kindergarten through third grade across San Mateo County. The program is designed to prevent summer learning loss (“summer slide”) and advance The Big Lift’s goal of ensuring all children read proficiently by the end of third grade.

While the existing STEAM curriculum provides engaging, inquiry-based learning experiences, there is an opportunity to more intentionally integrate youth development best practices and foundational literacy skill-building into STEAM lesson plans. This RFP seeks to address is the need to enhance current lessons so that they explicitly promote social-emotional learning, cultural relevance, and positive youth development while embedding structured opportunities for oral language development, vocabulary acquisition, comprehension, and writing within project-based learning experiences.

A successful result will be a cohesive set of revised STEAM lessons (65-80 unique lesson plans) that:

• Align with Inspiring Summers’ literacy and equity goals;
• Incorporate clear youth development objectives appropriate for expanded learning settings;
• Embed explicit and developmentally appropriate foundational literacy skill-building within hands-on STEAM projects;
• Include scaffolds and differentiation strategies to support multilingual learners and diverse student needs; and
• Provide concise, user-friendly facilitator guidance suitable for staff with varied instructional experience.

The Big Lift currently has a projected budget of $20,000 for the entire project.

Background

The Big Lift is a countywide initiative in San Mateo County dedicated to ensuring that all children read proficiently by the end of third grade. Through cross-sector partnerships among school districts, the County of San Mateo, the San Mateo County Libraries, community-based organizations, and philanthropic partners, The Big Lift advances a comprehensive approach to early learning that includes preschool quality improvement, attendance support, family engagement, high-impact tutoring, and summer learning.

Inspiring Summers is The Big Lift’s signature summer learning strategy. Launched more than a decade ago in response to persistent literacy disparities and research on summer learning loss, the program provides a free, full-day, four-week summer experience for students entering kindergarten through third grade. Priority enrollment is given to students who would benefit most from additional literacy support, including multilingual learners and students from historically underserved communities.

Over time, Inspiring Summers has demonstrated positive impact in reducing summer learning loss and strengthening students’ confidence and engagement as learners. As the program enters its second decade, The Big Lift is refining and deepening its approach to ensure that all components of the program, particularly STEAM enrichment, more intentionally reinforce foundational literacy skills and align with youth development best practices. While the current STEAM curriculum provides engaging, hands-on learning experiences, it was not originally designed with explicit literacy integration or a formalized youth development framework embedded throughout each lesson.

This RFP reflects The Big Lift’s commitment to continuous improvement and equity. The selected consultant will revise a defined set of existing STEAM lessons to strengthen intentional literacy integration, social-emotional learning, cultural relevance, and project-based learning structures. The anticipated timeline for this work is 8–11 weeks.

Project Details

• Reference ID: 2026-RFP-00407
• Department: Human Services Agency - Program Integrity and Community Services
• Department Head: Claire Cunningham (Director)

Important Dates

• Questions Due: 2026-04-03T07:00:00.000Z

Evaluation Criteria

• Method & Approach (30 pts) —

  Demonstrates a clear understanding of Inspiring Summers goals and the Scope of Work; presents a detailed and feasible plan to review and revise STEAM lessons; clearly describes how foundational literacy, youth development best practices, social-emotional learning, cultural relevance, and project-based learning will be intentionally integrated; includes a realistic work plan, timeline, and feedback/revision process aligned to the 8–10 week project period.

• Experience and Qualifications (30 pts) —

  Demonstrates relevant experience developing or revising elementary (K–3) curriculum in expanded learning or out-of-school-time settings; expertise in foundational literacy development and project-based STEAM instruction; experience serving multilingual learners and historically underserved communities; quality and relevance of prior work samples; results of reference checks.

• Project Management and Capacity (15 pts) —

  Demonstrates capacity to manage scope, timelines, and deliverables; clarity of team roles and responsibilities; availability of key personnel; history of successfully incorporating stakeholder feedback; ability to produce polished, user-friendly curriculum materials suitable for staff with varied instructional experience.

• Price (25 pts) —

  For example, if 25 points are assigned to Price and the lowest proposal is $18,000, that proposer will receive 25 points. A proposer with a total cost of $19,500 would receive 23 points (25 x $18,000 ÷ $19,500).

• Preferential Points (10 pts) —

  Where price is not the sole evaluation factor for a solicitation (e.g., in the case of a "best-value" solicitation), five percent (5%) of the total evaluation points awardable will be added to the proposal score for each Local Business or Local Non-Profit score for evaluation purposes. In the event of a tie between a Local Business or Local Non-Profit and another bidder, the Local Business or Non-Profit shall be awarded the Contract, assuming agreement on other contract terms.

  An additional three percent (3%) preference shall be given to a Local Business or Local Non-profit (for a total of eight percent (8%) of total points awardable) if the proposer is a Small Business or Small Non-Profit, or an additional 5 percent preference (for a total of ten percent (10%) of total points awardable) if the proposer is a Micro Business or Micro Non-Profit.

Submission Requirements

• Minimum Qualifications
• At least five (3) years of experience developing and/or revising curriculum for elementary-aged students (grades K–3), in expanded learning or out-of-school-time settings.as Proposer has been providing similar services for a minimum of four (4) years within the last seven (7) years? (required)
• At least five (5) years of experience integrating youth development principles and social-emotional learning practices into instructional design. (required)
• At least five (5) years of Experience designing or implementing project-based learning in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) activities for elementary students in expanded learning or out-of-school-time settings. (required)
• Procurement Preference for Local Businesses and Local Non-Profits
• Is the Proposer a "Local Business"? —

  As Defined by Chapter 2.89.020 of the San Mateo County Ordinance Code, a “Local Business” means any for-profit business which has its principal place of business, or is headquartered, in San Mateo County. If this designation applies to the proposer, a self-attestation form must be completed and provided with this response. 

  Please download the below documents, complete, and upload. If this designation is not applicable, please leave blank. 

• Is the Proposer a Non-Profit? (required) —

  A Non-Profit is defined as a tax-exempt public charity organization (within the meaning of section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code) that is formed for purposes other than making a profit, is exempt from paying federal income taxes on the income generated for their exempt purposes. 

• Is the Proposer a "Local Non-Profit" —

  As Defined by Chapter 2.89.020 of the San Mateo County Ordinance Code, a “Local Non-Profit" means a tax-exempt public charity organization (within the meaning of section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code) that is formed for purposes other than making a profit, is exempt from paying federal income taxes on the income generated for their exempt purposes, and has its principal place of business, or is headquartered, in San Mateo County. If this designation applies to the proposer, a self-attestation form must be completed and provided with this response. 

  Please download the below documents, complete, and upload. If this designation is not applicable, please leave blank.

• Is the Proposer a Local "Small" or "Micro" Business? —

  As Defined by Chapter 2.89.020 of the San Mateo County Ordinance Code:

  “Small Business” means any business which holds a Small Business Certification awarded by the California Office of Small Business and Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise Services (OSDS).

  “Micro Business” means any Small Business certified by the OSDS which is automatically designated by the OSDS as a Micro Business due to gross annual receipts falling below the OSDS-designated dollar amount.

  If the above designations apply, please provide the OSDS provided Certification ID. 

  If this designation is not applicable, please leave blank. 

• Is the Proposer a Local "Small" or "Micro" Non-Profit? —

  As Defined by Chapter 2.89.020 of the San Mateo County Ordinance Code:

  “Small Non-Profit" means a Local Non-Profit with an annual revenue of $1,000,000 to $2,500,000 according to its most recently filed IRS Form 990.

  “Micro Non-Profit" means a Local Non-Profit with an annual revenue of less than $1,000,000, according to its most recently filed IRS Form 990.

  If the above designations apply, please provide your latest filed IRS form 990. A filing from the last two calendar years is acceptable. 

  If this designation is not applicable, please leave blank. 

• Technical Proposal
• Introduction and Executive Summary (required) —

  Submit a letter of introduction and executive summary of the proposal.  The letter must contain:

  • Name, title and contact information (email, phone, and address) for representative of proposer that is responsible for communication related to this RFP.
  • Name, title, contact information, and signature of person authorized to obligate firm to perform the commitment contained in the proposal.

  Submission of the letter will constitute a representation by proposer that it is willing and able to perform the commitments contained in the proposal and has not violated the terms of this RFP.

• Statement of Minimum Qualifications (required) —

  Describe how the proposer meets the minimum qualifications as set forth in Minimum Qualifications of this RFP.

  Submission of the Minimum Qualifications checklist is not a substitute for providing a detailed written response.

• Project Approach (required) —

  This section should correlate to the Scope of Work .  Proposer should give a short summary describing how it will perform the relevant work

• Scope of Work tasks/milestones (required) —

  The consultant will produce the following deliverables:

  • Revised versions of the selected STEAM lessons for each grade level (20 lessons per grade level), incorporating youth development best practices and foundational literacy through project-based learning.
  • Facilitator guidance and implementation notes for each revised lesson.
  • A brief summary memo describing the key design choices and how revisions support Inspiring Summers goals.

  All deliverables will be provided in editable electronic formats.

• Proposed schedule (required) —

  Attach proposed schedule reference ability to complete the project within the County's required time frame

• Performance Measures (required) —

  Describe a plan for achieving performance measures 

• Firm Qualifications (required) —

  Attach information regarding background and qualifications, including the following:

  • A brief description of the proposer.
  • A description of not more than three (3) projects similar in size and scope conducted by the proposer, including the client, reference and telephone numbers, primary staff members involved, budget, schedule, and project summary.  Descriptions should be limited to one (1) page for each project.
  • If subcontractors are anticipated, identify them (if known) and provide information on how they will be used.
• Team Qualifications (required) —

  Provide a chart identifying:

  5. 2. • Project team and reporting structure
        • Lead project manager
        • Role each person will play in the project

  Provide a brief description of the experience and qualifications of the project team members, including short resumes if desired.

  Written assurance that the key individuals listed and identified will be performing the work and will not be substituted or reassigned without the County’s prior approval

• References (required) —

  Provide TBD references for each of the following, including the name, address, and telephone number of recent clients (preferably other public agencies):

• Fee Proposal (required) —

  The Fee Proposal should be submitted as a separate PDF file from the Technical Proposals detailed in Required Documents.

  The County reserves the right to accept other than the lowest priced offer and to reject any proposals that are not responsive to this request.

  Pricing Proposal Instructions to Proposers:

   

  1. Total Not-to-Exceed Project Cost
     A single total not-to-exceed amount for completion of all deliverables described in the Scope of Work (including curriculum review, lesson revisions, facilitator guidance, meetings, revisions, and final deliverables).
  2.   Budget Breakdown
     A detailed budget table that includes:
  • Hourly rate(s) by staff role/title
  • Estimated number of hours per task (aligned to Scope of Work tasks)
  • Subtotal by task
  • Total project cost
  3.   Rate Requirements
  • All hourly rates must be fully loaded and inclusive of all direct and indirect costs, including administrative costs, travel (if any), materials, overhead, and profit.
  • No additional fees or reimbursable expenses will be allowed unless explicitly approved in advance by the County.

   

    Optional Pricing (if applicable)
  If proposing optional additional services (e.g., implementation support, training, or additional lesson revisions), these must be clearly separated from the base proposal and priced independentl

• Agreement term (years) (required) —

  Update below if needed.

• Is there an extension to this agreement? (required) —

  Is there an extension to this agreement?

• Extension (required) —

  Modify the extension information below, if needed

• Will there be a Pre-Proposal Meeting and/or a Site Visit? (required)
• Include the information that will be covered in the site visit. (required)
• Require vendors to provide References? (required)
• References (required) —

  How many references are required by the vendor? (Number)

• Use Electronic Line Item Pricing? (required)
• Allow vendors to submit Confidential Information? (required) —

  In rare circumstances where there is an expectation that proposers will need to submit trade secrets or other confidential information in order to respond to an RFP. 

• Sample Agreement (required)