Consultancy Services Needed to Digitize the Special Assessment Survey Data

Ref. No.: EDDEVTRUST/GEC-T-WWW/RFP/001/2021
Introduction

Education Development Trust (Ed Dev Trust), through Wasichana Wetu Wafaulu (WWW) Project, focuses on school improvement in a sustainable way by improving the quality of learning, school management and the transition of girls mainly through the formal pathway, but also alternative pathways. Towards this objective, the overall aim of the WWW project is to improve learning outcomes particularly in the foundational subjects of English and Mathematics for girls.

Rationale for the assignment

The WWW project wishes to undertake a Special Assessment Survey (SAS) to evaluate project progress towards the achievements of the project goals and objectives and to inform programming adaptations required to address identified gaps. The SAS will seek to identify the progress made towards improvement of learning, the uptake/performance improvements status of STEM subjects in primary/secondary schools and assess how project interventions especially those directed to the girls/communities contribute towards progress of achieving the desired results as well as the sustainability of these interventions. This SAS findings will help inform project programming on secondary interventions as well as what is working/not working well for purposes of program prioritizing, adaptation and sustainability.

Objectives of the Assessment:

The SAS which is in line with the MEL Framework, focuses on three aspects; uptake on the three (English, Math and other sciences) subject clusters, performance of the learners and the effect/nature of teacher/panel led innovative learning approaches being implemented in primary schools and those planned for the secondary schools. It will assess the impact of project interventions during the implementation period on learning for purposes of informing appropriate design changes targeted especially at the secondary level. The three (uptake, performance, & secondary learning) are critical considering that the project has (or is planning on) improving the overall performance of English, Math and Science subjects in both secondary and primary schools.

Scope of the Assessments:

The assessments will be carried out in five project intervention counties that were assessed during the RAS study. These are one Urban Slum county (Nairobi), a peri-urban county (Kilifi) and three ASAL Counties (Samburu, Turkana and Tana River). For purposes of getting a clearer picture, on secondary interventions, the project will sample some secondary schools in Mombasa county since it has more girls transiting within the schools in the county than Nairobi. The SAS will target class 7 and 8 (the only cohort still in primary) for assessment of the effects the project’s STEM interventions has had on the performance of literacy and STEM subjects. The assessment will also assess the performance and interest created on these subjects at sampled secondary schools, especially form 3 and four, which will act as the situation report before the project rolls out the interventions in secondary. The assessment will also assess the level of self-confidence and SRH needs awareness among the girls. This exercise will only target treatment schools and comparison group is not included because this assessment is aimed at informing programming adaptations for intervention schools. Assessments will majorly be school based to ascertain the level of support the learners receive for the literacy and STEM subjects to improve their performance and uptake of these subjects.

For clarity purposes, this concept only focuses on the special assessment that seeks to establish the level of learning, differentiated learning levels and uptake/performance rates for project to design appropriate mitigation measures.

The task of the consultancy will include but not limited to the following;

1. Digitalization of the SEGRA tests and other survey tools.

• The consultant will obtain the final version of the tools from Ed. Dev. Trust in soft copy as below:

• The consultant will review the tools to understand each variable for decision making on the data types, skip options, sections & transition, choice options, constraints, restrictions and required mandatory fields that will be applied for each type of variable where appropriate.
• Digitization of each tools and uploading into the cloud server and making of simulated trial runs to confirm compatibility of the tools and the processes (data collection, transmission and downloading) with the platform.
• Installation of the digitized tools and configuration on each of the mobile tablets that will used for data collection. It is expected that Ed. Dev. Trust will have identified a suitable Internet Service Provider (ISP) for each of the devices. It is recommended that the choice of the ISP should consider internet accessibility and connectivity in the study sites. Logins and passwords will be created for each device / user / data collector. This will ensure that each device and data transmission is traced to a specific user; an important mechanism for monitoring device use and data handling.
• The consultant will conduct simulated trial runs with the digitized tools on each of the devices to ensure proper operation and compatibility with the data collection system

2. Training of the Data Analyst Team

• The consultant will develop a half day training session for the Ed. Dev. Trust M&E staff on how to use the devices in data collection. In preparation for this training, the consultant will propose to Ed. Dev. Trust in good time the materials that will be required for the successful training. The training will adopt participatory and practical approaches for hands on experience on how to use the system. Based on the experience of the consultants in other similar assignments, the staff will be sensitized on Do’s and Don’ts when using the devices and sanctions for improper use and handling of the device.
• Ed. Dev. Trust will be responsible for the training logistics including identification of the venue and the inherent training costs (meals, accommodation, training materials, and transportation) of both the consultants and staff

3. Provision of technical back stopping and capacity building after the training

After the training, the consultant will periodically monitor the implementation of the system from field data collection to the aggregation of the data at the WERK office for the duration of data collection.

4. Task and time line

This assignment will be carried out strictly between 6th and 10th October, 2021. The dates are fixed.

5. Expertise required

For purposes of this assessment, the consultant or firm must show evidence and knowledge of to the different platforms for real-time data collection, be able to advise on the most efficient of them and evidenced demonstration of having conducted similar work for the last 4 years.

6. Response to this ToR

Submit your proposal detailing the approach on the tasks indicated, a financial proposal and recommendation of the best platforms for the tasks. The response should also have a confirmation to meet the deadline, based on the fixed dates provided.

And will be sent to ssaprocurement@educationdevelopmenttrust.com.

Deadline for submission is strictly on 4^th October 2021 at 9.00 am