Request for Proposal: Endline Evaluation of EQIE Project

Background

 Right To Play is a global non-profit organisation committed to improving the lives of children and youth affected by conflict, disease, and poverty. Established in 2000, Right To Play has pioneered a unique play-based approach to learning and development which focuses on quality education, life skills, health, gender equality, child protection and building peaceful communities. With programming in 16 countries, Right To Play works to transform the lives of more than 2.3 million children each year, both inside and outside of the classroom. In addition to our work with children, Right To Play advocates with parents, local communities, and governments to advance the fundamental rights of all children.

Right To Play is headquartered in Toronto, Canada, with offices in the UK, North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. Our programmes are facilitated by over 600 staff worldwide. As a child-centered organisation, our recruitment and selection procedures reflect our commitment to the safety and protection of children in our programmes. To learn more about who we are and what we do, please visit our website at www.righttoplay.com

1 Overview of the Enhancing Quality and Inclusive Education Project (EQIE) 

The EQIE project is a five-year quality education initiative being implemented by Right To Play and partners from January 2020 to December 2024. Working with Ministries of Education, Regional, Zonal, district and other education stakeholders the project aims to use the power of play and creative pedagogies to

• Improve learning outcomes (in reading and socioemotional skills) among lower primary grade 1- 4 school children,
• increase enrolment and retention of out-of-school girls and Children with Disabilities (CwDs)

The EQIE Project has been implemented in Ada’a District of East Shewa Zone in Oromia Region targeting 15,840 Grade 1-4 students in 36 schools from 2020-2024 with the following core activities:

• Teacher professional development: training for teachers and educational staff on play-based learning (PBL) teaching practices to enhance children's literacy and socioemotional skills 
• Supplemental and after-school learning opportunities for children: examples include after-school reading clubs, community reading centres, reading competitions, equipping caregivers with skills and resources for creating stimulating home literacy environments 
•  Additional educational inputs such as reading materials, grade-appropriate story books, teacher manuals, other teacher and learning materials are provided.
•  To create safe and inclusive learning environments for all children (including children with disabilities) in educational institutions through community and school structures including training to PTAs/SIC/SMC classroom construction/rehabilitation, 2 latrine and Reading Center construction, instalment of outdoor play materials, and play space preparation, etc
•  Working with CSOs to address community level barriers to education and learning; and to identify and enrol out-of-school girls and children with disabilities.

Evaluation Objective/Scope and Specifications

Currently the EQIE Project is at the final project implementation period. Hence Right To Play needs to commission an independent consultant to conduct endline evaluation.

The tender aims to secure the technical and professional services of a local evaluation consultant for the endline evaluation of the EQIE project in Ethiopia. The consultant will conduct the endline evaluation of the EQIE project in Ethiopia including primary data collection and analysis of secondary data gathered during the period of October 2024-December 2024. The endline evaluation is expected to inform future programming by comparing the findings with a quasi- experimental baseline in 2020 and an impact midline evaluation was completed in 2023. The evaluation will be conducted in Ada’a Woreda East Shewa Zone around Bishoftu, Oromia in 14 treatment and 14 control schools with 2 more schools for piloting. The school distance varies between 11km and 25 km from Bishoftu but going to adjacent schools is recommended to reduce effort and distance.

Objective

The main objective of the endline evaluation is to analyze the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability of the project. This is to provide findings and conclusions from the collected data to generate recommendations and lessons that contribute to future programming, as well as ongoing organizational learning.

The endline evaluation will have the following specific objectives:

• Assess progress in reading proficiency and life skills of students in EQIE project schools
  • Assess teachers practice in applying play-based learning and creation of positive learning environment (The consultant will collaborate with District Education Officials)
    • Assess contribution of school infrastructure development in creation of positive learning environment in O Classes (Right To Play will provide the data and the consultant will do the analysis and reporting)
    • Assess the effectiveness of activities to support the enrolment and retention of out-of-school girls and Children with Disabilities (CwDs)

Methodology

By adopting a mixed methods approach, the consultant is expected to assess learning outcomes to determine the effectiveness of the EQIE project and its contribution to students’ learning in intervention schools. Since the students who were at Grade 1 at the start of the project have now completed grade 5, a cross-sectional random sample of students who have just started Grade 5 and were in Grade 4 in intervention and treatment schools could be adopted.

To test the impact of the in-service teacher professional development at improving teacher adoption of the PBL pedagogy and the quality of literacy instruction; and the combined effects of this on students learning outcomes, classroom observations and reading skills assessment will be conducted. The baseline and midline evaluation collected data from a comparison group (i.e., schools where the EQIE project is not implementing any activities) with similar geographical and socio-economic characteristics as the treatment groups (i.e., schools where EQIE project is directly implementing activities).

Endline data will be collected to assess the counterfactual by comparing the changes in learning outcomes and teacher practice over time between the treatment and the comparison groups.

To evaluate stakeholders understanding of how the project was implemented to deliver the resulting outcomes, it is proposed that concurrent mixed methods research design is applied. Where this is not feasible the consultant will be encouraged to adopt sequential mixed methods research design.

Sample size Treatment Schools

1. Students: 16 schools*20= 320 students,
2. Classroom Observation: 2 teachers * 16 schools=32 teachers,
3. Teacher Interview: 2 teachers *16 schools=32 teachers,
4. School Director Interview: 1 Director *16 Schools=16 Directors Note: 16 schools considered including 2 pilot schools

Comparison Schools

• Students: 14 schools*20=280 students
• Classroom Observation: 2 teachers * 14 schools=28 teachers
• Teacher Interview: 2 teachers *14 schools=28 teachers
• School Director Interview: 1 Director *14 Schools=14 Directors

Evaluation Questions

The endline evaluation intends to address the following questions:

1. What is the casual effect of the EQIE project on the levels of literacy, andSEL skills

among Grade 4 students in Ada’a District?

1. What is the state of teachers’ PBL practice in the classroom to enhance children's reading skills? Is there any marked difference in teacher PBL practice between treatment and comparison groups?
2. How do teachers perceive the level of support received to improve their knowledge and practice of PBL approaches to enhance children's reading skills?
    
3. How effective were activities to support the enrolment and retention of out-of- school girls and children with disabilities (disaggregated by gender) in target educational institutions?
4. What is the effect of infrastructure development of O Classes in creating positive learning environment?
5. To what extent are government and school stakeholders prepared to sustain teachers' pedagogical practices and maintain a positive learning environment under the EQIE Project? What factors might hinder the long-term sustainability of the project's activities?

For More and Detailed Informaion Please Visit;

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oQ8EIsuAjnxmleQzwy91LHsSaGt9Insy/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=114746103207944259252&rtpof=true&sd=true

Consultant Qualification and Experience

The evaluation consulting firm is expected to have extensive evaluation experience and professional evaluation credentials as well as a strong track record of conducting comparable evaluations. Specifically, the consultant should meet the following:

• Have a multidisciplinary team, with at least 1 educationist and 1 statistician, both must have a minimum of Masters level qualification and at least seven (7) years of education research and evaluation experience.
  • The evaluation team put forward for this assignment must include enumerators who have oral and written communication skills in Afan Oromo.
    • Experience/evidence of undertaking at least two (2) similar assignment within Oromia Region.
    • Experience working in the region and an understanding of regional and district level education operations will be an advantage.
    • Legally registered in Ethiopia to carry out evaluation activities and could bring proof of Business License and TIN Number.
    • Could facilitate ethical clearance from respective government office upon award. The Lead Consultant will be expected to meet the following requirements:
    • Advanced degree in Education, International Development, Monitoring and Evaluation, Development Economics, Public Policy, or related field.
    • Extensive experience in managing project/programme evaluations, conducting mixed-methods research, and EGRA/ISELA assessment (evidence required)
    • Evidence of conducting similar assignments in Oromia Region (especially at the primary education level), in the past 2 to 5 years. Most recent experience will be highly welcomed.
    • Strong working experience and skills in triangulating educational data collected from different sources and with different methods.
    • Experience in carrying out analysis of quantitative and qualitative data and conducting econometric analysis (including proficiency in analysis tools such as SPSS/STATA, Dedoose/NVIVO will be added advantage)
    • Superior written and oral communication skills in English including a demonstrated ability to translate complex, technical information into clear, non-technical language that is accessible to a broader audience.
    • Ability to translate raw data into effective and engaging data visualizationsand infographics.
    • Strong research, facilitation and interviewing skills, preferable experience in
    • conducting education related consulting and policy makers’ processes.
    • Strong analytical, problem-solving, decision-making and time management capabilities
    • Team player with interpersonal skills and ability to work with public sector agencies and staff within education systems.

How To Apply

Interested evaluation consulting firms are requested to submit complete proposal package

 to nayalew@righttoplay.com. Proposals must be submitted by email only with the subject line “Proposal EQIE Endline” 

not later than October 4, 2024.