ToR: Parental Education Pilot Learning Study

1. Right To Play International

Right To Play is a global organization 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 transforms 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 and in London, UK and has operations in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. Our programs are facilitated by more than 600 international staff and 31,900 local teachers and coaches. For more information, follow @RightToPlayIntl and visit www.righttoplay.com.

Since as early as 2006, Right To Play has delivered play-based programming to improve access, quality and systems for early childhood care and education. Programs operate in both development and humanitarian settings, in formal pre-primary/kindergarten settings, community-based centers and homes across many of its operating countries. Activities have focused mainly on training of pre-primary teachers, school leadership, higher education tutors and government officials, as well as on providing technical assistance to education ministry partners for the integration of play-based learning into early learning policy, national curriculum frameworks, training plans and teacher subject guides.

Research has established that play is integral to healthy child development. Play is how children naturally learn, develop and have wellbeing. Through play, young children develop social emotional skills and early literacy and numeracy, that prepare them for healthy development and functioning in adulthood, and are the building blocks for success in school. Our programs are grounded in our holistic child development framework which includes four domains of child development: (i) physical well-being, (ii) cognitive functioning, (iii) social and emotional learning, and (iv) language, literacy and numeracy. Our approach to play-based learning is underpinned by the continuum of play, and holistic and developmentally appropriate, child-centered pedagogy.

Collaboration with families and caregiver communities is critical for supporting child development and learning. We aim to promote caregiver’s engagement in school, strengthen their understanding of the value of play in pre-primary education and at home, and support them to confidently use play at home strengthen relationships with their children, to promote early learning and social emotional development. This aim of this consultancy is to further this component of our work, as part of a pilot program.

2. Program Overview

The LEGO Foundation’s Build Back Better program (January 2022 – March 2023) supports interventions in psychosocial wellbeing (PSS) and education across six countries. The program is composed of six different pilot interventions, each with a specific timeline, results framework and MEL approach, as further outlined below. Despite the short timeframe of the program, it has an ambitious learning agenda, as the design foresees the roll-out of two RCTs and four effectiveness studies.

Build Back Better is enabling Right To Play to strengthen the impact of learning through play amongst parents, caregivers, teachers, children and Ministries of Education. We are doing this through two parallel lines of work. On the one hand, we are developing, piloting and scaling up five open-sourced global learning through play resources across 5 different RTP countries. These include: 1) P.O.W.E.R, a collection of 120 games to foster collaborative play; 2) PACT, a child-centred play-based resource to promote psychosocial wellbeing among children affected by adversity; 3) Music for Emergencies, a package of games to teach children technical music skills as a way to enhance socio-emotional and leadership skills; 4) Move to Improve, a resource that focuses on the link between cognitive processes and psychomotor skills through the use of play; and 5) Parenting Education, a resource that will support the delivery of at home learning for pre-primary children through the use of play. On the other hand, through the BBB project, RTP is developing an integrated technical assistance model to support Ministries of Education to integrate play-based learning. In Sierra Leone, and in partnership with BRAC and the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE), we are identifying opportunities to integrate play into their policy and practice.

The parenting education resource will be piloted in Uganda and Tanzania, and Right To Play is seeking to procure the services of an independent Learning Partner to help inform the implementation of the Parental Education project by supporting evaluation efforts. We foresee the contract as including a (i) baseline; and (ii) endline.

The Parental Education project will focus on testing different channels for parental education on the importance of play as part of early childhood development (ECD). Engaging with parents will serve as a mechanism to improve learning outcomes and social-emotional wellbeing of children.

The Parental Education pilot focuses on developing a parenting education package, “Play to Grow”, to be used with parents (facilitated by parental educators) to support their children (3-5 years old) to develop early reading, numeracy and SEL (Social Emotional Learning) skills using responsive parenting and play-based learning. The pilot aims to reach parents of children who belong to the school community of RTP partner schools in the two countries.

Key activities include a training of parent educators, training led by parent educators in community or schools settings, home visits by parent educators, parent support group sessions and a radio programme distributed through radio partners. Due to its early stages of development and the short duration of the program, this first iteration of the parental resource pilot will focus only on short and medium-term outcomes:

Short-term outcome areas:

• Changes in facilitators’ capacities to lead parental education sessions (measuring the effectiveness of the training tool and approach)
• Changes in parents’ knowledge and awareness throughout implementation
• Changes in parents’ access to and engagement in peer support systems
• Changes in parents’ time spent playing with children on a weekly basis

Medium-term outcome areas:

• Changes in parents initiating playful activities and learning
• Changes in parent-child interactions
• Changes within the home environment
• Changes in children’s behaviour (TBD further with Learning Partner)

In future iterations of piloting efforts, measurement efforts will include also include longer-term outcome-level changes, including changes in Social Emotional Learning, school readiness, changes in wellbeing of children and caregivers, and changes in ECD outcomes and learning.

Following the pilot, the parental education component is going to be scaled-up as a resource that can support broader parenting programs implemented by Right To Play. The long-term plan for the resource (outside of the scope of this project) is for it to be applicable to all contexts where Right To Play operates. The global resource being developed will be a starting point for contextualization, which will require further research and iteration in later stages.

3. Purpose of Consultancy

Right To Play is seeking to procure the services of an independent Learning Partner, to help inform programme implementation through a project evaluation using mixed-methods. The Learning Partner will lead a baseline and endline evaluation to assess short-term and medium-term outcomes outlined above. The evaluation will engage caregivers, parent educators, facilitators, trainers and community leaders. The selected consultant will work closely with the Global MEL team and the Tanzania and Uganda Country Offices.

The Learning Partner will lead the baseline in June – July 2022. The final evaluation is expected to take place in February – March 2023.

In Uganda, the project will be implemented in Adjumani and Isingiro, targeting host refugee communities from South Sudan and Rwanda in rural settings, and Kampala as an urban setting. The intervention will be in 41 ECD centres across the three locations (18 in Adjumani, 18 in Isingiro and 5 in Kampala). A total of 120 parent educators will be selected and trained.

In Tanzania, Parental Education is likely to be implemented in 50 ECD centres across four districts: Ubungo (Dar es Salaam), Serengeti (Mara), Kibondo and Kasulu (Kigoma). Across these three regions, 150 parent educators will be selected and trained on the Parenting Education Resource. In Kiigoma, the project will be targeting host communities.

In both countries, parent educators will deliver bi-monthly parenting education sessions, bi-monthly parent support group sessions as well as one monthly home visit. One radio message will be selected and aired each month.

The primary objectives of the consultancy are as follows:

• Review all project documents, including the MEL plan and Parental Education resource;
• Review and test the project’s Theory of Change;
• Produce a rigorous evaluation framework design, including an analytical framework which can be used for the entire evaluation;
• Review, refine and/or develop reliable and valid survey and other measurement instruments;
• Report the baseline starting points and endline achievements against the project’s intended short-term outcomes;
• Inform realistic and achievable targets that are grounded within the local context;
• Produce evidence which facilitates discussion and learning regarding program best practices among project participants, community members, Right To Play staff, partners and institutional stakeholders, supporting improvement and iteration of the resource for further scale-up in Uganda and Tanzania; and
• Produce evidence that facilitates lesson learning so that the resource can be contextualized and applied in other countries where Right to Play is active.

For this purpose, the project is currently seeking a consultancy firm to design and implement a learning study of the Parental Education project. The consultancy firm will be expected to generate strong evidence and learning throughout the project’s lifetime, to help inform program decision-making and organizational learning.

4. Methodology

The Learning Partner will lead a baseline study using a mixed-methods approach that will enable the project to assess its starting point, from a measurement perspective. This will serve as a key reference for the endline evaluation, particularly with regards to methods and sampling. The evaluation must employ methods relevant to the program’s measurement framework and evaluation questions. The methodology will be further refined by the Learning Partner in collaboration with Right To Play.

The Final Evaluation will take place at the end of the project between February and March 2023. The final evaluation will provide a strategic review of the project’s performance and progress against results and outcomes.

The Learning Partner is expected to work closely with the Right To Play Uganda and Tanzania teams and Global MEL to successfully conduct all field work. The evaluation approach must follow OECD-DAC evaluation criteria. All phases will require the analysis of data collected and the production of a report. The Learning Partner will deliver products for external dissemination, with incorporated and integrated feedback from relevant program staff.

Data Collection Tools

The evaluation design framework will consist of a toolkit with relevant tools to measure the program’s short and medium-term outcome-level indicators and to adequately answer the research questions posed. Existing tools will be critically reviewed while new ones will be developed. All tools must be translated into local languages, as required. The list of tools that will need to be revised and/or developed may include, but is not limited to:

1. Parent Educators survey and pre-post training tests

2. Caregiver survey

3. Focus Group Discussions and Key Informant Interviews (with facilitators, trainers, caregivers, community leaders and others as relevant)

The research planning process will entail an in-depth training of the data collection team (enumerators, translators, etc.), hired and managed by the Learning Partner. The training will include piloting of the instruments to ensure satisfactory reliability and validity. Tools will subsequently be refined after training and prior to data collection.

Data Analysis

Data will be analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The evaluation partner will submit an analytical framework as part of the evaluation design process, which will detail the specific analytical methodology that will be used to produce results for each indicator measured and each research question posed. The consultant is encouraged to utilize analytical software to analyze both the quantitative (e.g., Excel, SPSS, STATA, R), and qualitative (e.g., NVivo, Atlas.Ti) data. Outputs from data analysis will be submitted as part of the deliverables, as will the scripts (or list of commands) with clear notes and guidance, particularly for quantitative data analyzed (in SPSS, STATA, R).

5. Scope of Work and deliverables

Following awarding of the contract, inception meetings and initial planning conversations, the Learning Partner’s tasks will be as follows:

1. Background research on the Parental Education project and Right To Play’s approach (through program documents provided by Right To Play).

2. Prepare an inception report outlining the measurement approaches and methodologies to be employed in executing the assignment. This should include:

a. A detailed data collection work plan that includes:

i. Data collection logistics and schedule

ii. Data collection manual including data collectors’ training guide

iii. Enumerator training materials and presentations

b. Description of qualitative and quantitative sampling, including sampling approach, sample size, power, and confidence intervals.

c. Detailed methodology of how to collect, triangulate and summarize the primary and secondary data of both quantitative and qualitative nature. This will include draft versions of all data collection tools to be used in the baseline study in English, Kiswahili, and other local languages, as required.

d. Detailed quality assurance protocols to guide data collection/entry, including spot checking protocols.

e. Description of gender responsive approaches that will be integrated into the study.

f. Description of data analysis processes, including use of data analysis software.

g. Detailed indicator protocols that include indicator definitions, data sources, and calculation formulas.

h. Due to COVID-19-related health and safety considerations, consultancy firms based outside of Uganda and Tanzania should prepare for remote management of the data collection process. If international consultants are not able to travel to Uganda or Tanzania for this assignment, they will be responsible to partner with local data collection firms and provide remote management, training, and quality assurance.

3.Take a lead role in developing, revising, adapting, translating, and piloting various data collection tools (both qualitative and quantitative) to be used for the baseline and final evaluation as per the agreed methodology, including pre-testing and piloting of tools for linguistic and cultural appropriateness. The Learning Partner will be responsible for all costs associated with planning, training, data collection, quality assurance and reporting, including travel, printing, translations, mobile devices, and training venue(s) and materials.

4.Develop enumerator training materials, including presentations and manuals.

5.Actively participate in regular meetings with Right To Play to consult on evaluation plan, methodology and timeframe, discussing results and findings and agreed recommended follow-up actions.

6.Manage the data collection processes, providing support, supervision and monitoring of data collection and storage. This includes ensuring the credibility of field data collected by interviewers.

7.Collect data using mobile devices. All tablets, power banks, and other necessary equipment should be provided by the evaluation partner.

8.For each deliverable, compile a comprehensive first draft report based on the field research findings, using a Right To Play report template, and revise report based on feedback from Right To Play and its partners.

9.Preliminary findings for all deliverables will be shared with program staff and relevant stakeholders through data validation workshops.

1. Prepare and submit a report for each deliverable to Right To Play’s Global Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Team, including:

a. Copy of the final report (baseline and endline)

b. Copies of raw and cleaned data sets in both Excel and statistical software formats (e.g. SPSS) including any transcripts, coding frameworks, field notes, as well as annexes of processed results tables and copies of all final data collection tools used (with all levels of disaggregation, including breakdown of geographical areas)

c. PowerPoint presentation with summary findings for formal presentation to key stakeholders in Uganda and Tanzania

d. An evaluation brief document summarizing the main findings for each report (see below).

6. General Conditions of the Consultancy

Steering Committee

A Steering Committee of key implementation stakeholders (including global and country office staff working on the Build Back Better program) will be formed to guide and inform the research process. They will help to inform the relevance and appropriateness of the evaluation design framework, the data collection tools, and the analytical framework. They will also help to ensure that the research planning and data collection processes are sound, culturally appropriate, and contextually relevant to Right To Play’s programmatic needs and to the needs of all relevant stakeholders (i.e. beneficiaries, community members and partners).

Consultancy Expectations:

The selected consultant/Learning Partner is expected to complete all the deliverables outlined in Section 5. Throughout each phase, the Learning Partner will be expected to maintain regular communication with the steering committee to provide progress updates.

All materials, processes, methodologies, reports, plans and other works provided to the consultancy firm or developed by the consultancy firm on behalf of Right To Play remain the property of Right To Play. All data must be stored in a safe and secure location, allowing full access on the part of Right To Play staff during the evaluation process.