Save the Children’s Literacy Programming Consultancy

Summary & Background

Save the Children is looking for a consultant/fee for service to conduct a review of our Literacy Programming. Save the Children’s Safe Back to School & Learning Global Strategic Goal (2022-24) aims to increase the number of children achieving well-being and learning outcomes globally. This means seeing 150 million children return safely back to school; with a particular focus on those most affected by inequality & discrimination – including girls and children with disabilities. The Global Goal plan recognizes the pre-existing learning deficit, and the compounding challenges presented by the 3cs – Covid, Conflict & Climate. Included in this ambition, is a focus on essential/foundational literacy skills and outcomes for all children. This is reflected internally and externally in policies, shared goals and strategies such as SDG4, G7 Declarations, and the global agenda to tackle Learning Poverty, and priorities of major donors such as FCDO and USAID. Literacy has long been a core element of Save the Children’s Basic Education programming, most notably through our Literacy Boost Common Approach[1]. Recognizing the 2022-24 global strategy, changes in the external contexts and the evolutions in the evidence and best practice in the sector, Save the Children will conduct a review and update of our Literacy Programming.

The Problem

The Covid-19 pandemic has interrupted education around the world. Increases in conflict and climate change, have further amplified a pre-existing learning crisis. Not all children are returning to school, and many of those who have returned are not learning, with 53% percent of children in low- and middle-income countries unable to read and understand a simple story by the end of primary school. The trend of low levels of reading is particularly concerning given reading’s function as a gateway to other learning and to the realization of children’s rights. While Save the Children offers a continuum of literacy development from birth to early primary through our common approaches (i.e. Building Brains, Ready to Learn, Literacy Boost), the time is right to ask: Are we applying the latest evidence-based best practice to respond to the global reading crisis? Do we have the right approaches to ensure equity in literacy outcomes, including for those most impacted by inequality & discrimination, and for those affected by crisis?

WHAT: Current State

• Literacy Boost is Save the Children’s approach to literacy for grades 1-4, and is due for an evidence review and update[2]. While the broad impact of Literacy Boost has been impressive, current evidence also suggests that Literacy Boost’s impact is inconsistent in supporting children with the lowest reading scores and those most affected by inequality & discrimination, including children with disabilities.
• In the 6 years since Literacy Boost was endorsed as a common approach, there have been contextual and sectoral changes, which require Save the Children to examine Literacy Boost alongside other internal and external literacy programming. For example –
• • Literacy Boost Teacher Development: The Literacy Boost teacher-training package uses a training workshop approach. This requires review, as the latest evidence on teacher training highlights the importance of a more blended continuous professional development approach, as proposed in Save the Children’s Enabling Teachers. There has also been emerging evidence that providing more structured support such as teacher guides, lesson plans or instructional models can be effective in promoting improved learning at scale.
    – Rise of Education Technology & SBCC: The testing and scaling of digital solutions is an important enabler for Save the Children’s 2022-24 SB2S & Learning Strategic Goal. While Literacy Boost has used mobile technology (mBoost[3]), this is not a well-developed area within the common approach. There has also been great progress in the use of Social Behaviour Change Communications to promote education outcomes in recent years, which is also something which LB only integrates to a limited extent.
    – Need for Remedial and Catch-up Support: As children in many countries return to in-person learning, it is clear many have fallen behind and need to catch up. Literacy Boost metholodology has contributed to a community based ‘Catch Up Club’ innovation to address this challenge, but Literacy Boost itself designed to support remedial learning and this has not been integrated into one package of options.
    – Shifting Power & Localization: While Literacy Boost has had some success in policy change within Ministries of Education, this is not an explicit focus of the common approach. As a result, supporting local systems reform at scale, such as through national curriculum or assessment reform or teacher education and development policies is not a strong area in the approach. With Save the Children’s focus on localization and shifting power, there is a need to reconsider how Save the Children might engage local and national government and other local stakeholders such as Teachers’ Unions to take the lead in promoting improved reading outcomes at scale.
    – Capturing Adaptations & Innovations: Save the Children sees common approaches as living things that change, improve and evolve over time. There are examples of how Literacy Boost has done just that, including feeding into ‘Catch Up Clubs’, but these adaptations and innovations are not all fully captured and packaged for use and it needs to be decided if and how these replace or add to SC’s global toolkits.
    – Integrating our resources on Foundational Literacy: Literacy Boosthas a specific focus on grades 1-4, and other approaches and tools in Save the Children are promoting foundational literacy skills with other grade and age groups, such as through Catch-up Clubs and AEP programs for adolescents who have missed out on education. However, until now there has not been an integrated framework or guidance for SC staff and offices on foundational literacy across different ages and stages, which could support them to select approaches and ensure maximum impact across these different populations and to promote transition between key stages.
    – Increased disruptions to learning: The world has seen an increase in crises particularly as a result of conflict, climate change and Covid-19. Such crises disrupt learning, sometimes through short term or more lengthy school closures. As such events unfortunately become more frequent, Literacy Boost’s methodologies and implementation model must be flexible and adaptable. It also needs to be clear for users, when slight modifications to Literacy Boost can be made in response to such contextual changes, and when it is better to use the Learning & Wellbeing in Emergencies (LWiE)package instead. (note – LWiE was adapted from Literacy Boost)

HOW: Solution

Save the Children will conduct a review of foundational literacy programming approaches, including Literacy Boost, in order to:

• Maximize the impact of SC’s Literacy Programming on children’s learning outcomes and learning equity, particulary for those most impacted by inequality & discrimination
• Ensure that SC’s Literacy Programming supports the goals of localization, shifting power, and systems strengthening
• Position SC to increase fundraising for, and improve win rates on, Early Grade Reading programs
• Ensure Literacy Boost, and SC’s other literacy approaches, reflect the most current and best understanding of how to improve foundational literacy

CONSULTANCY

Given all of the above, Save the Children is recruiting a consultant to conduct a review in collaboration with our literacy experts and practitioners.

Objectives of the consultancy are:

1. Articulate current and anticipated barriers to foundational literacy globally – note: this will be done with consideration of Save the Children’s strategic priorities (I.e., Safe Back to School & Learning Global Strategic Goal) and priorities among the international education community (e.g., SDG4, G7 Declarations, and the global agenda to tackle Learning Poverty, major donors such as FCDO and USAID)
2. Identify and document adaptations, innovations, evidence and lessons learned from our current common approach to foundational literacy (I.e., Literacy Boost and its iterations)
3. Identify ways SC can increase our impact on foundational literacy outcomes, learning equity, systems strengthening and support local leadership (I.e., based on the latest literature, evidence, and best practice in foundational literacy programming in the sector, including from Literacy Boost)
4. Outline specific recommendations for updating Literacy Boost
5. Recommend new/emerging/alternative literacy approaches requiring investment

The core activities of this review will include the following, with an estimated 30-40 days’ work:

• Desk review of external cutting-edge approaches, and latest literature and evidence (as available) in improving foundational literacy outcomes in low resource contexts including in primary school settings, remedial programs and adolescent programs, but with an in-depth focus on primary level
• Interviews with external global and national stakeholders and experts where relevant/possible
• Desk review of SC’s Literacy Boost and other literacy program tools, reports, lessons learnt and evidence
• Consultations, interviews and workshops with Save the Children country, member and global staff to gather insights and lessons learnt on SC’s literacy programming and generate ideas for improvement
• Compile findings and outline recommendations in a report, including timelines and actions to implement recommended changes

Deliverables for the consultancy are:

1. Workplan: A complete workplanfor the desk review, consultations and workshop, report writing a review, along with a proposed template for the report
2. A Consultancy Report (narrative and PPT).

The report should outline findings and detailed recommendations relating to the following questions and themes based on the external and internal desk reviews, consultations and workshops:

A) How can SC’s literacy programming maximize impact on children’s foundational reading outcomes?

B) How can SC’s Literacy programming maximize impact on learning equity, including for those most impacted by inequality & discrimination (incl. children with disabilities, girls, migrating & displaced children, refugees, children from lowest income households)

C) How can SC’s literacy programming effectively support impact at scale through systems strengthening and local leadership?

In answering these questions, the consultant should consider the evidence and best practice in the following areas , in addition to any other areas identified in the desk review and consultations:

• Teacher development and instructional support
• Engaging caregivers and communities
• Reading materials and book development & supply
• Use of Education technology for literacy
• Using SBCC to enhance support for reading
• Remedial and catch-up approaches
• Communicating impact and advocating for scale-up
• Cost-effectiveness
• Adaptations & considerations for responding to learning disruptions and crises

1. A Detailed Work-Plan: next steps, timelines, and prioritiesfor implementing recommendations outlined in the report in 2022-23

[1] See also here: https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/pdf/6931.pdf/ , and here: https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/document/celebrating-10-years-literacy-boost-what-have-we-learned-so-far/

[2] Literacy Boost was endorsed as a common approach in 2016. At a minimum, Save the Children aims for a review and update process to take place every fourth year (i.e., during the fourth year, not after four years has elapsed).

[3] See also here: https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/document/mboost-improving-literacy-and-numeracy-learning-from-rural-bangladesh/