MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

IMPROVING RESULTS IN SECONDARY

EDUCATION (IRISE) PROJECT

 

IDA GRANT NUMBER: D5030-LR

 

TERMS OF REFERENCE

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR REVIEWING/REVAMPING OF EXISTING PRE-SERVICE TRAINING CURRICULA AND BACHELOR-LEVEL DEGREE PROGRAM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF LIBERIA

 

TERMS OF REFERENCE NUMBER: LR-MOE-138244-CS-QCBS

 

SELECTION METHOD: CONSULTANTS QUALITY AND COST-BASED SELECTION

 

1. INTRODUCTION

The Government of Liberia has received a grant of USD 47 million dollars from the International Development Association (IDA) to implement the Improving Results in Secondary Education (IRISE) project. A portion of this amount is allocated for the modernization of pre-service teacher education at the University of Liberia.

 

To this end, the Ministry of Education through the William V. S. Tubman Teachers College intends to hire a consultant who would serve as Technical Assistant to review and revise the present curricula used to prepare secondary school teachers, develop modules and teaching learning materials that will guide/assist the faculty in the preparation of the courses. The development of modules and other materials needs to consider existing Open Educational Resources as well as materials from previous similar programs.

 

1. BACKGROUND

2.1 Under this scheme, the current curricula that are used to prepare secondary school teachers at the University of Liberia are to be reviewed and revised, taking into consideration the national secondary school curricula, and the West African Examination Council syllabi. It is also intended to develop modules for teacher development that are aligned with the revised training curricula.  A key first step in this process will be evaluating the existing training programs to examine the soundness of the teacher training curricula and the alignment between the curricula and training materials. The findings from this evaluation will inform the development of course materials to be aligned with the revised curricula for pedagogical courses and, where needed, for content courses.

 

1. OBJECTIVES OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The objectives of reviewing, revising the curricula, developing modules and teaching learning materials in line with the training curricula are as follow:

1. to ensure that the revised training curricula and module developed are aligned with the national senior secondary school curricula and the WASSCE syllabi;
2. to ensure that the curricula and modules follow established practices for effective learning of teacher trainees; the curricula and modules need to enable the acquisition of the requisite subject pedagogy, particularly from a practical, child-learning-focused perspective; the curricula also need to ensure the acquisition of content knowledge and skills for effective teaching and learning, but should do so in the context of subject pedagogy;
3. to ensure that the new breed of faculty under Sub-component 3.1 A scholarship scheme and current faculty of William V. S. Tubman Teachers College will use the revised curricula and modules developed to enhance the effective and efficient output of pre-service teachers in Liberian schools.
4. to ensure that faculty of the University of Liberia-Teachers’ College and the College of Education at the William V.S. Tubman University have adequate training materials that would assist them in planning and implementing the revised curricula, following recognized effective practice and that such materials shall be structured as wrap- around of the materials developed in item 2.

 

1. SCOPE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The TA when hired shall be expected to:

1. review the existing Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, English, Geography, History and Business Education pre-service curricula to identify the alignment between those curricula, the national senior secondary school curricula and the WASSCE syllabi;
2. if gaps are identified, revise existing curricula to align with the national senior secondary school curricula and WASSCE syllabi;
3. develop openly licensed training modules and teaching learning materials that are aligned with the  overall curriculum and the curriculum for each subject;  the TA is expected to draw on their experience of student-centered pedagogy, focusing on effective teaching practices (such as feedback, metacognition, group work, questioning, etc); modules should consider integration of technology in student learning, with appropriate consideration of existing and future facilities;
4. develop a practical training program for the faculty of the college on the usage of the modules;
5. validate, and as needed, update the revised curricula and training modules after one academic semester, based on feedback from teachers and students;
6. Provide finalized hard and soft copies of the revised curricula (including editable versions), modules and teaching learning materials to University of Liberia-Teachers’ College and the College of Education at the William V.S. Tubman University by July 31, 2021 or a determinable future date.

 

1. APPROACH & METHODOLOGY

The work shall be done in four phases as follow:

Phase 1: This phase is to review the current training curricula to identify misalignments between     the training curricula at University of Liberia-Teachers’ College and the College of Education at the William V.S. Tubman University the national secondary school curricula and the WASSCE syllabi. The work is expected to take place at the University of Liberia-Teachers’ College and the College of Education at the William V.S. Tubman University, closely collaborating with a selected group of staff members and experienced school teachers. At the end of this phase, the TA will conduct a day’s workshop with faculty of the University of Liberia-Teachers’ College and the College of Education at the William V.S. Tubman University to point out gaps identified and to discuss initial suggestions for how the pre-service training curricula should be revised to resolve misalignments.

 

Phase 2: This phase is to revise and correct all misalignments. As before, the work is expected to take place at University of Liberia-Teachers’ College, in close collaboration with faculty staff. Upon the completion of phase 2 the TA will conduct a day’s workshop with faculty of University of Liberia-Teachers’ College and the College of Education at the William V.S. Tubman University to share the corrections that have been made and familiarize them (faculty) with the revised pre-service training curricula.                             

 

Phase 3: Develop modules and teaching learning materials that are aligned with the revised curricula. Trials of materials should be undertaken in interactive cycles with the development of the materials. The materials should not be trialed by the TA, but should be trialed by University of Liberia-Teachers’ College staff. The experience of trialing leads to the development of the modules for students, as well as the training materials for faculty. The TA will produce a college-based in-service professional development plan for faculty of University of Liberia-Teachers’ College and 5 faculty of the College of Education at the William V.S. Tubman University. The plan ensures that faculty of these institutions are empowered to adopt new teaching practices, particularly in relation to the usage of the student modules and the teaching learning materials following the launching of the new pre-service teacher training. Note: These revised curricula and modules developed will be piloted by TC faculty.

 

Phase 4: Validate the training documents after the pilot phase, revising them as needed, and work with subject specialists to train faculty on the usage of the documents.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. DELIVERABLES AND REPORTING

 

1. The following reports are expected as outputs of the assignment:

 

Deliverable	Description of Deliverable	Duration upon commencement of assignment	Payment Schedule
Inception Report	The report should include details on the project work plan, methodologies, Coordination of work efforts, definition of needs from MoE, MS Project work plan	2 weeks after contract signature	15% of lumpsum contract
GAP Analysis Report	Gap Analysis Report showing what is on the ground and gaps and make recommendations	8 weeks after contract signature	15% of lumpsum contract
Revised Curricula	to revise and correct all misalignments and produce a revised pre-service training curricula	18 weeks after contract signature	20% of lumpsum contract
Developed Training & Teaching Materials	Develop modules and teaching learning materials that are aligned with the revised curricula.	28 weeks after contract signature	20% of lumpsum contract
In-service professional development plan	The Consultant will produce a college-based in-service professional development plan for the TC faculty to empower them adopt the new teaching practice pertinent to the use of the students’ module and the teaching –learning materials	32 weeks after contract signature	10% of lumpsum contract
Validation Workshop	To validate the training documents after Pilot Phase and incorporate comments from Stakeholders	36 weeks after contract signature
Training Report	work with subject specialists to train faculty on the usage of the documents.	40 Weeks after contract signature	10% of lumpsum contract
Completion Report	Submit a Completion Report on the assignment	45 weeks after contract signature	10% of lumpsum contract

 

1. The TA will report to the Project Coordinator of the IRISE Project. The firm to be hired based on this Terms of Reference should perform its tasks in consultation with and under guidance of the Teachers’ College.

 

 

 

 

 

1. DURATION AND LOCATION OF THE ASSIGNMENT

7.1 Timeline for phases 1 and 2

The consultancy for phases 1 and 2 is expected to last for two months, covering July and August 2021. The first draft of the revised curricula is to be submitted to the University of Liberia-Teachers’ College and the College of Education at the William V.S. Tubman University through the Deputy Project Coordinator no later than September 30, 2021.

7.2 Timeline for phases 3 and 4

The consultancy for phases 3 and 4 is expected to last for eight months, beginning July 1, 2021 to February 28, 2022 Four of the eight months are expected to be used to develop the modules, teaching learning materials and to train faculty of University of Liberia-Teachers’ College and the College of Education at the William V.S. Tubman University on the usage of these documents. The first draft of the modules, teaching and learning materials are to be submitted to the University of Liberia-Teachers’ College and the College of Education at the William V.S. Tubman University through the Project Coordinator no later than January 1, 2022.  A revised draft of the modules and teaching learning materials are to be submitted to the and the College of Education at the William V.S. Tubman University through the Deputy Project Coordinator no later than February 28, 2022.

 

The remaining four months are to be used to pilot the modules and teaching learning material in line with the revised curricula. This depends on the University of Liberia academic calendar. The final copies of all documents revised and developed are to be handed over to the and the College of Education at the William V.S. Tubman University through the Project Coordinator no later than March 31, 2022.

 

1. QUALIFICATION AND EXPERIENCE

8.1 Experience of the Technical Assistant

The types of skills required of the Technical Assistant to perform this assignment are as follows:

Qualifications for the TA: A strong TA provider will have the following qualifications and experience:

1. Not less than 8 years’ experience with the design of teacher professional development curricula and supporting materials, including manuals, guides, toolkits, and more, in Sub-Saharan Africa.
2. Understanding of or familiarity with the strengths and weaknesses of the existing Liberian teacher professional development program for in and pre-service teacher education.
3. Familiarity with open teacher professional development programs, such as the OER4Schools program (Zambia), Transforming Teacher Education and Learning (Ghana), TESS (India) and others
4. Strong experience (or interest) on the interplay between textbooks, curriculum, and teacher learning / teacher professional development.
5. Demonstrable experience (or interest) regarding the integration of technology in teacher professional development.
6. Demonstrable experience with child-centered pedagogy, focusing on feedback, metacognition, group work, questioning, etc.
7. The TA should provide qualified subject specialist in each of the 8 subjects mentioned in Section 4.1 above.

 

8.2 Qualification and Experience of Key Staff

 

Team Leader

Academic qualification

A Master’s degree in Curriculum Development or any relevant field in Education. Doctorate is an added advantage

Work experience

Minimum of seven (7) years’ work experience, especially the development of curriculum, training materials and training delivery. 

Experience in Sub-Saharan African will be an added advantage.

Evidence of proficiency in both spoken and written English.

 

 Subject Specialists (3 for each subject area)

Academic qualification

A Master’s degree in subject content area or related field.

Work experience

Minimum of five (5) years’ work experience, especially the development of curriculum, training materials and training delivery. 

Experience in Sub-Saharan African will be an added advantage.

Evidence of proficiency in both spoken and written English.

 

1. FACILITIES AND SUPPORT TO BE PROVIDED BY THE MOE, UL-TC and TU AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANT

 

1. Facilities and Support to be provided by the MoE/UL-TC and TU

The MoE/UL-TC will provide the Technical Assistant the following:

1. The Project Appraisal Document of the IRISE Project
2. Copies of the current curricula in the 8 subject areas (UL-TC and TU)
3. Counterpart staff
4. Any other relevant information and material required for the assignment.

 

1. Facilities and Support to be provided by the Technical Assistant

9.2.1 The Consultant shall also be responsible for ensuring appropriate office space, equipment,  transportation that meets the requirements of the assignment, including field visits, consultations, regular and/or ad-hoc trips to selected sites.

9.2.2 The Consultant shall be responsible for all the requisite staff resources; accommodation; stationery; communications; computers and its accessories; translations/interpretation (if needed); and other costs related to undertaking their responsibilities.