ThaiNGO

Terms of Reference

Let's Read and Play Phase II Thailand | Program Evaluation Consultancy

Background

The Asia Foundation (the Foundation) is a nonprofit international development organization committed to improving lives across a dynamic and developing Asia. Informed by six decades of experience and deep local expertise, our programs address critical issues affecting Asia in the 21st century, including economic development, education, and technology for development. Headquartered in San Francisco, the Foundation works through a network of offices in 18 Asian countries and in Washington, DC to encourage Asia's continued development as a peaceful, just, and thriving region of the world.

Program Overview- Let's Read and Play Phase II

Let’s Read and Play is a holistic early childhood education (ECE) program that works with schools and families to support preschool-aged children’s academic and social-emotional development through reading and engaging activities. The Let’s Read and Play Phase II is a two-year program starting in the Thai school academic year 2024 that features a curriculum supporting children through weekly learning sessions at schools with trained facilitators/teachers and engaging activities at home with parents and caregivers. The program builds on the previous effort of Let's Read and Play phase I and similar effort in the region such as Cambodia and Nepal which followed a similar model of integrating Let’s Read storybooks, read-aloud techniques, and other reading-focused activities with existing national standards for pre-school education. Through weekly sessions and quarterly reading events, participating children will be exposed to approximately 70 storybooks and related play activities that support early literacy, early numeracy, and social emotional growth for one academic year. The learning outcome for “children” is enhanced early childhood development abilities including letter and number recognition, counting, comprehensive listening, sound identification, reading attitude and other relevant abilities. The learning outcome for “parent and caregivers” is parents are more actively involved and support in fostering a positive attitude toward reading and cultivating reading habits in their child. The learning outcome for “teachers” is enhanced skills in reading aloud, organizing engaging literacy and numeracy-focused activities, and involving parents.

Main Activities of the Program

• Let’s Read and Play Curriculum Update – Let’s Read team will work with local experts to review and revise the Let's Read and Play Phase I curriculum to ensure alignment between objectives of Let's Read and Play and national curriculum.
• Teacher Training - Provide training and required materials to selected teachers/schools to ensure successful delivery of the curriculum.
• Classroom Implementation - Implement learning curriculum in a total of thirty-two classrooms between four schools within Bangkok. Classrooms will utilize printed “Big Books” to engage children in fun, locally created storybooks and activities.
• At Home Activities – The Learning Pathways feature on the free Let’s Read app will allow parents and families to read and do fun activities together to continue their children’s growth at home.
• Quarterly Community Reading Events - Support selected schools in hosting quarterly in-person community events to further engage parents and caregivers in their children's education.
• Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning - Create a strong, evidence-based case study documenting how consistent reading of locally created storybooks for children ages 3-5 positively impacts school preparedness and their social and physical well-being.

Scope of Work and Methodology

The Foundation looks to employ a consultant or a firm in conducting the evaluation for the first year of the program to understand the starting status and ending status of children’s abilities, parents' attitudes toward reading habits and the teachers for one academic year. The assessment will be proposed to apply both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods.

Task to be accomplished by the consultant:

• Review and revise “Let's Read and Play phase I” assessment tool including quantitative and qualitative tools for children, parents, and teachers to align with the revised version and objectives of the curriculum.
• Conduct training for enumerators (consider child-friendly tools and techniques) prior to conducting assessments (training materials are to be developed or adapted from existing one as applicable.
• Conduct and lead the baseline and endline assessment and evaluation of approximately 800 children sampled from four selected pre-schools around Bangkok, with one additional pre-school serving as the control group.
• Conduct focus group discussions (FGD), interviews, onsite observation and surveys to teachers, parents, and caregivers, if applicable, mapping the results between parents and caregivers with their children's assessment.
• Conduct a meeting with the program team to collect input and feedback for validation, when necessary.
• Finalize the baseline and endline reports (comprehensive analysis of data is included).

Expected Deliverables and Timeline

To apply for this recruitment, you are requested to submit the following;

• A Curriculum Vitae; and
• A cover letter explaining why you are qualified to do the work and your relevant experience against the requirements
• An overview summary of an initial research technical proposal, articulating comprehension and interpretation of the ToR, the proposed methodology, relevant experience, and the time and activity schedule. (Maximum of 8 pages)
• A financial proposal detailing estimated costs for services provided (including daily consultancy fees), transportation expenses, stationery expenses, and any other relevant supplies or services.
• Please submit your application to the email provided in the contact details below no later than May 10, 2024
• This consultancy is on a rolling basis; proposals will be reviewed as they come in.
• Send to worachan.neamsup@asiafoundation.org and chansomey.chheang@asiafoundation.org