Конкурс пропозицій щодо розробки онлайн-курсу для фахівців з оцінювання змісту освіти
ЗАВЕРШЕНО
TERMS OF REFERENCE for CALL FOR PROPOSALS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN ONLINE IN-SERVICE TRAINING COURSE FOR EXPERTS IN EDUCATION CONTENT EVALUATION
The project “Finland’s Support to the Ukrainian School Reform” (“Learning Together”) seeks to enter into a contract with a qualified and experienced service provider, a private company or other relevant organization, to design and prepare an online in-service training course for experts in education content evaluation, as described in this Terms of Reference.
Background
The project “Finland’s Support to the Ukrainian School Reform”, known as “Learning Together”, is a multi-year development co-operation project (2018-2023), which is funded by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland and the EU. The project is implemented by the Finnish Consulting Group FCG (former FCG International) and supports the New Ukrainian School (NUS) reform in the sphere of primary and general secondary education. The project contributes to three interlinked result areas: Improving teaching and administration in schools (Cluster 1); education promotion (Cluster 2) and learning environment (Cluster 3). Inclusive education for all is a crosscutting element of the project.
Currently, the education system of Ukraine is undergoing transformation. Its paradigm is based on the concept of the New Ukrainian School as a key reform of the Ministry of Education and Science. The priority task of the school today is not to provide students with an array of mechanically acquired knowledge, but rather to develop their competencies and the ability to apply knowledge in practice. This will teach them to think critically and become innovators. One of the most powerful tools for efficient implementation of these fundamental principles is modern education content. Efficient training of professional experts in evaluation of educational materials, who know modern tools for evaluating and developing educational materials, is the key objective of the future course.
The main regulatory documents, which guide the process of updating education and preparing modern textbooks in Ukraine are:
Concept of implementation of the state policy regarding the general secondary education reform “New Ukrainian School” until 2029 (approved by resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 988-R dated 14.12.2016);
Law of Ukraine “On Education” No. 910-IX dated 17.09.2020;
Law of Ukraine “On Full General Secondary Education” No. 463-IX dated 16.01.2020;
State Standard for Primary Education No. 688 dated 24.07.2019;
State Standard for Basic Secondary Education No. 898 dated 30.09.2020;
Order of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine No. 1272 dated 08.10.2019 “On Approval of Framework Curricula for Grades 1-2 of General Secondary Education Institutions”;
Order of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine No. 1273 dated 08.10.2019; “On Approval of Framework Curricula for Grades 3-4 of General Secondary Education Institutions”;
On Approval of the Procedure for Competitive Selection of Textbooks (Except Electronic Ones) for Students Receiving Full General Secondary Education and Educators No. 1002 dated 17.07.2019.
Scope, objective and schedule of the assignment
This Terms of Reference (ToR) describes the assignment, which focuses on the development of the online in-service training course for experts in education content evaluation, which should be integrated in the NUS Resource Centre: http://nushub.org.ua/.
The objective is to design and prepare a modular online course, the purpose of which is to equip potential experts with a set of modern knowledge and tools related to the evaluation of education content and design of textbooks and other educational materials.
Schedule: The estimated duration of the assignment will be approximately 4 months (preparation, conducting and reporting) starting from the commencement date of the work. The work is expected to start by mid-January 2023.
Requirements for the expected result
- The expected output deliverable – the online in-service training course for experts in education content evaluation – is intended to be flexible for self-studying in terms of online delivery and enrolment.
- The online course should be integrated into the NUS Resource Centre https://nushub.org.ua/.
- When a teacher completes the entire modular course, a certificate will be issued (1 ECTS – 30 study hours).
- The online course for experts in education content evaluation will be based on the program of the SSI “Institute of Education Content Modernization” organized round 30 topics (see Annex 1[1]).
- Training materials for each of 30 topics should consist of: (i) videos, (ii) additional information on the topic and (iii) 3-4 self-assessment test questions. Course participants should be able to use them several times.
- The online course should include a final test with 20-25 testing questions and an open task for evaluation education content. Each question should have several answers (3-5 depending on the questions), where one or two answers will be correct ones. The maximum score of the successful testing result = 100 points. Participants will receive a certificate when they get at least 50 points and more.
- The online course should include an interactive forum, where participants can share their comments and communicate among themselves.
- The online course should include an online feedback form, which allows to collect participants` feedback on the positive aspects of the course as well as aspects with improvement needs. Such a form will be useful for further development of similar training products.
Methodology and work plan
Modern learner-centered pedagogical approach and good practices of self-study online learning should be applied in the design and preparation of the online course.
The Service Provider’s work plan should include at least the following activities with a personnel plan:
Stage 1. Preparatory phase
- inception meeting
- review of the existing plan with resource materials, and other relevant online products
- needs assessment to confirm the contents of the course to be developed
- based on findings, finalization of the online course outline and map, work plan and personnel plan, methodology, tools, and budget
- schedule: month 1
Stage 2. Detailed design and preparation of the online course
- development of the detailed online teacher training course structure & action plan
- identification of additional resources as needed
- preparation of the online course and study materials
- schedule: tbc
Stage 3. Approval of the online course deliverable and final reporting
- finalized online course deliverable and Final Report
Milestone deliverables
- Inception report (Stage 1)
- Detailed online teacher training course structure and action plan & Study materials (Stage 2)
- Finalized online in-service training course product & Final Report (Stage 3)
English is the reporting language excluding the online course product and its study materials, which will be provided in Ukrainian language only.
Service Provider
The Service Provider will be in charge of (i) the design, resourcing and preparation of the online teacher training course as well as for (ii) the management, team leadership and reporting of the assignment. The Service Provider may be a private company or other relevant organization.
The Service Provider should have relevant verified human and technical capability with successful track records of similar assignments.
The Service Provider will identify a Project Manager and other Expert Team members to deliver the assignment.
The detailed requirements for a Service Provider and Expert Team are described below under “Requirements for submitting proposals: Evaluation criteria”.
Contracting and reporting
Contracting parties: FCG Finnish Consulting Group (Contractor) representing the Learning Together project and the Service Provider (Consultant), which will be selected through an open Call for Proposals.
Reporting: The Service Provider will work under the supervision of and report to the “Learning Together” Chief Technical Advisor. The Learning Together project management team will approve the milestone deliverables. The actual work will be guided and assisted by the “Learning Together” Advisory Team consisting of expert staff of Cluster 3.
Note: An option for extended procurement of similar services will be included in the contract, but it does not oblige the Contractor. Additional service needs should be within the “Learning Together” action plan and concern the preparation of online training materials for teacher professional development under Cluster 3. The realization of extended procurement would be conditional, based on an amendment to this contract. The price of services should remain on the same fee rate level.
Budget and payment procedure
The maximum budget for the assignment is EUR 29,000.00. The price of the services, details of the assignment, terms and conditions will be specified in the service contract between FCG Finnish Consulting Group Ltd (Contractor) and the Service Provider (Consultant).
Budget line for the procurement of services: C3.01.01.
Payments will be made in phases: advance payment (30%) upon signing the contract, the next payments upon the approval of the key deliverables by the “Learning Together” management team. All payments will be made against the Service Provider’s invoice and supporting documents. The payment milestones and sums will be confirmed in the service contract.
Guidelines
Guiding principles
Manual for Bilateral Programmes by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, revised version 2018 https://um.fi/publications/-/asset_publisher/TVOLgBmLyZvu/content/manual-for-bilateral-programmes is applied in the planning and implementation of this assignment. This manual is applied in all cooperation that has been agreed between Finland and Ukraine.
Mandate
The Service Provider is expected and entitled to discuss issues relevant to the assignment with relevant parties, government authorities and other relevant organizations and individuals, but the team does not have any mandate to make commitments on behalf of the government authorities in Ukraine and Finland or on behalf of the Contractor FCG Finnish Consulting Group especially.
INSTRUCTIONS TO TENDERERS
Requirements for submitting proposals
The written proposal should be in English and include the following documentation as separate pdf-files:
- Technical Proposal of no more than six (6) pages including: strengths of the Service Provider (capability statement incl. similar reference projects), comments on the Terms of Reference, proposed approach and methodology, work plan with timelines, proposed key experts with roles and main duties.
- Price Proposal (EUR): The cost breakdown should include two (2) separate sections: “Expert fees” and “Other expenses”. Fees of the proposed experts should be presented with “unit item” (working-day or working-month), “unit price” (daily or monthly fee in EUR), “number of units” (working-days or working-months) and “total fee in EUR”. Other expenses should be broken down according to the Technical Proposal and work plan.
- CVs of the proposed experts: Project Manager and other key experts.
- Official documents confirming the status of the organization and a document confirming the financial capabilities (annual statement of cash flows and statement of financial results) of the organization.
- Copies of registration documents (including copies of certificates of registration of legal entities that the participant plans to attract for the provision of services, a copy of the tax certificate; an extract from the Charter indicating the activity).
Other relevant supporting materials may be provided as appendices.
Evaluation criteria and procedure
The eligible proposals, which have been received in a timely manner, will be evaluated based on Quality (90%) and Price (10%).
The Quality of the proposals will be evaluated based on the following:
- Technical proposal
- Relevance and efficiency of the proposed approach, methodology and work plan
- Creative elements of the proposed online course concept
- Comments on the Terms of Reference (understanding of the assignment)
- Service Provider’s Organization – capability to perform the assignment successfully will be evaluated based on:
- previous experience in similar assignments; at least one reference assignment of successful self-study online course preparation in connection with the education sector (with the name and contact detail of the client’s reference person)
- availability of human and technical resources and tools for the assignment; proposed solution for sustainable delivery and maintenance of the target online course
- previous experience in design and conducting of needs assessments
- previous experience of working in international projects
- Service Provider’s Expert Team qualifications (based on the CVs)
- The Project Manager should have proven professional experience in the leadership and coordination of successful online course production/s; experience in project management and reporting.
- All the expert team members should have complementary knowledge, skills and experience in a teacher’s work and school pedagogy, adult training, (self-study) online course design and technical preparation, specific content of the target online course; excellent interpersonal, oral and written communication skills in Ukrainian and English (English skills mandatory for the Project Manager, an asset for others). At least a bachelor’s degree in relevant fields is preferred for the Project Manager and pedagogical key experts. Knowledge of the New Ukrainian School reform is an asset.
Online interview (if deemed necessary): The best ranked 2-3 tenderers will be invited to an online Zoom interview, which includes the brief presentation of the proposal by the team (15 minutes), questions and answers (15 minutes). A team of max. 3 persons, including the proposed Project Manager, will represent each proposal. The presentation and discussion will be carried out in English. The tenderers will be informed of the schedule in advance.
Schedule for submitting proposals
The procedure and schedule are as follows:
- Interested service provider candidates are requested to confirm in writing their participation in the tender to [email protected] until 8 January 2023.
- Written requests of further clarification concerning the tender should be sent to [email protected] until 8 January 2023.
- All the written answers to the clarification requests received in time will be distributed latest on 9 January 2023 latest by [email protected] to all the service provider candidates who have confirmed their participation in the tender in a timely manner.
- The final proposal (Technical Proposal, Price Proposal and other requested documents as separate files) will be submitted latest on 11 January 2023 to the email addresses: [email protected], [email protected]. The title of the proposal submission email: “Proposal – Online Course for Experts in Education content Evaluation”.
Please note that all communications should be in writing and in English.
Further instructions concerning the tender will be provided only through the email address: [email protected].
[1] Annex 1. Tentative list of topics of the online course for experts in education content evaluation based on the program of the SSI “Institute of Education Content Modernization”.
