TORs for Urdu Consultant (Annex A)

Background:

Developments in Literacy (DIL), a non-profit founded in 1997, educates and empowers underprivileged students, especially girls, by operating student-centered model schools; and provides high-quality professional development to teachers and principals across Pakistan. DIL currently operates and manages 138 school campuses with over 1,464 teachers and principals and an enrollment of nearly 29,323 students.

DIL believes that no child in Pakistan, no matter how poor or underprivileged, should be denied access to quality education. All children should have equal opportunity to reach their full potential and contribute toward the socio-economic betterment of their communities.

Scope of Work:

         I.            A subject consultant is needed to review Scheme of Work Manuals & Assessments (Students & Teachers) for the specified grade levels.

Key Functions/Expected Outputs:

In this role, the Consultant will work on the following deliverables:

Review and feedback on the Subject SOW Manuals

The consultant will provide expert review and feedback on the Subject SOW Manuals for the respective grades, ensuring the document aligns with the standards and DIL expectations.

Responsibilities include

• Ensuring the SLOs accurately reflect the expectations outlined in the Pakistan National Standards for each grade and are relevant to specific regional requirements.
• Reviewing the SOW Manual for the assigned subject and grade level to verify that the content and structure align with the mapped SLOs and the Pakistan National Standards.

• Evaluating the integration of inductive learning skills in the lesson design and ensuring alignment with the standards and learning outcomes for each grade.
• Reviewing lesson plan templates to ensure they follow DIL standards for clarity, instructional design, and consistency across all grades and subjects.
• Providing constructive feedback and recommendations for improvement, ensuring that the lesson plans and activities align with the agreed-upon targets, timelines, and standards. Offering guidance on necessary adjustments based on feedback to improve the quality of the final document.

Designing Teacher Assessments

The consultant will design subject teacher assessment for the assigned (Primary/Secondary) grades.

Responsibilities include:

• Deliver a complete package including:
• Teacher Assessments
• Corresponding answer keys
• A complete Table of Specification (ToS) for each paper
  • Map common SLOs across different boards to ensure alignment with national and regional curriculum requirements.
  • Create a Table of Specification (ToS) according to each board’s guidelines, clearly indicating item types, weightage, and time allocations for each section.
  • Ensure the consistent use of approved curriculum/paper patterns and item formats for each assigned board and subject.
  • Confirm the subject-specific SLOs for the respective grade levels with the supervisor prior to assessment development.
  • Adhere to board-specified difficulty levels while developing assessments to ensure validity and consistency with evaluation standards.
  • Incorporate feedback from reviewers; multiple rounds of revisions may be required to finalize the assessments.
  • Be available online or in person on the assessment days for your respective subject(s), as per DIL's requirements.
  • Occasional travel may be required in line with DIL protocols.

Designing Student Assessments

The consultant will design subject papers for the assigned (Primary/Secondary) grades.

Overall, the deliverables for this consultancy are subject papers with their respective answer keys using a common repository. Consultant will have access to previous years’ papers to use as reference.

Responsibilities include:

• Deliver a complete package including:
• Mid-term exam paper
• Annual/final exam paper
• Corresponding answer keys
• A complete Table of Specification (ToS) for each paper
  • Develop the paper (board variant) using a common repository (already established) of item banks.
  • Create a separate repository categorized by board, subject, and grade specific unique items.
  • Create ToS documents in accordance with each board’s specifications, clearly outlining item types, weightage, difficulty levels, and time allocations per section.
  • Ensure strict alignment with the latest paper patterns and Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) provided in the Scheme of Work (SOW).
  • Conduct mapping of SLOs across various curricula, if required, to cater to differences in pacing or content across boards. This may involve developing multiple versions of papers for the same board.
  • Adhere to the specified level of difficulty for each board while developing assessments, maintaining consistency with the intended evaluation standards.
  • Incorporate feedback from DIL reviewers; this may involve two or more iterations to finalize the standardized papers.
  • Be available to discuss the layout and structure of ToS and ensure clarity, coherence, and compliance with board requirements.
  • Occasionally travel as per DIL protocols, if needed for coordination or review meetings.

Selection Criteria - Qualifications & Experience:

• 3 or more years teaching experience at preferably teaching middle or high grades of specified subject
• Strong command of age/grade appropriate pedagogy as it relates to subject content
• Experience writing formative and summative assessments
• Strong computer skills including Microsoft Office, Google Apps, Skype and web-based project management sites
• Strong research skills 
• Outstanding writing and editing skills including the ability to convey information in simple English
• Excellent translation skills, translating English content into simple Urdu using English subject specific terminology
• Strong interpersonal skills (written in emails and verbally during Skype conference calls)
• Able to work independently and meet tight deadlines

Key Deliverables:

Consultants will be expected to deliver drafts and final documents based on agreed upon schedule.

Feedback will be given and consultants are required to deliver the document

Duration: _________month minimum, starting as soon as possible

Location: Islamabad-preferred; Remote location possible (consultant must have internet access at home and availability to meet during morning and evening hours)