Principal Investigators – PlayMatters 2.0 Tracer Study at International Rescue Committee (IRC) Tanzania

Principal Investigators – PlayMatters 2.0 Tracer Study
Kigoma, Tanzania, United Republic of | req37373
Requisition ID: req37373
Job Title: Principal Investigators – PlayMatters 2.0 Tracer Study
Sector: Education
Employment Category: Consultant
Employment Type: Full-Time
Open to Expatriates: Yes
Location: Kigoma, Tanzania
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Job Description
Background of the project
PlayMatters
(2020-2025) is an education initiative funded through a $100 million
grant from the LEGO Foundation. The program reimagines childhood for
800,000+ refugee and host-community children across Ethiopia, Tanzania,
and Uganda – children whose education and social development has been
affected by displacement and trauma. Building on children’s amazing
resilience and a growing evidence base supporting Learning through Play
(LtP) methodologies, PlayMatters cultivates holistic learning for
children ages 3-12+. PlayMatters is led by the International Rescue
Committee and includes Plan International, War Child Holland,
Innovations for Poverty Action, the Behavioral Insights Team in
partnership with the LEGO Foundation.

The Purpose of Research
In
Tanzania, Research for PlayMatters will have two main components: A
longitudinal study and implementation research. The longitudinal study
will examine the extent to which the pre-primary PlayMatters packages
support children’s primary school readiness and retention. Cohorts will
be traced throughout the life of the PlayMatters project, with least
three waves (comprised of baseline and endline) of data collected, per
school calendar year.

Implementation research will be done to
investigate the extent to which the PlayMatters project packages are
implemented with quality (including fidelity/adherence,
competencies/skills, etc) in the selected schools. Questions on what
motivates and enables educators to adopt Learning through Play
approaches in their classrooms with fidelity and quality will be
addressed. Each school year will include a baseline and endline data
collections (with midline data collection only if necessary) for both
the longitudinal and implementation studies’ school samples during the
2022-2023, 2023-2024, and 2024-2025 school years. Data collection will
include holistic development measures for children along with behavioral
change elements for educators, systems actors, and community members
using qualitative and quantitative tools.

Scope of Work:
The Local Principal Investigators will work with IRC country program team and the Regional PIs to carry out the research.

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Tasks include:
● Preparation and Planning
o Participate in research team meetings convened by the IRC country program and Regional PIs
o Review project documents
o Refine research questions and contribute to research designs
o Contribute to the identification and screening of case study schools screen potential case study
o In collaboration with others, support the development, review and contextualization of data collection instruments
o
Ensure, in collaboration with Regional PI, approval of local ethics
protocols and IRB (Institutional Review Board) review of study
o
Active participation in ongoing communication with the IRC team and
points of contact (study co-Principal Investigators, PlayMatters
Technical Lead, Education Coordinator, Senior Education Manager –
Research, Deputy Director of Programs HR and Operation teams) throughout
the course of the studies.

● Data Collection
o
Participate in the data collection preparation workshop including
cognitive pre-testing and piloting of data collection instruments
o
Lead ethnographic research in case study selected schools, using
diverse methods, with the support of an interpreter, research assistants
and/or enumerators, including detailed daily documentation of all
observations and activities and backup of electronic data.

● Data Analysis, Validation of Findings and Dissemination
o
Clean and carry out analysis of qualitative data from case study
school, according to an analysis framework, using computer-assisted
qualitative data analysis software (nVivo or Dedoose) provided by
PlayMatters
o Supervise and provide data quality assurance during
quantitative data collection and support quantitative data cleaning
including learning assessments and other surveys.
o Support the
Regional PI to design and facilitate a country-level writing and
interpretation workshop to validate findings with IRC and partner staff
and stakeholders.
o Lead country-level reporting and
interpretation of findings of quantitative and qualitative studies,
supported by regional PI and Country program teams.
o Review and provide feedback to the final cross-national research reports.
o
Contribute to research and policy briefs with country-level and
regional level findings for key local stakeholders (may be in English
and/or Kiswahili).
o Contribute to additional dissemination
efforts by writing blogs (one per year), articles for submission to peer
reviewed journals, and conducting other presentations of findings at
conferences and other relevant forums.

This consultancy starts in March 2023.
Deliverables:
PI & CO PI
● IRB application for all research studies
●
Clean case study dataset with all qualitative data (transcripts,
pictures, video, etc.) and coding dictionary and schemes
● Wave 1, Wave 2, and Wave 3 longitudinal research reports
●
Implementation research yearly reports (for the school years
2022-2023, 2023-2024, and 2024-2025) with summary of qualitative and
quantitative results

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Qualifications
Payment Rate and Schedule:
● Active participation in preparation of the IRB submission and IRB certificate – 10%
●
Implementation research and Longitudinal research reports for
Year 1, and submission of clean dataset and materials of qualitative
analyses – 20%
● Implementation research and Longitudinal
research reports for Year 2, and submission of clean dataset and
materials of qualitative analyses – 20%
● Implementation
research and Longitudinal research reports for Year 3, and submission of
clean dataset and materials of qualitative analyses – 20%
● Final research activities summary report covering all years, to be defined mid-project – 20%
● Dissemination products (short blog, presentations, etc.) used throughout the life of the project – 10%

Profile of consultant(s)
To
the greatest extent possible, the researchers must be registered under
accredited academic or research institution. Experience in educational
research is necessary. IRC will strongly consider researchers from
diverse backgrounds. The IRC particularly welcomes expressions of
interest from seasoned consultants, individuals or firms in academia,
social research, or humanitarian evaluation with a background in
humanitarian aid, conducting longitudinal studies, child education and
development, or other related fields.
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IRC
is considering two positions for this TOR, one with a qualitative
profile and one with a quantitative profile. Consultants can apply in
teams or individually, but teams are highly encouraged. If the
application is individual, the applicant needs to identify whether they
have qualitative or quantitative expertise. The profile of both
consultants should include:
● Master’s degree or higher in
early childhood education, development, humanitarian work, social work,
or international relations. PhD preferred.
● A minimum of 10
years of progressively responsible work experience in education research
in Tanzania. Experience in humanitarian settings is highly desirable.
● Experience working with Tanzania education ministries and institution
● Experience conducting education studies and writing reports that are gender and inclusion sensitive.
● Experience conducting research in emergency or conflict affected settings is preferred.
● Excellent analytical and writing skills in English.
● Track record of publications in national and international journals.
●
For the qualitative profile: In-depth knowledge of qualitative
research methods is required. Advance Knowledge of Nvivo and/or Atlas.Ti
and/or Dedoose is essential.
● For the quantitative profile:
Advanced knowledge in quantitative research methods is a plus.
Experience in multi-level modeling and advanced knowledge in Stata is
essential.

General conditions
● The consultant
must be from a registered and accredited academic or research
institution and must register the project to his/her academic/research
institute
● The institutional overhead will be paid by the consultants to their academic/research institution
● The consultant will carry out field-based data collection in Kigoma region.
● While at the field, the consultant will be required to abide by IRC policies, security protocols and guidelines.
●
The consultants will conduct his/her work using his/her own
laptop. Additionally, the IRC will provide researchers with a tablet
with audio recorder, camera and video camera and a flash drive.
● A team of two can apply for this consultancy
● Terms of payment will be upon deliverables.
● Final payment of consultant will be remitted upon satisfactory submission of agreed deliverables.
Recommended:

To apply:
● CV and cover letter, highlighting research consultancies in the field of education (10%)
● Peer-reviewed publications or final consultancy outputs (30%).
o
Each consultant should submit two publications and/or technical
reports they are proud of, reflecting their methodological expertise.
Ideally, publications would also be in the field of education.

● Shortlisted candidates will also be invited to participate in a written test and an interview.
o Written test (25%)
o Panel Interview (35%)