Attachment_1_Draft_Statement_of_Objective.pdf

4/29/2019 Bangladesh SOO -- Everyone Reads Together -- Draft - Google Docs https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yjAOqM29LFSwkYzVEqPlVsItpMkN5qkFtC6mBa_xUoQ/edit 1/13

DRAFT STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVES

Title: Shobai Miley Pori (“ Everyone Reads Together”)

1. Purpose

The Shobai Miley Pori (“Everyone Reads Together”) Activity aims to improve early grade 1 reading outcomes in Bangla for children with disabilities in Government Primary Schools in Bangladesh. To accomplish this objective, the activity will strengthen government service delivery of disability-inclusive education and create inclusive school environments and instruction for children with disabilities to improve student learning outcomes. Through this activity, children with disabilities will gain the foundational literacy skills necessary to advance through the government school system and be more equipped to obtain better economic opportunities upon completing their education.

USAID/Bangladesh posits that:

● If research is conducted to understand the contextual realities of education for children with disabilities, and

● if the school environment and instruction are inclusive and responsive to the needs of children with disabilities, and

● if local communities have the knowledge, attitudes, and practices to support disability-inclusive education, and

● if the government has the capacity to plan, manage, and support quality disability-inclusive education,

● then reading outcomes for children with disabilities will improve.

Shobai Miley Pori addresses the following USAID Education Policy priorities: “children and youth, particularly the most marginalized and vulnerable, have increased access to quality education that is safe, relevant, and promotes social well-being,” and “children and youth gain the literacy, numeracy, and social-emotional skills that are foundational to future learning and success.” 2

2. Scope

The Shobai Miley Pori Activity will support the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education to implement the Special Education Needs and Disability component of the Fourth Primary Education Development Program (PEDP4), the five-year education sector program. It is anticipated that Shobai Miley Pori will provide both technical support at the central and district levels of government and implementation support in schools in selected upazilas (sub-districts).

1 Pronounced: show-bye me-lay poor-ee 2 Accessed at <www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1865/2018_Education_Policy_FINAL_WEB.pdf> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yjAOqM29LFSwkYzVEqPlVsItpMkN5qkFtC6mBa_xUoQ/edit 2/13

The target beneficiaries of the interventions are children with disabilities in grades one and two in select Government Primary Schools. The total number of beneficiaries will depend on the number of schools in which the Contractor conducts activities and the prevalence of children with disabilities. USAID prioritizes reaching children with identified and unidentified disabilities who are already enrolled in school, rather than conducting outreach to enroll new students with disabilities whose schools may not yet be ready to meet their needs. Increasing access to education without providing a disability-inclusive school environment risks stigmatizing children and driving higher rates of repetition, drop out, and lower learning outcomes.

Because this activity aims to support the five-year education sector program of the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, it is not within the scope of the activity to support specialized schools for children with disabilities that fall under the management of the Ministry of Social Welfare.

3. Period and Place of Performance

Shobai Miley Pori is a five-year activity that will be implemented at a central level and in Government Primary Schools in select local communities. The location of school-level implementation will be determined in negotiation with USAID and the Government of Bangladesh.

4. Background

Barriers to education access for children with disabilities

Over the past decade Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in expanding access to education by achieving near universal net primary enrollment, with over 98% of children of primary school age enrolling in school. Nonetheless, children with disabilities continue to be underrepresented and underreported in its education system. In 2017 only 75,021 children with documented disabilities attended government primary schools. The World Health Organization 3 estimates that in any population 15% of people have disabilities, which would equate to over 2.5 million primary-school-aged children with disabilities in Bangladesh. This gap between enrolled 4 students and the estimated population size reveals the large scope of underreported or out-of-school children with disabilities. In particular, girls with disabilities are underrepresented.

In contrast to the gender parity for children without disabilities, 56% of enrolled children with disabilities are boys. Additionally, children with “invisible” disabilities, such as learning 5 difficulties, go undiagnosed and are underreported.

Children with disabilities face multiple barriers to schooling. For children with mobility impairments, the physical school environment presents limitations. For example, only 15% of

3 Bangladesh Education Statistics. (2017). Accessed at < http://data.banbeis.gov.bd/images/ban02.pdf>.

4 World Health Organization. (2011). World Report on Disability. Accessed at

<https://www.who.int/disabilities/world_report/2011/report/en/> 5 Bangladesh Education Statistics. (2017). Accessed at < http://data.banbeis.gov.bd/images/ban02.pdf>.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yjAOqM29LFSwkYzVEqPlVsItpMkN5qkFtC6mBa_xUoQ/edit 3/13 schools have an access ramp, and only 1% of Government Primary Schools have accessible 6 toilet facilities for children with mobility disabilities. 7

The social environment also creates a threatening school space. In Bangladesh, a study of 20 pre-service teachers cited students bullying their peers who have disabilities. Families of 8 children without disabilities resist having children with disabilities in their children’s classes. As a result, parents and caregivers of children with disabilities perceive these social stigmas and antagonistic behaviors and fear for their children’s well-being.

Societal and parental expectations for children with disabilities are low. Parents of children with disabilities are reluctant to send their children to school because they do not have the expectation that their children will be included at school and receive an education like their peers without disabilities. In addition, these parents do not understand the benefits and opportunities of education for their children with disabilities. One small study of 15 Bangladeshi schools revealed that only 7% of parents of children with disabilities were confident their children would become economically empowered after graduation. This combination of social and economic factors 9 contributes to decreased enrollment and increased dropout among children with disabilities. 10

Barriers to learning for children with disabilities

Students with disabilities struggle to participate fully in schools. The under-identification of children with disabilities delays or prevents necessary accommodations and adaptive pedagogy to meet the child’s learning needs. Social stigmas and a lack of institutional support around screening make identification of children with disabilities difficult, and the scope of coverage, 11 extent, and quality of classification services is unclear. Some students enroll but do not report 12 their disability, while other students enroll without ever having been screened for a disability. In addition, the lack of accurate data hampers government resource allocation for disability-inclusive education.

Pedagogical barriers for children with disabilities abound. Teachers do not receive training to identify learners with disabilities and to adapt pedagogy to their needs. A review of Bangladesh’s

6 Nath, Samir, A Mushtaque R Chowdhury, and Kazi Saleh Ahmed. (2015). Moving from MDG to SDG: Accelerate Progress for Primary Education . Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE). Education Watch 2015. Accessed at < https://shar.es/1PmMhd>

7 Directorate of Primary Education. Bangladesh Primary Education: Annual Sector Performance Report – 2016 .

September 2016. Accessed at <http://dpe.portal.gov.bd/sites/default/files/files/dpe.portal.gov.bd/publications/7402e8d5_9a8b_43c1_9d4b_2c78 5c18c066/Final%20%20ASPR%202016,%2028%20September%202016.pdf>

8 Malak, M.S. (2013). “Inclusive Education Reform in Bangladesh: Pre-Service Teachers’ Responses to Include Students with Special Educational Needs in Regular Classrooms.” International Journal of Instruction.

9 Ahmed, N. and A. Kashem. (2015). “Education for Disabled Children in Bangladesh: Perceptions, Misconceptions and Challenges.” Space and Culture- India . Volume 3: 1.

10 UNICEF. (2014). Situation Analysis on Children with Disabilities in Bangladesh. Accessed at < https://www.unicef.org/bangladesh/en/reports/situation-analysis-children-disabilities-bangladesh-2014>

11 UNESCO. (2014) . Global Education Monitoring Report Summary. Accessed at <https://en.unesco.org/gem-report/sites/gem-report/files/GAW2014-Facts-Figures-gmr_0.pdf.pdf>

12 Turmusani, Majid. (2017). “PEDP4 Design Note: Disability Inclusive Education.” Accessed at <https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00TM65.pdf> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yjAOqM29LFSwkYzVEqPlVsItpMkN5qkFtC6mBa_xUoQ/edit 4/13 teacher training curriculum shows minimal attention to a disability-inclusive approach, and classroom teachers are not confident in their inclusive classroom techniques. Nonetheless, in 13

2018, 68,000 head teachers were trained on pedagogy that is inclusive of children with disabilities, but the impact of the training at the classroom level is unknown. To date, the primary education curriculum and its textbooks have not been adapted to serve learners with disabilities.

In addition, children with communication and language barriers (such children who are deaf or hard of hearing) are left out of the learning process because others do not know how or are unwilling to communicate with them.

As a result of these non-inclusive environments, children with disabilities struggle to learn and persist in school. A study of 40 children with disabilities in 15 schools showed a decline in the proportion of enrolled children with disabilities from first grade to fourth grade. Among the 40 14 children, 35% of them were in grade 1, whereas only 9% of the children were in grade 4. These data indicate that despite initially accessing education in first grade, children with disabilities face challenges to persist and be promoted in school.

Early grade reading outcomes

Even for students without disabilities, the quality of early grade reading instruction remains poor, and many students are failing to master foundational skills. A USAID-funded assessment in March 2018 found that 44% of students finish first grade unable to read their first word in the Bangla language, and 63% of second graders cannot read with comprehension. Although there 15 is no country-specific data about the learning outcomes of children with disabilities in Bangladesh, global data indicate that children with disabilities perform 15-16 percentage points below their peers on literacy exams. 16

Government of Bangladesh initiatives for children with disabilities

The Government of Bangladesh’s National Education Policy (2010) highlights the importance of disability-inclusive education through the mandate that: “equal opportunities have to be ensured for all kinds of disabled and underprivileged learners.” To implement this mandate, the 17

Ministry of Primary and Mass Education provides mainstream education services for children

13 Zulfiqar, B. M.K. Hossain, M. Shahinujjaman, M.N. Hossain. (2018) “Inclusive Education in Bangladesh:

Digging Deeper into Educational Prospects of Children with Disabilities in Bangladesh.” European Journal of Education .

14 Zulfiqar, Bushra, et. al. (2018). Inclusive Education in Bangladesh: Digging Deeper into Educational Prospects of Children with Disabilities in Bangladesh. European Journal of Education : Volume 1, Issue 1. Accessed at <http://journals.euser.org/files/articles/ejed_v1_i1_18/Bushra.pdf>.

15 Save the Children. (2018). Reading Enhancement for Advancing Development Government Primary Schools Endline Evaluation. Accessed at < https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00T9P2.pdf>

16 Male, C., Q. Wodon. (2017). The Price of Exclusion: Disability and Education, Disability Gaps in Educational Attainment and Literacy. Global Partnership for Education and the World Bank. Accessed at <http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/396291511988894028/pdf/121762-replacement-PUBLIC-WorldBan k-GapsInEdAttainmentLiteracy-Brief-v6.pdf>

17 Ministry of Education. (2010). National Education Policy. Accessed at <http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/02.National-Education-Policy-2010-English.pdf> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yjAOqM29LFSwkYzVEqPlVsItpMkN5qkFtC6mBa_xUoQ/edit 5/13 with disabilities, while the Ministry of Social Welfare provides educational services to children with severe impairments through special education institutions.

The Ministry of Primary and Mass Education prioritizes inclusive education through an $18 billion five-year sector program, called the Fourth Primary Education Development Program (PEDP4) (2018-2023). Inclusion is integral to the PEDP4’s topline program development objective to “provide quality education to all children of Bangladesh from pre-primary up to Grade 5 through an efficient, inclusive and equitable education system.”

The sector program specifically targets children with disabilities through Sub-Component 2.6 “Special Education Needs and Disability.” The goal of this sub-component is: “Children with special education needs and disabilities receive primary education at mainstream primary schools.” Key results under this sub-component include: 1) revised curriculum and teaching-learning materials; 2) teacher education and development on inclusive education, 3) flexible assessments for children with disabilities; and 4) creation of linkages to specialized services and the provision of assistive devices and learning materials. The end-of-program target for this sub-component is 107,000 children with disabilities enrolled in schools by 2022.

In addition, Special Education Needs and Disability is a cross-cutting issue in the PEDP4 that is included in other sub-components. Specifically, curriculum revisions (Sub-Component 1.1), textbook and supplementary reading material development (Sub-Component 1.2), teacher education (Sub-Component 1.4), and flexible examinations (Sub-Component 1.7) mention special education needs and disability.

While the political will for disability-inclusive education is strong, this is a nascent area for Bangladesh in which technical capacity at the school-level and government levels is limited. 18

The total Government of Bangladesh funding for the implementation of sub-component 2.6 is US $4.3 million.

Six development partners provide direct budget support to the government-led implementation of the PEDP4: the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the European Union, the Japanese International Cooperation Agency, and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). In addition, some of these partners provide technical assistance aligned with the sector plan.

USAID support to the PEDP4

USAID, the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, and the Economic Relations Division of the Ministry of Finance have reached an agreement for USAID to support the Government of Bangladesh’s implementation of PEDP4 Sub-Component 2.6 through the Shobai Miley Pori Activity. USAID’s support to the PEDP4 also contributes to the PEDP4’s Gender and Inclusive 19

18 Malak, M.S. (2013) “Inclusive Education Reform in Bangladesh: Pre-Service Teachers’ Responses to Include Students with Special Educational Needs in Regular Classrooms.” International Journal of Instruction. 2013.

19 The Implementation Arrangement is included in the annex.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yjAOqM29LFSwkYzVEqPlVsItpMkN5qkFtC6mBa_xUoQ/edit 6/13

Education Action Plan objective to: “reduce inequalities between boys and girls and all other disadvantaged groups of children through an inclusive and equitable education system.” 20

Previous USAID education activities

Previous USAID-funded activities implemented early grade reading throughout Bangladesh. The Reading Enhancement for Advancing Development (READ) activity implemented by Save the Children provided support to over 5,000 Government Primary Schools to improve early grade reading outcomes (2013-2018). The Innovations for Improving Early Grade Reading Activity 21 implemented by BRAC also provided support to 445 Government Primary Schools for early grade reading (2015-2018). Notably, these activities were not included under the previous 22 sector programs, and thus did not directly address system strengthening to sustain education reforms.

5. Performance Objectives

The goal of Shobai Miley Pori is to improve early grade reading outcomes in Bangla for children with disabilities in grades one and two in Government Primary Schools.

The results contributing to that goal are:

1. Research conducted on education for children with disabilities.

2. School environments made inclusive and instruction made effective for children with disabilities.

3. Communities gain the knowledge, attitudes, and practices to support disability-inclusive education.

4. Government systems strengthened to plan and manage quality disability-inclusive education.

Result 1: Research conducted on education for children with disabilities.

This result aims to build accurate and reliable data around inclusive education for children with disabilities in Bangladesh. At the start of activity implementation, the Contractor must conduct a comprehensive situational analysis of inclusive education for children with disabilities to inform the activity’s strategic approach and evidence-based advocacy. The analysis must include:

● An estimate of the prevalence of children with disabilities (both identified and unidentified) in schools and their academic profile, including academic performance, attendance, and needs;

● The level of support available for children with disabilities at schools, such as accessible

20 PEDP4 Program Document, page 111.

21 Save the Children. (2019). READ Final Report. Accessed at <https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00TJ2D.pdf.> 22 BRAC. (2019). Innovation for Improving Early Grade Reading: Final Report. Accessed at <https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00TMG3.pdf> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yjAOqM29LFSwkYzVEqPlVsItpMkN5qkFtC6mBa_xUoQ/edit 7/13 infrastructure, adapted pedagogy, disability-inclusion practices, and teachers trained in disability-inclusive education; and

● How disability data is collected at schools, including the data collection tools and the analysis, management, and use of that data; and

● Mapping of the referral systems and services available to children who are detected as having a disability.

Engagement of counterparts from the Government of Bangladesh, Disabled People’s Organizations, and school communities in the design and implementation of the analysis is necessary to build a shared understanding of the challenges to achieving disability-inclusive education.

Additionally, the Contractor must work with USAID and the Government of Bangladesh to develop and implement a learning agenda throughout the life of the activity to further build knowledge and the evidence base around disability-inclusive education.

Result 2: School environments made inclusive and early grade reading instruction made effective for children with disabilities.

In order to ensure the full and equal participation of children with disabilities in mainstream settings, schools must be able to detect and respond to the learning needs of children with disabilities who are enrolled in schools. The objective of this result area is to develop a model for a disability-inclusive school environment with high-quality, inclusive early grade reading instruction that is adaptable to the needs of children with disabilities and that can be scaled by the Government of Bangladesh.

USAID’s “How-To Note: Disability Inclusive Education” defines disability-inclusive schools 23 as having these characteristics:

a. Accessible buildings and instruction informed by the principles of universal design in order to benefit all learners; and

b. Equipped with teachers trained to identify and teach children with diverse learning styles, including those with disabilities, and where schools have supports and resources available to the teachers and students for specific learning needs.

USAID places priority on inclusive approaches that reflect industry best-practices, as seen in 24 the Agency’s Toolkit on Universal Design for Learning to Help All Children Read: Promoting Literacy for Learners with Disabilities . The same toolkit also highlights the Agency’s approach 25

23 USAID. (2018) How-To Note Disability Inclusive Education. Accessed at <https://www.edu-links.org/sites/default/files/media/file/How-ToNote_DisabilityInclusiveEducation.pdf>

24 More information on USAID’s approach to reading instruction can be found at USAID’s Education Links website:

Reading Programs that Work . Accessed at <https://www.edu-links.org/learning/reading-programs-work>

25 Hayes, A., A. Turnbull, and N. Moran. (2018) Universal Design for Learning to Help All Children Read:

Promoting Literacy for Learners with Disabilities (First Edition). Washington, D.C.: USAID . Accessed at <https://www.globalreadingnetwork.net/sites/default/files/resource_files/Literacy%20for%20All%20Toolkit_1.pd f> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yjAOqM29LFSwkYzVEqPlVsItpMkN5qkFtC6mBa_xUoQ/edit 8/13 to screening. USAID supports screening assessments that are strengths-based, designed for educational use (as opposed to medical use), age appropriate, and use a “do no harm” approach.

While it is not within the scope of this activity to provide assistive devices, USAID will consider proposals that include collaboration with the private sector, non-governmental organizations, the health sector, and other partners to meet this need through local systems.

Result 3: Communities gain the knowledge, attitudes, and practices to support inclusive education of children with disabilities.

Under this result, the activity will engage local communities, parents, and caregivers to remove barriers to education and promote learning for children with disabilities by imparting the knowledge, attitudes, and practices to support inclusive education of children with disabilities.

This result aims to connect parents/caregivers of children with disabilities and other disability stakeholders with broader parent-teacher groups at schools in order to foster a shared understanding of disability-related issues and actions. In addition, activities under this result will include advocacy and dialogue at the national and local levels in support of disability-inclusive education.

Result 4: Government systems strengthened to plan and manage quality disability-inclusive education.

The sustainability of Shobai Miley Pori depends on the understanding, ownership, and capacity of government counterparts to scale the activity’s inclusive education interventions throughout the national system. Under this result, the Activity will provide technical support and capacity building to government counterparts at the central and district levels to ensure they can plan, manage, and oversee a disability-inclusive education approach. In the upazilas where Shobai Miley Pori provides reading interventions, the partner must also build the planning, management, and monitoring capacity of upazila-level officials.

Shobai Miley Pori’s specific areas of technical support will be determined in consultation with USAID, the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, the Directorate of Primary Education, and other government organizations after award. Support under this result must be flexible enough to respond to the evolving needs of the Government of Bangladesh and the evolving contextual understanding. In line with Sub-Component 2.6 of the PEDP4 and as agreed to between USAID and the Government of Bangladesh, illustrative areas of technical support include: curriculum and teaching-learning materials; teacher education; monitoring, reporting, research, and evaluation; and government system capacity building. The system strengthening at the central level should support the Government of Bangladesh’s ability to implement and sustain the disability-inclusive education model developed under Result 2 (“School environments made inclusive and early grade reading instruction made effective for children with disabilities”).

Key counterparts at the national level include: the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, the Directorate of Primary Education and its Inclusive Education Cell, the National Academy for Primary Education, and the National Curriculum and Textbook Board. At the district and upazila levels, key government counterparts may include: Primary Teacher Institutes and Upazila https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yjAOqM29LFSwkYzVEqPlVsItpMkN5qkFtC6mBa_xUoQ/edit 9/13

Resource Centers.

6. Operating Constraints

Applicable Policies

The Contractor must operate in line with the following U.S. government policies, frameworks and strategies, as applicable:

● U.S. Government Strategy on International Basic Education 26

● USAID Education Policy 27

● USAID Education Policy: Program Cycle Implementation and Operational Guidance 28

● USAID Disability Policy Paper 29

● Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Policy 30

Do No Harm

Shobai Miley Pori must take a “do no harm” approach to ensure that activity interventions do not further stigmatize or marginalize children with disabilities. For example, screening of children with disabilities must be focused on supporting learning outcomes rather than disabilities so that children are not labeled with impairments and further stigmatized.

Government of Bangladesh

Shobai Miley Pori is the mechanism for USAID’s support to the five-year sector program wholly owned and implemented by the Government of Bangladesh. As such, it is imperative that the Contractor work closely with and through the structures of the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, the Directorate of Primary Education, the National Academy for Primary Education, and the National Curriculum and Textbook Board to support the government’s implementation of PEDP4 Sub-Component 2.6 (“Special Education Needs and Disability”). A close and trusting working relationship with the Government of Bangladesh is essential to achieve results under Shobai Miley Pori. Because USAID is a new partner in the PEDP4 sector plan, the Contractor must be flexible in establishing this new partnership and new model of technical support with government counterparts.

26 Accessed at <www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1865/USG-Education-Strategy_FY2019-2023_Final_Web.pdf>

27 Accessed at <www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1865/2018_Education_Policy_FINAL_WEB.pdf> 28 Accessed at

<www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1865/USAID_Education_Policy_Program_Cycle_Implementation_ and_Operational_Guidance_FINAL.pdf>

29 Accessed at <http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PDABQ631.pdf> 30 Accessed at <www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1865/GenderEqualityPolicy_0.pdf> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yjAOqM29LFSwkYzVEqPlVsItpMkN5qkFtC6mBa_xUoQ/edit 10/13

Disabled People’s Organizations

Disabled People’s Organizations (DPO) are organizations where people with disabilities provide leadership and constitute the majority of the staff, board, and volunteers. DPOs can include parent organizations representing children or individuals with disabilities where the primary aim of the organization is the empowerment and growth of self-advocacy of people with disabilities.

DPOs are organizations of, by, and for people with disabilities.

Partnering with DPOs ensures both a participatory approach and that lived disability experiences are included in USAID activities. This activity must leverage knowledge and expertise within DPOs and ensure that people with disabilities are involved throughout activity planning, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation. Furthermore, exposing key counterparts to DPOs builds understanding about disability.

Coordination

Implementation of Shobai Miley Pori must ensure coordination of interventions between the Contractor, the Government of Bangladesh, PEDP4 donors, Disabled Persons’ Organizations, international and local non-governmental organizations working in disability education, and activity beneficiaries. When called upon by USAID, the Contractor must participate in PEDP4 Development Partner Consortium meetings, other PEDP4 implementation reviews, and relevant education sector meetings.

Complementary donor initiatives include:

● United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF): UNICEF has committed US $651,800 to provide technical assistance to implement Sub-Component 2.6, Special Education Needs and Disabilities. The technical support plans are still being finalized.

● Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA): JICA supports the PEDP4 through a US $4 million project to provide technical assistance at the central level in the area of math and science, with a focus on curriculum and textbook development, initial teacher training, and continuous professional development.

● Department for International Development (DFID): DFID intends to procure a large program working in non-formal education for marginalized groups, including children with disabilities, girls education, and children from rural areas. Innovations, research and advocacy in the area of disability-inclusive education should be coordinated with DFID’s planned program.

● USAID Esho Shikhi (“Come and Learn”) Activity (2020-2025): Through this activity, USAID aims to improve the learning outcomes of marginalized Bangladeshi children in the crisis-affected district of Cox’s Bazar. The activity will provide support at the local level and in targeted regions, including Cox’s Bazar. If Shobai Miley Pori works in Cox’s Bazar, it must coordinate with this complementary USAID intervention.

The Activity will also coordinate, link with, and leverage ongoing national, subnational, district, https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yjAOqM29LFSwkYzVEqPlVsItpMkN5qkFtC6mBa_xUoQ/edit 11/13 and civil society efforts and resources to promote disability-inclusive education. In addition, parents, caregivers, and children with disabilities should be provided meaningful opportunities to contribute to the approach of Shobai Miley Pori to ensure that the activity addresses their needs and concerns.

Capital Improvements

To achieve the outcomes of Shobai Miley Pori, the Contractor may be required to undertake needs-based improvements, renovation, and/or refurbishment to support school accessibility for children with disabilities. Improvements, renovation or refurbishment may include: installing ramps for accessibility, enhancing lighting, small building repairs, and gender-segregated and disability-friendly water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) facilities. It is not within the scope of this Activity to undertake large-scale infrastructure construction. Per USAID policy, the Contractor will comply with the host country or regional standards for accessibility in construction when such standards result in at least substantially equivalent accessibility and usability as the standard provided in the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Architectural Barriers Act Accessibility Guidelines of July 2004.

Cost-effectiveness

To ensure evidence-based programming and effective public resource investment management, USAID needs better data on the effects of, and costs associated with, education interventions.

Shobai Miley Pori must collect cost data to help USAID accomplish the following: (1) estimate levels of investment needed to produce desired outputs; (2) understand differences in the costs of producing the same outputs across different models (as applicable); (3) measure inputs into cost categories; and (4) when sufficient evaluation data are available, calculate cost per attributable outcomes and cost-effectiveness of comparable models. In addition, cost tracking must align with the Cost Reporting Guidance for USAID-Funded Education Activities. 31

Creative Commons

In accordance with the 2013 White House directives on making education materials open source, the materials developed by Shobai Miley Pori must be licensed with the Creative Commons Attribution (Creative Commons-By) license. Creative Commons is a non-profit that provides copyright licenses that allow material developers to retain copyright and credit for the original work, while allowing others to copy, distribute, and build upon the work. This licensing arrangement is essential for the Government of Bangladesh to scale and sustain the interventions.

Gender

USAID’s Education Policy prioritizes reaching marginalized and vulnerable children, especially girls. Shobai Miley Pori must ensure that its interventions meet the needs of both boys and girls with disabilities. USAID-funded books and materials must promote positive images of both boys

31 USAID. (2018). “Cost Reporting Guidance for USAID-Funded Education Activities.” Accessed at < www.edu-links.org/sites/default/files/media/file/USAID%20Cost%20Reporting%20Guidance%202018%20FINA L%20%281%29.pdf> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yjAOqM29LFSwkYzVEqPlVsItpMkN5qkFtC6mBa_xUoQ/edit 12/13 and girls, with and without disabilities, in ways that do not perpetuate gender stereotypes. In addition, the Activity must be designed so that female teachers, tutors, lecturers, researchers, and officials have equitable opportunities for professional development and advancement.

Grants under Contract

The operating unit intends to secure permission to issue Grants under Contract under this award.

The Contractor may use grants under contract to support local communities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and Disabled People’s Organizations in implementing activity components. The objectives of the grants under contract are to (a) build the capacity of local organizations; and (b) lower the barriers to entry for a broad range of non-traditional partners, thereby leveraging innovative solutions.

Inclusive Approach to Development

Equity and inclusion are key guiding principles of the USAID Education Policy and Shobai Miley Pori. In this vein, Shobai Miley Pori must ensure an inclusive, equitable approach throughout all aspects of activity development and implementation. All newly developed content, materials, and media should be designed to be disability-inclusive, gender-sensitive, engaging, and relevant to the Bangladeshi context. To the extent possible, all public events and trainings should provide reasonable accommodations to people with disabilities. The Contractor should consider assembling a diverse team and provide reasonable accommodations for staff as needed.

Information and Communications Technology (ICT)

ICT can improve access to educational materials for children with disabilities. Any proposed integration of ICT into Shobai Miley Pori must take into account a range of factors in the Bangladeshi context that may affect implementation, uptake, and sustainability. These contextual factors include cost (including recurring fees, maintenance of equipment or online platforms, repair, and replacement), infrastructure (including electricity and infrastructure), teachers’ skill and confidence using ICT, accessibility for children with disabilities, and organizational capacity.

Quality Assurance

The Contractor will be required to submit a Quality Assurance Plan tied to the performance requirements, and a Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan for USAID’s use that describes how the Contractor’s performance will be measured.

Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Plan

Monitoring and evaluation are essential to improve performance and effectiveness, as well as to provide feedback loops to inform adaptive planning and management decisions to refine activity approaches.

The Contractor will design and implement a Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Plan that permits the efficient and timely measurement of progress toward activity results, aids in the https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yjAOqM29LFSwkYzVEqPlVsItpMkN5qkFtC6mBa_xUoQ/edit 13/13 management of Shobai Miley Pori activities, and provides other data as agreed between USAID/Bangladesh and the Contractor. The Contractor will regularly monitor: fidelity of implementation, key intermediate and final outcomes, context, dosage of implementation, and costs. Monitoring and evaluation should be conducted through or with the participation of local education officials in order to build capacity, and student assessments must be approved by the Directorate of Primary Education and engage government counterparts to the extent possible.

The Contractor must conduct an early grade reading assessment of a cross-section of students at baseline, midline, and endline for each cohort of beneficiary schools and for a comparison group of non-intervention schools. Since inclusive pedagogy can be beneficial to both children with 32 and without disabilities, the cross-sectional assessment activity should collect early grade reading results from children with and without disabilities. The assessment protocol must include the Washington Group Short Questions on Disability adapted to the Bangladeshi context to determine whether assessment participants are students with disabilities. 33

In addition, the Contractor must conduct a longitudinal assessment to track the learning outcomes of selected children with disabilities to understand the learning gains and grade promotion trajectories of students with disabilities.

The Contractor must collect data on all applicable Foreign Assistance Standard Indicators and the custom indicator “percentage of children with disabilities demonstrating increased reading fluency in targeted schools.” All participant indicators must be disaggregated by sex.

Student-level indicators must also be disaggregated by grade, age, disability status. 34

Collaborating, Learning, and Adaptation

Because this activity will be Bangladesh’s first disability-inclusive education approach at scale, USAID expects the Contractor to periodically review activity assumptions and adapt approaches and the theory of change as new evidence emerges. Collaborating, Learning, and Adaptation (CLA) principles can support this responsiveness to changing evidence and opportunities. Shobai Miley Pori should plan time to reflect, identify, and adapt to windows of opportunity, challenges, or emergent evidence.

32 The assessments should conform to the Early Grade Reading Assessment Toolkit, available online at < www.globalreadingnetwork.net/resources/early-grade-reading-assessment-egra-toolkit-second-edition>

33 For more information on assessment for children with disabilities, see USAID’s “How-To Note: Collecting Data on Disability in Education Programming” (2018) available at:

https://www.edu-links.org/sites/default/files/media/file/How-To_Note_on_Collecting_Data_on_Disability_FINA Lv3.pdf

34 Measurement of disability status must follow USAID’s “How-To Note Collecting Data on Disability in Education Programming,” available at <www.edu-links.org/sites/default/files/media/file/How-To_Note_on_Collecting_Data_on_Disability_FINALv3.p df>