Quest Alliance is a not-for-profit trust that equips young people with 21st century skills by enabling self-learning. Across the school-to-work continuum, we design scalable solutions that enable educators to bridge critical gaps for quality education and skills training. We engage with educators, civil society, government institutions and corporate organizations to demonstrate and enable scalable and replicable solutions in school education and vocational training. At Quest Alliance we transform learning ecosystems through education technology, capacity building, and collaboration to build 21st-century skills for learners and facilitators 

Quest Alliance is inviting proposals from independent consultants / agencies to conduct a qualitative midline study for its in service teacher development program. Last day for the submission of the proposal is 20th July, 2024. Details of the program are provided below. 

About the Program 

MasterCoach for Teachers is an in-service teacher training program to equip them with 21st Century facilitation skills, social capital & a roadmap for their professional growth. In 2022-23, the MasterCoach for Teachers reached out to nearly 5000 secondary schools teachers across 8 states to mainstream 21st century skills based education and to transform the schools. 

The program is designed as a blended learning program where teachers participate in in-person workshops followed by self paced learning on Quest App. Teachers complete theoretical and practical assignments. During this time, they are supported by program team members who coach the teachers through this learning journey. The diagram below shows the learning journey a teacher undertakes. 

‘Key skills’ around which qualitative round evaluation will be carried out 

The necessity to prepare young people for full participation in a rapidly changing society has been noted by educational policy makers at an international level (Shear, Novais, Means, Gallagher, & Langworthy, 2009), leading to increased emphasis being placed on the development of higher order thinking, and ‘key skills', also known as ‘21st Century skills and competencies' (Ananiadou & Claro, 2009). There is a significant body of research that points to the need for ‘21st Century' methods of teaching and learning (Dede, 2010b; Voogt & Pelgrum, 2005; Voogt & Roblin, 2012), but mainstream institutions have been slow to change their approach (Fullan & Langworthy, 2014). Despite moves to change the curricular focus, the traditional model of schooling, with an exam-driven emphasis on content knowledge is still prevalent, and does not provide adequate preparation for the modern, knowledge-based society (Claxton, 2013; Fullan & Langworthy, 2014). 

A number of reasons have been cited for the lack of uptake of these new pedagogies, including a lack of resources, inadequate professional development, and systemic difficulties relating to curriculum and assessment (Bray, Bauer, & Oldham, 2018; Euler & Maaß, 2011). Teachers are at the frontline of any educational reform and in order to increase the likelihood that it is enacted as intended, it is important to ensure that practitioners agree with the reasoning behind the reform as well as its implications for their students (Kärkkäinen, 2012). 

While there is no single, globally agreed upon definition of key skills there are a number of frameworks that aim to outline the most relevant of the competencies. Such frameworks include the UNESCO four pillars of learning (Delors, 1996), the OECD DeSeCo (OECD, 2005), and the EU Key Competences for Lifelong Learning (European Commission, 2006), as well as those provided by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (Ananiadou & Claro, 2009), the Partnership for 21st Century Learning (2015), and Ravitz, Hixson, English, and Mergendoller (2012)). 

The meta-analyses of international frameworks for key skills provided by Dede (2010a); Voogt and Pelgrum (2005), and Voogt and Roblin (2012) highlight a common recognition of the importance of certain competences. These incorporate traditional academic skills as well as communication and collaboration, problem-solving, creativity, technological fluency, and self-direction (Fullan & Langworthy, 2014; Shear et al., 2009). Such skills are seen as being transversal (not subject-specific) and multi-dimensional (impacting on attitudes and knowledge), and are generally classified as higher-order thinking and learning skills (Voogt & Roblin, 2012). 

For the purposes of this evaluation we focus on broader skills given in Ravitz (2014). The same has been contextualized for India. Eight distinct key skills have been identified. 
The eight skills, together with descriptions of their scope, are: 

1. Critical Thinking (CT) – analysis of complex problems, investigation of questions for which there are no definitive answers, evaluation of information sources and use of appropriate evidence to draw conclusions; 
2. Collaboration (CO) – ability to work together on projects or to solve problems, to work effectively and respectfully in teams to accomplish a common goal, while assuming shared responsibility for the completion of tasks;
3. Communication (CM) – ability to organize thoughts, data and findings and to share these effectively through a variety of media, including written reports, oral and digital presentations, film, etc.; 
4. Creativity & Innovation (CR) – generation of solutions to complex problems or tasks based on analysis and synthesis of information, and the combination or presentation of the results in new and original ways; 
5. Gender (GD) - ability to internalize gender norms and roles as they interact with others 6. Career (CR) - purposive behavior and cognitions that afford access to information about occupations, jobs, organizations that was not previously in the stimulus field 7. Using Technology for Learning (T) – creation of products and management of learning using appropriate digital technologies. 
6. Self-direction (S) – taking responsibility for one's own learning through the identification of topics to pursue and processes for learning, and for reviewing one's own work and responding to feedback; 

About the survey rounds 

Quest has already carried out a quantitative baseline round in August/September 2023 in four states of Gujarat, Odisha, Karnataka, and Telangana. Now, Quest wants to carry out a qualitative round to deepen its understanding about how program activities are translating into key intermediate and final outcomes that will help to appreciate baseline findings. The key findings of the baseline study are as follows: 

(i) The average 21st century skills score for the state of Gujarat is 19.9 percent, for Telangana is 20.9 percent, for Karnataka is 27.9 percent and for Odisha is 41.4 percent (ii) The 21st century skills score are found to be associated with 21st century pedagogy at the classroom level 

Interviews 
The following stakeholders shall be interviewed as part of the evaluation: 

1. Head Master 
2. Teacher 
3. Students 
4. Block and district level functionaries (primarily in Odisha)

States selected for evaluation: 10 schools each in Gujarat, Odisha and Karnataka Research Questions 

1. How some of the key aspects of the program influenced teachers and learners in terms of their mindset, skills and practices? 
2. What factors may be contributing to teacher motivation, learning environment, learner outcomes? 
3. Have teachers' own biases around gender and social groups changed? 4. What did the ideathon/hackathon process shift for teachers and students?
4. Why have some schools/teachers/students shown better uptake of our program than others? Is it because of the better on-site support in some schools? 
5. Has our program facilitated career exploration among students, if yes, how? 7. What can be done to make the program more effective? 

Expectations from the consultant 

1. To design qualitative survey tools based on research questions 
2. Chalk down the survey strategy on how exactly to conduct a survey on the ground. The consultant is expected to coordinate with the program team, working on the ground, to figure out an efficient way of completing the survey in a span of 3-4 weeks. Consultant is expected to suggest a number of teachers and students to be interviewed per school. 
3. Qualitative data transcriptions 
4. Submit the final report consisting of the key ingredients of how processes on the ground translate into intermediate and final outcomes. The key recommendations shall also help the program team to reflect and review their program activities. 

Format for proposal 

Proposals are invited from agencies/ consultants with experience in carrying out multi site qualitative surveys (10 schools each in Gujarat, Odisha and Karnataka). Proposals should contains both technical and financial aspects: 

1. Brief profile of the agency/ consultant including prior experience of conducting similar surveys in the past. If available, include links to study outputs 
2. Details of the team including experience of the Lead and Co- PI. 
3. Proposed framework how team plans to complete the survey in a span of 3-4 weeks in both the states 
4. Financial proposal (inclusive of GST) including details of per diem rates 

Timelines 

All proposals to be submitted by July 20, 2024. The selected agency will be intimated by July 22, 2024 and their contract would be finalized soon after. The project begins on July 25, 2024 and ends by 15th October 2024. 

Submission of Proposals 

Qualified and interested agencies and individuals are requested to submit proposals (with both technical and financial components) to info@questalliance.net  by July 20, 2024.