Consultant - Guidance Note for Improved Skills, USAID

Job Description

Since 2001, Dexis has provided innovative management solutions for a secure and prosperous world. In the last three years alone, Dexis has worked in 90 countries supporting critical missions of agencies in the global development and security assistance space. With triple digit growth in recent years, Dexis was ranked in the top 10 consulting firms by funding at the US Agency for International Development in FY16 and FY17. Dexis was also among the highest rated employers on Glassdoor, where many of its 250-plus employees cited a people-centered leadership and culture as the main drivers to its success.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)’s Office of Education is revisiting the definition and measurement of the standard indicator E.G. 6.2; ‘Number of persons with improved skills following of participation in USG-funded workforce development programs’, in order to standardize and strengthen the quality of reporting of results of USAID WFD programs related to improved skills. In this effort, USAID’s Office of Education is looking to develop a guidance note outlining the definition of the indicator and providing detailed guidance on how to collect and report data using the new definition.

USAID is seeking the services of a consultant to conduct a thorough desk review and develop a guidance note that explains the definition of the indicator and provides detailed guidance on how to collect and report data using the new definition. As part of the guidance note, the consultant is expected to identify the targeted employment-relevant skills that should be measured under this indicator and identify appropriate existing survey instruments to measure the targeted skills as will be outlined in the guidance note, and collaborate with a psychometrician (identified and hired by USAID) to develop or adapt survey instrument(s) to measure those skills, by building on the existing instruments. The intended audience is technical and program staff from operating units (OU) that manage education-related programming, regardless of funding source. Implementing partners under the stewardship of USAID OUs will be responsible for collecting and reporting on the data on the WFD programs per the guidance note. Thus, the guidance note should be relevant, accessible and applicable to USAID missions and IPs engaged in workforce development programs globally.

Tasks & Responsibilities:

In consultation with the E3/Education WFD and Evidence teams, the consultant is expected to conduct the following tasks:

1) Lead the development of the guidance note for Standard Indicator 6.2.

• Thoroughly review the literature on what are the key skills for employment or livelihoods AND existing measurement approaches and instruments for measuring these skills. Measurement instruments must be relevant and appropriate for use in developing country contexts with beneficiaries in age cohorts that coincide with USAID’s youth age bands (age 15-19, 20-24, and 25-29)
  • Potential skills to be measured may include “soft skills”, literacy or numeracy, ICT skills or “technical” (trade specific) skills. The consultant should prioritize the review of the previous analysis and tool development for “soft skills” funded by USAID under Workforce Connections and YouthPower Action.
• Hold select consultations with experts and practitioners, as appropriate.
• Draft and final guidance identifying which skills should be measured under indicator 6.1, how these should be measured and reported on.
• Collect feedback on draft and final guidance with key stakeholders within USAID and implementing partners.

2) Collaborate with a USAID-hired psychometrician to identify or develop new measurement tool(s)

• Propose criteria for determining appropriateness of measurement tools for use in USAID programs.
• Identify existing measurement tools that meet established criteria (above)
• Adapt items within existing measurement tools or if needed, develop new measurement tool items or tool(s) to measure the targeted employment-relevant skills per the forthcoming guidance note.

Support the planning of the cognitive testing of the new measurement tools: participate in the field work if needed, review feedback from the testing, incorporate the feedback in the guidance as relevant/needed.

Deliverables & Level of Effort:

Below are the expected deliverables for the Education Program Specialist:

• Work plan outlining tasks, associated deliverables, and timelines/due dates.
• Annotated bibliography for literature review.
• Summary literature review with preliminary recommendations on the type of skills to be included in the Indicator and recommended measurement tools that should be considered or adapted for use in measuring the Indicator. (max. 10 pages).
• Indicator Guidance Note (draft and final versions): The guidance note should be no more than 20 pages. At the minimum, it should describe in detail the new definition of the standard indicator and the rationale for the new definition; the data disaggregation; data sources; methods for data collection and indicator construction; and data limitations.
• Draft and final measurement instrument(s).

• Education: Masters/PhD degree in education measurement, statistics, labor economics, or related field and 7 years of experience, or Master’s degree and 8 years of experience
• Deep expertise in youth employment/workforce development in developing country context, specifically with employment/work readiness-related skills
• Experience with skills (soft, technical and cognitive) measurement surveys from the World Bank ( STEP), OECD, ILO, UNESCO, etc.
• Relevant statistical skills in constructing and computing performance indicators
• Knowledge of USAID WFD programs a plus.

Dexis is an equal opportunity employer offering employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, national origin, citizenship, physical or mental handicap, or status as a disabled or Vietnam Era veteran of the US Armed Forces.