Job Description

Position Summary:

The Afghan Children Read (ACR) project, in collaboration with the Teacher Education Department of the Ministry of Education of the Islamic Republic Afghanistan, is designing pre-service reading courses for training teachers serving in early grades (grades 1-3). These courses constitute 18 credit hours and include five major titles:

• Literacy 1: Foundation of Language Development in Early Grade Education (4 credits)
• Literacy 2: Methods of Teaching Literacy in Early Grades (4 credits)
• Literacy 3: Methods of Addressing Early Grade Literacy Problems (4 credits)
• Literacy 4: Methods of Strengthening Literacy for Students with Special Needs (4 credits)
• Literacy 5: Social Emotional Learning Skills for Early Grade Students (2 credits)

The course development process is planned in two phases where Literacy Courses 1, 2 and 5 are developed in Phase 1, and Literacy Courses 3 and 4 are developed in Phase 2. Currently, the drafts of Literacy 1, 2 and 5 are nearing completion, whereas preparations are underway to start the drafting of Courses 3 and 4. The Afghan Children Read project is seeking a consultant as part of its preparation to start the development of Literacy Course 4 entitled Methods of Strengthening Literacy for Students with Special Needs (4 credits).

Estimated period of performance: September 1, 2018 – January 31, 2019.

Reporting & Supervision:

The consultant will report to the ACR Teacher Training Manager, for overall matters. However, the consultant will work in close collaboration with the Course Development Team, International Consultants, and ACR Teacher Training and Curriculum Development Teams. For issues requiring the inputs of the Head Office, the consultant will work with ACR’s Project Director at Creative HQ.

Expected Outcomes:

The consultant is expected to fulfill the following results at the end of the assignment:

1. The draft course material will be developed into 32 lectures and 32 portfolios at the completion of the development process. These materials are field-tested, reviewed, edited and checked for quality and consistency before submission. Course materials are organized into student books and teacher guides based on given formats.
2. Training materials for training TTC lecturers.

Primary Responsibilities:

The consultant will provide leadership and expert knowledge to the course development team before, during and after the course development process. The following are the main responsibilities of the consultant:

• Identify and select core literature on the topic that course developers will use during the development of the module;
• Develop a draft syllabus for Literacy Course 4 entitled Methods of Strengthening Literacy for Students with Special Needs for the course developers to review, including topics of sessions, learning objectives of students, activities and assessment/portfolio assignment;
• Develop skeleton lessons including suggested objectives, activities, the content of the annexes (readings for the students) and portfolio assignment for both teacher guide and student books using the provided template;
• Schedule the course development process together with the course development team;
• Review draft lessons, provide technical inputs and comments to lesson developers on individual basis;
• Support in field-testing of draft materials as well as refining those materials; and
• Prepare training materials to train Teacher Training College (TTC) lecturers.

About the Organization

Creative Associates International is a dynamic, fast-growing global development firm that specializes in education, economic growth, democratic development and post-crisis stabilization. Based in Washington, D.C., Creative has a field presence in more than 25 countries with a strong client portfolio that includes the U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department, among others. Since its founding in 1977, Creative has earned a solid reputation among its clients and is well-regarded by competitors and partners alike.