Summary
Date Posted: Tuesday, September 20, 2022 , Base Salary: Not Disclosed

JOB DETAILS:
Data Quality Assurance Officer
Company Description
EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT CENTER (EDC) is one of the world’s leading nonprofit research and development firms. Established in 1958, EDC designs, delivers and evaluates innovative programs to address some of the world’s most urgent challenges in education, health, and economic opportunity. Our services include research, training, educational materials, and strategy, with activities ranging from seed projects to large-scale national and international initiatives.
The goal of the five-year, USAID-funded Integrated Child and Youth Development (ICYD) Activity is for Ugandan children and youth, especially the most vulnerable, to receive the support and services necessary to lead resilient, healthy, and productive lives. The ICYD Activity is expected to achieve the following:
1. Children and youth have improved learning outcomes;
2. Children and youth are safe and healthy in their community and learning environments; and
3. Youth practice positive behaviors and are able to make informed decisions about their lives and relationships.
Working in partnership with Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) and Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Development (MGLSD), district and zonal officials, and other Ugandan government and civil society partners, ICYD will comprise a series of activities to: support improved basic education for Ugandan children; address school-related and gender-based violence; facilitate enhanced child protection and support for vulnerable youth; provide support to HIV-affected orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) and their caregivers/families; and support HIV care and treatment outcomes in close collaboration with clinical and community structures. ICYD will also contribute to improved systems within the MoES and MGLSD to promote Early Grade Reading (EGR) and child protection.
Safe learning environments (SLE) are fundamental to a do no harm approach in education programming. SLE contribute to the ultimate goal of the USAID Education Policy, which is that all children and youth have access to safe, quality, relevant education that helps them gain literacy, numeracy, and social emotional skills. ICYD will conduct annual Safe Learning Environments Assessments in a sample of 250 project-supported schools located in 35 districts in order to ascertain whether there are improvements in school safety as a result of Journeys Plus activities implemented by ICYD. The data from SLE Assessments will be used to report on status of ICYD indicator ES. 1-51: Number of learning environments supported by USG assistance that have improved safety conditions according to locally defined criteria. ICYD will also use the results of the SLE assessments to determine how best to target interventions aimed at ensuring that children and youth are protected, safe, and healthy in their homes, communities, and learning environments. The SLE Assessment will consist of three instruments: 1. Learner questionnaire, 2. School personnel questionnaire, and 3. Questionnaire for School Management Committee/caregivers.

Position Description
Overview of the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA)
Research the world over has shown that the ability to read is one of the most fundamental skills for learning, particularly at the early grades of primary education. The Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) measures key skills that are necessary for children to read fluently and comprehend text. They are tested based on research regarding a comprehensive approach to reading acquisition across languages. The test is conducted orally and one-on-one with pupils.

ICYD Cohort 3 Baseline
To capture data prior to launch of reading interventions in Cohort 3 districts, ICYD will conduct a baseline reading assessment from October to November 2022. The baseline assessment will use the EGRA tool to measure reading levels and will test a representative sample of schools targeted by ICYD in Cohort 3 Leblango and LebAcoli speaking districts (Agago, Gulu, Kwania, Oyam, Apac, Kitgum, Lira, Dokolo, Kole and Omoro). The reading assessment will target pupils in P2. Data from this baseline will be used to measure progress over the project’s five-year period. The results of the baseline will be shared with USAID, the Ministry of Education and Sports and other donors working in education. The baseline assessment will consist of four critical instruments: 1) A standardized literacy test, based on key foundational skills that a child needs to master to be able to read fluently, and adapted to Leblango and LebAcoli; 2) Learner context tool; 3) Teacher interview; and 4) Headteacher interview.

Position Summary
ICYD will recruit two (2) Data Quality Assurance Officers who will be responsible for planning and facilitating training of supervisors and assessors, guiding field teams during data collection to adhere to the set procedures, daily upload of data collected, ensuring security of the equipment assigned to the team, and preparation and submission of a fieldwork report.
The Data Quality Assurance Officers will be contracted for a maximum period of 25 working days (October – November 2022). All honoraria and expenses will be paid by ICYD.
** Please note that this is a local temporary position. Eligibility is limited to Ugandan nationals**

Responsibilities
• Participate in the planning meeting to review EGRA data collection tools;
• Provide active leadership and participation in assessor training, including preparation and recording of gold standards to be used during IRRs and uploading of tools on to the tablets for all teams;
• Ensure that with the help of supervisors, all teams have necessary supplies and equipment needed to undertake both electronic and paper data collection;
• Organize transport for each team to get to the school before lessons start for the day. Program hired vehicles will be available for this purpose;
• Ensure that data is collected in a standard fashion by making routine spot checks/team audits to ensure that the teams are in their assigned areas and that the sampled respondents are actually the people who are being interviewed;
• Complete “assessor observation checklist” for each assessor once during the first week of field work, then sporadically after that.
• Quickly communicate any problems arising to the ICYD M&E team;
• Routinely check assessments for completeness and errors.
• Provide guidance to the teams using the compiled data reports from the quality checks
• Participate in team daily debrief sessions.
o Collect the tablets, ensure that they are in good working order, and they are charged for the next day’s field work
o Count and review the material used during the day and see what needs to be replenished,
o Review progress made on the routes assigned and if necessary, restructure according to needs,
• Collect all completed consent forms and UPLOAD all data onto the cloud

Qualifications
Experience, Education and Skills
The minimum qualifications are:
• Bachelor’s degree in Humanities, Social Sciences, Arts, Economics, Statistics or Education
• Previous experience facilitating EGRA or other data collection trainings.
• Previous experience as an EGRA Supervisor preferred.
• Other research experience with public and/or private education preferred.
• Experience managing diverse teams of data collectors/assessors.
• Previous experience using electronic data collection software.
• Fluency in English and Leblango or LebAcoli required. Please indicate language fluency in your application

Job Experience: No Requirements

Work Hours: 8

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

Job application procedure
Job closing date: September 23, 2022
To apply, Applicants are encouraged to visit the Careers Page: https://go.edc.org/UgandaPostings
Applications submitted without a resume or CV will not be reviewed.
Due to the volume of applications submitted, only finalists will be notified. No phone calls, please.
EDC is committed to enhancing the diversity of its workforce and ensuring an equitable and highly inclusive work environment. EDC is a smoke-free workplace, and offers a supportive work environment, competitive salary, and excellent benefits. Women, minorities, and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply.
This announcement is made possible by the support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents of this notice are the sole responsibility of Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.

All Jobs

QUICK ALERT SUBSCRIPTION