Terms of reference for Employability Assessment
Table of Contents
Background of the Assignment. 3
Objective of the Assignment. 3
Assignment Tasks and Deliverables. 4
Time frame for the Assessment. 5
Primary role of the consultant should include. 6
USAID’s Building the Potential of Youth Activity (Potential) is a five-year USAID-funded demographic opportunity program that promotes opportunities for young Ethiopians to positively contribute to the betterment of society. Its goal is for unemployed and underemployed Ethiopian youth ages 15-29 in rural areas and towns to attain the skills, knowledge, and social capital that lead to increased income and long-term economic self-sufficiency. It will be achieved by improving access to education, technical training institutes (TTIs), and practical work experiences, and bringing together local stakeholders such as TTIs, private sector, youth, and government. Its mission is to support Ethiopian society and the national government to benefit from the ‘demographic opportunity’ afforded by the high proportion of Ethiopians in the age groups of the active workforce. The activity plans to directly reach 34,537 Ethiopian youth in six regions, helping them escape the cycle of poverty.
As part of POTENTIAL’s continuous improvement agenda we have identified the need to track employability skills acquisition among youth participants and to do so in a standardized, quantifiable, and comparable manner. This assignment must accomplish two objectives:
1. Local language adaptation. Locally adapt the English version of the Employability Assessment Tool (EAT) to the Amharic language that is easily understood by youth 17 to 23 years of age. This entails using qualitative methods such as focus group discussions and in-depth interviews; and
2. Scale Reliability & Time Stability Analysis: Conduct analyses of pilot-test data to test two psychometric properties of the local language Amharic version of the EAT to ensure successful local language adaptation. Two psychometric properties should be tested: a) the internal reliability of the overall, and six sub-scales, of the Amharic version of the EAT using Cronbach alpha coefficient and b) tool stability by use of a one-week test/retest using split-half reliability or ICC coefficient.
This assignment will involve the following broad tasks and deliverables.
STAGE I:
Task-2: Conduct 4 FGDs with youth to discuss the initial translation of the EAT by SC’s staff. These FGDs would be with 1) 17-20-year-old young women, 2) 21-23-year-old girls, 3) 17-20 year old young men, and 4) 21-23 year old young men. Deliverable-2: Report detailing the questions, phrases, and words youth had difficulties understanding and youth’s recommendations for translation.
STAGE 2:
Task-3: Develop an initial Amharic version of the EAT that reconciles POTENTIAL staff and youth’s versions. Deliverable-3: An initial version of the EAT in Amharic language that youth can easily understand.
Task-4: Conduct a pilot-test of the Amharic version of the EAT with 100 youth, comprised of: 1) twenty-five young women 17-20 years of age, 2) twenty-five girls 21-23 years of age, 3) twenty-five young men 17-20 years of age, and 4) twenty-five young men 21-23 years of age. Deliveable-4: A report that presents the Cronbach alpha reliabilities for a) the overall EAT (24 items) and for the 6 sub-scales as well as disaggregated by gender and age groups. The report should highlight a) alpha reliabilities that are less than 0.70 and b) items in each sub-scale that reduce internal reliability.
Task-5: If the overall EAT Cronbach reliability is less than 0.80, then additional FGDs as well as in-depth interviews will be conducted with youth on specific items (questions) that were identified as reducing EAT reliability (Task-4). Deliverable-5: A report on recommendations of how to change phrases or words in Amharic to increase EAT reliability.
STAGE 3:
Task-6: Conduct additional pilot-tests, and FGDs and in-depth interviews with youth and revise the Amharic version of the EAT until 0.80 alpha reliability coefficient is achieved.
Task-7: Once the EAT has an alpha reliability of 0.80 or greater, conducted a one-week test / retest of the EAT to assess time stability. This will involve administering the Amharic version of the EAT to the same 100 youth, comprised of the same four groups mentioned above, at no less than one-week interval or more than 2 weeks. Deliveable-7: A report that details the administration process, any issues that occurred during administration, and the test / retest reliability coefficient. A Cronbach Split-Half analysis is acceptable, which should achieve 0.70 or greater.
The employability assessment is anticipated to commence on August 1, 2018 and must be completed by September 30, 2018. The duration of the assessment shall not take more than 50 working days including travel, field work, report preparation and submission of the final report. The consultant should indicate a breakdown of timeframe showing the detail work plan and expected dates for each phase of the assessment undertaking
1. Proficiency in the conduct of FGD moderation and in-depth interview techniques;
2. Good understanding of language adaptation, with an emphasis on “connotation of meaning” and not exact word-for-word translation;
3. Precise and complete record keeping
4. Experienced in pilot- testing as well as test/ re- test (time stability) techniques with quantitative tools;
5. Ensure the conduct of reliable data entry into excel or statistical software;
6. Experienced with psychometric statistical analyses;
7. Responsible to lead consultation process with all informants to ensure the validity of the information;
8. Outline the roles of each of the team members who are proposed to undertake the consultancy work;
9. Administer data collection data entry and analysis of EAT data;
10. Agreement to abide by SCI Child Safeguarding Policy;
11. Agreement to abide by SCI Research & Ethics Policy
Once the potential candidate is identified, notification letter will be issued and the candidate will be asked to prepare inception report of the study. On the basis of the inception report, formal contractual agreement will be launched between SCI and the candidate. Payment for the task will be effected in a stepwise manner:
· 15% of the total amount shall be paid upon submission of inception report and signing the contract
· 20 % of the total amount shall be paid upon completion of the tasks listed in stage 1
· 40% shall be paid upon completion of the tasks listed in stage2
· 25% shall be paid after completion of the tasks listed in stage 3 and submission of the final assessment report in hard and soft copies
Personnel requirement
Description of role | Qualification |
Focus of the assignment is to adapt, programs/policies to deliver a portfolio of projects/service; captures specific features/aspects of the client needs or operational environment to ensure optimal project design/ delivery. Secure collaboration agreement from colleagues/partners reflecting empathy of perspectives and identifying recognition of mutual/ complimentary interests. Organize work outputs to support optimal delivery through adapting procedures; Anticipate/plan for operational dimensions including unique resource requirements that may affect quality project/ service delivery. | 8-15 years direct related consultancy experience in one or more professional disciplines with master’s degree, or equivalent combination or relevant education and experience. Thorough knowledge of functional area, combining a broad grasp of relevant theory and principles. Ability to participate in multi-disciplinary teams and to work independently. Strong thematic/regional knowledge (where required). |