ESD Research-into-Practice Briefs and Summaries: Tender Notice

Organization:

Terms of Reference: Research-into-Practice Briefs and Summaries

Save the Children is the world’s leading independent organisation for children. We work in 120 countries. We save children’s lives; we fight for their rights; we help them fulfill their potential. We work together, with our partners, to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives. We have over two million supporters worldwide and raised 1.6 billion dollars in 2011 to reach more children than ever before, through programmes in health, nutrition, education, protection and child rights, also in times of humanitarian crises.

Save the Children International Asia Regional Office is inviting submissions for tender of delivering the following research:

“Research-into-Practice Briefs for Child-Centered DRR and Comprehensive School Safety”

Background

Save the Children’s Education Safe from Disasters strategy in Asia and the Pacific has developed a Research Framework to promote Evidence. Quality. Effectiveness, and Impact in all of our work in this field. As we collectively seek to support the Worldwide Initiative for School Safety, we and our partners in the Global Alliance for Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience in the Education Sector (GADRRRES) are similarly committed to assuring that we are promoting evidence-based practice, and developing practice-based evidence when it comes to Comprehensive School Safety (CSS), and child-centered disaster risk reduction and climate-change adaptation (CC-DRR).

The purpose of this project is to produce a set of Research-into-Practice Briefs to increase practitioner access to and understanding of the evidence base for child-centered disaster risk reduction and comprehensive school safety practice, the implications for program design and implementation, and the gaps in practice-based evidence. A series of condensed Research-into-Practice Summaries will be produced aiming at senior managers and decision-makers.

Rationale

Governments, donors, NGOs, advocates, researchers, and practitioners would all like to be sure that the practice of improving the safety of children in school, ensuring educational continuity, and safeguarding education sector investments has a strong foundation in evidence, and would like to contribute to improving the evidence-base for practice.

The enormous body of scientific and academic research is largely inaccessible and unread by anyone other than academic researchers. There is some rigorous research available in peer-reviewed journals, but not widely-distributed, well-known or referenced. For example, since 2000, more than 37 evaluations of children’s disaster education programs have been published in refereed and gray literature. The evidence to be found in the substantial body of 'gray literature', in the form of reports of 'lessons learned' and program evaluations is also largely unread. There's just too much of this to expect even the most experienced technical advisors, and the most diligent practitioners to be able to select from wisely read, and synthesize this.

There is little in the way of formal education, or professional development training to prepare practitioners to be change agents when it comes to comprehensive school safety. Most practitioners lack access to peer-reviewed journal articles, the time to read extensively, and the advanced research skills to synthesize this knowledge effectively. Most practitioners must rely on on-the-job experience and their own casual reading. Professional staff knowledge and practice could be greatly improved by the existence of a series of relevant and readable summaries of what we know and what we don't know. This knowledge is also vital to engaging practitioners in the identification of research priorities, and in contributing to new research design.

This project will develop standard templates for Research-into-Practice Briefs and Summaries. It will commission 6 new Briefs on topic prioritized by practitioners and deemed coherent and feasible by subject-matter experts for professional practitioners, technical advisors, and program designers and evaluators practicing in the fields of comprehensive school safety, child-centered disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation, and education in emergencies. It will arrange for peer-review and editing for these briefs and up to 8 more briefs provided through other research projects, and also produce a full set of 2-page Summaries of these briefs for senior managers, policy-makers, decision-makers, advocates and junior staff.

Aim & Objectives

Aim

Our aim is to bridge the research/practice divide by providing practitioners and decision-makers with valuable easy-to-read briefs and summaries, to familiarize them with current research on themes of relevance to their practice.

Objectives

To apply best practices in implementation science to promote understanding of evidence-based practices amongst practitioners, and to engage practitioners in contribute to practice-based evidence.
To produce 12-14 high-quality Research-into-Practice Briefs on topics of relevance to CSS practitioners along with questions for testing and applying this knowledge in professional capacity-development programs.
To produce 12-14 high-quality Research-into-Practice Summaries for senior management and decision-makers.
Over the subsequent 12 months, to utilize these briefs and summaries and to test their value to practitioners.

Scope of Work and Deliverables

Applicants please note: The full Scope of Work will be agreed upon following submission of successful Research Proposal.

Scope of Work

Save the Children Education Safe from Disasters currently has 8 Research-into-Practice Briefs in development by a variety of authors. The Applicant selected will coordinate the production, review and finalization of 12-14 Research-into-Practice Briefs and derived Summaries.

Deliverables

Finalization of Research-into-Practice Briefs and Research-into-Practice Summaries Templates, and professional design (using Microsoft Word).
Substantial contributions of all contracted researchers, to and open-source comprehensive bibliography on Mendeley.
6 new Research-into-Practice Briefs will be commissioned and developed on priority-topics, peer-reviewed, and assessment questions developed. The Briefs will be professionally edited., and Research-into-Practice Summaries produced by plain language technical writer, for each of these.
6-8 Research-into-Practice Briefs produced through other projects will also be edited, and questions developed. Research-into-Practice Summaries will be produced by plain language technical writer, for each of these as well.
One page overview of the Series will be developed to explain the purpose and approach.
Assessment survey questions will be developed for a follow-up survey with practitioners for their assessment of access, and value of these products.

Qualifications

Applicants should demonstrate that the primary project coordinator should have:

A doctoral degree;
Subject-matter expertise in education sector, and or disaster/disaster management research;
At least ten years of experience DRR research and in writing for practitioners;
Have personal relationships with and access to an extensive network of experienced DRR practitioners to be able to identify and select best candidates to produce briefs on the topics prioritized;
Commitment to research dissemination and interest in implementation science highly desirable.

Applicants should have the ability to:

Sub-contract with authors, as needed.
Sub-contract, as needed, with English language editor and graphic designer.

In accordance with Save the Children's child safeguarding policies, all team members selected will be requested to submit SC's Working with Children check, and sign SC's Child Safeguarding Policies.