The USAID-funded Early Grade Education Activity (Asas) is seeking a qualified vendor to implement and / or develop a comprehensive national digital literacy application designed specifically for early grades education (KG2 – G3) in Jordan.

Purpose

The USAID-funded Early Grade Education Activity, or Asas (the Arabic term for foundation), is a five-year activity to reform and strengthen the pre- and in-service early education structure across the Kingdom of Jordan.

In step with the Government of Jordan (GoJ), Asas aims to support higher education institutions to reinforce the caliber of pre-and in-service teacher education. The primary goal of the Asas project is to build foundational and social-emotional (SEL) skills across the Kingdom of Jordan, hence advancing national efforts to remodel the Jordanian early grade education framework.

Asas vision is: “Early grade learning for all is fun, inclusive, developmentally appropriate. It is differentiated and achieved through world-class educational practices based on research and within effective community participation.”

Asas is managed by IREX with the support of five key implementing partners: the Change Agent for Arab Development and Education Reform (CADER), Development Gateway (DG), the International Rescue Committee (IRC), Queen Rania Teacher Academy (QRTA), and School-to-School International (STS).

To achieve the intended results and vision, the IREX-led consortium will apply a regenerated, evidence-based approach that: 

• Coherently merges system-wide education policy reform to support quality early grade education.
• Builds upon and advances achievements from prior USAID early grade reading and mathematics activities.
• Seeks out innovative ways to increase private-sector collaboration with the GoJ.

Asas will improve the quality of pre-service and in-service teacher professional development, early grade curriculums, and teaching and learning materials (TLM). This will build community engagement, support data utilization, improve policies and systems, and strategic partnerships that promote system-wide alignment and maximize return on investment (ROI).

Additionally, Asas will support evidence-based systems and policies that promote system-wide alignment among early-grade actors across the country, including schools, universities, the private sector, and the wider Jordanian community, as well as parents and caregivers. Current and future teachers will learn effective classroom management and interactive learning methods, as they strengthen pedagogical practices to adapt to the changing needs of their students.

Scope of Work

In light of above, Asas is seeking proposals from qualified vendors to implement and/or develop a comprehensive national digital literacy application designed specifically for early grades education from (KG2 to G3). This application aims to enhance literacy skills among young learners and facilitate interactive and engaging reading experiences and should be effective at the beginning of the 2024/2025 school year. 

To meet diverse and changing needs, Asas seeks a digital learning application that accelerates literacy growth for KG2 to G3, through differentiated content and instruction. The application must combine foundational skills instruction to strengthen phonemic awareness, phonics knowledge, vocabulary, fluency and reading comprehension, with independent practice, embedded assessment, and evidenced-based. The application must provide culturally relevant fiction, nonfiction, and poetry that will engage all students at differentiated levels in Arabic and English.  the application should support in later stages the accessibility of students with disabilities to different resources provided at this application, The goal is for the application to be owned by the Ministry of Education and managed through the Queen Rania Center for Technology.  

The components of reading must include:

• Phonics
• Phonological Awareness
• Comprehension and Vocabulary
• Arabic Language Concepts & Writing
• Fluency

Additionally, the application must follow a proven literacy routine, which allows students to read at their reading levels as well as:

• Activate and recognize prior knowledge.
• Express and defend opinions informally.
• Complete an activity to check comprehension.
• Practice close reading and cite evidence.
• Allows students to set goals and track their progress.

The selected vendor will collaborate closely with Asas to design, develop, and deploy a user-friendly and effective reading application tailored to the needs of early grades students.

Objectives

The primary objectives of this application are as follows:

• Develop a differentiated reading application that caters to the individual learning needs and levels of early grades students (Grades KG2-3).
• Create an interactive and engaging application that promotes literacy development through self-paced reading activities, comprehension exercises, and vocabulary building.
• Ensure alignment with Ministry of Education (MoE) curricula and frameworks to support seamless integration into classroom instruction.
• Provide accessibility and inclusivity by designing the application to accommodate diverse learning needs, including students with disabilities.
• Offer access for parents to track their child's progress, engage in reading activities together, and support their literacy development at home.

Expected Scope of Work

The scope of work includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• Conducting a thorough needs assessment to identify the specific requirements and preferences of early grades educators, students, and parents.
• Align the application to MoE early grade standards in literacy (Arabic) for early primary grades, learning guidelines, incorporating differentiated instruction strategies.
• Incorporating interactive and age-appropriate reading materials, including stories, passages, poems, and non-fiction texts, tailored to various reading levels.
• Implementing features for tracking student progress, administering assessments, and generating performance reports for teachers, administrators, and parents.
• Integrating multimedia elements, such as audio narration, illustrations, animations, and interactive exercises, to enhance engagement and comprehension.
• Ensuring compatibility with various devices and platforms, including desktop computers, laptops, tablets, and smartphones (Android required – I-OS preferred).
• Conducting thorough testing and quality assurance to identify and address any technical issues or usability concerns.
• Providing training and technical support to educators, administrators, and parents for effective implementation and utilization of the reading application.
• Ensure the application complies with the Ministry of Education (MoE) security policies and regulatory requirements.
• Providing maintained services during the implementation of the application and for one year after delivering the source code and documentation to the Ministry of Education (MoE).

Expected Implementation and Scaling Up

The implementation for the application will be delivered in phases, and the vendor will prepare a timeline that reflects the following:

Piloting: This phase involves conducting pilots in 300-500 schools, encompassing all grades from KG2 to G3, and implemented across three regions. During this stage, the vendor will incorporate and adjust based on feedback and add new features, such as those related to accessibility for students with disabilities and the inclusion of new stories and books.

 Scaling up: This phase involves expanding to all schools with early grades, totaling approximately 2,700 schools. The vendor may consider implementing this expansion in phases, gradually including all schools.

Delivery to MoE: this phase includes the full delivery of the application to MoE.

Delivering the Application to Ministry of Education

The vendor should ensure the application is fully owned and administered by Ministry of Education and this includes but not limited to the following considerations:

• Source Code Delivery: Provide the complete source code of the application, including all libraries, dependencies, and documentation necessary for building and maintaining the software.
• Documentation: this includes technical documentation that includes detailed descriptions of the application's architecture, design, database schema, APIs, and any third-party integrations. A user documentation that includes guides and manuals for end-users administration and, installation, configuration and usage instructions.
• License and rights: this includes transferring the intellectual property rights to MoE, and ensures all third-party software and libraries used in the application are correctly licensed and permissions are transferred or granted to the Ministry.
• Training and support: provide training to MoE staff on maintenance and provide support services during the transition period.
• Maintenance agreement: Establish a maintenance and support agreement covering a specified period (one year) after delivery to address any bugs, updates, or enhancements needed by the Ministry.
• Security and compliance: Ensure the application complies with the Ministry’s security policies and regulatory requirements and facilitate the migration of existing data into the new application, ensuring data integrity and continuity.

Eligibility requirements

Shortlisted vendors may be invited for interviews or presentations to further discuss their proposals. The final selection will be based on the evaluation of proposals and any additional assessments conducted during the selection process.

Interested vendors are requested to submit a detailed proposal addressing the following:

• Company background and experience in developing educational platforms, particularly in the field of early literacy.
• Proposed approach and methodology for designing and developing the reading platform, including timeline and milestones.
• Description of the proposed features, functionalities, and content of the platform, with a focus on differentiation, alignment with MoE curricula, and parent access.
• Demonstrations or prototypes of previous relevant projects, if available.
• Budget breakdown, including costs for development, testing, implementation, training, and ongoing support.
• References from previous clients or partners in the education sector.
• Any additional information or insights that may be relevant to the project.

Proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Experience and expertise of the vendor in developing educational applications in delivering similar projects.
• Clarity and feasibility of the proposed solution, technical approach and training methodology to ensure smooth transfer to the MoE.
• Relevance and comprehensiveness of the solution: proposed features, accessibility, relevance of content - with specific consideration for learner differentiation and alignment with MoE curricula, tracking learner progress and access for parent involvement.
• Cost proposal (one time and recurrent/maintenance costs) -value for money.

The distribution of assessment will be as the following:

• Organizational experience with online learning projects, proposed technical team expertise, and successful track record with learning platforms for national education systems focused on primary education – for literacy in Arabic speaking countries – highly preferred.  20%
• Technical proposal/solution that meets the needs of this RFP – off-the-shelf or one-of-kind customized platform – operating systems, cloud-based, offline – 20%
• Technical support provide – from development, piloting, rollout, and desk help support provided – 20%
• Total Cost of ownership (one-time costs, recurrent/operation costs, licenses) - value for money – 40%

Deadline

If you decide to submit a proposal, it must be received no later than 11:59pm Eastern Standard Time on the closing date indicated above (July 26, 2024). Late submissions will only be considered if in the best interests of the project, and then at IREX’s sole discretion. All proposals and included pricing quotes submitted must be valid for a period of not less than sixty (60) calendar days from the closing date indicated above.

How to submit a concept note

Submit proposals to info.asas@irex.org with the subject line [“Proposal Submission: Literacy Application”].

Questions?

Contact info.asas@irex.org.