UNRWA Teachers’ Performance Management Consultancy

TERMS OF REFERENCE

UNRWA is the largest United Nations programme in the Middle East. It provides assistance and protection to Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, the Syrian Arab Republic and the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). It does so by offering to a population of some 5 million registered refugees a range of human development and humanitarian services in primary and vocational education, primary health care, social safety net, community support, camp improvement, and microfinance. UNRWA’s role also encompasses advocacy and actions to address the human rights and protection needs of Palestine refugees.

Consultancy – Teachers’ Performance Management, Amman

BACKGROUND The Agency began an Organizational Development (OD) process in 2006 with the initial focus on the management structures, and overall decentralisation of budgets and operational delivery to the fields.
As part of the OD initiative, an ambitious agenda of HR reforms was started with the objective of bringing the Agency in line with HR best practice and supporting the decentralization of HR functions to the fields. As a result, field HR teams are gradually transforming from personnel services delivery towards an expanded role as HR business partners. The objective is to provide senior and line managers with support and advice in the effective management of their staff in order to ultimately improve performance and results in the service delivery for refugees. UNRWA currently has approximately 29,500 staff, collectively responsible for fulfilling the Agency’s mandate. Effective and efficient Human Resource Management is central to achieving the Human Development Goals to which the Agency committed in the Medium Term Strategy 2010-2015. Central to HR reform is performance management (PM), in order to ensure an Agency wide, coherent, transparent, and ongoing process of staff evaluation, development and support. As such, performance management is an integral part of UNRWA’s approach to talent management (TM), i.e. the proactive management of UNRWA’s leadership, talent and workforce with a view to keep it closely aligned with organizational goals and strategies. This is reflected in the Performance Management Policy for area staff which was approved by the Commissioner General on 25 April 2010.
Central to OD is also Reform of the key services which UNRWA delivers. An Education Reform Strategy has been developed and work is ongoing towards its implementation. At the heart of UNRWA Education Reform Strategy is Teacher Development and the teaching profession. To this end, a Teacher Policy is being developed which seeks to professionalize the teaching force, provide opportunities for career progression, ensure continuous professional development and school-based support.
The new results-based Performance Management Policy and tool (ePER) paves the way both for the implementation of the Teacher Policy and for other key areas of the education reform which seek to address the development of teacher capacity. The ePER was implemented last school year 2010 - 2011, for teachers in the five fields of operations (in total about 15,000 staff members). In a joint approach between the HR Department and the Education Department, Head Teachers, Education Specialists and Area Education Officers were trained in the roll out of the new system and principles of the policy. In addition, a framework of competencies for key education staff was integrated in the approach, reflecting global practices as well as UNRWA’s own objectives. A review for the teachers performance evaluation process (first phase) will be conducted to assess the workability and feasibility of the process and feed in the next phase for teachers and with regard to the implementation for Assistant Head Teachers, Head Teachers and Education Specialists.

OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE OF WORK The overall objective of this consultancy is in the first instance to evaluate the first phase of the teacher’s performance management process in the five fields - to look at the process, the relevance of the competency framework and its indicators, the understanding of those engaged in its implementation, their roles and responsibilities and challenges they face.

At a more strategic level the objective is to determine how the ePer can support the implementation of the Teacher Policy and the other key areas of the reform, such as School-Based Teacher Development and Leading for the Future programmes.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES The consultant will report to the Director of Education HQ(A), and work collaboratively with the Chief, HR Planning and Development Division, HRD.

The Consultant’s work primarily involves a desk review of all key strategic documents, such as the Mid-term Strategy, the OD, the PM policy toolkits and tools, the Education Reform Strategy and the Teacher Policy. It will then require the design and development of a process to review/evaluate the first phase of the roll out of the ePer with regard to teachers for the scholastic year 2010-2011. After the review, concrete recommendations should be formulated on how to improve the process, building on lessons learned, best practices and the implications for evaluation of other education cadres in the future.

The consultant will work collaboratively with the Teacher Development and School Empowerment Unit/Education Department at HQ Amman, the HR Department at HQ Amman, and the field HR teams and Chiefs of Education, to do the following tasks:

Strategic context/substance: • Desk review of key strategic documents to put the PM roll out in context; • Design a review/evaluation process and produce evaluation instruments and tools, communicating with stakeholders as appropriate; • Assess the relevance of the Teacher Competency Framework objectives and indicators in light of the Education Reform Strategy; • Consider the implications for the current teacher Job Description; • Assess the feasibility for head teachers to assess the objectives of the teachers competency framework against the set of indicators; • Assess the feasibility of Head Teachers to identify best performers and weak performance based on the given objectives and indicators; • Review the role of the immediate supervisor, second supervisor and other stakeholders in the assessment process and the quality of the overall assessment of the teacher;
• Review the quality of the Performance Management meetings and assess any needs for further training in this area; • Review the role of the teachers themselves in the evaluation process; • Review the ePER system in the fields and assess any needs for further support in this area.

Strategic analysis and recommendations: • Consider the PM roll out for teachers in relation to the HR Policy, Education Reform and Teacher Policy and opportunities to strengthen links between them; • Formulate concrete recommendations to address areas for improvement in the teacher evaluation system; • Evaluate field and local responses and initiatives to support the PER and highlight best practices.

Reporting: • Prepare a consolidated report on UNRWA Teachers’ Performance Management / first phase, describing strategic context, evaluation of system to date, analysis, and make recommendations on how to strengthen the management of the system and ensure it plays a strategic role in teacher development, overall management and ultimately improving the overall outputs from staff.

Deliverables: A report on UNRWA Teachers’ Performance Management, outcomes, management of the process, roles and responsibilities and recommendations for improvement.

Methodology: • Review and analysis of the strategic context and policy framework for the HR performance management policy and ePer, including the Education Reform Strategy, Implementation Plan and the Teacher Policy; • Design an evaluation process and develop tools and instruments to implement it; • Field visits and interviews with UNRWA Teachers, Head Teachers, Chiefs, Performance Management / HR focal points etc. • Analysis of data; • Report writing.

ESSENTIAL QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE • Advanced degree from a recognized university in Education, Teacher Education, or other related field; • Demonstrable knowledge and work experience in educational research (especially in performance management and measurement), including a minimum of eight years’ work experience in the field of education consultation and performance management; • Experience in performance management with experience in the assessment of teacher performance; • Highly developed, demonstrable report writing and computer skills (word processing, spreadsheets, statistical analysis software applications, etc);

ADDITIONAL SKILLS • Effective cross-cultural communication and facilitation skills; • Ability to conduct studies, analyze data, draw evidence-based conclusions and make sound recommendations;

CONDITIONS OF SERVICE The duration of the consultancy will be 3 months. The incumbent will be based in Amman and is expected of travel to other Agency locations in the Middle East.

REMUNERATION Remuneration for this consultancy will be based on the current UNRWA salary scale and will depend on the qualifications and experience of the consultant.

APPLICATION PROCESS Applicants should submit a cover letter and CV or UN Personnel History Form, via consultancy@unrwa.org clearly indicating the title of this consultancy “Teachers’ Performance Management” in the subject line of the message. The deadline for the submission of applications is 14 February 2012. UNRWA is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes applications from both women and men. UNRWA encourages applications from qualified and experienced female candidates. Only those applicants short-listed for interview will be contacted. UNRWA is a non-smoking work environment.

How to apply:

APPLICATION PROCESS Applicants should submit a cover letter and CV or UN Personnel History Form, via consultancy@unrwa.org clearly indicating the title of this consultancy “Teachers’ Performance Management” in the subject line of the message. The deadline for the submission of applications is 14 February 2012.