Data Quality Monitor - D-RASATI Education Development Center - Lebanon

Description
Developing Assistance to Schools and Teacher Improvement (D-RASATI) will improve educational outcomes in Lebanon by improving teacher and student performance, increasing community and parental involvement, and improving the school learning environment.

Data collection activities are critical to the successful implementation of the D-RASATI program. Data will be collected by a team from the Center for Educational Research and Development, under contract to D-RASATI. Data Collectors will be responsible for accurate, high-quality data collection on the conditions of all Lebanese public schools. Data collection will involve completion of a field survey form, including physical measurements and equipment inventories. Data will be collected in nearly 1,300 schools.

Position Summary: D-RASATI is seeking Data Quality Monitors to support a survey of the Lebanese public schools in April, May and possibly early June, 2011. This is a short-term consulting position.

Data Quality Monitors will conduct rigorous spot checks of data collection to ascertain that the required data collection procedures are being followed and that the resultant data are of sufficiently high quality to be usable to the project and the Ministry of Education and Higher Education. Data Quality Monitors will visit (unannounced) schools while data collectors are present; they will observe data collectors at work (using a structured assessment form), verify their work and report weekly to the project’s Monitoring and Evaluation unit on their findings from the field. They will identify any observed irregularities or concerns, and suggest appropriate remediation. Data Quality Monitors will participate in the debriefing on the D-RASATI pilot and on the full assessment, and their observations will contribute to strategy development for support to CERD as part of D-RASATI’s master plan.

- Observe data collector training for the D-RASATI assessment, to understand expectations
- Attend orientation for principals in the region from schools for which the monitor will be responsible
- Conduct unannounced visits to schools to monitor data collection activities, using a structured protocol
- Check and verify selected data at school level from data collection instruments
- Deliver weekly summary reports and school-by-school completed forms to D-RASATI for analysis
- Participate in 1 day of debriefing related to the data collection process at the end of the assessment pilot
- Participate in 1 day of debriefing related to the data collection process at the end of the full assessment
- Provide comments and recommendations for data collection, to inform future efforts.

Qualifications
- Significant prior data collection experience, with particular emphasis on large-scale surveys and/or school-based research
- Polite and professional demeanor; excellent interpersonal and communication skills
- Degree in one or more of the following fields:
Education, social science research, engineering, architecture, community mobilization
Master’s degree or above strongly preferred; bachelor’s degree plus significant additional experience in research acceptable
- Ability to walk, stand, reach and possibly climb on ladders and go up or down stairs to check data collected on the physical conditions of the school facilities including roofs and basements
- Lebanese national
- Clean and up to date police certificate (sijil ‘adleh)
- Availability for multiple dates in April, May and possibly early June, 2011
- Fluency in Arabic required; French and/or English fluency also preferred.
- Bachelor Degree in a field related to community development work, preferably in fields such as sociology, economic and public health. Masters degree is preferred.,

Compensation
- Daily rate for days worked, plus training, principals’ orientation, and debriefing days.
- School visit transportation reimbursable per project formula.
- School visit meal allowance.
- Transportation and meals for training, principals’ orientation, and debriefing days.

rchristina@d-rasati.org