External Evaluation Consultant

King’s Global Health Partnerships is seeking an External Evaluation Consultant to conduct a summative evaluation of Prepared for Practice, a 5-year project in Somaliland.

Project Overview

Prepared for Practice (PfP) is a 5-year project (October 2016 – October 2021), and is part of the UK aid-funded Strategic Partnerships for Higher Education Innovation and Reform (SPHEIR) programme (www.spheir.org.uk). The programme aims to reform the quality of undergraduate teaching and assessment and put clinical practice at the centre of medical and nursing education in Somaliland.

Our goal is that medical, nursing and midwifery students from partner universities are prepared for clinical practice when they graduate and can contribute to improving Somaliland’s health outcomes. The project is structured around three mutually reinforcing workstreams that work at undergraduate level, faculty level and policy level. Under these streams we deliver an extensive programme of capacity building activities for students, faculty, examiners, clinical supervisors, university administrators and health system regulators. Programme activities – from the development and delivery of courses, to curriculum development and technical assistance – are delivered by a network of volunteers from the NHS and UK university sector.

Evaluation Objectives

The purpose of the Summative Evaluation is to provide a rigorous and independent evaluation of the project. The Evaluation is intended to assess the project’s progress in achieving its core outcomes; to test the assumptions underpinning the project’s Theory of Change and clearly articulate how and why change happens and for whom.

The specific objectives of the evaluation are to:

• Facilitate a review of the project Theory of Change (separate to the evaluation)
• Assess the extent to which the project has achieved its intended outcomes based on the project Theory of Change and the indicators in the project results framework and SPHEIR logframe.
• Evaluate the Prepared for Practice project against selected OECD-DAC criteria (relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact and sustainability)
• Document lessons learned and best practices and make recommendations for improvements to partners involved in the project
• Engage and involve project participants and partners throughout the evaluation process to strengthen ownership of findings and recommendations

For full details of this Request for Proposals, please see the Terms of Reference attached.

Timeframe, Budget and Deliverables

The consultant(s) will work with us in the final 9 months of the project (which ends in September 2021).

The expected deliverables for this consultancy are:

• 12 sessions with stakeholders on the project Theory of Change
• An Inception Report following the first phase
• A draft Evaluation Report at synthesis and feedback stage,
• A final Evaluation Report at completion (the final Evaluation Report should include an executive summary and a set of recommendations).
• Additional outputs that will improve comprehension and uptake of the findings (TBD)

An indicative budget for this evaluation is £50,000 – £65,000.

Consultant Expertise

• The Team Leader should have at least 10 years professional experience in programme evaluation in education, global health or international development
• The team should bring together relevant thematic expertise on the subject matters being evaluated such as faculty development, higher education for health professionals, education technology, clinical teaching, pedagogy, regulation and health/education policy development
• Knowledge and experience of volunteering models and/or global health partnerships
• Extensive professional experience in conducting evaluations in sub-Saharan Africa )
• Experience working with ministries in similar settings
• Strong research capacity including rigorous qualitative and quantitative data collection, analysis and data visualization skills
• Experience of conducting data collection using participatory methods and inclusive approaches
• Acknowledged similar consultancies with recognized organisations
• Strong analytical and writing skills
• Fluency in written and spoken English in the core team is essential. The evaluation team should also have the appropriate language skills to conduct qualitative research in Somali
• Experience of evaluating programmes or projects delivered in partnership or consortium
• Experience working across cultures and continents.
• Excellent communication, people and team management skills
• A gender balanced team of international and national experts is desired