Job Abstract

E T Consultant

Description

Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? The World Bank Group is one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries; a unique global partnership of five institutions dedicated to ending extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity. With 189 member countries and more than 120 offices worldwide, we work with public and private sector partners, investing in groundbreaking projects and using data, research, and technology to develop solutions to the most urgent global challenges. For more information, visit www.worldbank.org.

The Human Development (HD) Practice Group (PG)

The World Bank Group (WBG) is the largest provider of development finance and solutions for human development working with high-income, middle-income, and low-income countries to develop country-tailored solutions for human development (HD) under the themes of education, health, social protection, jobs, and gender. The HD PG coordinates with other Practice Groups to ensure a coordinated and integrated approach to development challenges, and through the World Bank Regional Units is expected to deliver the strongest and most pertinent support to our client countries. The Human Development Vice Presidency (HDVP) at the World Bank Group is made up of the Global Practices for education; health, nutrition, and population; and social protection and jobs; additionally, the HDVP houses the gender group. As such, HD is central to the World Bank Group’s goals to end extreme poverty by 2030 and raise shared prosperity.

Education Global Practice

Education is a human right, a powerful driver of development and one of the strongest instruments for reducing poverty and improving health, gender equality, peace, and stability. It delivers large, consistent returns in terms of income and is the most important factor to ensure equality of opportunities. For individuals, education promotes employment, earnings, health, and poverty reduction.
The World Bank Group is the largest external financier of education in the developing world. The Bank works on education programs in more than 80 countries and is committed to helping countries reach the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG4), which calls for access to quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all by 2030.

The mission of the Education Global Practice is to ensure that everyone can achieve her or his full potential with access to quality education and lifelong learning. The Education GP helps clients address challenges through financing, knowledge services, and strategic partnerships.

At the country level, the Education GP supports a systemic, equitable, and inclusive approach to improve access to and quality of education across all levels of schooling from early childhood and basic education to workforce training and tertiary education; as well as across all contexts, from fragile settings to upper-middle-income economies. It supports investments and policy reforms to improve the delivery of education services, including through multisectoral approaches, public-private partnerships, and results-based financing.

At the global level, the Education GP contributes to global public goods in education and taps on cutting-edge global knowledge and partnerships to ensure that the Bank’s regional and country projects, policy advisory and knowledge products reflect innovative solutions for the delivery of education services.
The Education GP is led by a Global Director, who has overall responsibility for the practice, together with the Regional Directors who oversee the human development program in the regions, working with the nine practice managers for regional education units and the practice manager for the Global Engagement and Knowledge Unit (GEAK).

The Global Engagement and Knowledge Unit (GEAK)

At the global level, the Global Engagement and Knowledge Unit (GEAK) (a) contributes to global knowledge products and know-how across key strategic areas and priorities (including early childhood development, teachers, curriculum and learning materials, student assessment, skills development, management capacity and service delivery, education finance, and education technology) and help ensure that the EDU GP’s global, regional, and country-based products, operations, and analytical activities reflect this global knowledge; (b) facilitates knowledge exchange; (c) contributes to capacity development; and (d) develops and manages strategic partnerships (including the management of several Umbrella Trust Funds).

Learning Assessment. In recent years, in coordination with other development partners, the World Bank has integrated elements of this learning assessment framework into broader work to find solutions to the learning crisis and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on learning. Key challenges remain across the world, particularly in low- and lower-middle-income countries, in monitoring student learning outcomes and reporting on international learning indicators, using learning assessment results to address inefficiencies of education systems, building the capacity of governments to strengthen their assessment systems, and in finding and implementing coordinated solutions to address learning data gaps globally.

Measurement in Early Childhood Education. A core team is working to scale-up the measurement of Early Childhood Development (ECD) outcomes, quality of early childhood education and childcare for different measurement objectives, including population monitoring, impact evaluations, research, and formative feedback. As part of this work, the ECD Measurement team has produced measurement tools, analytical products, and guidance materials to support policymakers in their ECD measurement efforts. This line of work has direct implications for the policy dialogue and capacity building activities offered to policymakers, World Bank staff, and other stakeholders seeking to strengthen their knowledge and skills to measure early childhood development outcomes and service quality.

The unit seeks an Extended Term (ET) consultant based in Washington DC to support its policy, operational and analytical work on learning assessment, including ECD measurement. S/he will report to the Practice Manager of the GEAK and be part of the learning assessment team, working on a variety of analytical and operational tasks.

Duties and Accountabilities

The selected candidate’s work program is expected to include a mix of policy, knowledge, and operational work. As a member of the learning assessment team, the ETC will be responsible for a range of tasks, including but not limited to the following:

• Carry out quantitative analysis and research with guidance and independently on various aspects of learning assessment, including ECD measurement, and their implications for educational policies and programs, particularly those linked with foundational learning.
• Provide technical support on designated areas of the global work program, particularly in applying insights from the science of learning to the design and implementation of learning assessments, ECD measurement activities, among others.
• Provide significant contributions to global or regional analytical products, policy briefs, design and delivery of learning events, policy academy resources, workshops, and other forms of knowledge exchange within the WBG and among member countries and other partners in learning assessment, including ECD measurement.
• Provide technical support to World Bank education teams and policymakers in the design, planning, and implementation of learning assessments to measure cognitive, academic, and socio-emotional competencies.
• Liaise as needed with international partners (including UNESCO, UNESCO UIS, UNICEF, bilateral agencies, and foundations), and support resource mobilization.
• Provide advice to World Bank staff and policymakers to guide policies and programs on topics linked to learning assessment and ECD measurement.
• Contribute to monitoring country grants and responding to requests from country teams.
• Carry out other tasks as specified by the Practice Manager.

Selection Criteria

• Education: A minimum qualification of a Master’s or Ph.D. degree in measurement, psychometrics, or other relevant fields of measurement and evaluation in psychology or education.
• Experience. A minimum of three years of relevant and substantive research, education policy and operational experience is necessary.
• Deep technical knowledge and experience in educational testing policy and learning assessments of foundational academic, cognitive, and socio-emotional skills, their underpinnings on the science of learning, and links to curriculum development and implementation, instruction support, and innovative pedagogical approaches (including use of new technologies in the classroom) is necessary.
• Strong analytical and quantitative skills in psychometrics and experience with rigorous CTT, CFA and IRT analysis of student assessment and ECD measurement is necessary.
• Knowledge: Strong and holistic understanding of education policies and practices from both the theoretical and practical perspectives, with a demonstrated ability to operationalize knowledge is desirable.
• Experience working in World Bank operations (including Trust Fund management) and analytical and advisory services (ASA) is desirable.
• Demonstrated strong analytical, writing, and presentational skills, with experience in summarizing the evidence base in clear, convincing graphics and concise text.
• Excellent written and spoken communication skills in English and preferably in at least one other language.
• Ability to work as part of a team and independently to produce high-quality outputs under tight time constraints.
• Ability to juggle numerous competing demands and priorities, respond quickly to management requests, and set priorities for self and others.
• Ability to work as part of a multi-disciplinary team and independently, seeking guidance on complex projects/issues from senior staff.
• Outstanding interpersonal and organizational skills, client-orientation, diplomatic skills, mature judgment, ability to collaborate with others in a multi-cultural environment, capacity to manage multiple tasks, identify and respond to needs as they arise, and remain flexible and self-motivated in a dynamic, fast-paced work environment.
• Willingness to travel.

World Bank Group Core Competencies

We are proud to be an equal opportunity and inclusive employer with a dedicated and committed workforce, and do not discriminate based on gender, gender identity, religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability.

This internal requisition is open to WBG and IMF staff only (including short-term and extended term consultants/ temporaries). External candidates are requested not to apply. In case an external candidate applies, their application will not be considered.

Learn more about working at the World Bank and IFC, including our values and inspiring stories.

Note: The selected candidate will be offered a one-year appointment, renewable at the discretion of the World Bank Group, and subject to a lifetime maximum ET appointment of three years. If an ET appointment ends before a full year, it is considered as a full year toward the lifetime maximum. Former and current ET staff who have completed all or any portion of their third-year ET appointment are not eligible for future ET appointments.