REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS – Pilot Evaluation – Digital Reading Programme

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
Pilot Evaluation – Digital Reading Programme

Request For Proposals (RfP)

Pilot Evaluation: Digital Reading Programme

Pratham Books • StoryWeaver • Jamnagar District, Gujarat

Programme Digital Reading Programme (DRP), StoryWeaver
Geography Jamnagar District, Gujarat — Year 1 Pilot (100 schools)
Grades Served Classes 1–5
Evaluation Type Pilot process evaluation — first 6 months of implementation
Proposal Deadline 18 June 2026

1. About This RfP

Pratham Books invites proposals from independent researchers, evaluation firms, and research consortia to conduct a pilot evaluation of the Digital Reading Programme (DRP) during the first six months of its Year 1 implementation in Jamnagar District, Gujarat. The evaluation will generate evidence to inform course corrections during implementation, support learning for future scale, and provide accountability to programme funders and partners.

The DRP is a teacher-led, story-based digital reading programme hosted on StoryWeaver. It serves children in Classes 1–5 through a structured cluster model: teachers select a reading level and theme, and receive a set of curated storybooks with a connecting thread and a mandatory whole-class activity. Completion is tracked digitally through StoryWeaver. Year 1 covers 100 schools in Jamnagar District, with high-touch monitoring in a sample of 20 schools. The evaluator’s work will be complementary to the programme team’s own M&E.

2. Programme Context and Theory of Change

2.1 Programme Design

The DRP is built around 150 books across Classes 1–5 assigned to reading levels and themes. Teachers navigate the programme by choosing from four reading levels and six themes, receiving a book selection matched to both choices. The DRP operates as a one-screen-to-full-classroom model. A single shared device is used by the teacher to present books to the entire class together. This shared viewing model is fundamental to the programme’s design and shapes how access, infrastructure, and engagement questions must be framed. The programme is joyful-reading-first. Language learning outcomes (mapped to NEP 2020 and NIPUN Bharat) are embedded as facilitation prompts for teachers. The design philosophy prioritises teacher agency and child engagement.

2.2 Implementation Context

The Year 1 pilot covers 100 schools in 3 blocks of Jamnagar District, Gujarat. Implementation is managed by a small dedicated team, with intensive support for the high-touch monitoring sample of 20 schools. A key design consideration is the use of existing digital infrastructure in schools. The programme is built to work within what schools already have. Understanding how infrastructure shapes access and frequency of use is a central evaluation question.

3. Evaluation Purpose and Scope

This is a pilot process evaluation covering the first six months of DRP implementation in Jamnagar District. Its purpose is to document and understand how the programme operates in practice, surface implementation challenges and enablers early enough to inform course corrections, and generate grounded insights on teacher use and early reading engagement signals. It is not a summative evaluation and does not require experimental or quasi-experimental design. The evaluation has five thematic pillars, described below. Pillars A–D are process-focused. Pillar E introduces a light-touch indicative measure of language outcomes, in response to state interest in enhancing oral reading among its students. Evaluators are invited to propose methods appropriate to each.

4. Evaluation Questions

Pillar A: Access and Infrastructure

EQ1. Are teachers able to access and use StoryWeaver with regular frequency within existing school digital infrastructure?

  • Are teachers able to access the rooms with the devices regularly to use the program at the recommended frequency?
  • Where infrastructure gaps exist, how are teachers adapting — and what, if any, workarounds are being used?

Pillar B: Progress in Oral Reading

EQ2. Do teachers observe progress in children’s oral reading over the first six months of the programme?

  • Can teachers characterise any shift in children’s reading confidence, fluency, or engagement with text over the pilot period?
  • Do teachers find the DRP useful in supporting children’s reading fluency and language outcomes — and in what ways?

Pillar C: Demand for Physical Books

EQ3. Do children ask for physical books after experiencing the digital programme?

  • Do teachers report children asking to see, or borrow physical copies of books they have read on StoryWeaver?
  • Are there observations of children attempting to access books on their own initiative outside the DRP session?

Pillar D: Demand for More Frequent Use

EQ4. Do children express or demonstrate a desire to use the programme more frequently than the current schedule allows?

  • Do teachers observe children asking for the DRP session when it hasn’t happened as scheduled?
  • Are teachers themselves motivated to use the programme more frequently? Why?
  • What does the frequency of teacher-initiated sessions look like across the pilot, and how does it compare to the recommended pace?
  • Are there structural constraints (timetable, device access, competing demands) that limit frequency beyond teacher motivation?

Pillar E: Language Outcomes (Indicative)

EQ5. Is there any change in children’s language abilities between the start and end of the six-month pilot?

  • Administer a simple reading fluency test to a small purposive sample of children (approximately 5–6 per class, Classes 2–3) across 8–10 high-touch schools at baseline and endline.
  • Document any observable shift in reading fluency between baseline and endline across the sample.

5. Scope of Work

5.1 Geographic and Sample Scope

Parameter High-touch Sample Full Pilot
Schools 20 (Jamnagar District) 100 schools
District Jamnagar, Gujarat (3 blocks) Jamnagar, Gujarat
Grades Classes 1–5 Classes 1–5
Proposed Visits 2 rounds (baseline + endline) Platform data analysis
Primary Respondents Teachers, children (FGDs) StoryWeaver data

The evaluator is expected to work primarily within the high-touch sample of 20 schools. StoryWeaver platform data (book completion rates, session frequency, level and theme selections) will be shared for the full pilot cohort of 100 schools and should be incorporated into the analysis.

5.2 Key Deliverables

Deliverable Description Timeline
Inception Report Evaluation framework, tools, sampling plan, work plan Month 1
Baseline Documentation Infrastructure mapping, student baseline outcomes, teacher readiness, access conditions Month 2
Pilot Evaluation Report Full findings across all five pillars with recommendations for continued implementation Month 6
Stakeholder Presentation Slide deck and debrief with programme teams Month 6

6. Eligibility and Applicant Profile

Applications are welcome from independent researchers, academic institutions, evaluation firms, and research consortia. We are particularly interested in applicants with:

  • Experience in education programme evaluation in Indian primary school contexts.
  • Experience evaluating digital learning programmes, including familiarity with platform-based data as an evidence source.
  • Demonstrated capacity for qualitative and mixed-methods research with children.
  • Familiarity with foundational literacy frameworks, including NIPUN Bharat.
  • Field presence or the ability to deploy researchers in Jamnagar District, Gujarat.

7. Proposal Requirements

Proposals should not exceed 8 pages (excluding CVs and evaluation samples) and must include the following sections:

Section Expected Content
Understanding of the Programme Applicant’s reading of the DRP’s design intent and the evaluation challenge
Evaluation Approach Proposed framework, how EQs will be addressed, adaptations to suggested methods
Sampling and Field Plan How the high-touch sample will be used; any additional sampling proposed
Team and CVs Roles, relevant experience, and field capacity in Gujarat
Work Plan Phased timeline against deliverables across the 6-month evaluation period
Budget Itemised by activity; separate line for field costs
Ethical Considerations Approach to child-safe research, consent, and data handling

8. Evaluation Criteria

Criterion Weight
Depth of understanding of the programme and its evaluation context 25%
Methodological rigour and appropriateness, especially for child-facing methods 35%
Team experience and field capacity in Jamnagar District, Gujarat 20%
Budget reasonableness and transparency 20%

9. Submission and Contact

Proposals must be submitted as two PDFs (Technical and Financial Proposal) with the exact email subject line:
DRP Pilot Evaluation Proposal — [Organisation Name]

The absolute deadline for submission is 18 June 2026.

Submit Your Proposal