EASPD is the European Association of Service providers for Persons with Disabilities. We are a European not-for-profit organisation and represent over 20,000 social service provider organisations across both Europe and disability. The main objective of EASPD is to promote equal opportunities for people with disabilities through effective and high-quality service systems.  

Tender specification 

EASPD is looking for a Researcher/Research team to carry out a study Quality of Life Index for Inclusive Education and how to use it in the Monitoring of the Child Guarantee.

Main elements of work 

As part of its “Commit!” Work Programme 2022 EASPD is looking for a Researcher/Research team to carry out a study on Quality of Life Index for Inclusive Education, how to use it in the Monitoring of the Child Guarantee.

In June 2021 the Council adopted the European Child Guarantee, to prevent and combat social exclusion by guaranteeing the access of children in need to a set of key services: early childhood education and care, education (including school-based activities), healthcare, nutrition and housing. Member States are now in the phase of drafting action plans for reforms to make this happen, which will have to include National framework for data collection, monitoring and evaluation. At EU level, the general process will be monitored by the Commission, in collaboration with the Social Protection Committee. Here you find the Council Recommendation, and its Staff Working Document accompanying the proposal, with more details about the planning and rationale for the initiative and monitoring.

The IE+ project has focused on upscaling the Quality of Life (QoL) Index. The project partner the University of Salamanca developed the Quality of Life Index for Inclusive Education. This Index provides a set of indicators describing the aspirations and needs of students with intellectual disabilities aged between 3-18 years old in eight relevant domains of their lives. Through these indicators, schools and high schools can make a shared reflection on the extent to which their school policies, cultures, and practices are focused on achieving personal outcomes in eight core domains that are sensitive to students’ access, participation, learning, and development to their fullest potential, the four goals of IE clearly stated in the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

EASPD would like thus to propose a study with the following objectives:

• Contribute to the EU and national monitoring of inclusive education through a scientific and tested tool that can not only measure inclusive education, but also its impact for the QoL of students
• Upscale the experience of Salamanca University, by sharing the process and outcomes on indicators for Quality of Life Index for Inclusive Education in Spain
• Provide a step-by-step approach for other countries willing to develop the same indicators in their countries;
• Provide recommendations to the EU on how to steer the process and on how develop a framework for country-specific monitoring of inclusive educations’ outcomes on Quality of Life.

The study should focus on:

• Describe the Quality-of-Life Index for Inclusive Education in Spain, its main features, objective and added value

• Describe the process to set up Quality of Life Index for Inclusive Education in Spain, and highlight the methodology, its main features, and the outcomes of the measuring

• Develop a step-by-step approach that other National Governments can use to develop similar indicators and methodologies for their schools, and recommendations on how and why doing this in the framework of their Child Guarantee national action plans
• Developing a set of recommendations to the EU on how to facilitate the national process to feed in the work to establishing a European Framework to monitor the Child Gurantee.
  1. The research is expected to be done through desktop research & analysis of the available evidence on the conceptual and applied implementation of the Quality of Life model and Quality of Life related tools. The target audience is mainly EU and national decision-makers, regional authorities, school staff, and service providers.
  2. The Researcher/Research team is expected to deliver:

1. A report containing the main findings of the study (around 30 pages long).
2. This report shall provide:

1. A chapter describing the Quality-of-Life Index for Inclusive Education in Spain, its main features, objective and added value;
2. A chapter about the process to set up Quality of Life Index for Inclusive Education in Spain, and highlight the methodology, its main features, and the outcomes of the measuring;
3. A chapter addressing national policymakers, proposing a step-by-step approach for upscaling the Index in other countries, to develop similar indicators and methodologies for their schools, with specific recommendations on how and why doing this in the framework of their Child Guarantee national action plans;
4. A concluding chapter addressing EU policymakers, with explanation of why this set of indicators is relevant and a set of recommendations to the EU on how to establish a framework to facilitate the national processs to feed in the European Framework to monitor the Child Guarantee.

1. An executive summary.
2. An abstract (around 150 words), a PPT/Doc where with catch phrases (or fun facts) of the study to use it for dissemination

A first overview of the findings in a presentable format by 15 September 2022.

Deadlines 

Deadline for application: 21/04/2022

Response to application: 25/04/2022

Applicants are expected to take on the assignment starting from as soon as possible.

Deadline for the deliverables: 31/10/2022

Expertise required 

The researcher(s) will be expected to demonstrate:

• Proven experience in the theme of this study.

• Proven experience in coordinating international research projects and collaborative work;

• Solid academic and/or professional background with regards to the social service sectors;

• Experience in data collection, analysis and presentation;

• Wide network of contacts and entry-points for collecting data at national level in EU countries; the selected candidate should ensure the processing of national data in local language(s)

• Experience of writing accessible reports for an NGO and/or EU/national organisation readership;

• Excellent command of English (written and oral)

• An operational approach to the integration of good management principles, including correct personal data management in line with the requirements of the GDPR.
• Only candidates from EU Member States are eligible for participating in the tender.

Selection and award criteria 

The applicant should submit the following documents until 21/04/2022; 23:59 CET:

• A technical proposal explaining how you plan to conduct the research, including a review of what has already been done, a proposed methodology, a work plan, resources needed, budget, etc. (not more than 2-3 pages).
• CV, including the list of published articles, reports, studies if relevant.

Only selected candidates will be contacted.

Content of the bids 

The tenderer will ensure that their bid clearly identifies how they meet the selection criteria. It would also be useful to see examples of previous work demonstrating their ability to write and present in English to a primarily NGO audience.

 Price and standard Contract

Payment will be made on receipt of the Draft Deliverables and the Final Deliverables, 40% and 60% respectively.

Only validated deliverables will be accepted and fully compensated.

The Contract will be drawn up between EASPD and the contractor.

The estimated price is maximum EUR 25.000, all taxes included.

The contract will be awarded taking into account the quality of submitted document and individual expertise. The contract will only be awarded to a tenderer who clearly proves that they have knowledge, experience and expertise which match at least 70% of the selection criteria.

Contact Details 

Please send bids to Irene Bertana, Senior Policy Officer, European Association of Service providers for Persons with Disabilities (EASPD): irene.bertana@easpd.eu.

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