About the job Project Lead/Senior Project Lead - Foundational Learning (SPMU)

About Central Square Foundation (CSF)

Founded in 2012, Central Square Foundation is a non-profit philanthropic foundation working with the vision of ensuring quality school education for all children in India. CSF has a mission focus on ensuring high-quality foundational learning for all children in India. To achieve this, we partner with individuals and social impact organizations to bring innovative solutions in education to build the capacity of the government to drive systemic impact. To know more about us and our work, visit www.centralsquarefoundation.org.

About The State Project Management Unit (SPMU)

Central Square Foundation has developed a comprehensive playbook to support state governments in undertaking large-scale reform initiatives. This playbook involves close collaboration with the State Project Directors offices and the development of a 5 to 7-year roadmap to fundamentally transform critical workstreams. You can find more information on this initiative by following the link provided here - Critical Workstreams for FLN.

Education

We have been working closely with the education departments of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Haryana since 2019. A version of our initial playbook in these states has also been adopted by the Ministry of Education when they launched the NIPUN Bharat mission. As of March 2023, we have achieved the following in all three states:

Improved all FLN materials used in all classrooms in all three states. Our efforts have introduced structured pedagogy-based teacher's guides, student workbooks, and additional FLN materials such as big books, reading charts, and math kits in all classrooms. This was achieved by working closely with state SCERTs and receiving academic design support from our partners in the coalition.
Introduced an assessment-informed instruction in all three states. This involves setting up formative and summative assessments with high-quality assessment items and a tracking mechanism to support teachers.
Established comprehensive continuous teacher training programs in all three states. This includes 5-7 days of face-to-face training and approximately 20-30 hours of digital training for all FLN teachers in the state.
Established a cadre of cluster-level mentors to visit schools monthly and provide instructional support to teachers and headmasters through classroom observations and spot tests. This support is facilitated using apps in all three states, which also enables the collection of valuable data to understand implementation across all schools.
Developed a comprehensive foundational learning monitoring system in the three states. This involves multiple apps used by mentors, teachers, and other administrators like BEO and DIETs, as well as a dashboard where all critical KPIs are visualized for the entire state.
Set up a monthly review structure where the state and districts review progress in FLN using the dashboard and take actions based on the data available from all classrooms. This review structure has been established in all three states.
Supported all three states in conducting regular sample annual endline student FLN achievement surveys, coupled with monthly dipstick sample surveys. The survey results are used to set up district-level FLN goals and communicate them across the entire state delivery channels to drive accountability.

For The Next Three Years, Central Square Foundation Is Committed To Raising Resources And Operating In These States With a Focus On Stabilizing The Aforementioned Inputs And Then Guiding All Districts Towards a Situation Where The Majority Of Students Achieve FLN Competence By The Time They Cross Grade 3. This Would Involve The Following Initiatives

Strengthening the project management units in each state and adopting districts to drive implementations through district project management units established by the government
Working closely with the Mission Director to continuously iterate the design of all academic inputs based on insights from the field. Additionally, influencing the state leadership to prevent any rollback of design changes already achieved
Collaborating with the Mission Director to improve the quality of data collected by mentors and other stakeholders regarding classroom observations and student assessments from all districts
Supporting all districts in understanding their progress with respect to the mission implementation and helping them develop action plans to achieve the mission's goals
Working closely with the State Mission Director to strengthen the district PMU by running FLN fellowships or placing CSF teams in select districts

Key Responsibilities

Diagnose problems, design solutions, and lead implementation using first principles.
Oversee on-site teams in delivering large-scale projects.
Collaborate with the State Government and Education Department to design, implement, monitor, and track initiatives.
Develop strategic roadmaps and implementation plans with clear goals.
Establish project management processes, ensuring alignment with defined objectives.
Coordinate interventions, partners, and external stakeholders (NGOs, experts, other states) to support State Government efforts.
Mentor team members and guide their professional growth.

Skills

Bachelor's/Master's from a reputed institute in public policy, management, economics, etc.
8+ years leading large-scale programs, preferably with government experience. - Strong problem-solving, strategic thinking, and data analysis skills.
Proven ability to set goals, manage teams, and meet deadlines.
Skilled at aligning stakeholders and fostering collaboration.
Fluent communicator in Hindi and English

Project Lead/Senior Project Lead – Foundational Learning (SPMU)