Evaluation & Selection Process - Learning from the Extremes

Evaluation and Selection Process

Evaluation and awards

The evaluation criteria are based on the following dimensions:

Technological and Pedagogical Innovation & Value Proposition

What are the pedagogical and technical challenges of the proposed project; Is the proposed project technologically and pedagogically innovative; what is the school technology readiness Level of the participating school(s) (in relation with the highly equipped and connected classroom (HECC); Are the proposed approach and the intended outcomes clear and thorough; How original / unique is the proposed project in comparison with competitors.

Team Capacity, Work plan & Cost Effectiveness

Team Capacity; Relevant Background Knowledge; Soundness of the work plan to ensure the feasibility of the project (in relation with the school’s status and needs); Is the proposed project relevant to the needs of the schools and its rural community.

Impact Potential, Transferability and Sustainability

The quality of the proposed school project and its sustainability; the definition of key performance indicators (KPIs) and success criteria; The potential for scaling up and transferability.

Learning from the Extremes engages educational experts, members of the consortium in the process. The selected experts will sign a declaration of confidentiality concerning the contents of the proposals they assess, and they will confirm that there is no conflict of interest.

The application process includes an on-line application that need to address in a concise way the following issues:

scope, needs definition, significance, methods and tools for the proposed solution, justification of innovation
description of intended outcomes, key performance indicators (KPIs) and success criteria
technology readiness level of the school infrastructure
impact (changes and benefits) plan, risk and barriers analysis
synthesis of the consortium (in case of a network of schools applying), lead applicant, team members and roles
budget analysis of the equipment and the services according to the template provided

The selection process includes 3 stages

Initial assessment of applications against the eligibility criteria. This stage will be a pass-fail evaluation.
Eligible applications will be clustered according on national level, and they will be referred to the Review Panel to assess it against the same criteria. The Review Panel will consist of 3 experts, members of the partner organisations. Different Review Panels will be formed from a pool of Experts depending on the number of applications to be evaluated, to keep workload minimum. This stage will use an evaluation matrix process (based on the template of the application form) based on the set of criteria, where each evaluator at the Review Panel will rank how well each proposal meets each criterion (using a scale of 0-5 points for each criterion and different weighting factors for each set of criteria according to the type of the evaluator’s expertise). The evaluation matrix provides a criterion-by-criterion score as well as an overall score for each proposal which can be used for the ranking of the short-listed proposals.
Final selection based on merit will be done by the Learning from the Extremes Selection Panel (includes the Project Coordinator, the coordinator of the Review Panel, the representatives of the National Coordinators and the Ethics Manager) based on the recommendation of the Review Panel. At this stage a scored analysis of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) can be used to facilitate the process. The contribution of the requested funding in the schools’ digital strategy to each of the expected benefit categories (they will be fully described in the call of proposals) will be appraised via a Cost Benefit Analysis within the development plan of the project to be selected. Applicants will fill in the necessary fields and they will define the key areas of the investment (infrastructure, content, tools), the potential benefits and the measures of success in the time frame of the 12 months period as well the long-term plans.

For each selected project a final evaluation will be organised to assess the outcomes of the project against its success criteria. The final evaluation panel will consist of members of the Learning from the Extremes Selection Panel and the original Review Panel. Learning from the Extremes has designed a fast-track application-evaluation-selection process, still quite demanding as the consortium considers that the overall success of the incubation process is highly dependent on the selection of the best and most-promising projects.

Submission system

In order to be eligible, proposals must be submitted through the Submission Page (https://learningfromtheextremes.eu/submit-proposal/). Proposals submitted by any other means will not be evaluated.

Language

Projects will be submitted in English or in the national language of the participating school or network of schools. The use of English is highly recommended.

Multiple Submissions

Only one proposal per applicant can be submitted to LfE in this open call. If more than one proposal per applicant is identified, only the last proposal which has been submitted in order of time will be evaluated.

Completeness of the application

All sections of the application form must be completed. Proposals with missing parts will not be evaluated.

The data provided should be actual, true and complete and should allow assessment of the proposal.

Deadline

Proposals must be submitted before the Deadline. The call will be open between May 15^th, 2022, 10:00 CEST and September 30^th, 2022, 17:00 CEST. Applications must be submitted by the closing time and date of the open call. Late proposals will not be admitted.