TERMS OF REFERENCE
Endline Evaluation of the Coach Up Mobile Application
WISE III Project — Ultra Poor Graduation Programme for PVTGs, Jharkhand, India
1. Background and Programme Context
Trickle Up Program India, in partnership with Pravah and with funding from CISCO and the Whole Planet Foundation, is implementing the WISE III project. The project deploys and tests Coach Up — a modular mobile application designed to strengthen last-mile coaching for economic inclusion — within an Ultra Poor Graduation programme targeting Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) in Jharkhand, India. The primary beneficiary community is the Paharia people, who speak Pahariya as their native language.
Coach Up is a structured yet adaptable digital coaching tool comprising seven modules: (1) Introduction to the Graduation Approach, (2) Building a Coaching Agreement, (3) Knowing Your Household Reality, (4) Self-Esteem, (5) Setting Goals, (6) Action Planning / Business Planning, and (7) Gender and Gender-Based Violence (GBV). The application aims to improve coaching consistency and quality, increase coach confidence, and enhance participant engagement.
Programme Cohorts
The project operates across two distinct cohorts, which form the core comparison unit of this evaluation:
- Cohort 2 (Treatment Group): 805 participants and 20 coaches from the Paharia community. This cohort receives coaching supported by the Coach Up mobile application and is the primary programme cohort for which a full baseline was conducted in January 2025.
- Cohort 1 (Comparison Group): 507 participants and 15 coaches. This cohort receives the same Ultra Poor Graduation programme with standard coaching, but without the Coach Up mobile application. Cohort 1 serves as the comparison group at endline.
The total programme population is 1,206 participants and 35 coaches, all female and from the Paharia PVTG community.
A baseline study was completed in January 2025 covering 144 participants and 12 coaches from Cohort 2, using a mixed-methods design that combined structured KAP (Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice) surveys with FGDs and KIIs. The baseline captured the starting conditions before Coach Up was fully integrated into coaching sessions and established benchmarks across coaching quality, participant engagement, self-esteem, gender norms, digital literacy, and livelihoods.
Key baseline findings included:
- Low awareness of the Graduation Approach among participants (only 51% knew coaches had informed them of the project); coaches demonstrated moderate knowledge but struggled to articulate coaching components distinctly from government scheme linkage.
- Extremely low self-esteem scores: participants averaged 15.80 on the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), with 42% in the 'low' range; coaches averaged 13.08 with 58% in the 'low' range.
- Very limited goal-setting and action-planning practices: only 13% of participants had set any savings goals, and only 1 participant had prepared a written action plan.
- Gender norms strongly entrenched: 100% of participants reported that household chores should mostly be done by women; only 1% felt women should have equal say in financial decisions.
- Nascent coach-participant relationships: most participants rated communication, trust, and coach helpfulness as only 'slight.'
- Mixed digital readiness: 32% of participants could use a smartphone; 45% expressed negative feelings toward mobile-based coaching, primarily due to limited digital literacy.
- Coaches responded positively to Coach Up: 72% found content well-aligned; 100% rated the coaching methods (animations, voiceovers, exercises) as effective, though the Pahariya vs Hindi language gap remains a significant usability challenge.
Proposal Submission Requirements
Interested evaluators / firms should submit the following by the application deadline:
- A technical proposal (max 10 pages excluding annexes) including: understanding of the assignment, proposed evaluation methodology and design, work plan and timeline, team composition with CVs, and any value additions or innovations proposed.
- A financial proposal (submitted separately and sealed): detailed budget with line-item breakdown.
- CV(s) of the lead evaluator and all key team members.
- Two samples of similar evaluation reports conducted within the last 3 years.
- Contact details of two professional references.
Proposals should be submitted to atirkey@trickleupindia.org with the subject line: 'WISE III Endline Evaluation — Application'. The application deadline is 27th March 2026 and interview schedule will be communicated only to the shortlisted applicants.
For queries regarding this ToR, please contact the Trickle Up Program INC.
For detailed information, please check the complete version of the RFP attached below.