Advisory
Advisory and applied research
Research and policy advisory for education systems under multilingual conditions.
I work with international organizations, ministries, and foundations on research, policy advisory, and program evaluation — with a regional focus on Morocco, the Maghreb, and Francophone Africa.
My advisory practice is built on the same intellectual ground as my academic program: how education systems open or close access to knowledge for the children and teachers they serve. The work is technically rigorous and policy-aware, conducted in English, French, and Arabic, and grounded in the institutional realities of education systems in low- and middle-income settings.
Sector focus
I take engagements in five areas where my training, research program, and language profile generate distinctive analytic value.
Early childhood education quality and inclusivity. Classroom-process quality, language-of-instruction policy in early years, ECE access for marginalized populations (migrant families, rural Amazigh communities, children with disabilities, urban poor). I am familiar with MELQO and EGRA instruments and have applied them in Moroccan contexts.
Multilingual and bilingual education policy. Language-of-instruction architecture, translanguaging pedagogies, plurilingual competence frameworks (CEFR-CV mediation), curricular design under linguistic complexity, teacher preparation for multilingual classrooms. Theoretical contributions on registerial multilingualism, with empirical grounding in Moroccan Darija–Arabic–French–English systems.
Teacher quality and training systems. Teacher knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge under multilingual conditions, in-service teacher education design, instructional coaching, TALIS and TALIS-TKS analytical work, teacher-quality diagnostics in resource-constrained settings.
Instructional quality measurement. Classroom observation protocols, instructional-quality construct validation, framework development for context-sensitive measurement. Comfortable with CLASS-tradition tools, didactique-tradition perspectives, and the development of bespoke instruments where existing tools fail to travel.
Education program evaluation and M&E. Mixed-methods evaluation design, qualitative interview methodology, secondary analysis of international large-scale assessments (PISA, TIMSS, TALIS, PIRLS), conceptual framework development for evaluation programs.
Methodology
I bring three things to advisory engagements that are not separable in my work: empirical rigor (training in classroom observation, cognitive load measurement, mixed methods, EGRA, qualitative analysis); systems-level analytic capability (institutional design, policy architecture, sequencing, leverage analysis); and a working knowledge of how education research, policy, and practice articulate (or fail to articulate) under multilingual postcolonial conditions.
My academic training is in the empirical wing of education research, but my work moves fluidly into conceptual framework development, comparative policy analysis, and applied program design. I am comfortable producing technical reports, peer-reviewed publications, briefs for ministerial audiences, and the kind of high-trust strategic memo that needs to land with a senior official in one read.
Recent engagements
A selection of recent and current advisory and applied work.
European Training Foundation
Education and skills consultation engagement with the European Training Foundation.
Morocco Innovation and Evaluation Lab — Preschool diagnostic
Advisory work on a national preschool diagnostic in Morocco, drawing on MELQO instruments and the broader landscape of ECE quality measurement.
ICESCO
Earlier consultation work with the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Regional Center for Quality and Excellence in Education (RCQE)
Institutional partnership channel between ISE/UM6P and RCQE on education quality and teacher development in Morocco. Currently in development.
Geographic focus
My primary regional focus is Morocco, the Maghreb, and Francophone Africa, with secondary engagement in the broader MENA region. I have active research collaborations across North America (Harvard, Notre Dame), Europe (Université de Sherbrooke, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle), and the African continent, and I am a founding-cohort member of a UM6P-ISE consulting roster oriented toward Sub-Saharan and Francophone African education systems.
Languages
Working: English, French, Arabic (Modern Standard and Moroccan Darija). Institutional correspondence, reporting, and presentation conducted in all three. Reading and informal: Spanish, Portuguese, Amazigh (in development).
Engagement model
I take individual roster engagements (short and medium-term advisory, research, evaluation, and writing assignments) directly. For larger institutional contracts, multi-year partnerships, or work requiring a team, I work through the Institut des Sciences de l’Éducation at UM6P. The choice of engagement model depends on scope, duration, team requirements, and institutional fit.
Indicative engagement scales:
- Short advisory (one to four weeks) — strategic memos, framework reviews, evaluation design contributions, expert input on existing programs.
- Medium-term research and evaluation (one to six months) — empirical studies, program evaluations, conceptual framework development, policy briefs, technical reports.
- Multi-year partnerships (one to three years) — institutional research-practice partnerships, capacity-building programs, longitudinal evaluations, applied research initiatives.
Working together
For advisory inquiries, the most efficient first step is a short email to mariam.dahbi@um6p.ma describing the engagement, expected duration, and the institutional context. I aim to respond within three working days.
For larger institutional engagements channelled through UM6P-ISE, the ISE Program Officer Jihane Lahrour (jihane.lahrour@um6p.ma) is the operational point of contact; please copy both addresses on initial outreach.
I am currently considering engagements for late 2026 and through 2027.