The Research for Effective Education Programming – Africa (REEP–A) Task Order, awarded in September 2016, is a five-year project within the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Africa Bureau. The primary objective of REEP–A is to generate and effectively disseminate Africa regional and country-specific education data, analysis, and research to inform the prioritization of needs and education investment decisions. One research focus under REEP–A is to explore how teachers’ language proficiency and literacy in the language of instruction (LOI) influence students’ learning outcomes. It is hypothesized that the teachers’ level of language proficiency and literacy in the LOI can either facilitate student learning, if high; or impede learning, if low. However, limited data are available on how teacher language and literacy skill levels precisely relate to student outcomes. Exploring this relationship requires having a valid and reliable tool to measure teachers’ language and literacy skills. USAID therefore commissioned the development of the Teacher Language and Literacy Assessment (TLLA) to assess teachers’ language proficiency and literacy in the required LOI. The TLLA, adaptable to any language, consists of subtasks assessing speaking, listening, reading, and writing, as well as vocabulary and grammar, in the language(s) used for teaching and learning at the primary school level in a given context. It is envisioned that policymakers, researchers, and other education stakeholders can use the TLLA to collect data on teachers’ linguistic assets and gaps in the languages that their role requires them to use. These data could be useful for identifying factors contributing to student learning outcomes, informing teacher training and professional development needs, designing teacher deployment policies, and evaluating the impact of interventions aimed at improving teachers’ or students’ language and literacy skills. The aim of this report is to present the new tool and disseminate the initial findings around its technical adequacy. The international community has directed considerable effort to assessing and understanding the impact of language on students’ literacy and language skills, and the TLLA is a complementary tool that shows promise for understanding teachers’ language assets and needs.

This report presents a cross-country analysis of three qualitative case studies completed in Jordan, Uganda, and Bangladesh in late 2019. It reflects a snapshot of information about the refugee experience of early childhood services, based on interviews, focus group discussions, site visits and policy document review. The crosscountry analysis investigates individual and group stories and experiences to synthesize common themes with the goal of identifying recommendations to improve the provision of early childhood services for young refugee children and their families.

This qualitative case study describes the experiences of young refugee children and their families accessing early childhood development (ECD) services in Bangladesh in late 2019. The study team collected data through key informant interviews with representatives of the Bangladesh government, national non-governmental organizations, humanitarian agencies and service providers. Focus group discussions were held with refugee families living in both older and newer (post-2017 influx) camps near Cox's Bazar. The study team supplemented key informant interviews and focus group with policy document review. Analysis is presented along the lines of policy and practice, with a focus on the respective roles of the government and international agencies in delivering ECD services to refugee families.

The central role that the school and classroom environment or ‘school climate’ plays in social and emotional learning (SEL) is well documented, albeit mostly from US-based studies. RTI International sought to understand how schools in Malawi and Uganda organized themselves to provide positive and supportive places for children to learn and to develop socially and emotionally. The narratives captured in this study help explain how teacher behaviors and school culture serve to nurture social and emotional (SE) skills. Teachers, students, parents, and school management committee (SMC) members discussed the importance of teacher encouragement, friendliness and approachability, appreciation, understanding of and listening to student viewpoints, and modeling of cooperative teacher–teacher interactions to support SEL. School qualities identified as important for SEL included cooperation, student clubs and sports, a violence-free environment, freedom of expression, and commitment to equality. The findings yield insights into what schools can do to develop a culture of SEL, in and outside the classroom.

This study sought to identify the factors in the organizational culture and environment of a small sample primary schools in Malawi and Uganda that make them more (or less) conducive to children’s social and emotional development. The research team postulated that social and emotional learning are not products of the implementation of an “SEL” curriculum, but rather are inherently dependent on and result from the nature of the school climate.

RTI conducted a small pilot study in Malawi and Uganda to identify the factors in the organizational culture and environment of primary schools that make them more (or less) conducive to children’s social and emotional development. The research team postulated that social and emotional learning are not products of the implementation of an “SEL” curriculum, but rather are inherently dependent on and result from the nature of the school climate.

Panelist #4 on Measuring School-Related Gender-Based Violence: Tools, Resources, and Lessons Learned Panel. For many children around the world, schools are danger zones and places to be feared. UNICEF’s 2018 report on SRGBV noted that one third of teenagers (ages 13-15), globally, experience bullying. It is hard to imagine positive learning outcomes amidst such prevalence of violence as noted by UNGEI in their 2015 report: “widespread gender-based violence in and around schools seriously undermines the achievement of quality, inclusive and equitable education for all children.” Yet, policy makers, funders, and implementers lack the accurate prevalence information needed to inform effective programming that successfully addresses the roots of SRGBV and the way it is manifested in the lives of children. There remains a gap in global, comparable data on these experiences of violence: “Serious obstacles for documenting violence exist in many countries, and social taboos and fear of repercussion limit the safe spaces available for children to acknowledge and report experiences of school-related gender-based violence” (UNGEI 2015). Country data from Uganda supports this statement where 85% of students surveyed did not report cases of violence they had witnessed or personally experienced for fear of retaliation, discrimination, or further victimization (RTI International, 2018). To explore a new method to minimize barriers to collecting reliable prevalence data on SRGBV, this study piloted the use of Audio Computer-Assisted Self-Interview (ACASI) and compared it to the traditional Face-to-Face (FTF) method. ACASI removes the assessor from the survey administration and, therefore, increases both the privacy and confidentiality of the survey. The study piloted ACASI with a small sample of P5 and P7 students (ages 10-14 approximately) in nine Uganda public primary schools with the two specific research questions: 1) Does ACASI improve the process of data collection? 2) Does ACASI improve the quality of data collected? The study found, on average, that students using ACASI reported experiencing two more acts of SRGBV than students who participated in the FTF method, and that students using ACASI were more likely to report an incident of SRGBV than the FTF students for two-thirds of questions asked. The study provides evidence that students are more likely to endorse having experienced SRGBV when using ACASI than when asked by an interviewer. Although this study was a pilot and therefore small-scale, these results underscore the importance of the method of data collection in collecting reliable prevalence data.

Presentation from Lauren Edwards at USAID's Dissemination of the Global Guidance on School-Related Gender-Based Violence.

information on the available supply of early grade reading (EGR) materials. The approach included the development of a questionnaire and a protocol for data collection. The survey results will serve primarily to inform the Global Reading Repository by providing a detailed description of the current supply of EGR materials in African languages. This document specifically summarizes the findings from Early Grade Reading Materials Survey conducted in Zambia. (Part of the DERP program).

The purpose of the Reading Materials Survey was to develop an approach to collecting information on the available supply of early grade reading (EGR) materials. The approach included the development of a questionnaire and a protocol for data collection. The survey results will serve primarily to inform the Global Reading Repository by providing a detailed description of the current supply of EGR materials in African languages. This document specifically summarizes the findings from Early Grade Reading Materials Survey conducted in Uganda.