On January 18, 2022, the USAID’s Bureau for Asia collaborated with RTI International to reflect on the journey of early grade reading around the globe. The first presenter, Rosalina J. Villaneza, gave an introduction of national-scale early grade literacy assessments in the Philippines. The second presenter, Pilar Robledo, discussed the advent of USAID early grade reading programs, using the EGR Barometer to explore the impact of these programs. The final presenter, Luis Crouch, reflected on research and experience of early grade reading programs, suggesting the next steps on this journey to improve early grade literacy worldwide. View the recording below.

Based on 2018 Operational Research on contextualizing SEL in the Tanzanian context, this study sought to: 1) improve student learning through a focus on the social and emotional climate of the classroom; and 2) encourage reflection on existing classroom management and pedagogical practices and on activities that foster positive classroom climate and SEL; 3) foster dialogue about the goal of these activities and practices and the potential barriers to implementing them in the classroom; and 4) co-construct activities that achieve the goals and help address the barriers. It's primary aim was to build on what teachers already do well and encourage them to reflect on certain classroom values that are important to them that may be potential barriers to implementing new activities. The Activity monitored both how teachers engaged with two different methods of facilitating reflection and co-creation as well as how their attitudes and behaviors changed throughout the process. The aim of this report was to monitor and document the experience of implementing this activity to guide future practice.

This final report describes the progress made from October 1, 2015 - December 31, 2018 under the Tanzania National Early Grade Reading Assessment activity. USAID/Tanzania contracted RTI International to conduct two rounds of student assessments in early grade reading.

The Government of Malawi, through the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) with financial and technical support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is implementing a National Reading Programme (NRP) aimed at improving the reading skills of Malawian students in Standards 1–4, nationwide. USAID is supporting the NRP by providing technical and financial support through three activities: (1) MERIT: The Malawi Early Grade Reading Improvement Activity; (2) SEGREM: Strengthening Early Grade Reading in Malawi; and (3) YESA: Yesani Ophunzira Activity (Assess the Learners). The funding for all three activities will end between 2018 and 2021, and one of the objectives of MERIT is to ensure pathways for sustainability of reading outcomes are instituted such that gains made under the NRP are sustained after USAID support ends. As a first step, MERIT conducted a capacity assessment of the education system in Malawi to determine the extent to which the system is performing a set of core functions that have been shown to promote and sustain learning (Crouch & DeStefano, 2017). These are: (1) setting and communicating expectations; (2) monitoring against expectations; and (3) providing targeted support to schools and teachers. The goal of the capacity assessment exercise was to identify the key areas and opportunities to strengthen the education system’s capacity for producing and sustaining learning outcomes. The capacity assessment exercise involved extensive research and participatory consultation processes at national, district, and school levels, and under the guidance of an Institutional System Strengthening (ISS) Taskforce convened by the MoEST. The assessment exercise reached 13 of 34 educational districts and included focus group discussions (FGDs) with district and school-level personnel and community members and interviews with key leaders at MoEST central office. The assessment team also reviewed key policy documents and plans. The assessment exercise was undertaken between March and May 2018 by MERIT staff with support of members from the ISS Taskforce.

RTI’s Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, Learning, and Adapting (MERLA) Community of Practice is proud to launch a free course geared towards the international development community. The course is designed for individuals of all practices (monitoring and evaluation, project management, business development, policy planning) and is intended to provide a foundation for MERLA basics. The five modules cover topics including fundamentals of program design, developing a project logic model (e.g. Theory of Change, Results Framework, etc), designing performance indicators, developing data collection instruments, and much more! No certificate is provided. The course is licensed under Creative Commons CC-BY-SA.

These navigation guidelines can be used with the MERLA course developed by RTI International for open access. https://www.rti.org/monitoring-evaluation-research-learning-and-adapting

La Evaluación de Matemáticas en los Primeros Grados (EGMA) Toolkit

The purpose of the Inclusive Education Community Mobilization Strategy is to articulate ways in which the All Children Reading - Cambodia project can use its increasing experience supporting more inclusive early primary education to mobilize a growing group of MoEYS staff, other stakeholders, school-level personnel, and partners and community members as advocates for and supporters of inclusion.