Commentary

Calculating the Educational Impact of COVID-19 (Part II): Using Data from Successive Grades to Estimate Learning Loss

Wed, 05/13/2020 - 15:51 By

A couple of weeks ago, we set the stage for developing evidence-based, data-driven answers to questions about learning loss resulting from COVID-19 related school closures. We have now analyzed 27 existing datasets from low and middle income countries (LMICs) to estimate year-on-year growth in student reading achievement under normal conditions, as a starting point for developing models to estimate learning losses (relative to expected growth). Since learning loss will not be equal for all students, we focus on examining full distributions of scores in order to produce more precise estimates than could be obtained by relying only on average change. These analyses have yielded promising evidence of common trends across countries, grades, and languages—leading us toward a new model of estimating loss. 

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Going Virtual for Project Implementation – Decisions and Considerations

Wed, 05/06/2020 - 00:00 By

As we all adjust to working from home, we face many challenges, both personal and professional. Yet, we still deliver the work we were contracted to do for our clients and with our partner governments around the world. Therefore, we need to find ways to adapt, shift priorities, and collaborate in new ways in order to effectively implement project activities. A team from RTI International has been working on a series of recommendations, decision-support tools, and step-by-step guides based on their expertise from decades of working with education technologies in low-resource settings.

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Inclusive from the Start: Building Inclusivity into Education Programming During COVID-19 School Closures—and Beyond

Thu, 04/30/2020 - 17:27 By inclusive education

All children have the right to learn.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the majority of education systems globally, impacting an estimated 91% of the world’s student population (UNESCO, 2020). Until more information is known about the virus and how to safely return to traditional school-based learning, countries are seeking ways to provide learning so that children and youth still benefit from education while at home. Unfortunately, during times of crisis, people who are the most marginalized risk being omitted from emergency response programming.

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Audio Computer-Assisted Self-Interview: Improving Data Quality to Address School-Related Gender-Based Violence

Mon, 04/27/2020 - 22:09 By SRGBV, ACASI

How do we as researchers know that the data we collect reflects the full unbiased experience of the student, especially when asking sensitive questions with no right or wrong answer? A team at RTI International designed a small pilot to unpack this very question. 

This article was co-written by: Julianne Norman, Maitri Punjabi and Lauren Edwards

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