This brochure describes the CIFF-funded Kenya Tayari program, which aimed to improve the quality of pre-primary education in four counties in Kenya.

‘Tayari’, a Swahili word meaning ‘ready’, aims to increase the proportion of pre-primary children transiting to primary school with requisite school readiness competencies. The expected result of the Tayari pilot program is improved learning outcomes. The program impacts approximately 130,000 children in 2,200 early childhood centers in Kenya within four selected counties, namely: Uasin Gishu, Laikipia, Nairobi and Siaya. Tayari implemented the pilot program over four years by working with government officers to strengthen the existing pre-primary system. This compilation of Tayari success stories has been documented by the staff who implemented the program implementing staff. The success stories demonstrate the impact the program has had on its beneficiaries and highlights their experiences. It contains stories from teachers (who are the real classroom implementers), coaches and Sub-County Early Childhood Development and Education officers that have seen how Tayari has positively influenced teachers, learners and the larger community.

This concept paper is targeted at Ministries of Education in developing countries, without an existing policy for Open Educational Resources (OERs), that are considering open licensing of early reading materials developed, in whole or in part, with USAID funding. The purpose of the paper is to: a) provide further background on the rationale for open licensing; b) explain what open licensing is and how Creative Commons licenses operate; and c) answer ministries’ most pressing questions about the implications of open licensing.

This is Part 4 of a four-part comprehensive evaluation of the public textbook procurement system in Morocco. This final section of the Strengthening the Textbook Production Chain in Morocco series addresses the issue of how to ensure a long-term, sustainable system of textbook financing for all students in government schools. It also explores options available to the Ministry of Education of Morocco, based on examples from countries that have responded to the same challenges.

This is Part 3 of a four-part comprehensive evaluation of the public textbook procurement system in Morocco. It is an overview of the challenges and opportunities of school-based digital teaching and learning, intended to provide a framework for policymakers in Morocco who are considering further investments in information and communication technology (ICT) for learning in government schools. Specifically, it addresses the area of digital textbooks. The overview poses questions that policymakers should ask and provides examples of how other countries have responded to such questions.

This is Part 2 of a four-part comprehensive evaluation of the public textbook procurement system in Morocco. It documents the Ministry of Education's textbook procurement system processes and presents the results of a survey of supplemental early reading materials in Arabic available in the Moroccan market. It also offers recommendations on how to increase the use of supplemental reading materials in the classroom.

This is Part 1 of a four-part comprehensive evaluation of the public textbook procurement system in Morocco. It offers recommendations on how to improve textbook quality, how to strengthen the procurement system --including budgeting and financing--, and developing a policy for digital textbooks.

This document focuses on the instructional materials for early reading in Hausa developed under Nigeria RARA. It documents the process through which the materials were conceptualized. The intention is to provide guidance to similar projects implemented by donors, ministries of education, non-government organizations (NGOs), and private publishers. The lessons documented are most applicable in contexts in which existing materials do not adequately support early reading instruction or are very scarce. While Nigeria RARA materials are exemplars of a research-based approach to materials development, they are pilot versions. Similar initiatives are encouraged to build upon this model and make improvements of their own.

Cultivating Dynamic Educators: Case Studies in Teacher Behavior Change in Africa and Asia responds to growing recognition by international education professionals, policy makers, and funding partners of the need for qualified teachers and interest in the subject of teacher professional development (also referred to as “teacher behavior change”). The book responds to important questions that are fundamental to improving teaching quality by influencing teaching practice. These questions include: How do we provide high-quality training at scale? How do we ensure that training transfers to change in practice? What methods are most cost-effective? How do we know what works? The book includes case studies from seven countries--Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Malawi, Nigeria, Philippines and Zambia--describing different approaches to teacher behavior change and illustrates how specific implementation choices were made for each context. Individual chapters document lessons learned as well as methodologies used for discerning lessons. The key conclusion is that no single effort is enough on its own; teacher behavior change requires a system-wide view and concerted, coordinated inputs from a range of stakeholders.

The USAID/Uganda Literacy Achievement and Retention Activity (LARA) undertook an assessment of an eight-week social and behavior change communication (SBCC) pilot campaign in the Ssekanyonyi Coordinating Center, Mityana district. The purpose of the communication campaign was to improve parent’s engagement in their children’s reading practice at home. To evaluate the campaign’s impact, DLC Consult collected data for the baseline survey in June 2017 and for the endline survey in August 2017. The survey team interviewed 906 parents at baseline and 936 parents at endline.