Most of the research that informs our understanding of children’s social-emotional learning (SEL) comes from Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic (WEIRD) societies where behavior is guided by a view of the self as autonomous, acting on individual preferences. In the subsistence agricultural communities (home to more than a quarter of the world’s population), obligations and communal goals override personal preferences and individuals see themselves as part of a social hierarchy. These contrasting models of the self have profound implications for SEL. Many studies underestimate these implications because they use assessment tools developed in WEIRD settings to understand SEL in lower- and middle-income countries. The aim of our study was to build an SEL assessment from the ground up, based on community definitions of valued competencies in southern Tanzania. In Study 1, Qualitative data from parents and teachers indicated that dimensions of social responsibility, such as obedience and respect, were valued highly. Teachers valued curiosity and self-direction more than parents, as competencies required for success in school. Quantitative assessments in Study 2 found that individuals more exposed to sociodemographic variables associated with WEIRD settings (urban residence and higher parental education and SES) were more curious, less obedient and had poorer emotional regulation. Overall findings suggest that the conceptualization of social-emotional competencies may differ between and within societies; commonly held assumptions of universality are not supported. Based on the findings of this study we propose a systematic approach to cultural adaptation of assessments. The approach does not rely solely on local participants to vet and adapt items but is instead guided by a rigorous cultural analysis. Such an analysis, we argue, requires us to put aside assumptions about behavioral development and to consider culture as a system with an origin and function. Such an approach has the potential to identify domains of SEL that are absent from commonly used frameworks and to uncover other domains that are conceptualised differently across contexts. In so doing, we can create SEL assessments and SEL programs that are genuinely relevant to the needs of participants.

Describes the development of mother tongue supplementary materials to support the implementation of the MTB-MLE approach to language education.

Existing research on the uptake of technologies for adult learning in the global South is often focused on the use of technology to reinforce in-person learning activities and too often involves an oversimplified “with or without” comparison (Gaible and Burns 2005, Slade et al. 2018). This MEL Framework for Technology-Supported Remote Training (MEL-Tech Framework) features a more nuanced perspective by introducing questions and indicators that look at whether the technology-supported training was designed based on a solid theory of learning; whether the technology was piloted; whether there was time allocated to fix bugs and improve functionality and user design; how much time was spent using the technology; and whether in-built features of the technology provided user feedback and metrics for evaluation. The framework presents minimum standards for the evaluation of technology-supported remote training, which, in turn, facilitates the development of an actionable evidence base for replication and scale-up. Rather than “just another theoretical framework” developed from a purely academic angle, or a framework stemming from a one-off training effort, this framework is based on guiding questions and proposed indicators that have been carefully investigated, tested, and used in five RTI monitoring and research efforts across the global South: Kyrgyz Republic, Liberia, Malawi, the Philippines, and Uganda (Pouezevara et al. 2021). Furthermore, the framework has been reviewed for clarity, practicality, and relevance by RTI experts on teacher professional development, policy systems and governance, MEL, and information and communications technology, and by several RTI project teams across Africa and Asia. RTI drew on several conceptual frameworks and theories of adult learning in the design of this framework. First, the underpinning theory of change for teacher learning was informed by the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen 1991), Guskey’s (2002) perspective on teacher change, and Clarke and Hollingsworth’s (2002) interconnected model of professional growth. Second, Kirkpatrick’s (2021) model for training evaluation helped determine many of the categories and domains of evaluation. However, this framework not only has guiding questions and indicators helpful for evaluating one-off training events focusing on participants’ reactions, learning, behavior, and results (as is the focus in Kirkpatrick’s model) but also includes guiding questions and indicators reflective of a “fit for purpose” investigation stage, a user needs assessment and testing stage, and long-term sustainability. Furthermore, this framework’s guiding questions and indicators consider participants’ attitudes and self-efficacy (based on the research underpinning the theory of planned behavior), as well as aspects of participants’ post-training, ongoing application and experimentation, and feedback (Clarke and Hollingsworth; Darling-Hammond et al. 2017; Guskey). Lastly, the framework integrates instructional design considerations regarding content, interaction, and participant feedback that are uniquely afforded by technology.

This case study examines a training targeting 18,000 head teachers and subject heads over seven days using IVR accompanied by electronic materials shared via WhatsApp conducted by the USAID-funded and RTI-implemented Malawi Early Grade Reading Improvement Activity (MERIT). While the training was conducted in June of 2020, this case study includes findings from a follow up study one conducted year later, to see what training content and skills participants retained, and the training elements that were most effective in their delivery. The case study applies a process-based and learning-oriented approach, drawing from the MEL-Tech Framework (Paper 1), to understand technology-supported remote teacher training introduced in response to COVID-19.

Due to increasing rates of COVID19 infection in Cambodia, primary schools were closed from March 2021 through the end of the school year. In Kampong Thom, Kampot, and Kep, the USAID-funded and RTI-implemented All Children Reading-Cambodia project rolled out comprehensive activities to support learning at home. While these interventions were implemented successfully, students had still missed nearly an entire year of explicit reading instruction. When schools reopened, they, and their teachers, would need intensive and targeted support to help make up for lost learning and to sustain gains under the National Early Grades Reading Program, Komar Rien Komar Cheh. To help inform this support, All Children Reading conducted a “temperature check” study with the aim of understanding teachers’ current status, well-being, concerns, capacity gaps, and plans for reading instruction when schools reopen; as well as measurement of students’ levels of reading proficiency, vis a vis where they are expected to be reading according to the curriculum. This study sought to better understand teacher’s perceptions around returning to school after prolonged closures, and how they plan to support students, in order to strategically target support that is both in line with best practice and responsive to where teachers are. A purposeful sample of 100 schools was drawn from two provinces, Kampong Thom (50 schools) and Kampot (50 schools). Schools were randomly sampled, proportional to each district. Data will be presented from 200 phone-based interviews conducted with grade 1 and 2 teachers, 100 in-person school director interviews, and 1,600 levelled student assessments conducted with grade 1 (800) and grade 2 (800) students. Findings are presented on the following: •Teachers’ levels of confidence returning to school and implementing the national Komar Rien Komar Cheh reading package, and specific areas where they still struggle •Teachers’ concerns and priorities for students’ learning in the coming year •Teachers’ plans to help students catch-up on missed content and skills, vis a vis their approach to curriculum coverage •Students’ reading levels in grade 1 and grade 2 at the end of a protracted school closure for most of the year, relative to where they should be per the curriculum

The All Children Reading–Asia (ACR–Asia) Return to Learning Cambodia Case Study was designed to research the Cambodia Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sport’s (MoEYS’s) response to the disruption in learning created by the COVID-19 pandemic during different phases of school closure and reopening in the 2019–2020 and 2021 school years. The study used qualitative interview methods to study the education system’s response, from the central ministry level down, to how school directors and teachers implemented expectations communicated to them. Forty-four participants were interviewed, including central MoEYS personnel, school directors, teachers, and caregivers. Participants were asked about the phases of MoEYS response to the pandemic and what procedures, implementations, and subsequent outcomes occurred The presenter will present findings that positive changes were implemented in the participating schools. Many stakeholders within the education system and its stakeholders act and react to an education crisis in ways that would not be typical of the system functions and individual behaviors experienced in a regular school year. Fundamentally, the education system and its actors showed that during COVID-19, they could carry out a set of core functions (RTI International, 2018). These core systems functions were to set and communicate expectations, monitor progress, provide targeted support to facilitate students’ access to continued education during school closures, and make stakeholders accountable for meeting the expectations.

Description of collaborative process used ensure coherence and alignment of curricular content of preservice teacher preparation and in-service teacher professional development.

This presentation was delivered as part of the 2022 Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) conference as part of a panel describing the Education Futures research activity undertaken by the Philippines Department of Education, with support from USAID/Philippines through the All Children Reading-Philippines program managed by RTI International. Under this activity, leaders in DepEd are engaging in a range of courses and workshops to learn and apply futures thinking methodologies for reimagining how education can be delivered differently to address recurring shortcomings. The authors are Maricel Fernandez (Research Officer, RTI International) and Mark Sy (Manager of EdTech Unit, Department of Education).

In the past two years, the COVID 19 pandemic and the ensuing and repeated school closures has caused an unprecedented upheaval to the education of children world-wide. With the onset of the pandemic, actors in education systems responded in myriads of ways to ensure children continued to learn while at home and when schools reopened. The purpose of this case study is to explore how educational stakeholders in the federal and provincial governments in Pakistan – Balochistan, Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), Kyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), and Sindh, responded to school closures and re-openings during the COVID 19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021. As such, the research questions for the study are 1. How did actors in education respond to the COVID 19 pandemic in Pakistan? 2. What types of resilience capacities did actors in education exhibit? To answer these questions, the case study delves into how the education actors - communities, parents, teachers, federal and provincial government education officials, private schools, non-governmental organizations, and international development partners responded and collaborated to support children’s learning, psycho-social support and well-being. The case study draws on resilience, and social ecological frameworks to explore the response of Pakistani education system to the pandemic. A social ecological lens enables the examination of the interaction and relationships of the individual, the community, the learning environment and educational systems and policies (Bronfenbrenner, (1986). Resilience frameworks explore the practices of education actors which promote resilience during and after disasters. (Reyes, 2013; Shah, Paulson, Couch, 2020; Shah, 2019). A qualitative case study method was best suited for this research study as it allows for an in-depth, descriptive and analytical study of how these education stakeholders responded to the challenges of the pandemic (Merriam, 1998). Data collection comprised semi structured interviews with purposive sampling of 34 individuals and 11 focus groups with public and private school teachers and parents. Emerging themes include the digital divide, strength in community, parent engagement and a lack of focus on marginalized populations. The emerging themes give examples of resilience capacities of stakeholder responses and illustrate positive, and promising practices as well as areas which need considerable reflection, and change in and implementation of federal and provincial policies. References Bronfenbrenner, U. (1986) Ecology of the family as a context for human development. American Psychologist.32:513–531. Merriam, S. B. (1998). Qualitative Research and Case Study Applications in Education. Revised and Expanded from" Case Study Research in Education." Jossey-Bass Publishers, 350 Sansome St, San Francisco, CA 94104. Reyes, J. (2013). What matters the most for education resilience. A framework paper. World Bank Shah, R. (2019). Transforming systems in times of adversity. White Paper, USAID Education and Conflict Network.

This presentation was part of a CIES 2022 panel on measuring learning through play and child SEL outcomes across humanitarian and LMIC contexts. The presentation focuses primarily on the development of a new SEL tool that is being used as part of impact evaluations for five learning through play implementation programs across five countries.