This playlist was part of a knowledge sharing activity organized by the All Children Reading (ACR) Philippines project regarding countries' experiences re-opening schools on the occasion of the 4th education forum of the Department of Education. This forum is a platform to share updates of major on-going reform initiatives of the Department with development partners including USAID and a venue to inform, deliberate on and coordinate efforts and actions towards quality basic education. Staff of ACR-Philippines interviewed education stakeholders in the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Dominican Republic, Romania, the United Arab Emirates and United States about what happened when they reopened classrooms. Representatives spoke with us about their experiences, including the preparations they have made—what worked and what did not work. They also describe the challenges that they have encountered and how they managed these issues.

Despite successes in improving access to primary education, the Malawi education system has struggled to produce high levels of learning. The country has consistently ranked at or near the bottom in regional learning assessments, and an Early Grade Reading Assessment conducted in 2010 showed that 76 percent of Standard 2 learners could not identify any letters. To address the low reading performance, The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) partnered with the Government of Malawi to pilot several projects aimed at improving reading performance. The lessons from these pilot projects led to the development of a National Reading Strategy (NRS) and a National Reading Program (NRP). With support from USAID, the NRP’s goal is to improve the reading skills of all students in Chichewa and English in the first four years of primary school. It does this through reforms to the curriculum, teacher professional development and coaching, development and distribution of teaching and learning materials, continuous assessment and remediation, and targeted support for learners. USAID supports the NRP by providing finance and technical assistance through several activities including MERIT: Malawi Early Grade Reading Improvement Activity (MERIT), Yesani Ophunzira (YESA), Strengthening Early Grade Reading in Malawi (SEGREM) and Reading for All Malawi (REFAM). This is the recording of the #vCIES 2020 conference session, which includes representatives from the MoEST and NRP implementation partners discussing their roles in supporting the NRP and sharing lessons around their approach, achievements, and challenges as they collaborate to get all children learning. The combined experiences of the partners will be useful for other projects, organizations, and governments who are looking to make a wide-scale change in their education systems.

Recording of #vCIES 2020 conference panel presentation entitled: Effectiveness of Coaching as a Teacher Professional Development Strategy in low-income countries

Learning to read is a critical foundational skill in the early grades. The Government of Uganda in partnership with the Literacy Achievement and Retention Activity funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is working to improve early grade reading. This activity is implemented by RTI International, an independent, nonprofit research institute dedicated to improving the human condition.

Forum Theatre / Community Theatre Drama Skit Script titled "Those Things Don't Work Here!" created by USAID/Uganda's Literacy Achievement and Retention Activity (LARA) as part of their Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) materials to reduce primary teachers' use of corporal punishment in school.

Forum Theatre / Community Theatre Drama Skit Script titled "Break Time is Over!" created by USAID/Uganda's Literacy Achievement and Retention Activity (LARA) as part of their Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) materials to reduce primary teachers' use of corporal punishment in school.

3 Corporal Punishment Posters from the USAID/Uganda Literacy Achievement and Retention Activity's (LARA) Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) campaign in Uganda.

Animated video developed by the Uganda Literacy Achievement and Retention Activity under RTI International describing the 5 Ts - Time, Teaching, Text, Tongue and Testing.

A video overview of the Nigeria Reading and Access Research Activity (RARA) approach to teaching reading in Hausa. Narrated in Hausa with English subtitles.

Link to an announcement and background information about an ECCN-sponsored webcast, March 29, at 10 a.m. EST, about education in Syria, especially in Dara’a, Idlib, and Aleppo. This webcast features a review of the literature carried out by RTI for USAID in late 2016. Learn more and join the discussion on a number of important issues, including: the status of key inputs that make an education system function; education delivery systems inside Syria and how they differ in areas controlled by the Syrian government, the Syrian Interim Government (SIG), and other areas under the control of ISIS or unknown actors; as well as the international community’s response to the crisis.