The Research for Effective Education Programming – Africa (REEP–A) Task Order, awarded in September 2016, is a five-year project within the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Africa Bureau. The primary objective of REEP–A is to generate and effectively disseminate Africa regional and country-specific education data, analysis, and research to inform the prioritization of needs and education investment decisions. One research focus under REEP–A is to explore how teachers’ language proficiency and literacy in the language of instruction (LOI) influence students’ learning outcomes. It is hypothesized that the teachers’ level of language proficiency and literacy in the LOI can either facilitate student learning, if high; or impede learning, if low. However, limited data are available on how teacher language and literacy skill levels precisely relate to student outcomes. Exploring this relationship requires having a valid and reliable tool to measure teachers’ language and literacy skills. USAID therefore commissioned the development of the Teacher Language and Literacy Assessment (TLLA) to assess teachers’ language proficiency and literacy in the required LOI. The TLLA, adaptable to any language, consists of subtasks assessing speaking, listening, reading, and writing, as well as vocabulary and grammar, in the language(s) used for teaching and learning at the primary school level in a given context. It is envisioned that policymakers, researchers, and other education stakeholders can use the TLLA to collect data on teachers’ linguistic assets and gaps in the languages that their role requires them to use. These data could be useful for identifying factors contributing to student learning outcomes, informing teacher training and professional development needs, designing teacher deployment policies, and evaluating the impact of interventions aimed at improving teachers’ or students’ language and literacy skills. The aim of this report is to present the new tool and disseminate the initial findings around its technical adequacy. The international community has directed considerable effort to assessing and understanding the impact of language on students’ literacy and language skills, and the TLLA is a complementary tool that shows promise for understanding teachers’ language assets and needs.

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.

This research dives into the results of a 2019 survey of district ICT coordinators, school ICT coordinators and teachers in the Philippines, which collected information on the use of ICT in schools before the pandemic and school closures. The authors ask the questions: “How might the investment in school-based technology have prepared teachers to transition to various forms of remote, home-based teaching and learning?”, and “If experience with ICT in schools is assumed to be an asset in transitioning to remote learning, how many school districts in the Philippines were well-positioned when COVID-19 school closures hit.” Grounded in literature on remote learning readiness, the study authors selected questions from the original survey that could be considered assets in the rapid pivot to remote learning (e.g., skills, resources, policies, and plans).

This study looks at the impact of first language (L1, or “mother tongue”) complexity on reading achievement in the Philippines using Grade 3 Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) data collected in 2013 and 2019. EGRA data were collected from 232 schools in 2013, when students learned to read in the national languages of Filipino and English. These data on English and Filipino performance were collected again in the same schools in 2019, when students would have, according to policy, learned to read first in their mother tongue.

This report presents key findings of the 2018 national assessment of early grade reading skills in Chichewa, a core language for reading and language development in Malawi. This early grade reading assessment (EGRA) for Standards 1 and 3 was conducted in June 2018 in a nationally representative sample of 86 Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) primary schools. The 1,720 tested students—860 Standard 1 and 860 Standard 3 learners, half boys and half girls in each standard from each school—were randomly selected during visits to each school. The results are nationally representative of Standard 1 and 3 learners of MoEST primary schools in Malawi.

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.

The USAID/ Uganda Literacy Achievement and Retention Activity will implement an eight-week Social Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) pilot in Ssekanyonyi Coordinating Centre in Mityana district. The purpose of the SBCC pilot is to increase parental engagement in their children’s reading practice at home. USAID/ Uganda Literacy Achievement and Retention Activity contracted Development Links Consult (DLC) to undertake the baseline survey for the pilot with the purpose of establishing the pre-intervention status of the parents and teachers regarding early grade literacy attitudes, norms, perceptions of self-efficacy and behaviors.

What impact can a social and behavior change communication (SBCC) campaign have on parental engagement in their children’s reading practice at home? RTI International began exploring this question in 2014 by reviewing SBCC theory and how it could apply to the education sector. RTI implemented a proof-of concept study in Senegal in 2015, followed by a pilot study in Malawi in 2016 (Schmidt, 2014). Because the results were promising, the USAID/Uganda Literacy Achievement and Retention Activity chose to include SBCC in its implementation to encourage parents and guardians of early grade (Primary [P]1 to P4) learners in government-aided schools to read with their children at home. This document summarizes the results of the 2017 SBCC pilot evaluation in Uganda.

In 2020, LARA undertook an analytic research into the contextual factors impacting reading outcomes. This research involved a review of the existing literature on the contextual factors affecting reading outcomes and a secondary analysis of existing datasets collected as part of the monitoring and evaluation activities of LARA and SHRP. The study team conducted multi-variate analyses to determine what contextual factors predict student learning outcomes. These were grouped into the three categories: (1) school, classroom, and system; (2) teacher characteristics and instructional practices; and (3) learners and home environment. Although the analyses included demographic factors, such as socioeconomic status, the focus in the report is on predictors of learning outcomes that could be controlled by education programs. The report also provides implications of the findings and recommendations for future education programming.