Presentation delivered at CIES 2017 (Atlanta). CIES Panel title: Measuring regional progress toward early grade reading and mathematics targets in a national application of LQAS as part of the RAMP Initiative in Jordan. RTI International (RTI) and its partners are implementing the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and United Kingdom’s Agency for International Development (UKAID) funded Early Grade Reading and Mathematics Initiative (RAMP). RAMP is a nationwide initiative of the Jordanian Ministry of Education (MoE) designed to improve the reading and mathematics skills of students in kindergarten 2 through grade 3 (K2–G3). RAMP, which will be carried out over five years, expects to deliver improved reading and mathematics instruction to all public school students in Jordan in grades K2–G3—about 400,000 students. Central to the RAMP approach is developing reflective practice at all levels of the education system. At the classroom level, teachers use screening and diagnostic tools developed by the initiative for reading and mathematics to gain a better sense of the developmental level(s) of the students in their class and in response, to use research based pedagogical approaches and materials to respond to these needs. At the national level the MoE uses biannual national surveys that include the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) and Early Grade Mathematics Assessment (EGMA) to measure progress toward national benchmarks. RAMP is exploring the efficiency of the Lot Quality Assurance Sampling (LQAS) methodology in providing regional structures (Field Directorates) with regular information on the progress by schools and Field Directorates toward achieving the national benchmarks for early grade reading and mathematics. In addition, the LQAS based assessments will also contribute to the development of school reports. This panel will discuss the first national implementation of the LQAS based assessment conducted in May 2016 (Brombacher, 2016). The first presentation will provide background to the RAMP initiative, the centrality of reflective practice at all levels of the system to improving performance in early grade reading and mathematics, and the role that the LQAS based assessments will play in providing regional structures with the information that they need to monitor and support progress toward the national benchmarks. The second presentation will describe the development of the instruments used in the LQAS assessment activity, the implementation of the first national LQAS based assessment, the findings of the study, and a range of important lessons learned. The third and final presentation will describe the response of the MoE to the national implementation. The presentation will also deal with the anticipated institutionalization of the approach into the roles and responsibilities of the ministry supervisors. The panel contributes to the conference theme, “Problematizing (In)Equality: The Promise of Comparative and International Education”, as it examines the implementation of an efficient and cost-effective mechanism for national and regional education structures to identify the schools and regions that are in greatest need of support – allowing the structures to deploy limited resources in a cost effective way.

Ministry of Education officials, district education officers, and a cross section of stakeholders attended this workshop over two days to begin Liberia’s first ever effort to define standards for student performance in key areas of reading skill development in grades 1, 2 and 3.

The results of the 2013 national study on early grade reading and early grade mathematics provided the evidence base for developing benchmarks for reading and mathematics that are appropriate for the current Ghanaian context.

In spring 2013, USAID supported the MOE to conduct the first national baseline assessment of early grade reading skills. Findings of this national Grade 3 EGRA were presented to the MOE in June 2013 in a policy workshop. The workshop initiated USAID support to establish target benchmarks for improved reading skills in Grade 3 of MOE schools.

The spread of the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) has yielded a wealth of country-specific evidence on students’ literacy skills. Those data were then used to help a dozen countries set meaningful benchmarks for student reading performance. This brief summarizes the approach used, shares the results of the benchmarking workshops, and draws some lessons from our experience.

The attached document is the Arabic-adapted Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) Toolkit, Second Edition. The Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) Toolkit, Second Edition is the product of ongoing collaboration among a large community of scholars, practitioners, government officials, and education development professionals to advance the cause of early reading assessment and acquisition among primary school children in low-income countries. In the interest of consolidating diverse experiences and developing a reasonably standardized approach to assessing children’s early reading acquisition, this “toolkit,” or user manual, serves as a guide for countries beginning to work with EGRA in such areas as local adaptation of the instrument, fieldwork, and analysis of results This toolkit is intended for use by Ministry or Department of Education staff, donor staff, practitioners, and professionals in the field of education development working specifically in Arabic-speaking contexts. The document seeks to summarize a large body of research in an accessible manner. The procedures described in this toolkit are to be used in all USAID-funded administrations of EGRA and, it is hoped, in all other EGRA administrations as well.

The attached document is the French-adapted Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) Toolkit, Second Edition. It is the product of ongoing collaboration among a large community of scholars, practitioners, government officials, and education development professionals to advance the cause of early reading assessment and acquisition among primary school children in low-income countries. In the interest of consolidating diverse experiences and developing a reasonably standardized approach to assessing children’s early reading acquisition, this “toolkit,” or user manual, serves as a guide for countries beginning to work with EGRA in such areas as local adaptation of the instrument, fieldwork, and analysis of results. This toolkit is intended for use by Ministry or Department of Education staff, donor staff, practitioners, and professionals in the field of education development working specifically for French-speaking contexts. The document, seeks to summarize a large body of research in an accessible manner. The procedures described in this toolkit are to be used in all USAID-funded administrations of EGRA and, it is hoped, in all other EGRA administrations as well.

A two day workshop on November 12 and 13, 2014 brought together 26 education stakeholders, including representatives of the Department for Inspection and Advisory Services, The Department of Basic Education, the Department for Teacher Education and Development, the Malawi Institute for Education, Domasi College of Education, Teacher Training Colleges, and the Centre for Education, Research and Training. Staff from the USAID Malawi Early Grade Reading Activity also participated as did representatives of USAID/Malawi.

In November 2013, the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MoEVT), with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and technical assistance by RTI International, conducted the National Baseline Assessment for the 3Rs (Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic) Using Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA), Early Grade Mathematics Assessment (EGMA), and Snapshot of School Management Effectiveness (SSME) in Standard 2 in Tanzania. The purpose of this study was to provide data that can be translated into an evidence base to inform policy decisions and interventions. The baseline assessment also provides rich performance and contextual data that can be used for comparison with midline and endline studies after the introduction of new reforms or interventions under the 3Rs campaign or the larger Big Results Now (BRN) initiative. This brief describes the workshop and presents the benchmarks.

The 2010 Nigeria Education Data Survey (NEDS) was a nationally representative sample survey implemented primarily by the National Population Commission (NPC) in collaboration with the Federal Ministry Of Education (FMOE) and the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC). The 2010 NEDS has the following specific objectives: Provide data on the schooling status of Nigerian children of basic education age, including factors influencing whether children ever enroll in school and why students drop out of school Quantify household expenditures on children’s schooling by examining different patterns of expenditure by various background characteristics Measure parents’ attitudes to schooling, including the quality of schooling and provide an understanding of attitudes that shape their willingness to send their children to school Measure the frequency of student absenteeism and reasons for missing school in order to suggest possible approaches to maximizing attendance Provide data that allows for trend analysis and State comparisons A very high overall response rate of 98% was achieved with interviews completed in 26,934 households.