Improving learning outcomes at scale is hard. That may seem obvious, but only recently have policymakers and donors become aware of just how dire—and broad—the learning crisis is. Most of their efforts to improve learning have been pilot programs, and although in some cases it has been possible to improve outcomes at this small scale, it is an entirely different challenge at scale, which can involve thousands of schools—the level at which change must happen to fix the crisis.

Unit 1 Gambaran Umum Monitoring Program USAID PRIORITAS Unit 2 Kaji Ulang Kemajuan Sekolah (Dampak Pelatihan Modul Kedua) Unit 3 Pengelolaan Program Budaya Baca Unit 4 Mendengar Aktif Unit 5 Supervisi MBWA (Peran Kepala Sekolah/Pengawas) Unit 6 Penilaian dan Pengembangan Profesi Guru Unit 7 Peran Komite Sekolah dalam Upaya Mendukung Peningkatan Mutu Pembelajaran di Sekolah Unit 8 Sikap dan Tindakan Pemangku Kewajiban Terhadap Peningkatan Mutu Sekolah Unit 9 Rencana Tindak Lanjut | | | | | Unit 1 Overview of USAID PRIORITAS Program Monitoring Unit 2 Review School Progress (Second Module Training Impact) Unit 3 Management of the Reading Culture Program Unit 4 Active Listening Unit 5 Supervision of MBWA (Role of School Principals / Supervisors) Unit 6 Teacher Professional Assessment and Development Unit 7 The Role of School Committees in Efforts to Support Quality Improvement of Learning in Schools Unit 8: Attitudes and Actions of Stakeholders towards School Quality Improvement Unit 9 Follow-up Plan

Unit 1 Balanced Reading Program Unit 1 Program Membaca Berimbang Unit 2 Merancang Program Membaca Berimbang Unit 3 Pengelolaan Buku Bacaan Berjenjang Unit 4 Persiapan dan Praktik Mengajar Unit 5 Portofolio Unit 6 Penyusunan Rencana Tindak Lanjut – Pembelajaran | | | | Unit 2 Designing a Balanced Reading Program Unit 3 Management of Tiered Reading Books Unit 4 Teaching Preparation and Practice Unit 5 Portfolios Unit 6 Preparation of Follow Up Plans - Learning

Children’s development is significantly attributed to their experiences at home, from birth through the early years of schooling, and responsive caregiving from early on has a significant impact on later learning outcomes. Interventions aimed at increasing parental engagement in children’s early learning can be expensive, however, and there is limited evidence as to what works best for parenting programs in low- and middle-income countries. This report presents the findings from a parent engagement pilot intervention conducted by the Tayari program in three counties in Kenya that tested two methods of providing parents with home-based responsive play activities to promote children’s holistic development.

This presentation shares findings from a longitudinal study of the Kenya Tayari program, examining whether ECD effects persisted into primary school, presented by Dr. Benjamin Piper at CIES 2019.

CIES presentation of Early Childhood Education landscape report for the Asia region under All Children Reading - Asia.

The Government of Tanzania is in the process of implementing a policy of one year of free and compulsory pre-primary education for all children. The policy pronouncement was made within the context of limited resources for education and unclear implementation guidelines. Nonetheless, the declaration of fee-free and compulsory pre-primary led to an immediate increase in enrolment of 46% in the year after the policy was established. While access has improved, quality has not. A recent study of school readiness of children starting Standard 1 in Mainland Tanzania (78% of whom completed pre-school) found no difference between those who attended pre-primary school and those who did not (RTI International, 2017). The study also found weaknesses in the quality of early learning environments, such as high pupil-teacher ratios, poor pedagogy, and lack of high-quality teaching and learning materials. The key challenge facing the Government of Tanzania is how to develop an early learning system that can produce learning, not just broaden access, and to do so in a manner that is sustainable. Earlier experiences with the drive for universal primary education have shown that it is possible (and perhaps easier) to improve access to school without producing any learning. The current study uses a scale and sustainability framework proposed by Crouch and DeStefano (2017) to examine the extent to which the pre-primary (early learning) education system in mainland Tanzania is set up to provide quality pre-primary at scale and sustainably. They identified a core set of functions that education systems should be able to perform to produce learning: (1) set and communicate learning expectations; (2) monitor against expectations; and (3) provide minimum inputs to all schools, and targeted support to struggling schools and classrooms. We interviewed various actors at the national, district and school levels including government officials from the ministries responsible for education and local government; head teachers; teachers; parents of pre-primary aged children; and lecturers and administrators from teacher training colleges. In addition, we reviewed policies, plans, and strategies related to education and development. We found that the early learning system is still developing its capacity to perform the identified core functions. There are some learning goals outlined in a new curriculum, but most of the goals expressed in plans and policies relate to access, not learning, and are not known throughout the system. Monitoring against learning is weak as officials responsible for monitoring schools are unable to do so on a regular basis, and even when they do go, their observation protocols are not linked to learning or curricula expectations. Accountability mechanisms are weak as there is not enough data within the system to track performance against learning expectations. Finally, the Government of Tanzania struggles with providing basic instructional inputs – teachers, teaching and learning materials, continued professional development – to the pre-primary school system. This study and its findings are important because they point to priority areas for system reform for the Government of Tanzania and other countries facing the challenge of producing learning at scale sustainably.

Several forces are at play in determining whether pedagogical approaches are optimally adapted to the culture of children’s behaviour and of teacher-child interaction in the classroom. Teachers’ expectations for children’s behaviour may differ from the way in which children are raised at home (Jukes et al, 2018). Teaching activities may be designed by experts from outside the beneficiary education system or who may be removed from the culture of rural schools. The evidence for the effectiveness of recommended teaching practices may be based on children and teachers from a different culture. The current study sought to understand the role of cultural factors in the teaching of early grade reading in Tanzania. The aim was to investigate teacher’s pedagogical choices and the implicit theory of teaching and learning that underpinned these choices. We also aimed to understand teachers’ perceptions of students’ social and emotional skills and how this influenced their pedagogical choices. The current study took place in three regions of Tanzania – Zanzibar, Mtwara and Iringa – in the context of the USAID supported Tusome Pamoja (“let’s read together”) project. Researchers observed one lesson from each of 36 teachers and recorded key teaching activities. A subsequent qualitative interview with the teachers examined the decisions they made during the lesson and how their perception of students’ competencies influenced their decisions. Two themes emerged from the results. First, teachers said that children who did not participate in classroom activities lacked confidence and curiosity, particularly in rural areas. These two qualities - confidence and curiosity - were identified in previous work as traits valued more by teachers than parents in the context of learning. Second, teachers said the independent activities were not effective because pupils always cooperate with others in life. There was a strong preference for activities that involved the whole class and against students learning by doing, independent of the teacher. Schools can respond by conducting more activities that build curiosity and confidence. Children becoming more confident and curious in rural Africa represents a cultural change. But one that emerges from the community - not imposed upon it. Instructional design should consider the strong cultural preference for group-orientation and work with - rather than against - this preference where possible.

The Tayari Program – Getting Children Ready for School is a Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) funded early education program in Kenya with a goal to increase school readiness skills of pre-primary children in Kenya, including sufficient cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being. As of 2018, Tayari has reached 145,000 children 1,500 early childhood centers in four selected counties in Kenya. Tayari’s activities include development of learning materials for students and teachers, teacher training and instructional support, and integrated technology solutions for tracking child development outcomes. Additionally, one component aims to reduce illness-related school absenteeism by promoting improved hygiene practices, water treatment, and health record-keeping in schools. To better understand parental involvement and the feasibility and cost of scaling up a parental component within the project, the Tayari program tested two different approaches to engaging parents in play-based activities at home to promote their child’s learning and development, with an aim to see which modality was more effective in getting parents to engage in their children’s learning and development at home. Reaching over 1200 pre-primary families in 3 counties, Treatment Group 1 parents received weekly face to face meetings, with a new activity introduced each week (for a total of four weeks). Treatment Group 2 parents, received the same activities, but instead of meeting face to face, the activity sheets and materials were sent home with their child from school. The four selected activities are the same for both Treatment Groups, and include a memory card game, a counting game, a read aloud, and a letter recognition game. The content of the four activities was designed to align with the Tayari curricular content. All materials were designed to be low cost and illustrated locally. Data and feedback on the pilot was collected through weekly SMS messages sent to the mobile phones of the represented parent in both treatment groups. We used the program, “Gooseberry” to request response from parents regarding each activity, including attendance to the meeting (for treatment group 1) and whether they received the materials (for treatment group 2), how often parents played the game with their children over the course of the week, and their level of satisfaction or enjoyment with the activity. Both treatment groups also participated in a conclusion workshop, at the end of the pilot, to receive qualitative feedback from parents via small group focus groups and interviews.

In an optimally efficient education system, all children enroll and complete the primary cycle in a one year to one grade ratio, acquiring basic reading, math and critical thinking skills along the way. Unfortunately, in many LMICs, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, many children entering primary school are met with limited instructional materials and under-equipped teachers (UNESCO, 2014), which can lead to education systems that are inefficient and characterized by low primary school completion rates, high grade-specific gross enrolment rates, and under-reported repetition rates, particularly in the early grades. This presentation reports the findings from a nationally representative study of over-enrollment and repetition in primary 1 in Uganda. The following research questions are addressed: 1) What is the enrolment pattern and the age distribution of pupils enrolled in primary 1, according to school records, teachers, and parents/guardians; 2) What is the repetition rate in primary 1, according to school records, teachers, and parents/guardians; 3) What is the relationship between repetition and age of enrolment in primary 1; 4) What is the enrolment rate in pre-primary education and its relationship with primary 1 repetition; 5) What are parents’/guardians’ attitudes and expectations about pre-primary education and repetition in primary 1. Data from enrollment, classroom, and administrative records on age and repetition were gathered from 120 schools. Caregivers and teachers of 1,440 randomly selected primary 1 students were also interviewed about student age, repetition in primary 1, and past enrollment in pre-primary education programs. Information from caregiver and teacher interviews was compared with data from enrollment, classroom, and school administrative records on the age of primary 1 students and repetition in primary 1. We also analyzed the relationship between participation in pre-primary education programs and student repetition in primary 1 through an odds-ratio logistic regression. Findings show that reports by caregivers and teachers of under-age and over-age pupil enrollment and repetition in Primary 1 were much higher than official reports. Additionally, pupils with no pre-primary education were 3.8 times more likely to repeat Primary 1, even controlling for gender, age at enrollment, and SES. Finally, almost 30 percent of caregivers enrolled their children in Primary 1 early, expecting repetition. Research and policy implications include the need to understand and challenge official repetition rates, to examine the effect of pre-primary on education system efficiency, and to investigate the effectiveness of automatic promotion policies.