The focus of this desk study is to provide information on the assessment of early numeracy learning outcomes as an integral part of efforts aimed at increasing education quality in low income countries. In order to provide focus for the study, GIZ identified three assessment-related challenges, which are crosscutting for each of the sections of the study: Using assessment to support children in mastering foundational concepts and competencies, such as number sense and computation. 2. Relating or adapting assessment to the environments of children in low income countries. 3. Applying assessment to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the informal mathematics that children bring to school.

The focus of this desk study is to provide information on the assessment of early numeracy learning outcomes as an integral part of efforts aimed at increasing education quality in low income countries. In order to provide focus for the study, GIZ identified three assessment-related challenges, which are crosscutting for each of the sections of the study: Using assessment to support children in mastering foundational concepts and competencies, such as number sense and computation. 2. Relating or adapting assessment to the environments of children in low income countries. 3. Applying assessment to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the informal mathematics that children bring to school.

Article published in the International Journal of Education in Math, Science and Technology, Volume 4, Number 3. (Open Access). Published abstract: "This paper describes the development and intended uses of the Early Grades Mathematics Assessment (EGMA), which measures essential early mathematical knowledge and skills that are foundational to more sophisticated mathematical abilities, predictive of later achievement, and teachable. Administering the EGMA can provide policy makers, practitioners, and researchers with information about whether existing educational policies, curricular reforms or programs, and instructional interventions are supporting students in reaching important goals in mathematics. We highlight the utility of the EGMA results in three abbreviated illustrations of implementation studies in low-income countries. Recommendations for policy makers, practitioners, and researchers are provided."

The EGMA Toolkit provides detailed information about the Early Grade Mathematics Assessment. The first chapter provides an introduction to the instrument and summarizes the purposes of the assessment. Chapter 2 discusses the development of the EGMA, including the theoretical foundations of the instrument. Chapter 3 details the technical adequacy of the EGMA. Chapter 4 provides information on adaptation and training.

Reading, writing, and arithmetic are the focus of the 3Rs campaign, a derivative of the Big Results Now initiative enacted by the Government of Tanzania in 2013. As one of the six focal areas anticipated to elevate Tanzania from a low- to middle-income country, education, particularly primary education, is receiving increased attention. In July 2013, planning commenced for the National Baseline Assessment for 3Rs (Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic) Using Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA), Early Grade Mathematics Assessment (EGMA), and Snapshot of School Management Effectiveness (SSME). The assessment was conducted in October of the same year. The purpose of the assessment was to establish the baseline achievement levels of Grade 2 students, specifically with regard to their foundational skills in reading, writing, and arithmetic. This brief summarizes the results of the national baseline

In July 2013, the National Baseline Assessment for 3Rs (Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic)Using Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA), Early Grade Mathematics Assessment (EGMA), and Snapshot of School Management Effectiveness (SSME) was initiated. The purpose of this assessment was to monitor the achievement levels of students in the early grades with regard to foundational skills in reading, writing, and arithmetic.

Under the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Education Data for Decision Making (EdData II) contract, RTI International was awarded Task Order (TO) number 14, Iraq Education Surveys project–MAHARAT (the Arabic word for “skills”), which sought to improve education-related services and the quality of primary schools in Iraq. The US$3.7 million fixed-price contract consisted of three education surveys to be administered in Iraq over a period of 14 months, starting on October 1, 2011, through December 1, 2012.

وفيما يتعلق بالأدوات التي تم استخدامها في هذا المشروع – مشروع المسح الوطني لتقييم القراءة والحساب للصفوف الأولى)إيجرا وإيجما( في الأردن – فقد تمت مواءمتها بشكل خاص لكي تتلاءم مع المنهاج الأردني، وذلك من خلال ورشة مواءمة ضمت متخصصين تربويين من وزارة التربية والتعليم ومن معهد تراينجل للأبحاث )أر.تي.آي إنترناشيونال() RTI )International الذين عملوا جنباً إلى جنب مع خبراء التعليم الأساسي ومعلمي القراءة والحساب المحليين ) الأردنيين( وذلك من اجل الخروج بتصاميم )نماذج( مختصرة لتقييم القراءة وتقييم الحساب في الصفوف الأولى، )إيجرا وإيجما( باستخدام مواد مناهج الصف الثاني والثالث. إضافة إلى تقديم تقييمات شفوية فردية للطلبة. وقد قام معهد أر.تي.أي إنترناشيونال ) RTI International( بالتعاون مع شريكه، دجاني للاستشارات، بإرسال فرق بحث لمقابلة مدراء المدارس والمعلمين، وكذلك لإجراء جرد لمصادر التعلم في المدارس والصفوف، ولملاحظة دروس الحساب والقراءة كجزء من المسح القائم لوصف مدى فعالية الإدارة المدرسية. في آذار 2012، بعد أسبوع من التدريب، قامت فرق البحث، والمكونة من فريق عمل شركة الدجاني للاستشارات والمتعاقدين وكذلك أفراد من العاملين في وزارة التربية والتعليم، بزيارة ما مجمله 156 من المدارس الابتدائية حول الأردن. وقد تم اختيار معلم للصف الثاني وآخر للصف الثالث بشكل عشوائي من كل مدرسة، وقد تم أيضا اختيار 10 طلبة بشكل عشوائي من هذه الصفوف لإجراء تقييم مهارات القراءة والحساب للصفوف الأولى )إيجرا وإيجما(، وكذلك إجراء مقابلات معهم للحديث حول تجربتهم في المدرسة. وقد تم اختيار 3120 طالباً للمشاركة في التقييمات والمقابلات. وبالفعل، تم مقابلة المعلمين الذين تم اختيارهم، كما قام أحد كبار المعلمين، في وجود أحد الباحثين، برصد أداء معلم الصف الثاني أثناء تقديمه لدرس القراءة ودرس الحساب. وقد قام الباحثون بعمل جرد لساحات المدرسة والغرف الصفية المختارة. وقد تم الانتهاء من جمع البيانات في نهاية أيار 2012.

To gain insight into both student facility with foundational skills and to better understand characteristics among Jordanian schools associated with this performance, USAID/Jordan, in partnership with the Jordan Ministry of Education (MOE), contracted with RTI International under the Education Data for Decision Making (EdData II) project to conduct the SSME, including the EGRA and EGMA, in a sample of primary schools in Jordan. The hope is that evidence-based information resulting from the survey can inform future education policy decisions, as needed. The instruments used in this project—the National Early Grade Literacy and Numeracy Survey in Jordan—were adapted specifically for the Jordanian context during an adaptation workshop with the Ministry of Education. RTI’s education specialists worked together with local Jordanian reading, math, and primary school experts and officials to design abbreviated versions of the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) and the Early Grade Mathematics Assessment (EGMA), using curriculum materials for grades 2 and 3. In addition to administering individual oral assessments of students, RTI and its local partner, Dajani Consulting, sent research teams to interview School Principals and teachers, conduct inventories of school and classroom resources, and observe reading and math lessons as part of the SSME survey.

This is the report of a World Bank-financed Early Grade Mathematics Assessment, conducted in the Pacific region of Nicaragua from February-June 2011. The sample included 11 teachers, 33 school principals and 1,824 students in Grades 2, 3 and 4. The report is written in Spanish.