EdData II, sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), provided survey expertise to help national and local governments as well as the donor community assess education status in low income countries. The period of performance for EdData II Task Order 7, Learning Outcomes Research and Assessment-Related Projects, was October 2009–October 2013. Its purpose was to build on the measurement instruments developed and piloted under other EdData II task orders and to coordinate data, analysis, and reporting on learning outcomes with specific attention to early grade reading proficiency, early grade numeracy, and conditions of learning as indicated by school management effectiveness measures in a number of priority countries. This report summary gives a history of the effort in each country, including its purpose, various challenges encountered, and in-country reactions to the study findings.

The author reviewed Philippine and international journals and textbooks related to language, education, and reading; publications written or commissioned by organizations known for work in international education such as UNESCO, SIL, RTI International, and Save the Children; attended conferences and reviewed conference proceedings and abstract books; used Philippine census data from the National Statistics Office, and reviewed research studies produced by students, particularly of the University of the Philippines College of Education in Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines. The result is a report that may be one of the most comprehensive literature reviews covering language and literacy in the Philippines. While the purpose was to gather information about language characteristics and existing research on reading acquisition in Philippine local languages to inform the development and implementation of early grade reading assessments, the relevance of information collected in this paper goes far beyond just reading assessment. By wedding linguistic information (e.g. language characteristics, acquisition, use, and changes), sociopolitical context (historical background, law, and education, language, and cultural rights), and the reality of Philippine classrooms, this report could also inform curriculum, teaching methods, and policy development, particularly with regards to mother tongue-based multilingual education.

This report summarizes the findings from a baseline assessment that was conducted in February and March, 2014 to determine the current status of reading achievement in the “Cluster 2” schools in which the Program will be working, as well as achievement in control1 schools that will be used as a basis for comparison in assessing the effectiveness of the interventions.

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.

This brief discusses Cluster 3 schools where Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) data were collected from 112 randomly selected program and control schools without the program in 9 districts in Uganda1 in October, 2015 from 1,504 program learners and 1,432 control learners at the end of P1 and the findings compared to baseline data collected at the beginning of P1 in February, 2015 from 1,599 program and 1,574 control learners.

This report summarizes the findings from a baseline assessment that was conducted in February and March, 2015 to determine the current status of reading achievement in the “Cluster 3” schools in which the Program is currently working, as well as achievement in control1 schools that will be used as a basis for comparison in assessing the effectiveness of the interventions going forward.

This brief discusses the data collected for Cluster 3 schools using the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) from 112 randomly selected government primary schools in 9 program districts in Uganda. EGRA data were collected in five languages— Lugwere, Lusoga, Lhukonzo, Ŋakarimojoŋ and English; all learners were assessed in English and in one of the four local languages. Overall, 3,244 Primary 1 (P1) and 1,124 Primary 3 (P3) learners were assessed. In addition to this, 40 P1 reading lessons were observed and 104 teachers and 112 head teachers (or designees in their absence) were interviewed about the support that they provide to teachers in the area of reading.

This brief discusses the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) data collected for Cluster 2 shows that Leb Acӧli, Lugbarati, and Runyoro-Rutooro schools receiving the SHRP intervention are continuing to make small but significant progress towards reading proficiency.

This brief looks at whether or not reading achievement increased as a result of the USAID/Uganda School Health and Reading Program interventions. Using the Early Grade Reading Assessment, data collected for 4 Cluster 1 languages local languages Lebacoli, Lugbarati, Lumasaba, and Runyoro-Rutoro) and English at baseline, beginning of P1 compared to data collected at the end of P1 show increases in foundational pre-reading and emergent reading skills, significantly higher than increases found in control schools.

This brief looks at whether or not reading achievement increased as a result of the USAID/Uganda School Health and Reading Program interventions. Using the Early Grade Reading Assessment, data collected for 4 Cluster 1 languages (Ateso, Leblango, Luganda and Runyankore-Rukiga) and English at the beginning of Primary 1 compared to end of Primary 3 show increases in fundamental reading skills, higher than increases found in control schools.