Palestinian Territory, Occupied

The purpose of this formative assessment is to contribute to the community outreach component of the EGR program by collecting and analysing information about target audiences, specifically their knowledge, attitudes and behavior. This information will contribute to the design of messages, techniques and tools that will resonate with the target audience. The assessment has collected information and identified current parent and family practices, explored the behaviors of reading in homes and communities in terms of resources available and activities organized, and engaged the targeted group in different aspects of the assessment to develop the correct recommendations enabling EGR to define and implement realistic and concrete community outreach activities.

This report is part of EGR’s contractual task C.5.1.2: Updated National Standards for Early Grade Reading and Writing Adopted. The review of standards with recommendations for future revisions defines the skills required for students to have a solid foundation in early grade reading and writing. EGR chose to combine the standards report with the curriculum review (C.5.1.3: Opportunities for Strengthening Early Grade Reading and Writing Instruction in the Grade 1-2 Curriculum Identified and C.5.1.4 – Kindergarten curriculum) because the MOEHE has only curricula rather than fully- developed standards. Reviewing the standards documents and curricula together provides a comprehensive picture of the status of KG-Grade 2 instruction in early grade reading and writing.

Arabic version

Since 2014, the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MOEHE) has worked closely with USAID to advance educational initiatives. The results from two major early grade-reading assessments and a study conducted to measure the amount of classroom time allocated to foundational reading instruction indicate the critical need to increase and optimize the amount of instructional time during the school day. This policy brief documents the research process and findings which have led to the recommendation to increase and optimize instruction time allocated for MSA instruction.

RTI International and our partner AMIDEAST are pleased to submit this Inventory of Non- Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) to the US Agency for International Development’s (USAID) for its Early Grade Reading (EGR) activity. EGR will assist the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MOEHE) to improve early grade reading and writing outcomes. EGR will: • Develop leveled readers, decodables, and supplemental materials and stock these materials in ~3,000 government basic preschool, Grade 1, and Grade 2 classrooms in the West Bank; • Train ~10,000 preschool and Grade 1 and 2 teachers on best practices for literacy instruction; • Mobilize supervisors, coaches, teacher mentors, and school principals to deliver and support early grade teacher coaching and peer learning; and • Foster cooperation of schools, teachers, and communities, drawing on the energy and inspiration from parents, volunteers, and local organizations to support reading enrichment activities.

Education interventions and decisions should be justified. This time-on-task study is an example of gathering evidence with applicable tools to inform subsequent activities. The study was designed to use direct observations, track the use of time, and conduct interviews to inform Arabic literacy instruction and decisions in the West Bank. The following research questions were generated to guide this line of inquiry conducted by the West Bank Early Grade Reading (EGR) team, in partnership with the MOEHE. • Research Question 1: How much time is allocated in the school day on the school calendar for Arabic instruction? • Research Question 2: How is instructional time used that is designated for Arabic? How much of the lesson focuses on reading/writing? What instructional approach is used? What activities are students involved in? What is their level of engagement? Research Question 3: Which effective literacy instructional pedagogical behaviors are seen? • Research Question 4: In addition to the Arabic lesson, how much time in the school day is the teacher instructing? Does this time focus on instruction in reading, writing, and/or language development? • Research Question 5: What are the barriers to instruction and time on task?

The purpose of the data gap analysis is to help the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education to identify ways to improve the integration and utilization of its data systems for policy, planning, and management, as well as reporting and feedback to the public and stakeholders. With funding through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), RTI International (www.rti.org) fielded a three-person team to survey Ministry offices, assess existing data systems and applications, and debrief the Ministry and USAID on summary findings.

MENA countries are facing significant challenges in providing access to quality education for children in the early grades. However, it is important to note that the situation in the MENA region is not so different from that in other regions of the Global South: quality and learning are not being achieved. In MENA countries, achievement in math is not only associated with the effectiveness of teaching and learning, but also with providing an equitable system of education for all children. This paper presents the state of mathematics education in the MENA region and suggests means to improve it according to the pertinent cultural and social context.

The purpose of this case study is to illuminate how and why US Agency for International Development (USAID) education programs in the West Bank and Gaza were able to achieve the lasting impact in basic, higher, and non-formal education despite the considerable political and environmental challenges. This study attempts to illuminate the pathways to sustained reform, the underlying reasons for the programs’ success, and the key lessons learned. It focuses far more on the how and why of program impact than on the “what” of program content.

This report presents key findings of the first baseline of early grade reading skills implemented in the West Bank. This EGRA for Grade 2 was conducted in March 2014 in a representative sample of 150 Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MOEHE) primary schools, stratified by school gender and selected randomly from 16 districts in the West Bank. The 2,953 tested students were randomly selected from Grade 2 enrollment lists prior to each school visit. The results are representative of MOEHE Grade 2 students and primary schools in West Bank.