Global

Recent attention has focused on the existence of non-government schools that cater to children from low-income families. These schools can now be found in the majority of developing countries, many of which have a prescribed public policy to provide free public education. This raises the question, why would a low-income family choose to send a child to a fee-paying school if a place in a free school were available? This paper will report on case studies of low-fee schools in Jamaica, Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, Indonesia and Pakistan and will assess the reasons for their increased demand. In the past, some have argued that development assistance agencies should limit assistance to public school sector. Others have argued that the public sector is inadequate and in many ways has failed in its ambitions to provide a minimum quality for every child. This paper will consider what public policy should be toward low-cost private schools, including the policy of development assistance agencies which seek to assist low and middle income countries as well as the appropriate public policy for national and local governments. The paper will conclude with several recommendations. One recommendation is that although children from low-income families attend non-government schools, they continue to be citizens; hence they should not be excluded from poverty assistance strategies. A second recommendation is to expand government statistical functions so that non-government schools are regularly included in the calculations of enrollment rates. Lastly, the paper does not recommend voucher or other program of publically financed school choice on the grounds that the public sector should remain the main conduit for public schooling. It does, however, raise questions as to the limits of the public sector in delivering high quality schooling and whether these limits should be more candidly acknowledged.

This article reviews the development of the EGRA and EGMA, which are locally tailored, timely assessments designed to directly inform policy and instruction for learning improvement, particularly for countries on the lower end of the income spectrum. The history of the design and implementation of the tools as well as case studies of their use in Egypt and Kenya, are a useful counterbalance to the experience of the more traditional international large-scale assessments (ILSAs) documented in this special issue—in particular for understanding the needs of countries struggling to transform ‘education for all’ into ‘learning for all’.

Article published in the International Journal of Educational Development. Volume 40, January 2015, Pages 315–322. Published abstract: The rise and widespread adoption of the early grade reading assessment (EGRA) has produced an ample supply of critics and converts. This paper seeks to clarify the purpose of EGRA and its limitations. EGRA was created to inform education systems and programmes and alone, is not an intervention. Designed to measure some of the foundational literacy skills that readers need for beginning reading, EGRA is a collection of subtasks, each with a specific purpose. This paper includes a description and rationale for each subtask, as well as the conceptual framework that underpins the assessment. Key results from multiple surveys provide informative, grounded examples of how the assessment results are being used to inform both classroom practice and system-level policy. We conclude with a brief discussion on the potential uses of EGRA and similar oral assessments of early learning for informing the monitoring of the post-2015 education indicators.

The present study on Mobile Learning and Numeracy examines how mobile learning (m-learning) could influence and improve numeracy education at early grade levels (ages 4-10) especially in low-income countries. Key questions to guide the research include: 1) What are the benefits and challenges of integrating mobile learning into early grade numeracy education? 2) What is the role of a teacher with regard to mobile learning and numeracy education? 3) How can the community and the parents actively contribute to/participate in the child’s numeracy education with the use of mobile devices? and 4) How can mobile technology be used effectively in measuring/assessing numeracy gains? The conclusions and recommendations of this study have been informed by an international working group that met over two days during the first International Numeracy Conference in Berlin in December 2012. We would like to acknowledge the following participants of this working group for their thoughtful contributions: Michaela Brinkhaus (BMZ); Dorothea Coppard (GIZ); Melanie Stilz (Konnektiv Büro für Bildung und Entwicklung); Jens von Roda-Pulkowski (KfW); Abigail Bucuvalas (Sesame Workshop); Mr. Kann Puthy (Primary Education Department, MoEYS Cambodia); Edward Barnett (DFID).

Learning to read is a fundamental part of the first few years of primary education for early and sustained success in school. Yet, in many developing countries, a distressing number of students are not learning to read at all during these critical first years of schooling. On September 8, International Literacy Day, the Center for Universal Education (CUE) at Brookings and the International Reading Association hosted a discussion on how ensuring literacy in the early grades can help to fulfill the promise of quality education for all. Amber Gove of RTI International presented the findings from the attached report “Early Reading: Igniting Education for All,” which represents the work of a community of practice that has been developing and refining assessment tools, piloting interventions, and sharing practices for scaling up these proven methods of improving literacy. Following the presentation, USAID Director of Education David Barth and International Reading Association President Patricia Edwards and Jamaica Teachers Association General Secretary Adolph Cameron joined a panel discussion on the paper’s findings. This revised version, with additional data and evidence from early reading interventions, was released in May 2011.

This toolkit 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. The document, in 12 sections, 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. -- Suggested citation: RTI International. (2016). Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) Toolkit, Second Edition. Washington, DC: United States Agency for International Development. --

This report, which is broadly tasked with presenting evidence on the state of teacher effectiveness in sub-Saharan Africa, represents an attempt to bridge the gap between what has hitherto been a sustained focus on teacher characteristics or student outcomes and a more holistic conceptualization of effective teaching, one that also emphasizes teachers' actual instructional practice and pedagogical moves. To do so, the report draws on data and findings germane to teacher effectiveness from international databases and assessments and critically supplements these data with recent findings from donor-funded projects and evaluations that specifically attempt to observe teachers' classroom instruction. The second section of the report presents evidence from the educational plans and policies of 11 sub-Saharan African countries and shows that these often focus on teacher characteristics, classroom inputs, professional guidelines, and (to some extent) teaching practices. A third section of the report describes four barriers to focusing more on effective teaching (as opposed to effective teachers and successful teaching) in sub-Saharan African countries. The report concludes with policy recommendations and considerations.

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.

This presentation was prepared and presented at the USAID workshop/webinar “Release of the EGRA Toolkit, Second Edition: Updated Guidance and Tools for Conducting Early Grade Reading Assessments,” Bethesda, Maryland, April 27, 2016. It discusses the design and intended use of the EGRA Calculator.

This user guide accompanies the Excel-based EGRA Calculator to offer tips and suggestions for each step in the calculator to help the user enter appropriate and accurate information.