Governance and financing of early childhood education (ECE) are complex, involving multiple actors, levels, objectives, and approaches, from general expansion of education access to targeted coverage of the most underserved. Coordination of actors and local community engagement in ECE are important dimensions in the governance and sustainability of ECE, above and beyond specific financing sources and arrangements. More than policies or systems alone, the quality and nature of governance is directly linked to a program’s chances for sustainability.

This report examines available evidence from the Asia region on the current state of ECE interventions, focusing on the 10 countries in the region3 that currently benefit from US Agency for International Development (USAID) education programming. In Asia, many national governments have prioritized the expansion of access and quality improvements of pre-primary education (Sun, Rao, & Pearson, 2015). USAID will support those efforts as part of a coherent approach to improved learning outcomes in primary school.

Children with disabilities are less likely to be enrolled in school in low- and middle-income countries in Asia and beyond. Further, in most school systems in these countries, children with disabilities are not identified as having a disability and thus do not receive necessary support, even when the country has an inclusive policy education. Reports and studies indicate gaps in the identification of children with disabilities in school systems, gaps in teacher professional development and support, and a lack of specialized materials and resources. This desk review aims to provide critical information to policymakers and practitioners in US Agency for International Development (USAID) focal countries in Asia on the landscape of inclusive education for children with disabilities. Four main sets of research questions guide this desk review: 1) What are the disability prevalence rates in USAID-supported countries across Asia, and where do gaps exist in available data on students with disabilities? 2) What are the primary and secondary school completion rates of children with disabilities? 3) What policies exist, how do they vary across countries in USAID-supported countries in Asia, and are they being effectively implemented? 4) What is the education landscape for children with disabilities in USAID-supported Asian countries? What interventions to date have shown promise in improving aspects of inclusive education for children with disabilities, and what are the costs associated with implementing such programs?

This report documents the outcomes of a study, implemented jointly by DepEd and RTI International, to pilot a set of electronic vision and hearing screening tools that have been successfully used elsewhere, including by teachers. These tools hold the promise for easy administration, even with limited training, and more reliable data, especially when screening for hearing impairments.

Cultivating Dynamic Educators: Case Studies in Teacher Behavior Change in Africa and Asia responds to growing recognition by international education professionals, policy makers, and funding partners of the need for qualified teachers and interest in the subject of teacher professional development (also referred to as “teacher behavior change”). The book responds to important questions that are fundamental to improving teaching quality by influencing teaching practice. These questions include: How do we provide high-quality training at scale? How do we ensure that training transfers to change in practice? What methods are most cost-effective? How do we know what works? The book includes case studies from seven countries--Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Malawi, Nigeria, Philippines and Zambia--describing different approaches to teacher behavior change and illustrates how specific implementation choices were made for each context. Individual chapters document lessons learned as well as methodologies used for discerning lessons. The key conclusion is that no single effort is enough on its own; teacher behavior change requires a system-wide view and concerted, coordinated inputs from a range of stakeholders.

On June 21 and 22, 2018, selected teachers, assessors, and medical officers from the Philippines National Capital Region (NCR) and Region-IV A participated in a two-day training to learn how to use electronic vision and hearing screening tools. The trained screeners then piloted the tools from June 25 to July 4, 2018, in a total of eight schools in the country. The activity was a proof of concept initiative that examined the feasibility of using electronic disability screening tools in the local school context. It also investigated how teachers might be trained to serve as effective screeners for students in their classrooms.

This presentation was delivered in Manila, Philippines on October 15, 2018 at a dissemination event including DepEd, USAID, and other local stakeholders. The purpose of this presentation was to share approaches and lessons learned from the pilot activities that were conducted in June and July 2018 in the Philippines.

In response to the growing need to improve learning outcomes, USAID's 2011 Education Strategy focused on improving the teaching and learning of reading in early grades. Its goal of 100 million children showing improved reading skills testified to USAID’s commitment to investing in and measuring improvements in learning outcomes. As a result, USAID education programs with a focus on early grade reading have become the norm, with such programs implemented in approximately 20 countries during the five years since the adoption of the education strategy. In the last couple of years, the lessons of successful pilots are being applied on increasing scale in numerous countries. Taking successful pilot projects to scale and helping education systems implement their national reading strategies at scale have therefore become the primary challenges faced by USAID and other supporters of educational improvement in the developing world. The challenges of realizing large-scale impact, and of seeing that impact sustained, are not new to development. However, they are being approached with renewed interest and attention in the education sector. This paper examines seven countries where interventions to improve early grade reading are being taken to scale - some with project support, some through government initiative. Management Systems International's framework for taking projects to scale, and the framework defined in the Brookings Institute's Millions Learning report are used to examine how scale has been and is occurring in these selected countries.

This two page brief provides summary graphics of key data on children's reading ability in schools that teach reading in Hiligaynon and use this language as medium of instruction. The skills were measured using EGRA, conducted in February/March 2014 (end of Grade 1 and Grade 2).

This two page brief provides summary graphics of key data on children's reading ability in schools that teach reading in Sinugbuanong Binisaya and use this language as medium of instruction. The skills were measured using EGRA, conducted in Region VII in February/March 2014 (end of Grade 1 and Grade 2).