RTI’s latest mobile EdTech product, "Loquat", uses language-agnostic speech activity detection to determine when someone is talking. It then passes the detected speech to a voice type classifier to establish who is currently speaking. This allows the app to be used in different countries and settings, regardless of the instructional language. The mobile app, built for Android devices, is designed to be easy and intuitive. It provides timely classroom support for teachers located in rural or urban areas who may not have access to a mentor or coach. The app can also be used as part of a standard coaching session where the coach helps the teacher with techniques in improving their talk time balance in the classroom.  To use Loquat, the teacher records the audio of the entire lesson or choses a particular activity to be recorded. Then, they upload the recording through the app, to the Loquat server. After the audio recording of a lesson or activity is fully processed and analyzed, there are various reports available to the teacher. Each of these reports aims to aid the teacher in initiating self-reflection, applying immediate corrective actions, and improving talk time balance in their classroom (e.g., proportion of teacher talk time versus student talk time, individual talk time versus group talk time). Loquat is designed as a tool that empowers the teacher to take immediate action thus allowing students to grow and improve their learning outcomes. The app uses modern cloud architecture and serverless, scalable infrastructure, to process the audio. It only saves the data files used for building the graphs and charts used on the device reports. All classroom recordings are removed from the servers after analysis. There is no identification of voice or voice to text transcription. We have the Loquat application interface and user documentation in 3 languages, English, French, and Spanish. We want to present results and summary of the collected feedback from user testing in Guatemala and Senegal. There are three other pilots scheduled for 2023. Those include testing pilots in Ghana, Bangladesh, and Tanzania. Our vision for Loquat is that it experiences future iterations to include language detection but also provide additional functionality, like voice models identification or affective models that help not only assess talk time but also time on task, classroom climate, language, and content. We are also interested in exploring other uses of the application with emphasis on inclusivity in parent teacher meetings and communities of practice.

It was only over a decade ago that data on dismal learning outcomes in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) shook the international education field out of its complacency with rising enrollment rates. The organizations and researchers that led this protest catalyzed a global shift toward prioritizing effective learning as the ultimate goal of education. However, acts of protest or disruption occur in a single point in time, whereas the transformations they advocate for are the labor of many years. Such is the case of the call to action to address the learning crisis. In the past decade, donor agencies like USAID have partnered with ministries of education in LMICs to design and implement programs at scale based on evidence of what works to improve foundational skills. A recent retrospective on the past ten years of USAID early grade reading programming (EnCompass LLC & MCI [2021]. Ten Years of USAID Early Grade Reading Programming: A Retrospective) estimates that USAID programs have improved reading outcomes for more than 7 million children and acknowledges tangible progress in the agency and its partners’ understanding of effective early reading instruction. The study also found that despite significant accomplishments, even the best-designed programs were hindered in their effectiveness by factors related to education systems’ low capacity to implement best practices at scale. Similarly, the Learning at Scale study, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is examining some of the most effective large-scale early learning programs of the last ten years to understand the elements of their success. Learning at Scale researchers point out that improving learning at scale is hard because it usually requires working through the complex realities of government systems. Therefore, while the first chapter of the “learning crusade” yielded important lessons on what works to improve learning, there is still a lot to be learned about how to apply this knowledge to build effective government systems that ensure learning for all children. Case in point are government systems for continuous teacher professional development (TPD). It is well-known that better teaching is one of the fundamental interventions for improved learning outcomes. There is also a growing evidence base on the characteristics of effective TPD programs, as curated through initiatives like Learning at Scale and The Science of Teaching, also funded by the Gates Foundation. Among these characteristics are trainings that emphasize practice over theory and coaching programs based on structured coaching tools and frequent interaction with teachers. Another teacher support element that can be important to program success is school-based teacher communities-of-practice, which enable peer-to-peer feedback and opportunities to reflect on the ongoing application of instructional approaches. Both Learning at Scale and the retrospective study on USAID early reading programming observe a trend toward shorter but more frequent teacher training events that take place at the local level, in contrast to the massive national trainings of the past. The use of online content for teacher training is also on the rise, though preliminary findings from Learning at Scale suggest that an initial face-to-face training event continues to be essential. However, being able to identify the ingredients of effective teacher support does not automatically equate with an understanding of how to build a continuous TPD system that incorporates them. Neither does it mean that a TPD system built entirely on evidence-based best practices is guaranteed to succeed in improving learning outcomes. As more LMICs advance toward instituting standards and structured career ladders for the teaching profession, and toward developing mechanisms to increase the equity and efficiency of teacher training and support, it becomes increasingly important to identify effective models for implementing continuous TPD at scale. the panel will feature a USAID program in Jordan that exemplifies the desired result: a national-scale, comprehensive TPD model that is aligned with a broader policy on the teacher career path and is linked to a robust assessment data system that reinforces accountability for learning. It is the only program with solid evidence of positive changes in teaching practices that led to significant improvements in student outcomes.

In Tanzania, learning outcomes in early grades have remained stubbornly below expectations. Over a decade ago, the Tanzanian Institute for Education recognized that the curriculum for foundational learning needed to change. Textbooks were updated to reflect a more phonics-based strategy and the existing teacher workforce needed to be re-skilled. The Ministry of Education developed a framework for Continuous Professional Development for Practicing Teachers which focused on close-to-school delivery of new professional content. Unfortunately, the framework was not fully implemented, and instead large-scale face-to-face trainings remained the norm. Two USAID early learning programs at scale in Tanzania (one implemented from 2016 to 2021 and one that is currently ongoing) have focused on implementing the Ministry’s teacher professional development (TPD) framework to overcome three significant challenges: (i) ensuring that content did not get diluted by face-to-face cascade training; (ii) providing an incentive for teachers to apply content; (iii) ensuring that content could be adapted to context. Change is disruptive; old habits die hard – more so when there are financial incentives to retain the status quo. Moving from large scale ineffective face-to-face programs to a more holistic localized approach to TPD was met with protest and it has taken time to overcome the resistance from teachers. The first program adopted cluster-based delivery of training, with 4-5 schools in a cluster and local administrators or head teachers delivering the abbreviated training. Teachers no longer received per diems for attending centralized training. The cluster-based training was extended down to school-based communities of learning. These sessions provided an opportunity for teachers to share how they implemented new strategies in their classrooms – they provided contextualization to the content. However, not all schools or clusters had teachers who were able to adapt the content. The program introduced the idea of coaching, initially by Ward Education Officers (WEO) and then by head teachers, exemplary teachers, and eventually, peers. This allowed more experienced and knowledgeable colleagues to observe a teacher and provide feedback through a constructive dialogue. Because coaching is unfamiliar to the administrative structure in Tanzania it had to be included in the job descriptions of administrators and included in staff annual performance assessments. Despite initial resistance, this process has provided a clear incentive for teachers to apply the content that is administered in the training. Finally, to ensure training is not diluted in the translation through cascades, the follow-on USAID program introduced virtual delivery of key messages. To accommodate teachers with feature phone capabilities only, teachers access content through interactive voice instruction, calling a toll-free number and selecting to listen to a 2 minute “lesson”. With WEO support, over 90% of teachers complete a 5-lesson course. The course is aligned to content discussed at the Community of Learning and is reinforced through classroom observations. Using data collected at the beginning and end of each school year for the past two years, we show how this holistic approach to delivering professional development content has led to improved teaching practice and this in-turn has contributed to improved learning outcomes.

This presentation features the instructional design of a blended learning online course on formative assessment developed at the request of the Philippine Department of Education (DepEd), under the USAID/Philippines All Children Reading task order. In 2020, DepEd, through the National Educators Academy of the Philippines (NEAP), issued a policy aimed at strengthening the quality of TPD. The policy calls for several transformations, including the use of a wider range of learning modalities, such as job-based learning and teacher communities of practice; the adoption of a wider range of delivery platforms, such as online and blended learning; and the immediate application of TPD lessons in classrooms. The adoption of the policy has been slow and there are few exemplars of approved courses that meet these requirements. The challenge was to design a learning experience for teachers that not only exemplified these requirements but was also flexible enough to adapt to the myriad school contexts in the Philippines and was ready to be taken to scale by regional DepEd offices―without donor support―before the closeout of USAID funding for this activity.

Presentation for CIES 2024 panel: Disrupting the Status Quo of Continuous Teacher Professional Development: Alternative Models for Improved Learning Outcomes. This presentation describes the Senegal RELIT programme's teacher professional development process.

In 2014, the Nepal Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology (MOEST) developed a National Early Grade Reading Program (NEGRP), aimed at improving the reading achievement of early-grade students throughout Nepal. USAID has supported the government’s efforts to improve early-grade reading under NEGRP through both Government-to-Government funding and through the Early-Grade Reading Program (EGRP) I & II from 2015-2022. The NEGRP focused on evidence-based pillars for foundational literacy: Curriculum and materials, Teacher training and ongoing support, Community Mobilization, Assessment, and Systems strengthening. This paper will focus on the teacher ongoing support pillar of NEGRP and describe how processes of Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, Learning and Adaptation informed the evolution of the Ministry’s Teacher Professional Support System. EGRP & EGRP II were implemented in the context of Nepal’s transition to federalism, which began following the ratification of its constitution in 2015. This resulted in a situation where roles and responsibilities within the education system were in flux and authority for decision-making and funding shifted to the local level. Thus, implementation decisions had to recognize and adjust to a context in-flux. From the outset of NEGRP, the model for ongoing teacher support was based on evidence in the field on what works, with a heavy reliance on external coaches who could provide feedback and support to teachers on a regular basis. Challenges in the Nepal context, including the diversity of contexts within Nepal, as well as the changes taking place due to federalism, made it apparent that adjustments would be needed. As a result, EGRP supported the MOEST to undertake the first implementation research study, which supplemented Monitoring and Evaluation data to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the teacher support model, as well as to identify possible alternatives. A second iteration of the government’s model for Teacher Professional Support was developed based on the findings from this learning and joint reflection by stakeholders, government officials, and project staff – together with the continuing evolution around teacher learning and support in the field more broadly. A second round of monitoring, learning, and operational research enabled EGRP and MOEST to further hone the model – as well as to provide needed further adjustments to align with the newly federalized system as it evolved. Based on those findings and joint reflection, GoN developed a Teacher Professional Support that incorporates a flexible menu of options that enables local authorities to determine the combination of approaches that will be most suitable for their local context and to address local challenges. This paper will briefly present the iterations to the NEGRP ongoing teacher support model, explore the MERLA approaches that were used in this adaptive process and discuss lessons learned. The authors would then seek to engage the audience in discussion around the broader implications and pose the question: how can program design build in opportunities for this type of iterative learning from the outset?

Existing research on the uptake of technologies for adult learning in the global South is often focused on the use of technology to reinforce in-person learning activities and too often involves an oversimplified “with or without” comparison (Gaible and Burns 2005, Slade et al. 2018). This MEL Framework for Technology-Supported Remote Training (MEL-Tech Framework) features a more nuanced perspective by introducing questions and indicators that look at whether the technology-supported training was designed based on a solid theory of learning; whether the technology was piloted; whether there was time allocated to fix bugs and improve functionality and user design; how much time was spent using the technology; and whether in-built features of the technology provided user feedback and metrics for evaluation. The framework presents minimum standards for the evaluation of technology-supported remote training, which, in turn, facilitates the development of an actionable evidence base for replication and scale-up. Rather than “just another theoretical framework” developed from a purely academic angle, or a framework stemming from a one-off training effort, this framework is based on guiding questions and proposed indicators that have been carefully investigated, tested, and used in five RTI monitoring and research efforts across the global South: Kyrgyz Republic, Liberia, Malawi, the Philippines, and Uganda (Pouezevara et al. 2021). Furthermore, the framework has been reviewed for clarity, practicality, and relevance by RTI experts on teacher professional development, policy systems and governance, MEL, and information and communications technology, and by several RTI project teams across Africa and Asia. RTI drew on several conceptual frameworks and theories of adult learning in the design of this framework. First, the underpinning theory of change for teacher learning was informed by the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen 1991), Guskey’s (2002) perspective on teacher change, and Clarke and Hollingsworth’s (2002) interconnected model of professional growth. Second, Kirkpatrick’s (2021) model for training evaluation helped determine many of the categories and domains of evaluation. However, this framework not only has guiding questions and indicators helpful for evaluating one-off training events focusing on participants’ reactions, learning, behavior, and results (as is the focus in Kirkpatrick’s model) but also includes guiding questions and indicators reflective of a “fit for purpose” investigation stage, a user needs assessment and testing stage, and long-term sustainability. Furthermore, this framework’s guiding questions and indicators consider participants’ attitudes and self-efficacy (based on the research underpinning the theory of planned behavior), as well as aspects of participants’ post-training, ongoing application and experimentation, and feedback (Clarke and Hollingsworth; Darling-Hammond et al. 2017; Guskey). Lastly, the framework integrates instructional design considerations regarding content, interaction, and participant feedback that are uniquely afforded by technology.

This case study examines a training targeting 18,000 head teachers and subject heads over seven days using IVR accompanied by electronic materials shared via WhatsApp conducted by the USAID-funded and RTI-implemented Malawi Early Grade Reading Improvement Activity (MERIT). While the training was conducted in June of 2020, this case study includes findings from a follow up study one conducted year later, to see what training content and skills participants retained, and the training elements that were most effective in their delivery. The case study applies a process-based and learning-oriented approach, drawing from the MEL-Tech Framework (Paper 1), to understand technology-supported remote teacher training introduced in response to COVID-19.

Digital transformation: an opportunity for long-lasting improvement of quality of education service delivery in Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan Over the past decade, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyz Republic have been consistently demonstrating their commitment to quality education, evidenced by the amount of GDP allocated to education. These education systems aim to produce world-class graduates capable of success both globally and at home. Various donors have stepped in to support these efforts in a coordinated way via direct funding of initiatives that enhance instructional skills, increase accountability for excellence, and improve formal and non-formal learning environments. In Uzbekistan, critical thinking, problem solving, and practical skills are at the forefront of the Ministry of Public Education (MPE)’s agenda. In the Kyrgyz Republic, performing well on the upcoming PISA survey in 2025 is a focal point for the Ministry of Education and Science (MOES) in recent years. And, in Tajikistan, COVID-19 provided an important opportunity to rethink the delivery of in-service teacher training from in-person to a blended learning format, resulting in impressive early grade learning gains. However, the COVID-19 crisis brought many education systems to a grinding halt, and these three countries were no exception. Nevertheless, the speed and efficiency with which their education systems adapted has been remarkable. It speaks to their resilience, rooted in the fact that these countries enjoy strong institutional, financial, and policy legacies that are strongly rooted and capable of weathering storms. Undoubtedly, the strongest driving force behind this change is the belief shared at all levels of their education systems – especially at the level of parents and teachers – that education is important. It comes as no surprise that when faced with the challenge of school closure due to a pandemic, their various systemic actors collaborated and adapted their approaches to continue delivering teacher professional development (TPD). In the Kyrgyz Republic, after less than a year following the outbreak of the pandemic, the majority of teachers reported accessing online learning resources, and 85% of teachers did so using smartphones. The USAID-funded Okuu Keremet! project had planned to deliver teacher training in person, but swiftly shifted to development of blended learning modules for reading and mathematics. It designed an online training platform that in a short period of time was accessed by 18,000 registered teachers and librarians. The online learning platform integrates Google Analytics that can allow the Ministry of Education and Science (MOES) to not only monitor progress towards certification of individual teachers, but to also detect, in real time, the teachers and schools that are lagging behind . In Uzbekistan, the Ministry of Public Education (MPE) has made significant investment in continuous professional development, and as part of its growth strategy, Avlonyi has created a Learning Management System (LMS) for teacher accreditation based on OECD teacher professional development standards. To aid Avlonyi in this significant undertaking, the USAID-funded Uzbekistan Education for Excellence Program (UEEP) project developed a blended TPD model comprised of synchronous and asynchronous in-person and online assessment-based learning events (with the focus to improve Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL) instruction for grades 5–11 and 1-11, respectively). In addition to gaining skills through this opportunity, teachers will achieve career advancement through the accreditation of their efforts by Avlonyi. In Tajikistan, the impact evaluation data shows strong performance as a result of the USAID Read with Me project implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of Education. TPD in Tajikistan applies digital development principles, a multi-user coaching and training platform, which provides content and accountability for self-regulated learning, coaching, peer learning and performance monitoring, including uploading assignments and assessments, aligned with the National Teacher Competency Framework. The EGRA end line results clearly showed the benefit of effective teaching techniques correlating to oral reading fluency gains of more than thirteen correct words per minute. This panel brings together researchers and practitioners documenting the transformational change of Teacher Professional Development in the three Central Asian Republics – Kyrgyz Republic, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Panelists will discuss details about the effectiveness and utility of online learning platforms vis-à-vis TPD and student learning gains; the skills required to make this shift to digital, self-regulated learning; and lessons learned for getting these new platforms mainstreamed into educational systems.

This report presents case studies of five remote training activities conducted by USAID-funded and RTI-implemented programs: the Advancing Basic Education Project (ABC+) in the Philippines, the Malawi Early Grade Reading Improvement Activity (MERIT), Read Liberia, Okuu Keremet! in the Kyrgyz Republic, and the Uganda Literacy Achievement and Retention Activity (LARA). The case studies seek to apply a more process-based and learning-oriented approach, drawing from the MEL-Tech Framework, to understand technology-supported remote teacher training introduced in response to COVID-19.