Monitoring, Evaluation, and Research

This report summarizes main findings and lessons learned from the piloting of lot quality assurance sampling (LQAS) in the education sector in Ghana. It also suggests next steps for applying LQAS more broadly for education program monitoring.

From the CGD Website on the event: "Please join the Center for Global Development (CGD) and the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) to take stock of the evidence and impact evaluation movement and its promise for improving social policy in developing countries. In 2006, CGD released a working group report titled “When Will We Ever Learn? Improving Lives Through Impact Evaluation.” It described an evaluation gap and proposed an international effort to systematically build evidence on “what works” in development with the aim of improving the effectiveness of social programs. Ten years later, we will reflect on progress toward these goals. Despite a host of challenges, hundreds of millions of people across the world have benefited from programs that have been rigorously evaluated and scaled up. Impact evaluation has generated knowledge about poverty and public policy leading to better programs. At the event, policymakers and evaluators will discuss examples of how evaluation has helped enhance effectiveness, and a panel of evaluation funders will reflect on lessons learned and the way forward. In a time of political transition, we seek to re-energize the movement for increased evidence and value for money in public and aid spending. Among others, the event will feature: Abhijit Banerjee (MIT), Amanda Glassman (CGD), Rachel Glennerster (J-PAL), Markus Goldstein (World Bank), Amber Gove (RTI International), Rema Hanna (Harvard), Emannuel Jimenez (3ie), Michael Kremer (Harvard), Darius Mogaka (Government of Kenya), Santhosh Mathew (Government of India), William Savedoff (CGD), and Bambang Widianto (Government of Indonesia)." Download the presentation slides from the Kenya case study using the "Download" link, or click on the external website link for more information on the event.

Under the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Education Data for Decision Making (EdData II) contract, RTI International was awarded Task Order (TO) number 14, Iraq Education Surveys project–MAHARAT (the Arabic word for “skills”), which sought to improve education-related services and the quality of primary schools in Iraq. The US$3.7 million fixed-price contract consisted of three education surveys to be administered in Iraq over a period of 14 months, starting on October 1, 2011, through December 1, 2012.

Motivation is key to behavior change in teaching and learning processes. Motivated teachers are thought to be more likely to be willing to experiment with different instructional approaches in the classroom. Motivated students are hypothesized to put forth extra effort during learning activities. These assumptions posit that incentives, or rewards based on evidence of behavior change, may have a role to play in enhancing the motivation of teachers and students. This report presents findings from a short-term incentive pilot program conducted in one governorate in Jordan. During this pilot, students in treatment schools were offered a symbolic (non-monetary) incentive if they read at least 24 books at home over the 8-week implementation period. Teachers were offered a symbolic incentive if they received high scores from coaches during most (at least 50%) of their observed classroom lessons. This report presents findings from this pilot program.

An infographic describing the key steps and timeline involved in conducting an Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA).

وفيما يتعلق بالأدوات التي تم استخدامها في هذا المشروع – مشروع المسح الوطني لتقييم القراءة والحساب للصفوف الأولى)إيجرا وإيجما( في الأردن – فقد تمت مواءمتها بشكل خاص لكي تتلاءم مع المنهاج الأردني، وذلك من خلال ورشة مواءمة ضمت متخصصين تربويين من وزارة التربية والتعليم ومن معهد تراينجل للأبحاث )أر.تي.آي إنترناشيونال() RTI )International الذين عملوا جنباً إلى جنب مع خبراء التعليم الأساسي ومعلمي القراءة والحساب المحليين ) الأردنيين( وذلك من اجل الخروج بتصاميم )نماذج( مختصرة لتقييم القراءة وتقييم الحساب في الصفوف الأولى، )إيجرا وإيجما( باستخدام مواد مناهج الصف الثاني والثالث. إضافة إلى تقديم تقييمات شفوية فردية للطلبة. وقد قام معهد أر.تي.أي إنترناشيونال ) RTI International( بالتعاون مع شريكه، دجاني للاستشارات، بإرسال فرق بحث لمقابلة مدراء المدارس والمعلمين، وكذلك لإجراء جرد لمصادر التعلم في المدارس والصفوف، ولملاحظة دروس الحساب والقراءة كجزء من المسح القائم لوصف مدى فعالية الإدارة المدرسية. في آذار 2012، بعد أسبوع من التدريب، قامت فرق البحث، والمكونة من فريق عمل شركة الدجاني للاستشارات والمتعاقدين وكذلك أفراد من العاملين في وزارة التربية والتعليم، بزيارة ما مجمله 156 من المدارس الابتدائية حول الأردن. وقد تم اختيار معلم للصف الثاني وآخر للصف الثالث بشكل عشوائي من كل مدرسة، وقد تم أيضا اختيار 10 طلبة بشكل عشوائي من هذه الصفوف لإجراء تقييم مهارات القراءة والحساب للصفوف الأولى )إيجرا وإيجما(، وكذلك إجراء مقابلات معهم للحديث حول تجربتهم في المدرسة. وقد تم اختيار 3120 طالباً للمشاركة في التقييمات والمقابلات. وبالفعل، تم مقابلة المعلمين الذين تم اختيارهم، كما قام أحد كبار المعلمين، في وجود أحد الباحثين، برصد أداء معلم الصف الثاني أثناء تقديمه لدرس القراءة ودرس الحساب. وقد قام الباحثون بعمل جرد لساحات المدرسة والغرف الصفية المختارة. وقد تم الانتهاء من جمع البيانات في نهاية أيار 2012.

To gain insight into both student facility with foundational skills and to better understand characteristics among Jordanian schools associated with this performance, USAID/Jordan, in partnership with the Jordan Ministry of Education (MOE), contracted with RTI International under the Education Data for Decision Making (EdData II) project to conduct the SSME, including the EGRA and EGMA, in a sample of primary schools in Jordan. The hope is that evidence-based information resulting from the survey can inform future education policy decisions, as needed. The instruments used in this project—the National Early Grade Literacy and Numeracy Survey in Jordan—were adapted specifically for the Jordanian context during an adaptation workshop with the Ministry of Education. RTI’s education specialists worked together with local Jordanian reading, math, and primary school experts and officials to design abbreviated versions of the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) and the Early Grade Mathematics Assessment (EGMA), using curriculum materials for grades 2 and 3. In addition to administering individual oral assessments of students, RTI and its local partner, Dajani Consulting, sent research teams to interview School Principals and teachers, conduct inventories of school and classroom resources, and observe reading and math lessons as part of the SSME survey.

This report describes the baseline findings of an external evaluation of the Tayari pre-primary school programme. Tayari is an early childhood development and education intervention funded by the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF). The intervention is implemented by the RTI International, in partnership with the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST), and in collaboration with four counties.

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).