Attachment_J.9__Section_C__Statement_of_Objectives.pdf

RFP #72011519R00002 Annex J.9 Improved Basic Education in the Kyrgyz Republic

STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVES

C.1 PURPOSE

The purpose of the Improved Basic Education in the Kyrgyz Republic activity (henceforth called IBE-KR) is to improve early grade learning outcomes in the Kyrgyz Republic for 300,000 students in grades one through four, giving children a better foundation for educational achievement. While USAID/KR has the overall responsibility for planning, programming, budgeting, monitoring and evaluating the program, the contractor will provide administrative, technical and program support to the Mission in the planning, management, implementation, and evaluation of the outcomes of the IBE-KR activity.

This SOO allows the Contractor to propose and price a solution that achieves the outlined objectives and contributes to measurable improvements in key basic education learning outcomes, particularly in reading and mathematics.

C.2 SCOPE

USAID requires services that will make sustainable improvements in the ability of the Government of the KR (GOKR) education system to deliver quality education services by building the leadership, management, and technical capacity of Kyrgyz institutions and communities. The end result will be improved instructional quality for early grade students; improved formal and non-formal learning environments, and a strengthened education system. Interventions will target both school- and community-level education institutions, and will include activities that improve reading, numeracy, and math.

Changes in the GOKR policies and programs, uncertainty surrounding emergent education priorities, and fine-tuning of USAID development interests mean that the contractor must be able to rapidly incorporate changes in the United States Government (USG) and GOKR education programming priorities and policies. In addition, state of the art technical interventions and innovations will evolve during the life of contract performance and the contractor must continuously seek ways to incorporate feasible, innovative, and evidence-based approaches in support of this program’s purpose and objectives.

C.3 BACKGROUND

Mission Strategy

USAID’s goal in the Kyrgyz Republic, as outlined in its Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) for 2014-2018, is to support the Kyrgyz Republic as a democratic, well-governed, and prosperous country. IBE-KR supports this goal, through Development Objective 2: Improved service delivery and policies for all citizens, and specifically to IR 2.2: Increased utilization of public services (health and education) for all citizens. By supporting increased access to quality education for children in primary grades, we establish the foundation for educational achievement and contribute to sustained economic growth and participatory democracy.

GOKR Education Strategy and Education System Status

The current Education Development Strategy of the KR 2012-2020 prioritizes development and introduction of the new competency-based curriculum and teaching and learning materials. In parallel, education systems policy reforms implemented include updating teacher professional standards, increases in teacher salaries, and changes in the system of teacher professional development. The Ministry of Education and Science (MOES) of the Kyrgyz Republic is in the process of developing its next

RFP #72011519R00002 Annex J.10

Education Development Strategy for the years beyond 2020, known as EDS 2020+. This new strategy feeds into the National Development Vision 2040,the Taza Koom Initiative, the “Unity, Trust, Creation” Program on Socioeconomic Development (2019-2023), and the 3-year National Development Programme of the Government (2018-2020).

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the provision of quality basic education service delivery in the Kyrgyz Republic suffered. Now that a generation has passed since the Kyrgyz Republic gained its sovereignty in 1991, the negative effects of inadequate resource mobilization, outdated materials, a lack of mother tongue materials, dilapidated infrastructure, financial retrenchment, and limited professional capacity, and school management are surfacing in poor functional literacy rates among youth. More attention has been paid to expanding the curriculum than ensuring that students can read AND understand grade level text by the end of the primary cycle. This overly complex and congested curriculum does not allow students time to master the basics of literacy and numeracy and has led to low performance levels in subjects across the learning spectrum. Lately, the public stance that the strong Soviet-style education system was still functioning has been replaced with a sense of realism. The Ministry of Education and Science (MOES) has also recognized that it must place a priority on improving learning outcomes.

Learning Outcomes

For children to be successful in school they need to acquire strong literacy skills. USAID-supported Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) results in 2017 demonstrated an improvement in performance for schools that received USAID interventions: 44% of all sampled grade 2 pupils and 47% of all sampled grade 4 pupils attained grade-level proficiency in oral reading fluency, an increase of 10 and 13 percentage points, respectively. The level of non-readers was almost non-existent. For reading comprehension, the program had the biggest impact on Grade 2 urban pupils’ whose scores increased by

15.3 percentage points because of the USAID programming (USAID Quality Reading Project Kyrgyz Republic: Final EGRA and Impact Report 2014-2017). However, while the trends in reading fluency proficiency are improving, overall attainment levels remain low. At the endline, the proportion of students reading at the standard of proficiency (fluency and comprehension) required remains below 50% for both grade levels. National data also support this: Results of the 2017 National Sample Based Assessment (NSBA) show that only 25.5% of grade 4 students have basic reading skills and 59.8% of students are below minimum basic level. More illuminating is the gap which exists across all grades between oral fluency and comprehension. For example, oral reading fluency mean scores for students in grade 2 approached or exceeded the established grade-level benchmark of 40 correct words per minute yet only could only answer 34.11% of the comprehension questions correctly (Time to Read midline EGRA Results Report 2018).

Considered more broadly, learning outcomes measured in international and national sample based assessments in Kyrgyz Republic point to very low achievement and performance in all grades tested (2, 4, 8) and at age 15. In math, 60.3% of children are at below basic level at grade 4 (CEATM, NSBA). The results of PISA 2009 (the last year that the Kyrgyz Republic participated in the PISA) revealed that 83% of students did not reach the baseline level of achievement in reading at age 15. In science, 82% did not reach the baseline level and 53% did not even reach the lowest level of measured performance.1 This raises concerns over the ability of these 15-year-old students to “be capable of the basic tasks that will enable them to participate effectively and productively in life situations.”2 These results were confirmed by the large scale National Assessment in Grade 9 and 11 conducted in Kyrgyzstan in 2015 and 2016.

Based on the available data, it is clear that the basic education system is not producing the required outcomes in early grade reading (in particular comprehension) and math which will continue to jeopardize the ability of children to continue learning successfully in other subjects at secondary school education.

1 UNICEF (2009). Equity in Learning? A Comparative Analysis of PISA 2009 Results in CEECIS. Geneva:

UNICEF.

2 Ibid.

USAID Interventions: In line with USAID’s education strategy, activities in the Kyrgyz Republic have historically focused on early grade reading in Russian and Kyrgyz language schools, at the request of the Ministry of Education and Science (MOES). Programming implemented by USAID Quality Reading Program and the USAID Time to Read Program has reached all public schools providing in-service training in reading instruction, designing reading standards, conducting out of school reading activities, and procuring and disseminating supplemental reading materials to schools. To improve access to quality reading materials in mother tongue languages, USAID designed a developmental reading ladder tool, which helps authors and publishers create new age-appropriate books and stories, enabling students to develop core reading skills at their own pace. USAID programs have fostered Kyrgyz government support for reading through capacity building in reading instruction and the use of assessments to monitor students’ reading progress. Furthermore, by creating partnerships among parents and education stakeholders, the activities have enhanced a culture of reading throughout the country.

USAID also supports the Improved Assessment and Inclusive Education in the Kyrgyz Republic activity, implemented by UNICEF. The purpose of the project is to improve participation of underserved children in the Kyrgyz Republic in target primary schools, to improve their learning outcomes and to support the Ministry of Education and Science (MOES) in expanding these gains nationwide. This activity ensures the accessibility of improved reading instructions for children with special education needs, including children with disabilities; introduces multilingual education in schools of ethnic minorities, particularly in Tajik and Uzbek schools; and supports the capacity at school, district, and national level to assess reading outcomes of all children in early grades to inform the best teaching practice, especially of poorly performing children.

C.4 PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES, GOALS AND OUTCOMES

4.1 Overall Objectives and Targets

The goal of the IBE-KR activity is to improve early grade learning outcomes in the Kyrgyz Republic for primary grade students in 75% of schools, giving children a better foundation for educational achievement.

Interventions to improve learning outcomes in reading and math (grades 1-4) should be evidence-based and likely to be effectively and sustainably implemented within the KR, with a special emphasis on bridging oral reading fluency to comprehension in reading.

The overall performance objectives to reach this goal include:

● Improved instructional quality in reading, numeracy, and math;

● Improved formal and non-formal learning environments;

● A strengthened education system for primary education.

The Contractor is required to address these USG’s performance objectives with cost-effective and innovative solutions.

4.1.1 Objective 1: Improved instructional quality in reading, numeracy, and math.

The quality of an education system is dependent on the quality of instruction. Quality instruction is the backbone of an education system and this is where the education system of Kyrgyz Republic faces its biggest challenge. For a whole range of economic, political and socio-cultural factors, the system of teacher development and teacher management remains a weak link in Kyrgyz education system at all levels, which results in poor learning outcomes for students.

Poor performance of students is linked to the lack of the necessary educational competencies, as well as overloaded curricula. There is a direct connection between more effective pedagogical approaches and improved student outcomes. USAID basic education activities have demonstrated that teachers and educators who embrace the most effective teaching practices are more likely to impact the student experience positively, and lead to improved learning outcomes and success. Pedagogical approaches, student-teacher interactions, the use of assessments, and the use of technology in teaching, lead to improved students achievement, student motivation, and other outcomes of schooling. A lack of mentoring and support systems for teachers keep educators from learning improved approaches to teaching and continuing to apply these approaches in the classroom.

Performance Standards: To achieve this objective, the contractor must ensure that supported institutions attain the following results:

● Intermediate Result (IR) 1.1: Design and conduct training for teachers, school leaders, methodologists, librarians and other educators;

● IR1.2: Develop and refine curricula, including standards, assessment, hard and soft skills, and literacy;

● IR1.3: Strengthen mentorship and teacher support systems.

4.1.2 Objective 2: Improved formal and non-formal learning environments.

The overall learning environments for children in classrooms, libraries, communities, and at homes play a critical role in educational attainment. To be effective, teachers need vital educational inputs, most notably teaching and learning materials (TLM). Availability of relevant teaching and learning materials, such as textbooks, supplementary reading materials, and e-resources, is a key input at school education level. The 2017 NSBA school survey showed that nationally, schools have 80.1 percent of the supply of textbooks needed. However, the availability of textbooks is not equitable. Some schools reported a 100% supply of textbooks, whereas minority language schools have only 30 percent of the textbooks needed3. There is no analysis whether the content of the textbooks is suitable and of high quality. Access to and availability of quality TLM and age-appropriate texts is another key factor which impacts the learning outcomes. Schools lack a selection of children’s books in appropriate languages and libraries are usually small and outdated. Under the USAID Quality Reading Program, 74 percent of classrooms did not have any non-textbook reading materials. Books in Kyrgyz, Tajik, and Uzbek languages are generally not available in the country.

The reading habits of family members also have significant effects on student test scores. Connecting schools, parents, and the community maximizes available resources to promote learning of all students.

When schools actively involve parents and engage community resources they are able to respond more effectively to the learning and other education-related needs of students. Research shows that parents’ and community involvement in their education promote better social skills, higher self-esteem, positively impacts academic achievement and better relations with parents.

Performance Standards: To achieve this objective, the contractor must attain the following results:

● IR 2.1: Increase community support for learning;

● IR 2.2: Conduct out-of-school learning activities;

● IR 2.3: Improved availability of learning materials, through material development, production, and distribution.

4.1.3 Objective 3: A strengthened education system for primary education.

A well-functioning education system is one that fulfils its functional necessities efficiently. Outdated policies and a lack of technical expertise in human resource management and forecasting, monitoring

3 NSBA report. CEATM 2017 and evaluation, and management at all levels of the system prevent the full scale adoption of priority interventions in basic education. The MOES outreach to schools is limited and school administration at oblast and rayon levels are weak. This is particularly damaging to remote schools, and there is a need to transform regional education offices into genuine drivers of school support and supervision. Inefficiencies in the education system undermine the ability of the MOES to deliver services and efficiently use its funding.

The processes that enhance competencies, motivation, accountability, and management at administrative levels are equally important to provide robust basic literacy delivery services. Reports on the Kyrgyz education system have repeatedly pointed out that the system for pre-service education of teachers requires attention and reform. Emphasis on content knowledge during pre-service training, rather than pedagogical methods and foundational education, has left new teachers ill-equipped for their positions.

Lastly, vulnerable population, including children with disabilities and ethnic minorities, do not have access to quality education. Having a disability is the predominant reason that children are out of school. Of the 29,000 out of school youth in the country, 23,000 (79.3%) have a disability. Ethnic minorities (15% of the population) have lower educational achievement and higher rates of dropping out of school.

Performance Standards: To achieve this objective, the contractor must attain the following results:

● IR 3.1: Build the capacity of the MOES at all levels in the areas of primary education policy, HR planning and management, and monitoring and evaluation;

● IR 3.2: Support system optimization and greater cost efficiency in delivering a quality education;

● IR 3.3: Improve preparatory programs in reading and math for primary school teachers and education leaders;

● IR 3.4: Improve access to quality education for all students, especially vulnerable populations.

C.5 Programmatic Approaches

Build Upon USAID Reading Interventions USAID’s work to improve early grade reading have produced in-service training materials, modern methodology, increased availability of reading materials including leveled reading tool. The leveled reading tool, known as WordCalc, will be further refined and used to develop, revise and edit stories for early grade readers. The activity will build upon the foundation established under QRP and Time to Read, and use the materials in its efforts to strengthen reading instruction and improve learning outcomes for primary school children. Furthermore, the Contractor should prioritize technical interventions to improve reading comprehension, since a gap exists between oral reading fluency and reading comprehension.

Learning materials The availability of learning materials in classrooms is essential to improving the learning environment and achieving improved learning outcomes. This activity will develop, procure and distribute teaching and learning materials to promote reading and math skills. Learning materials developed and/or procured through this activity should focus on supplementary learning materials, rather than textbooks. This activity will be built upon the results achieved under the previous USAID education activities. USAID-developed teacher training materials in reading will be available for use by the contractor in Kyrgyz, Russian, Tajik, and Uzbek . A list of materials developed is attached to this RFP. These previously-developed materials may be refined in consultation with the MOES and USAID. Instructional and teaching materials in numeracy and math must be developed under this activity. Additional materials developed should be in the language of target schools, which will be negotiated with the Ministry of Education and Science.

Numeracy and Mathematics Instruction Improvement of student learning outcomes in numeracy and math requires innovative teaching and student oriented environment, modernized curriculum standards, support to school/classroom changes and engagement and accountability of school community. It is envisioned that in the first two years of implementation, the activity will pilot numeracy and basic math activities, including assessment and evaluation methodology. Following this, the activity should scale up these interventions after its approach has shown to be successful. The number of schools in the pilot and scale up phase of this portion of the contract will be proposed by the Contractor.

Inclusive Education This activity will support inclusive education to support access to education to ethnic minorities and disabled children. Ethnic minorities (over 15% of the population) experience significantly lower education attendance and performance than Kyrgyz and Russian speaking students, and having a disability is the predominant reason keeping children out of school in the country. Initial work in this area is being implemented jointly by USAID through UNICEF. Lessons learned from the Improved Assessment and Inclusive Education grant will be used as a base to develop inclusive education interventions in this new activity.

Geographic Scope The place of performance for these efforts will be the Kyrgyz Republic. The program will be implemented in no less than 75% of public schools nationwide, as well as provide technical assistance to national and sub-national units of the Ministry of Education and Sciences and the Ministry of Culture, Information, and Tourism. USAID EGRA results demonstrated significant differences in test scores between urban and rural schools. Strategies that support the learning needs of rural schools versus urban schools are to be addressed, especially given the large percentage of Kyrgyz language rural schools in the country (1423 – Kyrgyz language, 561 –Kyrgyz/Russian language, 216 –Russian language, 33 –Uzbek language and 3 – Tajik language schools). The Contractor will be expected to tailor approaches based upon the regional context and urban/rural differences. The final list of schools and languages of instruction will be coordinated and approved by USAID and the Ministry of Education and Sciences.

Capacity Development Approaches IBE-KR is expected to improve the sustainability of education systems and service delivery by reinforcing the national system. Building on current and past investments, the IBE-KR activity will include interventions that build the capacity of the MOES and its affiliates and community-based structures and institutions. The activity will play a facilitative, rather than directive role, reinforcing the necessary technical and managerial capacities of regional education departments and institutions to better manage systems. This means, for example, that the programs will emphasize “learning by doing” and coaching approaches to capacity development, rather than merely training. Instead of introducing new partner-designed tools, programs will be expected to work with local actors to develop or adapt tools and approaches to improve education service delivery and management capacity development.

Community Engagement A key element of IBE-KR is to strengthen community engagement in education service delivery. This can include, but is not limited to the following:

● Community engagement and oversight for improved quality of services;

● Working with and strengthening local organizations, such as libraries, Parent Resource

Centers, non-profit and for-profit organizations, schools, parent committees, civil society organizations;

● Interpersonal and community-level activities to promote reading and learning.

Any related activity should be based on a demonstrated understanding of behavior enabling interventions required to address identified barriers and motivators. Capacity development at each level must be explicitly defined, measurable and able to be evaluated.

Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) Access to quality education contributes to the effort to address the issues of marginalization, inequality, unemployment, etc., or in other words, some of the “root causes” of violent extremism. Curricula and pedagogy affect radicalization and recruitment into violent extremism. From primary school, children should be introduced to logic, critical thinking, problem solving, and negotiation skills. Examining issues in a value neutral manner, respecting others viewpoints, compromise, listening etc., are all skills learned at a young age. Empowering students to think critically, teaching them to challenge ideas, construct rational thoughts and engage in meaningful debate will be critical for them as they grow up. These skills should be interwoven throughout the interventions proposed, such as in the development of supplementary reading materials, instruction, out-of-school activities, community education events, etc. This can provide students the opportunities to develop critical thinking, leadership and social skills.

Gender Equity Gender differentials in education attainment exist to a large extent in the Kyrgyz Republic. Girls in the Kyrgyz Republic drop out of school at a lower rate than boys, and boys show lower academic performance from as early as second grade. EGRA results from 2018 showed that girls scored higher than boys on most subtasks across grades and languages and these results are consistent with previous EGRAs conducted in the Kyrgyz Republic. On Oral Reading Fluency (ORF), for example, girls read nearly 42 correct words per minute on average, while boys read just below 35 correct words per minute. At grade 4, girls read more than ten correct words per minute faster than boys, and on average, girls answered 69.9 percent of the reading comprehension questions correctly compared compared to 57.6 percent for boys. The only subtask on which boys scored significantly higher than girls was the listening comprehension.

The contractor’s technical interventions must investigate the root causes of, and then address, gender inequalities in their activities, including: support for the revision of school texts and curricula to remove gender stereotypes; ensuring that teacher training programs funded by USAID include content on how teachers reinforce gender stereotyping in the classroom; supporting the development of education materials and reading materials to remove gender stereotypes; and working with parents, school administration and community leaders to change attitudes about the value of education and diverse educational and career choices for boys and girls. The contractor will conduct an in-depth gender study as part of their year one work plan, to provide further information and analysis on gender issues in early grade education. The contractor will then use the study’s conclusions to develop interventions to adequately address gender disparities.

Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning USAID/KR is dedicated to advancing the broader Agency organizational learning and development policy effort called Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting (CLA), whereby the causal pathways to desired outcomes are continuously assessed so that activities can be adjusted as necessary to implement the most effective course of action. The contractor will develop a monitoring, evaluation and learning plan (MELP) that will guide the systematic collection and analysis of performance and context information to track progress toward planned results, fulfill the activity learning agenda, and inform planned adaptation in the activity’s technical approach. The system described should serve as a management tool to improve development outcomes, and not simply to fulfill a reporting requirement. It should provide the means to inform iterative adaptation, fill identified knowledge gaps, test new technical approaches, validate uncertain causal links in the development hypothesis, or respond to a dynamic operating context. In collaboration with the MOES, IBE-KR will conduct a midline and endline Early Grade Reading Assessments in reading with nationwide coverage. USAID’s Time to Read Activity’s endline EGRA will serve as the baseline EGRA for IBE-KR. An initial development and pilot of an early grade numeracy and math assessment is envisioned, with further scale-up in the latter years of the activity. Any research activities must adhere to GOKR and USG laws, regulations, guidelines and procedures for ethical research. IBE-KR will use program-learning dissemination as a key aspect of the program. IBE-KR will plan from the outset to incorporate appropriately timed and intentionally focused pause-and-reflect moments to analyse learning and adjust implementation. The Mission’s IBE-KR management team will work to ensure sufficient effort is invested to monitor and evaluate activities; collect, analyze and synthesize data; and to publish the data in open as appropriate. IBE-KR will actively engage in communities-of-practice relevant to its activities. The contractor to cooperate with bilateral and multilateral donors both to share programmatic approaches and collaborate where possible and to share data from evaluations, research, assessments, and surveys. Similarly, the contractor will influence existing channels for communications and possibly the private sector to enhance the effectiveness of knowledge and information sharing. The programmatic and evaluation reports will be published on the Development Experience Clearinghouse (DEC) and shared through the Development Data Library. An external mid-term performance evaluation will be conducted by a third party.

Coordination with other Education Activities In the first year of implementation, this activity will overlap with the last years of two existing USAID education activities: USAID Time to Read and the Improved Assessment and Inclusive Education activity.

Work plans, events, and interventions (especially trainings) must be coordinated with these activities, ensuring that there is no duplication of activities. IBE-KR must also coordinate with the USDA McGovern- Dole Food for Education Program, implemented in country by Mercy Corps, which implements school feeding programs and out of school literacy activities. Furthermore, IBE-KR will proactively coordinate activities with other education-focused initiatives, primarily funded by UNICEF, Asian Development Bank, the Aga Khan Foundation, the European Union, Soros Foundation, and the World Bank.

C.6 OPERATING CONSTRAINTS

Budgetary: The activity will be expected to provide adequate budget, narrative, and results information to meet the planning and reporting demands of the Operating Plan annual budget process.

Legal and Policy Framework: The contractor must operate in line with GOKR, USAID/KR, and USG policies, procedures, and priorities. These include, but are not limited to, the GOKR National Development Strategy, the National Education Strategy, the USAID/KR CDCS, the U.S. Government Strategy on International Basic Education 2019-2023, the USAID Education Policy, and the READ Act.

The contractor must be familiar with these strategies and formulate approaches and interventions accordingly. The contractor must collaborate closely with the GOKR and other national and international education and development stakeholders to implement a sound program, which is contextually and politically appropriate and viable. The program must work under a Memorandum of Understanding between the GOKR and USAID.

[END of SECTION C]