KEGRP_Draft_SOW_-_30_April_2013.docx

SECTION C - STATEMENT OF WORK

USAID/Kenya Office of Education and Youth Kenya Early Grade Reading Project

C.1. Purpose

The Office of Education and Youth in USAID/Kenya plans to launch a five-year basic education initiative to improve the reading skills of approximately 2.7 million children by 2018. USAID anticipates that this initiative will consist of two components:

1. One 3.5 year contract, tentatively dubbed the Kenya Early Grade Reading Project (KEGRP), that will increase the reading skills of approximately 1.5 million children by the end of 2015 through the implementation of the components laid out in this SOW; and

2. Ongoing capacity building to the Ministry of Education (MOE), provided through separate mechanisms, to prepare for a transition to MOE implementation of KEGRP through direct government-to-government assistance in Years 4 and 5, which will result in at least 1.2 million additional children with improved reading skills.

This SOW is for the 3.5 year Kenya Early Grade Reading Project (KEGRP), which builds on research-based reading initiatives to create a sustainable and affordable national reading program in the approximately 28,000 formal and non-formal[footnoteRef:1] public and private primary schools across Kenya. [1: Non-formal schools – or “low-cost private community schools” – are the predominant form of schooling for children in Kenya’s informal urban settlements (“slums”). The 2011 UWEZO report estimates 20% of Kenya’s school-going age children attend private schools, with rates much higher in slums. These community private schools charge a nominal fee to educate thousands of underserved and poor children who would not otherwise have access to schooling despite a national free primary education policy.]

Through a highly collaborative approach, the program will create interventions that expand and bring to scale proven ongoing improvements in reading development that are taking place in Kenya, with integrated options for transition to government and community ownership during the out years of the project. Primary activities will include the production and distribution of materials; training of nearly 100,000 education personnel; community engagement initiatives; and the development of high quality assessments and evaluations to measure the impact of the various components. By the end of the initiative, USAID/Kenya anticipates the early grade reading (EGR) initiative will lead to the following results:

1. Improved supervision, support, and delivery of reading instruction to target students;

2. Greater engagement in reading by communities, the private sector, and the public; and

3. Improved government capacity, in target departments, to review, revise, and implement reading-related policies.

C.2. Background

Since 2005, EDY has supported Ministry of Education (MOE) efforts to improve access to quality education, build the capacity of education personnel and institutions, sponsor HIV/AIDS and Life Skills education projects, and collaborate with the private sector in various ways to maximize information and communication technologies (ICT) to improve education. These efforts complement the GOK’s education and social reforms that, in 2003, were dramatically bolstered by the termination of school fees and levies for primary education.

As a result of this act by the GOK, total student enrollment increased 46% over seven years, from 5.9 million public and private primary school students in 2002 to 8.6 million in 2009. While this amounts to a Net Enrollment Rate (NER) of 92.5%, with near gender parity, the effect of such drastic change on systematic service delivery and instructional quality – including in the core skill of reading – was damaging. Over a seven-year period (2000-2007), Kenya's reading proficiency dropped from second to fifth of the 15 African countries participating in the Standard 6 examination administered by the Southern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ). UWEZO’s 2011 Are Our Children Learning? assessment study reported that only 30% of Standard 3 children could read a Standard 2 level story in English or Kiswahili, and that 4% of Standard 8 children could not read a Standard 2 story in English. The 2007 analysis of EGR in the Malindi district of Coast province found that students in Standard 2 could read, on average, just 11 words per minute, far below the international benchmark of 52 words per minute for ‘at risk’ grade 2 students. A similar analysis in 2009 reported that 14% of students tested in English, 18.6% in Kiswahili, 14.8% in Gikuyu, and 20.3% in Dholuo in the last term of Standard 3 could not read a single word correctly. Simply put, a large number of Kenyan children are unable to read or comprehend simple text.

Since it is a foundational skill, poor reading ability links to students’ dropout rates, repeating of courses, and underperformance in other content areas. The 2011 USAID Global Education Strategy recognizes the importance of developing strong early grade readers: “Given limited resources… the most strategic impact [the Agency] can make in basic education is to address early grade reading as an outcome that is critical to sustain and ensure learning for children.” In Kenya, children who perform poorly in Standards 1 and 2 are likely to score lower on the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) Standard 8 exam, repeat a year, or drop out. The strategy continues: “…in stable, well performing countries with unmet needs in basic education, the priority focus will be on assuring learning outcomes for primary grade children, especially in reading.” KEGRP will support this goal and aims to improve the reading skills of approximately 30 percent of the more than eight million children who will be enrolled in Grades 1 and 2 through 2018. This Request for Information will inform the solicitation that covers the first 3.5 years of the project before full or partial transition of activities to the GOK.

C.3. Rationale

In order to bolster its educational standards, the GOK enacted in 2005 a series of structured policy reforms and investment via the Kenya Education Sector Support Program (KESSP). At its core, KESSP utilized specially designed interventions to rapidly and adequately increase access to quality basic education. The first five-year phase of KESSP ended in 2010. Phase Two (called NESSP, the National Education Sector Support Program) is under development; it is expected to launch in 2013 and continue through 2018. The draft version of NESSP outlines the GOK strategy to improve the quality of basic education services, specifically those surrounding the development of reading. It is anticipated that the MOE will launch a national reading program via NESSP that will encompass early childhood education (pre-school) through Standard 2, of which KEGRP will be an integral component.

The interest of the MOE in facilitating their own knowledge of ‘what works’ in education was evident throughout KESSP, notably by their active participation and subsequent leadership in the development of a set of instructional materials and assessment tools. These tools included the USAID-funded Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) in 2007, the Early Grade Mathematics Assessment (EGMA) in June 2009, and an additional, experimental EGR intervention in 2009 focused on improving reading outcomes in Kiswahilli, English, Dholuo, and Gikuyu (funded by Hewlett). The results of these interventions provided strong evidence that the explicit focus on reading – at the policy level, combined with targeted lesson plan development and ongoing teacher training and feedback – has a significant impact on student achievement. Based on the success of these efforts, both EGRA and EGMA tools are now in use in other countries across the developing world.

The MOE further demonstrated its commitment to reading through the creation of the National Assessment System for Monitoring Learner Achievement (NASMLA), the MOE system that tracks student achievement, and the development of the National Assessment Center (NAC), the overarching GOK body that oversees national assessments. Both efforts define standard assessment practices and measure reading gains akin to EGRA and EGMA. KNEC currently leads NASMLA and, in June 2010, released the first Report on Monitoring Learner Achievement Study for Class 3 in Literacy and Numeracy.

Due in part to the success of these early interventions and the already extensive research on EGR in Kenya, USAID/Kenya launched the three-year Primary Math and Reading (PRIMR) initiative in August 2011. PRIMR was designed to serve as a research study to examine additional areas for MOE intervention. To date, PRIMR and the MOE have completed a revised scope and sequence of the current reading curriculum for Standard 1 and 2 English and Kiswahili subject areas, produced 150-detailed lesson plans in both English and Kiswahili, and trained teachers and Teacher Advisory Center (TAC) tutors in the use of the methodology.

The GOK recognized that a nationwide expansion of the EGR interventions of recent years was an immediate priority. As such, USAID/Kenya received a formal request from the MOE in early 2012 to develop and implement a nationwide EGR program. The MOE requested that the program deliver targeted reading interventions via each of the language subject areas (Kiswahili and English), to begin in 2013, with appropriate scale up by 2014.

At the same time, PRIMR conducted a baseline and midterm evaluation of 225 target schools in Nairobi, Thika, and Nakuru. The midterm evaluation assessed more than 1,800 pupils in July 2012, and compared with the baseline study gains in treatment and control schools. Given that the intervention was only active for approximately four instructional months, the PRIMR initiative showed impressive gains. PRIMR increased English and Kiswahili letter sound knowledge by 18 letters per minute in four months, which is more than the average gain for a year. For reading, the causal impact was an additional 7 words per minute in English and 3 words per minute in Kiswahili. For reading comprehension, the effect was a 7% increase for English and 4% for Kiswahili. In short, PRIMR’s impact was approximately the equivalent of an additional half-year of schooling, so pupils in PRIMR schools learned as much in a few months as what non-PRIMR pupils learned in a full year.

The PRIMR effect demonstrates a significant increase in Kiswahili fluency in PRIMR versus control schools.

In February 2012, PRIMR, along with approximately 35 MOE and USAID/Kenya officials participated in a high-level workshop to map the way forward for the national reading program. The result of the meeting was a newly established Reading Program Design and Implementation Team (PDIT), a high-level secretariat chaired by the Education Secretary charged with directly supporting early grade reading initiatives. EDY and PRIMR both retain positions within the secretariat, which will manage the national reading program. This project design incorporates extensive GOK input received during the February 2012 workshop, as well as ongoing input provided via the PDIT secretariat, including their input into PRIMR’s Education Policy Study Report in July 2012. According to this report, attached as Annex 1, the research literature on reading development designates six key institutional and policy factors that must be considered when designing a national reading improvement program: the reading curriculum; instructional time; language of instruction; teacher training and continuing professional development; reading textbooks and other teaching-learning materials; and assessment. The report further clarifies these factors and offers suggestions for program development.

KEGRP will build upon this strong foundation of EGR in Kenya and bring successful initiatives to scale at a national level. The following project description describes how KEGRP will collaborate with PRIMR (through its completion date in August 2014), the GOK, the private sector, and the Kenyan public to put into place an evidence-based, systematic process to ensure Kenya’s children can read.

C.4. Project Description

USAID/Kenya will collaborate with the MOE to create a national English and Kiswahili reading project in the approximately 28,000 formal and non-formal primary schools across Kenya. The project will improve reading instruction, advance reading delivery systems, and promote greater engagement by communities, the private sector, and the Kenyan public. The project will also assist the GOK at the technical and policy levels to review, revise, and implement reading-related policies.

KEGRP will operate through existing GOK structures, particularly at the nationwide network of primary schools, TACs, and the Primary Teacher Training Colleges (PTTCs). KEGRP implementers will work with and through the Ministry of Education, the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD, formerly the Kenya Institute of Education[footnoteRef:2]), the Kenya Education Management Institute (KEMI, formerly the Kenya Education Staff Institute), the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), the Kenya Institute for Special Education (KISE), and the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC). KEGRP will collaborate with the private sector, and other development partners and foundations, particularly DfID, Global Partnership for Education (GPE), UWEZO and the Hewlett Foundation, as well as teachers’ unions and parents’ organizations. It will work particularly closely with PRIMR to provide technical and policy guidance to the MOE. KEGRP has potential to work with multiple partners (public and private) across sectors and to complement other initiatives on issues affecting young children including nutrition and hygiene, as well as establishing a foundation for a cohesive, economically vibrant and just society. KEGRP will require strategies for private sector engagement through partnerships and other innovative models that leverage USAID investment. [2: To realign to the new Constitution dispensation several education sector Bills have been enacted into law including the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development [formerly the Kenya Institute of Education] Act, 2012; ]

KEGRP aims to gradually move to Government to Government (G2G) assistance to ensure local ownership and sustainability. The plan is to build capacity during implementation for a full transition to the MOE. As early as possible during implementation of KEGRP, EDY will initiate the process for relevant local entities at the appropriate levels of government to undergo financial and other USAID-required assessments, with the aim of building their capacities so that management and implementation can be effectively transitioned. The expectation is that, by year four, the MOE and the SAGAs will have sufficient capacity in the areas of finance and procurement, human resources, and teaching and learning materials to mainstream and sustain a continuous learning outcomes assessment system for improved quality education.

To support KEGRP to realize the expected results, external monitoring will be incorporated and procured from the private sector and civil society. It is critical that the activities be implemented and both internally and externally assessed to promote continued rigorous learning about the effectiveness of the interventions in the varied contexts of a nationwide program. USAID/Kenya encourages KEGRP applicants to propose a strategic learning agenda that is integrated into the program design and explores specific research questions to illuminate the ongoing process of a national scale-up.

The strategic objective of KEGRP is to improve reading skills among Standard 1 and 2 Students. The ultimate beneficiaries are the approximately 2.7 million Standard 1 and 2 students in Kenya’s public and non-formal education system each year. Intermediate beneficiaries include approximately: 1) 60,000 Standard 1 and 2 teachers[footnoteRef:3], 2) 28,000 primary school head teachers, 3) 1,052 TAC tutors, 4) 300 senior education personnel, and 5) tens of thousands of parents and community members. [3: The figure of approximately 60,000 teachers assumes that some of the approximately 28,000 schools will have more than one Standard 1 and/or Standard 2 class (“double stream”), thus multiple Standard 1 and 2 teachers work at these schools.]

A detailed Results Framework is described in the following sections.

C.5. Results Framework

Result 1: Improved supervision, support, and delivery of reading instruction to target students

Several national reading programs show that direct, classroom-level intervention results in positive gains in student learning. Various programs in India, Liberia, and Ghana, as well as PRIMR’s midterm evaluation results, show how impressive reading results were achieved by establishing clearly defined classroom times for reading skills development, providing intense training and supervision for teachers, assuring continuous assessment, and making available appropriate instructional materials. Informed by this research, Result 1 will focus on improving reading instruction through three types of interventions: (1) increasing availability and use of reading materials; (2) improving teacher effectiveness; and (3) strengthening supervision of teachers by TAC tutors and head teachers.

Intermediate Result 1.1: Increased availability and use of appropriate textbooks and supplementary materials that support reading

The MOE has placed great emphasis on increasing the number of instructional resources in schools; however, the student to textbook ratio is still inadequate, especially in the early primary grades. Moreover, the current instructional materials in Standards 1 and 2 do not systematically teach reading skills in a developmentally appropriate scope and sequence. USAID/Kenya is committed to enacting the USAID Forward principles of support for country ownership, leveraged partner engagement, strategic coordination, and sustainability. As such, KEGRP will work with a range of public, private, and civil efforts to ensure that all targeted children receive instructionally sound English and Kiswahili learning materials in a timely manner.

PRIMR, with the MOE, KICD, KNEC, and teachers, has developed a draft set of 150 lesson plans to teach reading in both English and Kiswahili at the Standard 1 and 2 levels. Each lesson plan has common core elements that include phonemic awareness and alphabetic skills, decoding activities, strategies for reinforcing fluency in identifying common words, teacher-reading time, and self-read time. Each of these lesson elements occurs daily. In every lesson, the activities focus on the explicit teaching of reading combined with listening comprehension, writing, and speaking skills. These materials, which incorporate MOE’s four communicative strands of literacy (reading, listening, speaking, and writing) are currently under review by KICD for curriculum alignment. KICD will also carefully review the materials for gender sensitivity. KEGRP will collaborate with KICD to finalize these materials and have them added to The Approved List of Primary and Secondary School Textbooks and Other Instructional Materials, popularly referred to as the “Orange Book.” Once incorporated into the Orange Book, KEGRP, in coordination with the MOE, will support the printing and distribution of these lesson plans to all Standard 1 and 2 teachers. KEGRP will also collaborate with KISE to ensure that appropriate lesson plans are developed for special-needs students.

Each year, students receive official textbooks via the conventional MOE distribution mechanism, which includes the allocation of Free Primary Education (FPE) textbook funds to schools, with which each school buys books listed in the Orange Book from local retailers. Despite efforts to improve the supply chain, textbooks often arrive weeks after the start of school and are in short supply. When texts do arrive, teachers utilize them as direct, recall-recite instructional tools. KEGRP will work with MOE, KICD, TSC, and publishers to ensure appropriate textbooks, instructional materials, and diagnostic tools are available to complement the 150 lesson plans and instructional guides. The cadre of books, materials, and instructional tools serve to improve diagnostic reading at the classroom level. This includes pre- and post-testing, real time data-driven instruction feedback from instructional coaches to teachers, and other efforts that will increase teachers’ ability to respond to students’ learning needs in more timely and formative ways. KEGRP will collaborate with KICD to ensure such materials are appropriately vetted and incorporated into the Orange Book. KEGRP will collaborate with MOE, KICD, and publishers to ensure that materials are distributed to schools in a timely manner. In 2013 and early 2014, materials development and distribution will focus on Standard 1 lesson plans and learning materials (electronic and print), which will be used by both Standard 1 and 2 students throughout the 2014 school year[footnoteRef:4]. In 2014, materials production and distribution will focus on Standard 2 lesson plans and learning materials for use during the 2015 school year. KEGRP will work with the MOE, publishers, and commercial transporters to ensure that materials are distributed before the start of the school year to both GOK and non-formal schools. Where applicable to non-formal schools, KEGRP will utilize private printing and distribution means to ensure equitable opportunity. [4: The new Standard 2 materials cannot be introduced to the 2014 Standard 2 students since they will not have been adequately prepared during a ‘regular’ Standard 1 school year to adequately respond to the more rigorous content in the revised materials.]

All materials will be integrated and reinforced equally across both English and Kiswahili. KEGRP will welcome responses from applicants that incorporate cost-effective ICT options to facilitate the review, publication, and/or distribution of these materials, and that identify areas for innovative and sustainable private sector collaboration.

Expected Activities for 1.1

· Support the MOE, KICD, and publishers in the drafting, review, publication, and distribution of textbooks and lesson plans for reading in English and Kiswahili for Standards 1 and 2.

Expected Outcomes for 1.1

· Textbooks, instructional materials, and diagnostic tools that reflect a cohesive approach to improved reading.

· Effective and timely distribution of instructional materials.

Intermediate Result 1.2: Improved reading instruction delivered by teachers using sound methodological approaches

The instructional materials in KEGRP advocate for a radical departure from the current practice of reading instruction in Kenyan schools, where textbooks emphasize the rote memorization of picture letters, as opposed to an approach that utilizes processing skills to decode and understand new letters, words, and phonemes. Incorporating more contemporary pedagogical approaches like these into instructional skills and content knowledge will require intensive teacher training and follow-up support to directly increase children’s reading skills.

Teacher training will consist of the following three major components:

For Component 1, USAID/Kenya anticipates an intensive four-phase training program to be completed by early in the 2014 school year. Trainings will utilize reading experts and MOE personnel. The phases include:

Phase 1: Train senior county- and national-level education leadership in the new reading techniques, clarify the technical and theoretical underpinnings of the KEGRP approach, and ensure that senior education officials work closely with county, district and school-level personnel to properly adopt and support the program. This training includes roughly 300 personnel from the MOE, Semi-Autonomous Government Agencies (SAGAs), provinces, and counties over multiple days in Nairobi. Key targets are KICD and Quality Assurance and Standards Officers (QASOs), as they verify instructional materials for Kenya’s schools. The specific roles of the various SAGAs will be clarified in the relevant policy documents that will govern the implementation of the new education sector laws and in line with the new constitution dispensation.

Phase 2: Train head teachers from the approximately 28,000 target schools to ensure buy-in, understanding of the methodology, awareness of ways to provide ongoing monitoring and support to teachers, and awareness of techniques to garner community support and buy-in. This will be a multi-day training at a variety of locations throughout Kenya.

Phase 3: Train all TAC tutors (1,052 as of 2012) in the reading methodology, materials, and training techniques so that they can return to the school clusters (both government and non-formal) to train classroom teachers. This will be a multi-day training at a variety of locations throughout Kenya.

Phase 4: TAC tutors train approximately 60,000 Standard 1 and 2 teachers to ensure that they understand the methodology and properly utilize the instructional materials. TAC tutors, on average, will train approximately 57 teachers each from within their cluster of schools. Trainings may be weeklong non-residential programs, or take place 1-2 days per week over the course of multiple weeks. TAC tutors will also sensitize members of local PTAs and SMCs in the EGR methodologies during their ongoing school visits.

For Component 2, USAID/Kenya anticipates a repeat of Phase 3 and 4 above before the 2015 school year. However, Phase 4 will only be carried out for the approximately 30,000 Standard 2 teachers who will use the Standard 2 materials and lesson plans.

For Component 3, teachers will take part in regular, cluster-based reflection sessions led by TAC tutors. This component will focus on practical instructional modalities along with ‘troubleshooting’ pieces for teachers via individualized coaching sessions. Sessions will be held throughout the instructional year on a monthly basis.

In order to harmonize reading instruction provided through pre-service and in-service teacher training programs, USAID expects that the key staff of the 21 PTTCs will serve as representatives who effectively incorporate appropriate EGR methodologies into their pre-service teacher training responsibilities. Phase 2 is an appropriate activity for participation by PTTC principals; Phase 3 will be for PTTC language instructors/tutors.

USAID/Kenya and the MOE recognize the importance of face-to-face monitoring and follow-up support and thereby welcome solutions from offerors that facilitate this process in innovative and cost-effective ways (e.g., ICT), and that are inclusive of private sector, communities, and civil society to this end.

Expected Activities for 1.2

· Training of approximately 300 senior education officials by early in the 2014 school year.

· Training of one head teacher per school (approximately 28,000) by early in the 2014 school year.

· Training of 84 PTTC principals, language heads of department (HOD), and tutors by early in the 2014 school year.

· Training of all TAC tutors (approximately 1,052) by early in the 2014 school year.

· Training in the Standard 1 materials for approximately 60,000 Standard 1 and 2 teachers by early in the 2014 school year.

· Training in the Standard 2 materials for approximately 30,000 Standard 2 teachers by early in the 2015 school year.

· Ongoing TAC tutor-led reflection sessions for teachers.

Expected Outcomes for 1.2

· Increased capacity of 1,052 TAC tutors to provide professional support to teachers.

· Increased capacity of approximately 28,000 head teachers and 300 senior education officials to provide effective monitoring and support to teachers.

· Increased capacity of approximately 60,000 Standard 1 and 2 teachers to teach reading skills.

· Increase capacity for 84 PTTC principals, language HOD, and tutors in providing pre-service teacher training in EGR.

Intermediate Result 1.3: Supportive supervision in teaching and assessing reading provided to teachers by TAC tutors and head teachers

The current culture of assessment in Kenyan classrooms relies on isolated snapshots of student and teacher performance. The result is a limited view of value-added instructional gains for both teachers and students alike. KEGRP will develop a model of continuous, formative assessment that takes into consideration the instructional environment and large class sizes of typical Kenyan classrooms. In essence, continuous assessment is a classroom approach that documents the existing knowledge, understanding, and skills of both teachers and students; to accomplish an accurate picture, teachers assess students, school heads do the same of teachers, and an analysis of both for improvement allows decision-makers to timely customize training, instruction methods, and curricula. KEGRP will utilize this continuous assessment model throughout the project. Teachers will receive feedback from school heads and TAC tutors based on their performance, which will allow them to focus on topics they have not yet mastered. TAC tutors, who will evaluate, replicate, and share innovative strategies and approaches with teachers, school heads, and district/county education officers, will administer follow-up. KEGRP will work with QASOs, head teachers, and TAC tutors to increase monitoring and feedback (such as regular reflection meetings for teachers) and implement incentive programs (such as recognition for teachers and schools who are meeting or exceeding reading goals.) KEGRP will also work with senior officials at the MOE, TSC, KICD, and KNEC to identify ways in which to monitor instructional quality via continuous assessment, rather than through traditional end-of-year or end-of-cycle formal examinations of students and end-of-year reviews of teachers.

In addition, KEGRP will work with head teachers to address issues of teacher absenteeism and poor time-on-task levels while being sensitive to those with priority needs, such as those affected by or infected with HIV/AIDS. In Kenya, the amount of time devoted to language instruction is 30 minutes for each language, English and Kiswahili. While reading is just one of the four components of language instruction, the actual amount of time devoted to reading in English and Kiswahili is, on average, less than four minutes per language per day. Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Ethiopia each offer reading classes of at least 45 minutes. Given the small amount of time devoted to languages in Kenyan classrooms, it is important that teacher absenteeism and poor time-on-task levels do not further erode the 30-minute block devoted to language classes. In 2012, PRIMR, with funding from USAID/Washington, began research via the Snapshot of School Management Effectiveness protocol to both ascertain the actual levels of absenteeism and time-on-task. The research will propose recommendations for improving each as well as the KICD-endorsed thematic components (reading, writing, speaking, listening) of literacy.

KEGRP will work with PRIMR and the MOE to implement the recommendations.

Expected Activities for 1.3

· Train county MOE and TSC education officers, head teachers, and TAC tutors in effective classroom observation and feedback.

· Carry out regular feedback sessions for teachers to meet and discuss instructional challenges.

· Support MOE and TSC to initiate continuous assessment programs that regularly monitor and provide feedback on the performance of students and teachers.

· Support county MOE and TSC officers, TAC tutors, and head teachers to carry out regular feedback sessions for teachers to meet and discuss their challenges and use of time.

Expected Outcomes for 1.3

· Increased utilization of classroom observation and feedback models by county MOE and TSC education officers, school heads, and TAC tutors.

· Increased use of instructional and management practices that make effective use of a continuous assessment model.

· Increased instructional time spent on the teaching of reading in English and Kiswahili languages.

Result 2: Greater engagement in reading by communities, the private sector, and the public

Identifying and integrating community partners like Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) and School Management Committees (SMCs) to strengthen school reading programs and student learning are a major focus of KEGRP. While USAID/Kenya retains active and ongoing partnerships with the GOK and displays a robust commitment to future engagement, new partnerships with publishers, media houses, and other relevant partners will help to leverage the resources of the private sector. Applicants will utilize a private sector development fund of approximately $2 million to leverage, develop and implement relevant and sustainable private sector engagement strategies over the life of the program. This will assist KEGRP in providing more cost-effective learning materials at the national level. For example, EGR programs will leverage this economy of scale to update the supply chain for reading materials and include additional, low-cost materials to parents and community partners via print, radio, and television mechanisms. The result of more widespread, usable reading materials is greater engagement, accountability, and transparency by the public at large.

Ultimately, a sense of earnestness is created when access to quality materials matches the political and social will for a nation of lower primary school students with strong reading comprehension skills. As such, KEGRP envisions a national campaign for literacy where, for example, the youth of the National Youth Bunge Association[footnoteRef:5] (NYBA) or other community-based volunteers serve as ‘literacy brigades’ to enhance and promote reading development across the early grades. For example, a small grants program with the NYBA may support youth to serve as reading mentors with young children, establish community libraries, or advocate with county and national governments on issues related to quality education. KEGRP will also reach out to local independent media to act as both monitors and collaborators for literacy efforts. [5: The National Youth Bunge Association (NYBA) was developed by youth with support from USAID’s Yes Youth Can program. The NYBA consists of a network of nearly 1 million youth members (aged 18-35) in approximately 20,000 villages across 25 of Kenya’s 47 counties.]

Additional, writ-large public engagement in KEGRP will be highly inclusive. Rather than relegating parents and community members to the schooling sidelines, KEGRP and the new USAID/DRG devolution program, will invite all to join the public dialogue surrounding literacy and provide them with the tools to do so productively. A central issue is how accountability and transparency can optimize the engagement of all stakeholders. To do so, KEGRP will create a network of parents, teachers, and community members dedicated to strengthening public involvement around literacy (akin to the methods of the Pratham model in India). The network will monitor and report on the work of the MOE and further increase public awareness. The network will also advocate for improved accountability, transparency, and community engagement in the MOE decision-making process. Community participation in KEGRP will also provide additional opportunities and incentives for local education officials to respond to local educational needs. This will create opportunities for more downward accountability and thus reduce the gap between citizens and MOE policymakers.

Intermediate Result 2.1: Strengthened roles of the community and private sector in the development and use of supplemental learning materials

In addition to official materials produced for inclusion in the Orange Book (see 1.1), KEGRP will work with teachers, communities, and the private sector to produce and distribute supplemental reading materials for children. Examples may include the use of grade-appropriate children’s books donated from organizations such as Books for Africa, working with teachers to develop locally produced stories, and/or engaging the private sector to develop standardized, cost-effective learning materials via print, radio, and television mechanisms. Since the teaching of reading requires a systematic approach, KEGRP will strive to ensure that supplementary materials directly align to the standardized, curricular goals of Standards 1 and 2. KEGRP will also work with TAC tutors to ensure that teachers are effectively trained on the utilization of these supplementary materials.

Since reading development is maximized through developmentally appropriate activities, stimulating environments, and positive interactions with parents and caregivers, KEGRP will also actively develop co-curricular materials (with PTAs, SMCs, and other partners) for use at home and within the local community (e.g. community libraries). To do so, KEGRP will utilize literacy brigades via the NYBA network and/or other civil society organizations (CSOs). The literacy brigades will serve as ‘literacy frontrunners’ that organize reading programs throughout their communities. This type of grassroots outreach will serve to build and strengthen partnerships between the youth, government, private sector, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) at the community levels. The brigades will also provide opportunity for the newly formed counties to influence the national education agenda – highlighting local views on literacy issues and provide a powerful means to advocate for these interests. Collectively, the brigades can facilitate constructive engagement in an already robust, viable network to enhance KEGRP activities and increase advocacy at the national level and share best practices at the county level.

Expected Activities for 2.1

· Collaborate with KICD, communities, and private sector to produce and distribute supplementary reading materials to schools.

· Produce standardized, co-curricular learning materials at the national level and distribute via print, radio, television, and SMS mechanisms.

· Incorporate NYBA and CSO networks to serve as community literacy brigades.

Expected Outcomes for 2.1

· Increased use of supplementary reading materials by teachers at the classroom level.

· Increased use of co-curricular literacy materials at the local level.

· Greater engagement in literacy building efforts by the public at large.

Intermediate Result 2.2: Increased public awareness of the importance of reading

When children become strong readers in the early grades, they become stronger learners throughout their school years, and while reading achievement is ultimately an individual responsibility, a pro-reading environment facilitates greater growth. KEGRP will create a network of parents, teachers, and community members dedicated to strengthening public involvement around the importance of reading. Libraries, outreach programs, service clubs, media outlets, and nonprofit organizations will serve as partners.

KEGRP will collaborate with the Ministry of Education to create public service announcements (PSAs) to inspire Kenyans to “explore new worlds through reading” and to promote literacy for all types of learning, including books, periodicals, and informal print. Although these EGR efforts are designed to specifically increase the reading skills of lower primary school children, the multimedia and broadcasting wraparounds are universally age-applicable. In addition, PEPFAR funding, if received, will enable the multimedia components to incorporate HIV prevention and positive health messages into the programming. All multimedia and broadcasting efforts will include print components for non-television audiences.

Expected Activities for IR 2.2

· Create a network of individuals and organizations to actively strengthen public awareness about the importance of lifelong reading.

· Develop a media and public awareness campaign.

Expected Outcomes for IR 2.2

· Strengthened public awareness about the importance of lifelong reading.

· Sustainable network of parents, teachers, and community members dedicated to early grade reading.

Result 3: Improved government capacity, in target departments, to review, revise, and implement reading-related policies

The rationale for, and experience with, the use of assessment to improve the quality of education in Kenya reflects strong MOE commitment to monitoring education development in students. In 2006, the GOK established the National Assessment Centre to conduct the National Assessment of Monitoring Learner Achievement (NASMLA). NASMLA documents how students, schools, and districts perform at various levels of primary education before sitting for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination. NASMLA effectively harmonized all assessment initiatives under the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) and formed a foundation for ongoing policy dialogue about learning practices and performance. The intent of KNEC was to capture how the educational practices in the typical Kenyan classroom can inform MOE policy, but the reality is that KNEC has limited capacity to effectively present school and district-level data along these aims. While EGR efforts are critical components of the current MOE strategy to expand and integrate literacy programming across the primary school curriculum, the various evidence of school and system performance around reading (beyond the individual student level) fails to inform policy decisions.

The EGRA process shows that strategic investments in policy development have a significant impact on student learning. To this effect, KEGRP will increase the technical capacity of KNEC to measure students’ achievement against set standards, to evaluate how schools and districts are carrying out their literacy responsibilities within these standards, and provide the expertise in translating assessment data into new instructional and governing policies that will increase the quality of teaching and learning. KEGRP will provide ongoing, comprehensive analysis of EGR outcomes and create the necessary feedback mechanisms within the MOE so that data can inform policy development early and often. An additional result of this revised policy dialogue is that schools, families, and communities will be better able to communicate about actual reading performance in plain form and, as a result, endorse and select prevention practices that support MOE-defined performance standards (e.g., benchmarks).

Intermediate Result 3.1: Increased capacity of MOE to set clear reading benchmarks and national standards

KEGRP presents a significant and historic opportunity for the GOK to collectively develop and adopt a core set of benchmarks for reading at the Standard 1 and 2 levels. While the current reading curriculum is standardized to local norms, it provides little information for teachers on how to define the individual skills necessary to create success as stronger readers. KEGRP will help MOE officials identify the knowledge and skills that students should acquire and assist school heads and teachers to develop appropriate instructional plans. To achieve this, clear benchmarks and standards will be developed to help school leadership teams plan explicit, annual goals for reading improvement. Together with lesson plans and teaching guides, teachers will be prepared to create a new generation of strong readers.

To do this, KEGRP will commission yearly policy studies that examine phase-in, resource allocation, and the actual provision of reading skill development plans in primary schools. This will help with measuring the viability of various implementation options as well as enhance efforts to better identify and understand the sociopolitical and resource constraints of maintaining a national reading program. KEGRP will assist MOE leadership in assessing important internal research questions and operational dilemmas for the GOK; for example: approaches to and resources required to scale up early grade reading interventions in local languages; investments in ICT options; and analysis of student performance across various languages and demographics. To further this effort, KEGRP will provide technical assistance – and partner with USAID/DRG’s new devolution program – to ensure that ongoing policy dialogue results in proper (and timely) response by the MOE and TSC at national and local levels.

Expected Activities for 3.1

· Develop and adopt a core set of benchmarks and standards for reading at Standards 1 and 2.

· Assist schools in developing appropriate instructional plans to match the revised benchmarks and standards.

· Assist school heads and QASOs to develop annual goals for student learning that align to the revised benchmarks and standards.

· Conduct a yearly policy study to ascertain phase-in, resource allocation, and actual provision of reading development plans in primary schools.

Expected Outcomes for 3.1

· Clearly defined benchmarks and standards for literacy attainment at Standards 1 and 2.

· Functional instructional development plans at the school level that aligns pedagogical practices with revised benchmarks and standards.

· Usable policy-level research for improved decision making at all operational phases of the MOE.

Intermediate Result 3.2: Increased capacity of KNEC to conduct and utilize reading assessment data

KEGRP will track the reading skills of students at the Standard 1 and 2 levels. While KNEC does not have a formalized process for tracking these skills at these levels, KEGRP will co-develop an appropriate grade-level assessment to properly do so. The assessments will use a nationally representative sample to ensure that results can be extrapolated for larger student populations. In order to inform and report on the results in-country, KEGRP will gather cross-sectional reading performance data at the same grade levels over time, calculate changes in performance levels, and extrapolate any observed performance gains to the larger student population from which the probability sample was drawn. These will provide the evidence-based, national-level indicators that will ultimately support stronger policy dialogue.

USAID anticipates that the assessment of a nationally representative sample will provide the MOE and USAID with data on the number of students demonstrating improved reading skills according to the benchmarks established in 3.1. Collectively, these data will provide the comparative indicators necessary to effectively perform regional analyses, to examine policy priorities at the higher, standards-based system level, and to aid the MOE in ongoing strategic planning.

Expected Activities for 3.2

· Co-develop with KNEC validated reading assessment tools for Standards 1 and 2.

· Support KNEC to conduct periodic reading assessments.

Expected Outcomes for 3.2

· The creation of a field-tested, usable cadre of validated EGR assessment tools.

· Reports from reading assessments.

Intermediate Result 3.3: Increased capacity of MOE to set revised quality assurance policy

USAID and the MOE believe that assurance monitoring – a set of techniques for assessing student and school performance on a regular and frequent basis – can be an essential and integral part of a standards-based assessment and accountability system.

In order to meet the higher expectations of a standards-based system, teachers will need information that can be used to project how students perform against the grade-level standard throughout the course of the academic year. By identifying which students are at risk, teachers can be proactive, making sound instructional choices and using the EGR resources more strategically to ensure that every student has the chance to succeed. Likewise, county MOE and TSC officials can employ a system for evaluation and support of teachers, head teachers, and TAC tutors. At the MOE level, a clear quality assurance policy will enable more rigorous longitudinal analysis of student performance. To this effect, KEGRP will incorporate targeted training in quality assurance metrics at the county and national levels. This will be in the form of technical assistance to senior education leadership in the design of sound assurance policy and programming planning.

To date, the use of EGR information is limited to GOK commissions, reviews, and reform programs. By working with the MOE and KNEC, KEGRP will ensure that all assessments are consistent with the goals of a national reading program, take into account users’ specific information needs, and accurately report results to the wide-range of stakeholders. The overall aim is to provide information on reading achievement in a rapid, useable fashion. This means providing parents and caregivers’ information on the performance of their child, but also including a description and example of the kind of performance that is expected at their grade level. The quality assurance team at the MOE will also enable stakeholders to develop informed opinions about the quality of schools in terms of students’ academic achievement, but not to use the results to compare or rank schools or district areas. As appropriate, results will be reported to distinguish the economic and sociocultural levels of the students that the schools serve, as well as the schools’ infrastructure, facilities, and community involvement.

Expected Activities for 3.3

· Provide targeted quality assurance training for county- and national-level MOE officials.

· Provide technical assistance to support design…