USAID EDucation Strategy.pdf

EDUCATION

Opportunity Through Learning

USAID

EDUCATION

STRATEGY

FEBRUARY 2011

USAID

EDUCATION

STRATEGY

2011- 2015

FEBRUARY 2011

WASHINGTON, DC

I am pleased to share with you USAID’s Education Strategy. It is a product of intensive collaboration among senior managers, technical and policy experts at the Agency, and consultation with external partners and experts.

This strategy ushers in a new era of evidence-based strategic guidance that will lead to more focused and collaborative education investments aimed at improving learning outcomes and institutional sustainability in our partner countries. It is an example of USAID’s commitment to use development resources selectively, efficiently, and with greater accountability and impact.

There are few investments more worthwhile than helping ensure children are healthy, secure and prepared to prosper in a global-ized world—whether those children reside in America,Afghanistan,Tanzania or Guatemala. We have worked for decades with many committed partners to promote education quality and opportunity, and we have achieved impressive gains in promoting universal primary quality education opportunities for all of our children, but there remains much more to do.

Where access to education has been secured, we must shift focus to the quality and relevance of learning. To achieve our goals, we must deploy the power of new technologies and promote the natural curiosity and entrepreneurial spirit of our young people.

And we must do so sustainably and in close partnership with national governments, municipalities, civil society, the private sector, and most critically, with parents and children themselves. Together, we have the ability to eradicate illiteracy, provide safe spaces and learning opportunities for the most vulnerable children and create engines of economic growth through higher education institutions.

It is my hope that this strategy will embody and give meaning to President Obama’s memorable statement in Cairo in 2009— that “Education and innovation will be the currency of the 21st century.”

Rajiv Shah Administrator U. S.Agency for International Development

MESSAGE FROM THE

ADMINISTRATOR

MESSAGE FROM THE ADMINISTRATOR USAID EDUCATION STRATEGY/2011-2015

USAID EDUCATION STRATEGY/2011-2015 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This Education Strategy was produced over five months by the USAID Education Strategy PolicyTaskTeam (PTT), co-chaired by Letitia Butler from the Bureau for Policy, Planning, and Learning and David Barth from the Office of Education. In addition to the co-chairs, the PTT consisted of five individuals selected from across the Agency because of their recognized knowledge of the sec-tor and leadership on education issues: Suezan Lee (Office of Education), Mitch Kirby (Asia and Middle East Bureaus), Lubov Fajfer (Bureau for Europe and Eurasia), LeAnna Marr (USAID Macedonia), Pape Sow (USAID Senegal), and Elizabeth Roen (Bureau for Policy, Planning, and Learning). These USAID staff worked intensively and collaboratively, carrying out their full office workload at the same time as this critical strategy work.

Within USAID, the PTT reached out in consultation with the Education Sector Council, regional and functional bureau representa-tives, education officers in field missions around the world, and senior management in both headquarters and the field. Outside of USAID, consultation and briefings were held with key US interagency partners, interested Congressional staff, and selected exter-nal partners from think tanks, academia and other development agencies or partners.

Finally, the PTT also benefited from virtual collaboration with a group of leading experts in educational research, who responded to our call for evidence from cutting-edge research in the areas of our strategic focus.

USAID is grateful to all those who contributed their time, knowledge and professional assessments to helping us hone our strate-gic focus. As we move to implementation of this strategy, we intend to remain fully open to feedback on how to adjust the strategy to ensure the Agency is achieving greater impact and sustainability in partnership with host countries, other donors and a wide range of development and education stakeholders.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

In late 2010, USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah commissioned a newAgency-wide Education Strategy to ensure that USAID’s global education investments would be informed by recent Presidential policy guidance; grounded in the most current evidence-based analysis of educational effectiveness;

and aimed at maximizing the impact and sustainability of devel-opment results. This 2011-2015 Education Strategy was created to reflect these core principles.

This Education Strategy is premised on the development hypothesis that education is both foundational to human devel-opment and critically linked to broad-based economic growth and democratic governance. Research has demonstrated that education raises individual incomes and, in an enabling environ-ment, can contribute significantly to economic growth.

Education helps ensure that growth is broad-based and reaches the poorest. Through its impact on economic growth, educa-tion helps catalyze transitions to democracy and helps preserve robust democratic governance. Education also helps improve health outcomes. Access to education is a crucial precondition to educational impact, but what matters most thereafter is the quality of education. Because of these important links to other powerful drivers of development, educational investments should be understood as dynamic and transformational levers of change.

Embracing the President’s 2010 U.S. Global Development Pol-icy principles, USAID will invest education resources strategically to achieve measurable and sustainable educational outcomes through enhanced selectivity, focus, country-led pro-gramming, division of labor and innovation. Additionally, critical priorities such as improved evaluation practices, gender integra-tion and sustainability will undergird all of our investments. We will look for opportunities to achieve greater impact and scale, based on a country’s commitment to reform, potential to achieve rapid results, and relative educational need. We will also encourage phasing out of programs that are very small or non-strategic, unless they can demonstrate a very high marginal impact on policy reform, system strengthening, program inte-gration or innovation piloting. As a result, USAID’s future global education footprint is expected to evolve in shape and size, and to be more closely coordinated with partner governments, civil society, other donors and the private sector.

Based on projected resource availability, and on the policy prin-ciples above, USAID will pursue three global education goals:

� Goal One: Improved reading skills for 100 million chil-dren in primary grades by 2015;

� GoalTwo: Improved ability of tertiary and workforce development programs to generate workforce skills rele-vant to a country’s development goals; and

� GoalThree: Increased equitable access to education in crisis and conflict environments for 15 million learners by 2015.

This Education Strategy explains the rationale for selecting these goals; provides illustrative results, activities and measures of success; and links all of these in an illustrative results frame-work. Important crosscutting issues of concern are discussed, including youth programming, gender equality, marginalized populations and disabled learners, and integrating education with other development priorities. Finally, the strategy promises a “roadmap for implementation” that will provide more detailed guidance to field missions on how USAID will institu-tionalize its new policies, build a 21st century research agenda, explicitly seek more robust partnerships, and establish new norms and incentives for educational strategic planning and knowledge sharing.

USAID EDUCATION STRATEGY/2011-2015 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Education is foundational to human development and crit-ical to broad-based economic growth. Few societies have achieved high and sustained rates of growth or sig-nificantly reduced poverty without first investing in expanding access to quality education. Further, education has proven essential for developing an informed and active citizenry, required for healthy democratic practice and for enabling indi-viduals to make smarter choices affecting health and household welfare. Education remains the key for unlocking the individ-ual’s intellectual and creative potential.

The U.S.Agency for International Development (USAID) has long been a thought-leader and innovative practitioner in global education. It has pioneered new knowledge in systematic pro-gram analysis and planning, community participation methods, sponsoring cutting-edge research in distance learning, girls’ educa-tion, and learning outcomes, and has promoted holistic approaches to educational achievement. From years of research and experience, we have learned important lessons about edu-cation:

� Education raises individual incomes. In virtually all coun-tries, workers who have gone through more years of schooling earn more. Over time, the increase in income leads to significantly higher standards of living and greater opportunities. Every additional year of schooling has been estimated to increase income per worker by 8.3 percent, on average.

� In an enabling environment, education can contribute signifi-cantly to economic growth.The acquisition of skills is central to building human capital, increasing labor produc-tivity, catalyzing the adoption of new technologies and innovations, and accelerating novel applications of existing technologies. In an economy open to trade and with well-functioning markets, workers can add not only to their own incomes, but to the country’s economic growth in a significant and sustainable way.

� Access to education is a crucial precondition, but what mat-ters most thereafter is the quality of education. Getting students into schools is not enough. Studies show that if students acquire few skills because of poor-quality educa-tion, large increases in school enrollment will not translate into gains in economic growth. High-quality education gives students the cognitive skills they need to prosper in the job market.

� Basic skills and high-level skills are complementary. The growth benefits derived from more workers with top-level skills depend heavily on the share of the workforce with at least basic skills. In other words, focusing on a few“islands of excellence” and building the skills of a highly-trained elite, when basic education for most of the population is still poor, is unlikely to help the economy grow.

� Reaping the economy-wide benefits of improvements in edu-cation takes time and sustained engagement. The impact of education on growth requires gradual change in the skill mix of the labor force, which may take several decades to complete. Over time, these changes will have dramatic effects on a country’s development path, but require patience to realize fully.

� Improving the quality of education requires incentivizing cer-tain types of behaviors among policymakers, administrators, teachers, students, and parents. For that reason, efforts to improve educational quality are highly context-specific and context-dependent. They require a good under-standing of the complex cultural, social, and political forces at work, and they take time to yield results.

� Education helps ensure that growth is broad-based and reaches the poorest. In countries where access to educa-tion is widespread, the poor are in a better position to achieve gains in earnings. Even in developed countries, more equally distributed skills predict more equally dis-tributed earnings.

EDUCATION AND THE

DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGE

EDUCATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGE USAID EDUCATION STRATEGY/2011-2015

� Through its impact on economic growth, education helps catalyze transitions to democracy and helps preserve robust democratic governance. Economic growth and development are the most important factors influencing regime transition and democratic survival. Researchers agree that improvements in average per capita income increase the probabilities of democracy and democratic survival. Furthermore, access to quality education is often a key factor in transforming individuals from“sub-jects” to citizens – allowing them to participate meaningfully in the political life of their countries.

� Education helps improve health outcomes. Greater educa-tional attainment, especially for girls, leads to overall health improvements as well as to reduction in fertility and infant mortality. It has also been associated with increased infant birth weight, better nutrition, age-appropriate entry into school, better lifetime school achievement, and lower risk of contracting HIV/AIDS.

� A society’s provision of quality education is of vital interest to the private sector. The private sector has a vital short, medium and long term stake in the provision of quality education. Businesses invest significant human and finan-cial resources in assessing education needs and problems, assisting the development of policies and programs aimed at improving education, and supporting education pro-gram delivery. This makes business a key partner in efforts to define and address a society’s education needs.

USAID EDUCATION STRATEGY/2011-2015 EDUCATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGE

CONTEXT USAID EDUCATION STRATEGY/2011-2015

INTERNATIONAL EFFORTS –

THE LASTTWENTYYEARS

The global state of education is poor. More than 70 mil-lion school-age children do not have access to schooling.

Of those who do attend, hundreds of millions more are not being taught the basic skills that they require to be compet-itive economic actors in a globalized world. Drop-out rates remain high and too few students, especially girls, matriculate into tertiary education. While important gains in primary school enrollment have been achieved across the developing world, and the gender gap in access to primary education has been narrowed or closed in many countries, the strong focus on improving access has not changed the fact that education quality remains poor in most developing countries. Unless we make significant progress in quality, the enormous power of education to change lives and societies for the better will remain untapped.

Over the last twenty years the international community has sig-nificantly increased focus on the impact of education on country development. Education’s role in development first gained international recognition with UNESCO’s 1990 Educa-tion for All (EFA) pledge to support universal education. This commitment was reaffirmed in 2000 with the Millennium Dec-laration calling for, among other things, universal primary education and the promotion of gender equality at all levels of education by 2015.The Monterrey Consensus in 2002 and Doha Declaration in 2008 have mobilized resources and inter-national fiscal cooperation for development financing.

The EFA/FastTrack Initiative (FTI) was established in 2002 to mobilize financing and accelerate progress toward the EFA goals. FTI is the main mechanism for coordination of global donor resources aimed at basic education. Its board adminis-ters a fund supporting endorsed country education plans.

Nineteen donor countries contribute to the fund and a total of $1.6 billion has been disbursed to 36 low-income countries to support their national education plans. The United States par-ticipates on the Board of Directors and is funding administra-tive reform of FTI with an emphasis on improving monitoring and evaluation. Decisions concerning whether the United States should help capitalize the FTI fund are revisited annually based on the potential impact of the assistance as well as the responsible stewardship of the resources.

THE U.S. POLICY CONTEXT –

2010 AND BEYOND

The USAID 2011 Education Strategy will be implemented in the dynamic policy context of principles and guidelines enunci-ated in the 2010 National Security Strategy, the 2010 U.S.

Global Development Policy, and a new 2010 USAID Forward reform initiative. Together with the 2010 Quadrennial Diplo-macy and Development Review (QDDR), these policy and reform initiatives set the context for why it is critical to invest in education in the developing world—and why it is critical to do so smartly, with evidence-based decisions that deliver real, measurable results.

The Global Development Policy places special emphasis on promoting broad-based economic growth and democratic gov-ernance, using “game changing” innovations, and, tailoring development strategies to the unique and demanding contexts of countries experiencing complex emergencies. In light of the evidence presented for how education contributes to eco-nomic growth and governance, the commitment in this strategy to promote research, technology and innovation to help accel-erate educational achievement, and the application of lessons hard-learned through U.S. engagement in conflict and crisis contexts, is fully consistent with the Global Development Policy and will help advance its core goals.

The 2010 QDDR by the U.S. Department of State and USAID sets the stage for more holistic and integrated U.S. Govern-ment country planning. These more coherent U.S. assistance approaches may in turn lead to a deeper understanding of the local context for education programming and to the relevance

CONTEXT

USAID EDUCATION STRATEGY/2011-2015 CONTEXT

of educational investments to all else that the host country, the U.S. and other partners are trying to achieve developmentally.

The USAID Forward Initiative, launched by Administrator Rajiv Shah in 2010, aims to reform and revitalize USAID’s strategic policy, planning and evaluation capabilities, and to redefine how USAID will engage with host country partners. These reforms are key to implementing the aid effectiveness principles of the Paris Declaration and the Accra Agenda for Action while ensur-ing more effective programming and closer collaboration with local actors in education and other sectors.

Finally, in 2010, the U.S. Government also renewed its commit-ment to the Millennium Development Goals, including MDG 2 on Universal Primary Education which commits donors to “ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling” and MDG 3 to “promote gender equality and empower women” including by “eliminating gender disparity” in all levels of education. This commitment combined with American values to promote human dignity and support democratic governance and eco-nomic growth will undergird all that USAID pursues through this new strategy, with key emphasis on the sustainability of results and mutual accountability between donors and country partners.

USAID has been directed by Congress to invest substantially in supporting education programming worldwide. Appropriations for USAID basic education activities have increased from less than $100 million in FY 2000 to $925 million in FY 2010; higher education received an additional $200 million in FY 2010.

According to guidance accompanying appropriations, basic edu-cation funds are to be used to impart basic literacy and numeracy skills, and to promote systems and programs that will result in improved learning of basic skills around the world.

In FY 2010, 32 percent of the programs receiving USAID edu-cation assistance, over half that fiscal year’s basic education budget, addressed issues of education in fragile or conflict-affected states. Programs in Afghanistan and Pakistan alone account for over 40 percent of USAID resources dedicated to education programming. The types of issues arising in conflict countries inevitably differ in scope and kind from more stable countries, and a realistic strategy must distinguish between them and program accordingly.

THE STRATEGY USAID EDUCATION STRATEGY/2011-2015

T he USAID Education Strategy is grounded in the over-arching objective of advancing sustained and inclusive economic and social development in partner countries through improved learning outcomes over the next five years.

The following section identifies key principles and outlines the main elements of the strategy. An illustrative results framework is attached as Annex A.

STRATEGIC PRINCIPLES

For USAID’s education assistance to meet the challenges of the 21st century, our programs must be strategically aimed to achieve measurable and sustainable educational outcomes. In addition to adhering to the critically important principle of developing country-led strategies and country-tailored program designs, this 2011 USAID Education Strategy calls for USAID Missions to embrace the U.S. Global Development Policy princi-ples of selectivity, focus, country responsibility, division of labor, and innovation in their program design and development.

USAIDWashington will likewise consider these policy principles when headquarters’ approval is required for program and resource requests. Finally, USAID reaffirms principles related to evaluation, gender integration, public-private partnerships and sustainability as necessary for strong strategies and programs.

SELECTIVITY: USAID will promote greater regional and country selectivity in the allocation of education-specific resources by prioritizing the following actions:

� Seek Impact and Scale: USAID will place strong emphasis on the potential of a country program to realize signifi-cant reform, achieve rapid results, lead to broad-based impact, or be taken to national scale from local or regional levels. Absolutely essential to attribution of cred-ible achievement is an assessment of the country’s capacity and commitment to drive such impact and scale.

Such assessment should involve the full range of parties with an interest in or means to impact that capacity and commitment, including the private sector.

� Assess Relative Need: USAID will balance size, scale, and regional priority by assessing a country’s relative educa-tion needs. This will require an assessment and indexing of a series of indicators across countries, including data on poor learning outcomes, gender inequity and margin-alization, and degree of access to education in conflict and crisis countries.

� Invest in Sub-Saharan Africa: While 38 percent of non- Critical Priority Country resources in FY 2010 are already invested in Sub-Saharan Africa, USAID will increase resource flows to this sub-region, where program pro-posals meet criteria outlined in this strategy.

� Set a Resource Floor: Unless a small investment can be justified in terms of its demonstrably high impact on pol-icy reform, system strengthening, program integration, or innovation piloting, USAID will phase out education pro-grams in countries where these fall below a threshold of $2 million annually. This threshold level represents the balancing point between management costs and the potential gains of an investment. Phase-out decisions will be addressed through USAID’s new strategic planning processes, but will only be made following full assessment of trade-offs, opportunities for “hand-off ” to other donors or development partners, and examination of the effects of phase-out on non-assistance aspects of the bilateral relationship.

� Define Donor Division of Labor: USAID will consider the presence, orientation, and results of other bilateral and multilateral donors in each country where USAID educa-tion investments are proposed to understand comparative advantage, identify opportunities for com-plementarity, and avoid duplication.

THE STRATEGY

FOCUS: USAID will ensure greater education program focus within countries according to the country context, in support of strategic goals, and in search of the highest potential for results. For example:

� 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.

� In countries with high potential for rapid economic growth and increased integration with the global economy, the pri-ority focus will be on tertiary education that generates the human capacity and workforce skills needed for the country’s development.

� In countries that have both the capacity and commitment to work simultaneously on basic and tertiary education,pro-grams may be larger-scale with an emphasis on system strengthening.

� In crisis or conflict-affected countries, access to education for children and youth is the logical focal point of a pro-gram. A focus on the quality of learning outcomes will also be necessary in these circumstances, but not as the short-term, highest priority that defines program success.

COUNTRY OWNERSHIP AND RESPONSIBILITY: The principles of selectivity and focus are not inconsistent with the goal of country ownership and responsibility. Providing host country leadership a clear articulation of USAID’s priorities and comparative advantage as a donor can enable them to make strategic choices and necessary trade-offs. Importantly, it can provide donors the signals needed to assess host country com-mitment to long-term reforms. This strategy introduces the President’s global policy principles to guide high-level resource allocations, while leaving the critical strategic program planning decisions to our field professionals in country.

Based on USAID Forward guidance, USAID education pro-grams will actively assess and seize opportunities for reliance on host country planning and implementation systems – sup-portive of, but separate from, interventions that seek to strengthen education systems. Whenever possible, USAID will support initiatives and innovative ideas presented by host coun-try governments and civil society that contribute to the education goals in this strategy. However, given that developing country education systems are often complex, under-regulated, and vulnerable to system and resource abuse, USAID field mis-sions must approach direct assistance and other local capacity-building mechanisms with care and with a commitment to risk assessment and mitigation.

DIVISION OF LABORAND DONOR MIX: It is essential in today’s multi-stakeholder development landscape that USAID place greater priority on communication, collaboration, and coordination with donors, host country governments, and other in-country partners including the business community to coordinate priorities and drive to a deliberate division of labor in the sector. Ideally, this should derive from strong country ownership of a national education plan and country leadership of the donor community. Absent this, USAID will coordinate with bilateral donors, multilateral banks, and other international organizations to maximize allocation of donor talent and resources across the sector and reduce fragmentation that bur-dens host country systems. In countries where USAID is a relatively minor player in education, it may be advisable to work through the agency of other donors (where risk is assessed and mitigated), using sector-wide approaches, multi-donor trust funds, delegated cooperation, or other innovative cooperation modalities.

INNOVATION, SCIENCE,ANDTECHNOLOGY: A signa-ture comparative advantage of U.S. education assistance to the developing world is our ability to tap and adapt the deep reser-voir of knowledge within the American science, technology and business communities, both directly and through the value-adding filter of academic and foundation research. At the heart of these disciplines is a demand for evidence of what works or does not work and why, as well as a thirst for testing new hypotheses. Adopting these solution-seeking mindsets and leveraging these American assets must become critical compo-nents of how USAID professionals identify, design, manage and evaluate our education programs. USAID is actively encourag-ing the use of science, technology and other innovations in our education programs. Examples of innovations include private financing and delivery mechanisms, higher education partner-ships, and a Grand Challenge:All Children Reading by 2020.

Information and communication technologies can, for example, collect and transmit data by mobile phones to monitor real time teacher absenteeism, facilitate the delivery of instruction or learning materials through audio and video materials, radio, television, computers, internet, mobile devices, and improve access to communication technology through partnerships with communication service providers.

ENHANCED EVALUATION PRACTICES: Citizen support for education programs in partner countries cannot be achieved or sustained without the accountability and demon-

USAID EDUCATION STRATEGY/2011-2015 THE STRATEGY

strated learning provided by rigorous evaluation practices.

USAID’s Evaluation Policy (January 2011) will guide our educa-tion programming, including through building local capacity for evaluation, integrating evaluation into the design of programs, unbiased measurement and reporting of program status and outcomes, insistence on addressing the most relevant questions with the best evaluative methods, and a commitment to wide disclosure of key findings.

SUSTAINABILITY: The President’s Global Development Pol-icy also places a strong priority on achieving sustainable development outcomes through building capacity in the national and community-level public sector institutions to pro-vide basic services over the long term. In most countries, this encompasses increasing economic growth, domestic revenues and working towards a country’s ability to finance its own qual-ity public education sector. It also includes strengthening the public education system broadly, through rationalized policies on curriculum, employment, professionalization, and financing, as well as investments in infrastructure, training and planning.

However, improved learning outcomes will never result solely from the efforts of public employees, but rather from the net-worked efforts of government, parents, community organizations, and the private sector (both non-profit and for-profit, local and international, host country residents and diaspora members). It is through such interweaving of diverse interests that educational quality, relevance and sustainability is more likely to emerge.

GENDER EQUALITY: Per the U.S. Global Development Pol-icy, the U.S. will make “investments that benefit women and girls.” USAID education programs will promote gender equality.

To do this, USAID education programs should promote gender parity, gender equity, and focus on improving education quality for both boys and girls. When designing education programs, projects, and activities aimed at achieving the goals in this strat-egy, USAID will consider the goal-specific gender issues affecting boys and girls, young men and young women, and develop gender equity strategies to address these issues during implementation.

EXPECTED CHANGESANDTRADE-OFFS

As USAID missions move to reassess and reshape their educa-tion portfolios consistent with these principles, we expect to see a number of changes, including shifts in USAID’s global edu-cation footprint, increasing demand for evidence of success, a higher degree of risk-taking, more reliance on host country leadership, and more strategic coordination with other donors and the private sector.

Country programs will evolve to become more strategic and more focused on specific outcomes and impacts. USAID edu-cation investments will be driven by prioritizing contexts where interventions are realistically and measurably achievable in a 3-5 year timeframe (even within a longer, strategic context.) Edu-cation programs will be more closely linked to economic growth and transparent, democratic governance reforms because of the powerful correlation and synergies between them. By deepening our focus on quality of learning outcomes across country programs, USAID will strengthen its ability to draw cross-country data comparisons and share lessons learned and best practices.

USAID’s professional interaction with outside experts in the development, donor, business, foundation and academic com-munities will increase—most especially with non-traditional partners from the technology, and scientific research disciplines.

Our collaboration with other US government agencies working in education will increase—such as with the US Departments of Education, Labor and Agriculture, and with the Peace Corps.

In addition, USAID’s education staff will benefit from a re-ener-gized agency commitment to technical excellence, enhanced strategic planning, strategic program standards, and a more explicit plan for staff professionalization, training and career advancement.

USAID will face some difficult trade-offs:

� With few exceptions, USAID plans to discontinue funding over time for a number of educational sub-sectors or spe-cialties which, examined in isolation, are important to subgroups of students and citizens, but which do not directly contribute to a broad, scalable objective of quality learning or do not represent USAID’s comparative advan-tage. For instance, we will de-emphasize general upper-secondary education investments except in cases that contribute to restoring access in conflict or crisis-affected environments or where vocational or workforce development training is delivered in secondary settings.

Similarly, important education interventions such as early childhood development and adult literacy, among others, are unlikely to appear in USAID programming unless they directly contribute to the strategy’s goals.

� With greater concentration of focus in fewer program targets,USAID can and should continue an integrated approach to strategic analysis, and should coordinate with partners and the host country government to achieve comprehensive reform. However, USAID will focus edu-cation assistance on the goals outlined in this strategy.

(Exceptions to this may be found in country programs with funding levels elevated for other than technical reasons.)

� USAID Missions may require more lead-time to develop country-led, donor-engaged, stake-holder informed, evi-dence-based strategies and projects.

STRATEGIC GOALS

The USAID Education Strategy includes three goals.The first goal is to improve reading skills for 100 million children in pri-mary grades by 2015. Goal 1 builds upon USAID’s long experience in primary education and, more recent leadership in supporting interventions to improve learning outcomes. It recognizes that learning takes place at all levels but adopts a particular focus on early grade reading improvement as the foundation for future learning.

Goal 2 focuses on improving equity, expanding access, and improving the quality and relevance of tertiary and workforce development programs. It has a particular focus on strengthen-ing the capacity of host country technical and tertiary institutions to increase access to underserved groups; improve the quality and relevance of education, training and applied research; and fostering strategic partnerships between U.S. and host country institutions.

Goal 3 builds on the substantial commitments by USAID to assist with education programming in crisis and conflict environ-ments. It will increase access to education for 15 million learners in crisis and conflict affected countries by 2015.While Goal 1 has a sharp focus on early grade reading, education pro-gramming in conflict and crisis affected settings requires a broader and more contextual approach. Goal 3 will support learning opportunities for children and youth; strengthen crisis prevention efforts; and develop host country institutional capacity to provide education services.

These three goals will guide education-specific resource alloca-tion. Given different country contexts, all results listed below are illustrative and provided as examples of types of activities that could contribute to each goal.

GOAL 1:

IMPROVED READING SKILLS FOR 100 MILLION

CHILDREN IN PRIMARY GRADES BY 2015

In 2000, the international community, including USAID, rallied around Millennium Development Goal 2 to provide universal access to primary education for all children by 2015. In the past decade, significant achievements have been made increas-ing primary enrollment worldwide. For example, enrollments in sub-Saharan Africa increased by 51 percent between 1999 and 2007 and the net enrollment rate in South andWest Asia (SWA) had reached 84 percent by 2007.6 However, children in low-income countries are completing primary school at only 67% of the rate of high-income countries and progress has been slow. Moreover, recent studies show that for many stu-dents in low-income countries, very little learning is occurring in the classroom. In Mali, Pakistan and Peru more than 70% of children in the primary grades could not read at grade level.8 9

In fact, in Mali, 94% of children at the end of grade 2 could not read a word in a simple sentence. The leading international assessment, Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), indicates that low-income countries are performing at the bottom 5th percentile in the world.

However, studies have also shown that learning outcomes have a direct correlation to a country’s economic growth. A 10% increase in the share of students reaching basic literacy trans-lates into a 0.3 percentage point higher annual growth rate for that country.10 Other research has shown that early grade reading competency is critical for continued retention and suc-cess in future grades.11 This link is especially relevant for low-income children, because they tend to have home and school environments that are less conducive to early reading development relative to those of higher income children. Chil-dren who do not attain reading skills at the primary level are on a lifetime trajectory of limited educational progress and therefore limited economic and developmental opportunity.

Recognizing the importance of early grade reading interven-tions, USAID has developed an early grade reading assessment for developing countries and has taken a leading role in rallying others around this issue.12 Given limited resources, USAID believes the most strategic impact it can make in basic educa-tion is to address early grade reading as an outcome that is critical to sustain and ensure learning for children.

This strategy recognizes the importance of educating children in their native languages where possible in the earliest grades. This allows for earlier comprehension and a smoother transition into other languages in subsequent years. For the purposes of this strategy, primary grades can be defined by the partner country’s system which can range from the first four to eight years of schooling.No matter how primary grades are defined, USAID will measure the performance of our programs primarily though the improvement of reading skills for primary grade students after two years of schooling, consistent with international meas-ures adopted by the Education for All FastTrack Initiative.

Of course, children’s future economic potential depends not just on reading instruction, but also on mathematics and other skills. School administrators cannot focus on only one of these as they promote both systems development and improved learning outcomes. However, effective reading is a necessary pre-condition for skill development in all other areas and, as such, will be the primary target by which we hold ourselves accountable for results in basic education. Missions may choose to invest in system reform programs that have associ-ated benefits in math (or other skills) learning, but should not be supporting such programs as stand-alone goals. Programs only targeting math or other subjects (e.g., computer literacy, English language training, social sciences, etc.) should be coordi-nated with USAID programs but funded by national and local governments and other donors.

Investments in early childhood education (ECE) have also proved to deliver substantial, measurable results. ECE can be a critical reading readiness intervention for children, particularly for the disadvantaged whose mother tongue is different from the officially taught language in school. USAID encourages partner governments to evaluate the benefits associated with early childhood development programming. Where possible, countries should be examining methods to deliver develop-mentally appropriate educational content to their youngest children. USAID missions should focus resources on and will be held accountable for the achievement of reading gains at the primary grade levels and therefore should only pursue ECE-level interventions when they are seen as critical to achieving measurable improvements in reading outcomes later in pri-mary grade levels.

PROPOSED ILLUSTRATIVE RESULTSTOACHIEVE

IMPROVED READING

A myriad of factors contribute to low reading levels, including teacher absenteeism, frequent closure of schools, limited instructional time, lack of relevant and accessible reading mate-rial, poor teaching practices and limited use of reading assessment instruments. There is a growing body of research that identifies key interventions that improve reading, including structured reading instruction, providing more and better read-ing materials, training teachers to teach reading, parental and community participation, and frequent assessment.

There is also widespread agreement that improving learning outcomes on a national scale, particularly in reading, requires simultaneous interventions at four levels: (1) teaching and learning in the classroom, (2) effective school management, (3) national policy and structural reforms to support school and classroom level changes, and (4) engagement and accountability by communities and the public at large. 13 14

Though the precise nature of activities to promote reading will depend on local context and needs, the following illustrative results exemplify the type of activities USAID will support.

RESULT 1.1:

IMPROVED READING INSTRUCTION

Several successful reading programs have found direct interven-tions at the classroom level resulted in positive results on student learning. For example, in India, Liberia, and Ghana, impressive reading results were achieved by establishing time for reading, providing intense training and supervision for teach-ers, assuring continuous assessment, and making available appropriate reading materials. 15 16 Informed by this research, USAID will focus on improving reading instruction through three types of interventions: (1) improving teacher effectiveness; (2) increasing availability and use of reading materials; and (3) strengthening classroom and school management.

Though the precise nature of our efforts will depend on the local context and needs, as well as the problem definition and program opportunities that arise from working with our part-ners in the public and private sector, the following are illustrative examples of activities designed to improve reading instruction:

� Increase instructional time for reading, reduce teacher and pupil absenteeism, and encourage reading at home, com-munity libraries, and other venues;

� Train teachers to teach reading, utilize appropriate lan-guage for reading instruction, and use para-professional teachers;

� Ensure an adequate supply of age and language-appropri-ate reading materials (including in formats made accessible to the disabled), establish school libraries, link teacher train-ing to the appropriate use of reading materials, support student’s use of reading materials in school and at home;

� Establish and enforce reading standards and utilize reading diagnostic tools on a continuous basis; and

� Address gender issues and reduce barriers that impact reading levels of girls and boys.

RESULT 1.2:

READING DELIVERY SYSTEMS IMPROVED

For learning outcomes to be achieved on a sustainable basis at the national level, a robust primary education system needs to be developed. A strong education system will include good governance, efficient and transparent financing, healthy institu-tions (such as teacher training colleges), effective management and properly functioning incentive mechanisms. Many success-ful educational programs have had difficulties in effectively scaling up its program at the national level. For example, in Colombia, the Escuelas Nuevas program was very successful in seeing large reading gains at the community level. However, when the model was taken to scale by theWorld Bank in the 1980s, the learning outcomes were mixed.17 The mixed results are in large part due to the complexities and challenges in building a healthy primary education system that can support improved reading delivery systems. Recognizing that improved reading on a national scale presupposes a strong primary edu-cation system, USAID will support country’s effort in building its primary education system.

Studies have shown that, in many developing countries, teacher absenteeism and lack of standards and assessment result in low learning outcomes.18 19 The following activities are illustrative of actions that could be taken to improve reading delivery sys-tems at the primary level:

� Assist the government to set clear standards and bench-marks for reading;

� Implement policies and programs to promote reading;

� Develop and implement school-based reading improve-ment programs;

� Strengthen reading systems such as those for testing reading outcomes, monitoring performance over time, and supervision (including teacher time on task) and training of teachers;

� Promote parent and community engagement in children’s reading outcomes including through strengthened school management committees if appropriate;

� Establish professional standards and codes of conduct and support professional development for teachers and administrators;

� Improve timely distribution and utilization of textbooks and instructional materials that utilize reading diagnostic tools;

� Develop relevant reading curricula and ensure an ade-quate and timely supply of reading materials;

� Support appropriate, cost-effective and scalable technolo-gies (e.g., audio, video, computers, internet, mobile devices) that have the potential to improve reading or reading system performance; and

� Identify and address gender dimensions that could con-tribute to, for example reducing pupil absenteeism or assuring that girls and boys both have access to a supply of reading materials.

RESULT 1.3:

GREATER ENGAGEMENT,

ACCOUNTABILITY,ANDTRANSPARENCY BY

COMMUNITIES ANDTHE PUBLIC

It is widely recognized that community and parental engage-ment in education is a vital force in the effort to remove barriers to quality education,mobilize scarce education resources, and increase accountability for results in learning.

There are examples, such as in Pakistan and India, where stu-dent report cards being made available to parents resulted in increased learning achievement. In Liberia, large reading gains were achieved in a program that mobilized and engaged local communities, where schools were required to report student reading results to parents. In this successful program, they also engaged the public through radio programs that addressed reading issues.

Beyond parental engagement, improving reading for millions of children will also require widespread public support and engagement from communities, civil society organizations, and the private sector. Civil society organizations, including parent teacher associations, education advocacy groups, voluntary pro-fessional associations, and the media, can also contribute to reading improvement. The private sector can play a variety of important roles in improving reading.These include but are not limited to assessing and contributing relevant technology needs and assets, developing and providing resources and comple-mentary learning platforms and opportunities, and providing accountability and policy advocacy as it relates to the govern-ment’s role in delivering quality education to ensure that chil-dren are able to read.

Some illustrative activities to bring greater transparency and accountability with key stakeholders could include:

� Establishing school management committees to include reading reports in school development plans;

� Mobilizing and engaging communities to address the read-ing issues of the school;

� Strengthening community and education stakeholder access to and utilization of education data for local deci-sion making;

� Implementing a media campaign to increase public aware-ness about the importance of reading; and

� Mobilizing and engaging the private sector to provide learning materials or to advocate for improved reading environment.

GOAL 2:

IMPROVEDABILITY OFTERTIARYANDWORKFORCE

DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMSTO

PRODUCEWORKFORCEWITH RELEVANT SKILLSTO

SUPPORT COUNTRY DEVELOPMENT GOALS BY 2015

The 21st century knowledge-driven global economy under-scores the need for higher levels of education and cognitive skills beyond a primary education. Studies found that tertiary educa-tion attainment raised developing countries’ productivity and GDP significantly. One study showed that an additional year of secondary or tertiary educational attainment raised national output by 19 percent and GDP growth by 0.5 percent.20

Another study on Sub-Saharan Africa showed that a one-year increase in tertiary education raised the average growth rate by

0.24 percent and boosted income by 3 percent over a five year period.21 However, as globalization creates increasing demand for higher level skills, a growing number of young people in developing countries find themselves without the relevant knowledge and skills and are unable to fully participate in and contribute to economic development. A daunting challenge fac-ing developing countries in meeting competitiveness demands is how to improve equity and expand access to tertiary and workforce development programs, and at the same time to maintain and improve their quality and relevance.

The cross cutting nature…