J.1_2015_Update_to_Education_Strategy_Reporting_Guidance.pdf

USAID EDUCATION STRATEGY

2015 UPDATE TO REPORTING GUIDANCE

OCTOBER 2015

Introduction The 2015 Education Strategy data call is a critical annual effort lead by E3/ED to collect the data needed to measure our collective progress towards the numeric Goal One and Goal Three targets of the 2011- 2015 USAID Education Strategy. This 2015 Education Strategy Reporting Guide has been developed as a guide to assist Missions through this process.

The 2015 Education Strategy data call builds off of and improves on the 2014 Education Strategy data call in a number of ways. Most importantly, the 2015 data call builds on the data reported in 2014.

Missions will be emailed copies of data reported in 2014 so that these data can be updated for 2015.

For 2015, the data call process has been streamlined, and data submission forms and instructions have been overhauled for greater clarity. The process for reporting progress towards the Goal Three target has been made much more direct and explicit so that Missions have a clear understanding of what is being measured for the Goal Three count.

This guide is divided into three sections as follows:

Instructions. This section provides both overview and detailed guidance through the steps needed to respond to the data call.

Appendix 1: Beneficiary Reporting Sheet Instructions. This section provides guidance to individuals who will be validating and entering data into project-level Beneficiary Reporting Sheets.

Appendix 2: Key Reporting Concepts. This section is a reference companion, providing explanations and illustrations of key concepts relevant to the data call.

E3/ED will provide Missions with copies of data that was submitted to E3/ED in 2014. Missions are asked to return all completed materials for this year’s data call no later than Friday, December 4, 2015. It is anticipated that this timeline should allow ample time to respond to this request. Missions with concerns about this timeline are encouraged to reach out to Ben Sylla (bsylla@usaid.gov).

This document can be freely shared with Implementing and Evaluating Partners assisting Mission response to the data call.

What to do if you have a question or get stuck

Missions are always welcome to contact Ben Sylla (bsylla@usaid.gov) for assistance or guidance on reporting for the USAID Education Strategy. Ben is happy to field just about any question you can think of even if the question seems silly or seems like something you should already know.

Missions or implementers are encouraged to contact Optimal Solutions Group, implementer of the Secondary Analysis for Results Tracking (SART) project, for support on understanding and entering data on Beneficiary Reporting Sheets. They can be reach at info@SARTDataCollection.org, and by telephone at 1-844-AID-SART (001-844-243-7278) or 001-301-289-7398.

Optimal Solutions has a non-disclosure agreement with USAID that enables it to receive and process SBU material on behalf of E3/ED.

Contents Introduction

What to do if you have a question or get stuck

Instructions

Overview of instructions

Detailed Instructions

Appendix 1: Beneficiary Reporting Sheet Instructions

Instructions for the Acute Crisis Response Student Beneficiaries Reporting Sheet

Instructions for the Goal One Student Beneficiaries Reporting Sheet

Instructions for the Goal Three Student Beneficiaries Reporting Sheet

Appendix 2: Key Reporting Concepts

What’s the difference between Unique Beneficiaries and Total Beneficiaries?

What is Double-counting? When should I avoid it? When should I embrace it?

What is the Difference between Direct Beneficiaries and Indirect Beneficiaries?

What is the Difference between Direct Effects and Indirect Effects?

Decision Tree for Identifying Direct Beneficiary and Indirect Beneficiary Contributions to the USAID Education Strategy

What is the Difference between Actual Values and Projected Values?

Can the numbers I report be estimates?

How do I Report on Increased Access to Education for Goal Three Programs?

How do I Report on Increased Access to Education in response to an Acute Crisis?

How do I Calculate and Report on the Number of Students with Improved Reading?

When should learning assessment data be transferred to E3/ED?

Instructions Missions are encouraged to follow these six steps as they respond to the data call. An overview of the steps is provided on this page. A more detailed discussion of each step is given on the pages that follow.

Instructions for completing the data sheets referenced in instruction steps two and four can be found in Appendix 1: Beneficiary Reporting Sheet Instructions You may want to refer to the Appendix 2: Key Reporting Concepts section of the guidance document for an expanded explanation of concepts discussed in these instructions.

Overview of instructions:

1) Identify Indirect Beneficiaries for the Goal One and Goal Three Counts. Identify any education work that has taken place since 2011 in your country that is based on a model or technical approach developed by USAID, but was not funded by USAID. Learners reached through this work are Indirect Beneficiaries of the USAID Education Strategy and should be reported on Goal One/Three Activity Rosters and Goal One/Three Beneficiary Reporting Sheets.

2) Identify any education access work since 2011 that your Mission has performed in response to an acute natural or man-made crisis. We would like to learn more about children or youth who gain or regain access to education through USAID response to an acute crisis, regardless of whether this response took place in a Goal One or Goal Three context. Please report increased access in response to an acute crisis on an Acute Crisis Response Beneficiary Reporting Sheet.

3) Review and update the pre-populated Goal One Activity Roster and/or Goal Three Activity Roster emailed to you by Ben Sylla. Please ensure that information on Indirect Beneficiaries is included on these rosters as applicable.

4) Review and update the pre-populated Goal One Beneficiary Reporting Sheet(s) and/or Goal

Three Beneficiary Reporting Sheet(s) emailed to you by Ben Sylla. Please ensure that information on Indirect Beneficiaries is included on these sheets as applicable.

5) Optional Request: submit program PMP’s so we can facilitate analysis of the broader collection of data tracked at the program level.

6) Submit the data materials produced or updated through steps 1-5 above to E3/ED via SART no later than Friday, December 4, 2015.

Goal One Missions are reminded to ensure that Goal One learning assessment datasets should be submitted to E3/ED within 90 days of the completion of data collection. For detailed instructions on this, implementers can be directed to https://sartdatacollection.org/.

Detailed Instructions

Step 1: Identify Indirect Beneficiaries of the USAID Education Strategy

It is important that we identify any potential Indirect Beneficiaries of USAID programming in order to ensure complete reporting for the 2011-2015 USAID Education Strategy.

The distinction between Direct Beneficiaries and Indirect Beneficiaries is discussed in more detail on page 18 of this guidance. Put briefly, you can identify Indirect Beneficiaries by considering the following:

Since 2011, in the country supported by your Mission, has any education work been carried out that meets the following characteristics:

a) The work is directly related to the Goal One or Goal Three Target of the USAID Education

Strategy

b) The work is based on a model or technical approach that USAID had a critical role in developing; and

c) The work is not funded by USAID

Children and youth benefitting from programming that meets these criteria are Indirect Beneficiaries of USAID programming and should be included in either Goal One or Goal Three Reporting.

When you review and update the Goal One and/or Goal Three Activity Roster that are emailed to you by Ben Sylla (Step 3), please make sure that all Indirect Beneficiaries are reported on the appropriate Roster.

When you review and update the Goal One and/or Goal Three Beneficiary Reporting Sheets that are emailed to you by Ben Sylla (Step 4), please make sure that all Indirect Beneficiaries are reported on the Beneficiary Reporting Sheets.

Step 2: Identify any education access work since 2011 that your Mission has performed in response to an acute natural or man-made crisis.

Further discussion of increased access in an acute crisis can be found on page 27 of this guidance.

If your Mission has supported an education component of a response to such a crisis, and this support was designed to create or restore access to education at the primary or secondary level, please report this support on one or more of the provided Acute Crisis Response Beneficiary Reporting Sheets, as applicable.

If the support you would report on an Acute Crisis Response Beneficiary Reporting Sheet is already going to be reported on a Goal Three Beneficiary Reporting Sheet, there is no need to complete a separate Acute Crisis Response Beneficiary Reporting Sheet to report the same individuals. We wish to avoid double-counting these data.

Detailed instructions on completing the Acute Crisis Response Beneficiary Reporting Sheet can be found on page 11 of this guidance.

STEP 3: Review and update the pre-populated Goal One Activity Roster and/or Goal Three Activity Roster emailed to you by Ben Sylla.

Ben Sylla will email you copies of the Goal One Activity Roster and/or Goal Three Activity Roster that your Mission submitted to Ben during the previous data call. If your Mission supports only one Goal, you will receive a roster for only that Goal. If your Mission supports both Goals, you will receive a separate roster for each Goal.

Because the Goal One Activity Roster and the Goal Three Activity Roster do not collect the same information, please do not use the Goal One roster to report on a Goal Three program or vice-versa. If your Mission supports both Goal One programs and Goal Three programs, each should be reported on the appropriate roster. If your Mission supports a program that addresses both Goals One and Three, please list the program on both the Goal One Roster and the Goal Three Roster.

Please review the information provided on the rosters and make any changes or additions required to bring them up to date. An activity roster should include:

• Any Goal One/Goal Three program that addressed Goal One/Goal Three priorities and reached student beneficiaries for at least one year between 2011 through 2015 (Direct Beneficiaries).

• Any Goal One / Goal Three program that is expected to reach student beneficiaries in 2016 or later (Direct Beneficiaries).

• Any non-USAID program that is based on a model or technical approach developed by USAID and has benefitted student beneficiaries for at least one year between 2011 through 2015 (Indirect Beneficiaries).

• Any non-USAID program that is based on a model or technical approach developed by USAID and is expected to benefit student beneficiaries in 2016 or later (Indirect Beneficiaries).

In addition to ensuring that all applicable programs are listed on the roster, please review the contents of the rosters to:

• Add program information that is missing (blank cells)

• Correct or update information that is no longer accurate

STEP 4: Review and update the pre-populated Goal One Beneficiary Reporting Sheet(s) and/or Goal Three Beneficiary Reporting Sheet(s) emailed to you by Ben Sylla.

Ben Sylla will email you copies of all Goal One Beneficiary Reporting Sheet(s) and/or Goal Three Beneficiary Reporting Sheet(s) that your Mission submitted to Ben during the previous data call. If your Mission supports only one Goal, you will receive beneficiary sheets related to only that Goal. If your Mission supports both Goals, you will receive a beneficiary sheets for each Goal.

Because the Goal One Beneficiary Reporting Sheet and the Goal Three Beneficiary Reporting Sheet do not collect the same information, please do not use the Goal One sheet to report on a Goal Three program or vice-versa. If your Mission supports a program that addresses both Goals One and Three, please list the program on both a Goal One Sheet and a Goal Three Sheet.

4a) Make sure you have all the Beneficiary Sheets you need First, without worrying about the contents of each sheet, please use your Activity Roster to review the collection of Beneficiary Reporting Sheets shared with you by Ben.

• There should be at least one Goal One Beneficiary Reporting Sheet for each program listed on your Mission’s Goal One Activity Roster (from step 3).

• There should be at least one Goal Three Beneficiary Reporting Sheet for each program listed on your Mission’s Goal Three Activity Roster (from step 3).

• If you have determined that any of your Goal One or Goal Three programs reach Indirect Beneficiaries (step 1) in addition to direct beneficiaries, then there should be a second sheet to be used to report Indirect Beneficiaries of the program.

If, after reviewing the collection of Beneficiary Sheets shared with you by Ben, you determine that you one or more Beneficiary Sheets need to be added to the collection, please use the blank template emailed to you to create new Goal One or Goal Three Beneficiary Reporting Sheets to fill this need.

Even if you do not have any beneficiary data or projections to report for a project, it is helpful to us if you create a Beneficiary Sheet for the project and then use the comments field within the sheet to indicate that no data are available. This way we have positive confirmation that you have no data to report.

If you create a new Beneficiary Sheet, please name it with the same program name that is used on the Goal One or Goal Three Activity Roster. If a different name is used, we will not be able to be able to match your Beneficiary Reporting Sheet to the correct entry on the Activity Roster.

4b) Update the contents of each Goal One or Goal Three Beneficiary Reporting Sheet

• Detailed Instructions for completing Goal One Beneficiary Reporting Sheets begin on page 13 of this booklet.

• Detailed Instructions for completing Goal Three Beneficiary Reporting Sheets begin on page 15 of this booklet.

STEP 5: Optional Request: submit program PMP’s so we can facilitate analysis of the broader collection of data tracked at the program level.

The Education in Crisis and Conflict Network (ECCN—Goal 3 Community of Practice) requests that Goal Three Missions share copies of their Goal Three program PMP’s in order to support ECCN’s ongoing effort to improve M&E efforts in conflict and crisis contexts. E3/ED would like to facilitate a similar analysis of Goal One PMP’s.

Missions that wish to do this can submit PMP’s as part of the package of materials submitted for this data call.

A description of ECCN’s work is as follows:

The Education in Crisis and Conflict Network (ECCN—Goal 3 Community of Practice) is working to improve M&E efforts in conflict and crisis contexts. To this end they are looking to both, improve collaboration among those with M&E responsibilities for Goal 3 programs, as well as to develop and/or identify more robust M&E indicators, tools and approaches. As a first step, ECCN is working on developing a better understanding of current Goal 3 programs’ M&E approaches.

Specifically, we are conducting an analysis of PMPs for past and current Goal 3 programs. This analysis will help us to both share indicators and tools across all programs, as well as to find areas for M&E improvements. Results of the PMP analysis and other products that come out of the analysis will be shared with the Goal 3 community of practice (USAID and partners).

STEP 6: Submit the data materials produced or updated through steps 1-5 above to E3/ED via SART no later than Friday, December 4, 2015.

Please gather all the materials that will be submitted into a single folder to prepare them for submission to E3/ED.

If your Mission contributed to Increased Access in Response to an Acute Natural or Man-Made Crisis, the folder should include:

o One Acute Crisis Response Beneficiary Reporting Sheet for each acute crisis responded to

If your Mission programs towards Goal One, the folder should include:

o One updated Goal One Activity Roster o One updated Goal One Beneficiary Reporting Sheet reporting Direct Beneficiaries reached through each program listed on the Roster o For each program that you have determined reaches Indirect Beneficiaries, a second updated Goal One Beneficiary Reporting Sheet reporting Indirect Beneficiaries reached

If your Mission programs towards Goal Three, the folder should include:

o One updated Goal Three Activity Roster o One updated Goal Three Beneficiary Reporting Sheet reporting Direct Beneficiaries reached through each program listed on the Roster o For each program that you have determined reaches Indirect Beneficiaries, a second updated Goal Three Beneficiary Reporting Sheet reporting Indirect Beneficiaries reached

When all materials have been collected into a single file, please submit them to E3/ED in one of two ways:

• Send all files as attachments an email to bsylla@usaid.gov and info@SARTDataCollection.org.

• Save all files to a single folder in the USAID google drive and share this folder with bsylla@usaid.gov.

Appendix 1: Beneficiary Reporting Sheet Instructions

Instructions for the Acute Crisis Response Student Beneficiaries Reporting Sheet

The form is intended to capture information on increased access that is not already being reported through a Goal Three Beneficiary Reporting Sheet. If increased access through an acute crisis response is already going to be reported on a Goal Three Beneficiary Reporting Sheet, there is no need to complete a duplicate Acute Crisis Response Reporting Sheet.

The Acute Crisis Response Student Beneficiaries Reporting Sheet is designed so you only need to update or input data in the yellow cells. You do not need to fill in grey cells, which will automatically update based on data in yellow cells. You may not need to enter data in every yellow cell. For example, if your activity did not begin reaching beneficiaries until 2013, then the yellow cells corresponding to 2011 and 2012 can be left blank.

How to complete the sheet:

1. Enter the name of the country this reporting sheet is for (cell E3).

2. Enter the name of the activity this reporting sheet is for (cell E4).

3. Enter date submitted using the mm/dd/yyyy format (cell E5).

4. Enter the approximate beginning of the crisis response and the approximate ending of the crisis response using the mm/dd/yyyy format (cells E6 and E7).

5. Answer the two potential data concerns questions (cells N3 and N4)

• A green check mark () indicates there is no data concern.

• A yellow exclamation point (!) indicates there may be a potential data concern. Please continue completing the form. E3/ED or the SART contractor may follow up with you to clarify questions about the provided numbers.

6. Use the dropdown menu in row 12 to indicate whether the values for each year are actuals or projections. You may also select ‘Year not applicable’ if the activity does not reach beneficiaries in that year.

7. Section 1: Out-of-School Children and Youth Who Gain Access to Education through USAID Crisis Response: Data reported in this section should only include students who gain access to education through a USAID crisis response activity. This can include students who gain access through:

• efforts to provide temporary education services to children/youth who were in school prior to the crisis but whose education was disrupted by the crisis,

• efforts linked to permanently reopening learning opportunities for children/youth who were in school prior to the crisis but whose education was disrupted by the crisis

• efforts to create temporary or permanent access to learning for children/youth who were out of school prior to the crisis.

This section should count students only the first time they participate in the activity. Data reported in this section should not double-count students reached in multiple years. The total row will automatically calculate the sum of Female, Male, and Sex Unknown beneficiary numbers.

8. Below the beneficiaries numbers table in Section 1 are three yellow text fields. In the first yellow text field (rows 20 – 21), please describe the nature of the natural or man-made crisis the activity addresses. In the second yellow text field (rows 24 – 26), please describe how USAID’s response to the crisis created access to education or continuity of education for the children/youth who are included in the reported numbers. In the third yellow text field (rows 28

– 30), please describe any important issues or concerns about the data you provided. This information may be helpful to USAID/W and the SART contractor in determining whether there are any limitations to the accuracy of the numbers you are able to provide.

For questions or support regarding entering or editing data in the Acute Crisis Response Reporting Sheet , please contact Optimal Solutions at info@SARTDataCollection.org, and by telephone at 1-844- AID-SART (001-844-243-7278) or 001-301-289-7398.

Instructions for the Goal One Student Beneficiaries Reporting Sheet

The Goal One Student Beneficiaries Reporting Sheet is designed so you only need to update or input data in the yellow cells. Please only fill in data in the yellow cells. You do not need to fill in Grey cells, which will automatically update based on data in yellow cells. You may not need to enter data in every yellow cell. For example, if your program did not begin reaching beneficiaries until 2013, then the yellow cells corresponding to 2011 and 2012 can be left blank.

Portions of the Goal One Student Beneficiaries Reporting Sheet have been pre-populated with data provided by your Mission in 2014. Narrative information provided by your Mission in 2014 could be transferred into the 2015 form. If you would like to request a copy of the original 2014 form, please contact Optimal Solutions at info@SARTDataCollection.org.

How to complete the sheet:

1. If your Mission submitted a beneficiary sheet to E3/ED previously, the numbers you reported in that previous submission have been entered in this sheet. Please review the entered numbers and update them as necessary.

2. Complete date submitted (cell E7) using the mm/dd/yyyy format.

3. Answer the three potential data concerns questions (cells N5:N7)

a. A green check mark () indicates there is no data concern.

b. A yellow exclamation point (!) indicates there may be a potential data concern.

Please continue completing the form. E3/ED or the SART contractor may follow up with you to clarify questions about the provided numbers.

4. Use the dropdown menu in row 11 to indicate whether the values for each year are actuals or projections. You may also select ‘Year not applicable’ if the program does not reach beneficiaries in that year. If data that were previously reported as projections can now be replaced with actuals, please replace the numbers and change the designation in row 11.

Actuals will be used to measure progress towards the Goal One target. Projections will not be used to measure progress towards the Goal One target, but are strongly encouraged because they allow E3/ED to estimate future progress towards the target.

5. If there are unexpected values (positive or negative) in any of the Sex Unknown rows, this may be a sign of a math error in the data provided last year. For example, Male and Female values provided last year may have summed to more or less than the Total value provided last year. If you are able to provide corrected numbers, please do so by changing the values reported in the Male and Female rows and removing the values from the Sex Unknown rows so that the Total row correctly reflects the total number of male and female students.

6. If there are unexpected values (positive or negative) in the Grade Unknown section, this may be a sign of a math error in the data provided last year. For example, the sum of the grade values provided last year may have been more or less than the Total value provided last year. If you are able to provide corrected numbers, please do so by changing the values reported in the grade sections, and removing the values from Grade Unknown so that the values in the Total Unique Student Beneficiaries section correctly reflects the total across all grades. For help with this issue, contact Optimal Solutions at info@SARTDataCollection.org.

7. Section 1: Total Student Beneficiaries Per Year – Report the total number of students reached each year of the program. Data reported in this section should double-count students reached in multiple years. Report the number of students by sex (refer to table 1 for a definition of Sex Unknown). The total row will automatically calculate the sum of Female, Male, and Sex Unknown beneficiaries.

8. Section 2: Unique Student Beneficiaries Per Year – Report the total number of unique student beneficiaries reached. Data reported in this section should count students only the first time they participate in the program. Data reported in this section should not double-count students reached in multiple years. For example, if a given student was counted as beneficiary in 2012, and then that same student participated in a subsequent year, that student should not be counted in the subsequent year. Report the number of students by grade and sex. For each grade enter the number of unique student beneficiaries by year, and separate the numbers based on sex. The last table in section 2 is for Grade Unknown (rows 57 – 60). Any student beneficiaries for whom the grade is not known should be entered here. In some cases, the grade may not be known for any student beneficiaries, in which case all numbers will be entered in this section. As in Section 1, the total rows will automatically calculate the sum of Female, Male, and Sex Unknown beneficiaries. This data will also populate the total unique student beneficiaries disaggregated by year and sex.

9. Please use the yellow text field at the bottom of the sheet to describe any important issues or concerns about the data you provided. This information may be helpful to USAID/W and the SART contractor in determining whether there are any limitations to the accuracy of the numbers you are able to provide.

For questions or support regarding entering or editing data in the Goal One Student Beneficiary Reporting Sheet , please contact Optimal Solutions at info@SARTDataCollection.org, and by telephone at 1-844-AID-SART (001-844-243-7278) or 001-301-289-7398.

Instructions for the Goal Three Student Beneficiaries Reporting Sheet

The Goal Three Student Beneficiaries Reporting Sheet is designed so you only need to update or input data in the yellow cells. You do not need to fill in Grey cells, which will automatically update based on data in yellow cells. You may not need to enter data in every yellow cell. For example, if your program did not begin reaching beneficiaries until 2013, then the yellow cells corresponding to 2011 and 2012 can be left blank.

Portions of the Goal Three Student Beneficiaries Reporting Sheet have been pre-populated with data provided by your Mission in 2014. Narrative information provided by your Mission in 2014 could be transferred into the 2015 form. To request a copy of the original 2014 form, contact Optimal Solutions at info@SARTDataCollection.org.

How to complete the sheet:

1. If your Mission submitted a beneficiary sheet to E3/ED previously, the numbers you reported in that previous submission have been entered in this sheet. Please review the entered numbers and update them as necessary

2. Complete date submitted (cell E5) using the mm/dd/yyyy format.

3. Answer the question in cell D7 by making a selection with the drop-down menu in cell E7. After you answer that question instructions will appear in the adjacent cell indicating which sections of the sheet should be completed.

4. Answer the three potential data concerns questions (cells N3:N5)

• A green check mark () indicates there is no data concern.

• A yellow exclamation point (!) indicates there may be a potential data concern. Please continue completing the form. E3/ED or the SART contractor may follow up with you to clarify questions about the provided numbers.

5. Use the dropdown menu in row 12 to indicate whether the values for each year are actuals or projections. You may also select ‘Year not applicable’ if the program does not reach beneficiaries in that year. If data that were previously reported as projections can now be replaced with actuals, please replace the numbers and change the designation in row 12. Actuals will be used to measure progress towards the Goal Three target. Projections will not be used to measure progress towards the Goal Three target, but are strongly encouraged because they allow E3/ED to estimate future progress towards the target.

6. If there are unexpected values (positive or negative) in any of the Sex Unknown rows, this may be a sign of a math error in the data provided last year. For example, Male and Female values provided last year may have summed to more or less than the Total value provided last year. If you are able to provide corrected numbers, please do so by changing the values reported in the Male and Female rows and removing the values from the Sex Unknown rows so that the Total row correctly reflects the total number of male and female students. For help with this issue, contact Optimal Solutions at info@SARTDataCollection.org.

7. If there are unexpected values (positive or negative) in the Grade Unknown section, this may be a sign of a math error in the data provided last year. For example, the sum of the grade values provided last year may have been more or less than the Total value provided last year. If you are able to provide corrected numbers, please do so by changing the values reported in the grade sections, and removing the values from Grade Unknown so that the values in the Total Unique Student Beneficiaries section correctly reflects the total across all grades. For help with this issue, contact Optimal Solutions at info@SARTDataCollection.org.

8. Section 1: Total Student Beneficiaries Per Year – Report the total number of students reached each year of the program. Data reported in this section should double-count students reached in multiple years. Report the number of students by sex. The ‘total’ row will automatically calculate the sum of Female, Male, and Sex Unknown beneficiary numbers.

9. Section 2: Unique Student Beneficiaries Per Year – Report the total number of unique student beneficiaries reached, separating the numbers reported by Male, Female, and/or Sex Unknown.

Data reported in this section should count students only the first time they participate in the program. Data reported in this section should not double-count students reached in multiple years. For example, if a given student was counted as beneficiary in 2012, and then that same student participated in a subsequent year, that student should not be counted in the subsequent year. The ‘total’ rows will automatically calculate the sum of Female, Male, and Sex Unknown beneficiaries. In the yellow text field (rows 27 – 29), please describe how the program benefits the students counted in the table.

10. Section 3: Out-of-School Children and Youth Who Gain Access to Education: Data reported in this section will be used to measure progress towards the Goal Three Target. This section should be completed only if you answered ‘Yes’ to the question in row 7. Data reported in this section should only include out-of-school children or youth who gain access to education, and should not include students who benefit from Goal Three programming in other ways. This section should count students only the first time they participate in the program. Data reported in this section should not double-count students reached in multiple years.

11. Below the beneficiaries numbers table there are two yellow text fields. In the first yellow text field (rows 37 – 39), please describe how out-of-school children/youth obtained access to education through the program. In the second yellow text field (rows 41 – 43), please describe the logic and math used to derive the reported estimate of out-of-school children/youth who obtained access to education through the program. The description of the logic and math should include an explanation of how the students reported here are separate from the students who benefited from other Goal Three programming and were reported in Sections 1 and 2.

12. Please use the yellow text field at the bottom of the sheet to describe any important issues or concerns about the data you provided. This information may be helpful to USAID/W and the SART contractor in determining whether there are any limitations to the accuracy of the numbers you are able to provide.

For questions or support regarding entering or editing data in the Goal One Student Beneficiary Reporting Sheet , please contact Optimal Solutions at info@SARTDataCollection.org, and by telephone at 1-844-AID-SART (001-844-243-7278) or 001-301-289-7398.

Appendix 2: Key Reporting Concepts

This section is designed to provide simple explanations of concepts that are important to successfully carrying out the data call instructions provided in this guidance. You can approach this section as an extended glossary that explains and illustrates the terms and concepts you will encounter during the reporting process.

What’s the difference between Unique Beneficiaries and Total Beneficiaries?

Unique Beneficiaries: When estimating the number of unique beneficiaries reached through a program, the objective is to estimate the number of individual students reached over the life of the program.

When reporting unique beneficiaries, students should be counted only once – the first year they are reached by the program. As an example, in the case of a program that reaches grades 1-3 over the course of four years, the count of the unique beneficiaries reached by the program would include students in all three grades in the first year of the program, and then grade one students in subsequent years (shaded blue in Figure 1). E3/ED will use this data to calculate the cumulative number of unique beneficiaries reached through the program, which is 15,400 (6,400 + 3,000 + 3,000 + 3,000). This general approach can be modified to fit the structure of your program.

Total Beneficiaries: The count of total beneficiaries for any given year is simply the total number of beneficiaries reached that year. Because the objective is to report the total number reached in a year, there is no need to worry about double-counting any students also counted in the total beneficiary count for an earlier year. In the example given above, the count of total beneficiaries for any given year is 6,400, which is the sum of the number of students in each grade benefitting from the program that year.

What is Double-counting? When should I avoid it? When should I embrace it?

Double-counting: Double-counting is when a single individual student is counted as contributing towards the Goal One Target or Goal Three Target more than once. Double-counting can generally occur in one or more of several ways:

1) A student who participates in the same program for more than one year is counted as contributing to the target through this program more than once. There are times when we want to avoid this type of double-counting (unique beneficiary count), and there are times when we do not want to avoid double-counting (direct beneficiary count).

2) A student who benefits from two separate programs or activities that overlap in their reach is counted as contributing to the target once for each program (twice in total). Even though it may make sense for more than one program to benefit the same students, we want to be able to avoid this type of double-counting.

3) A student benefits from one program (or two programs) in such a way that the student contributes both to the Goal One target and the Goal Three target. In other words the student benefits from both increased access programming and improved reading programming. In this case, double counting is not a concern as long as the student is counted as contributing to each target only one time. The student should be counted as contributing to the Goal One target (through reporting on a Goal One Beneficiary Reporting Sheet) and the student should also be counted as contributing to the Goal Three target (through reporting on a Goal Three Beneficiary Reporting Sheet).

When to avoid double-counting When we’re counting progress towards the Goal One or Goal Three target, we want to avoid double-counting individual students . This is because the objective is to report the cumulative number of individual students benefitting from USAID-supported work, even if some individuals benefitted from programming over several years or through more than one program. When we want to avoid double-counting, we ask you to report the number of Unique Beneficiaries reached by a program.

When to embrace double-counting There are times when it is helpful to be able to represent the full scale of Education Strategy Activities without worrying about double-counting over time. One reason to do this is when we want be able to talk about the full number of students who were reached by USAID in a given year. When we report this number, we don’t care whether some of the students reported in the current year were also reported in the previous year. When we do not want to avoid double-counting, we ask you to report the number of Total Beneficiaries reached by a program.

What is the Difference between Direct Beneficiaries and Indirect Beneficiaries?

Direct Beneficiaries: Direct beneficiaries are defined as beneficiaries reached through an activity that is funded fully or partly by USG.

Indirect Beneficiaries: Indirect beneficiaries are defined as beneficiaries reached through an activity that was not funded by USG but is based on a technical approach that USAID had a critical role in developing.

In other words, Indirect Beneficiaries are beneficiaries reached through work for which these three things are all true:

1. The work is/was not funded by USAID

2. The work is/was based on a model or technical approach that USAID had a critical role in developing; and

3. The outcome of the work is aligned with either the Goal One Target or Goal Three Target of the

USAID Education Strategy

As an example, if USAID funded a pilot intervention in small number of schools, and then the host country government later took the intervention to scale at a national level with no further USAID funding, the beneficiaries of the national project would be indirect beneficiaries (those reached through the pilot would be direct beneficiaries). As another example, if USAID worked jointly with another donor to develop a common technical approach to a particular problem, and then USAID funded the implementation of the approach in one area of the country while the other donor supported the implementation of the approach in another area of the country, the beneficiaries reached through the other donor would be indirect beneficiaries (and those reached through USAID would be direct beneficiaries).

What to count? We are required to count both Direct Beneficiaries and Indirect Beneficiaries of USAID programming. As discussed in the Instructions section of this booklet, please report Direct Beneficiaries and Indirect Beneficiaries in separate Beneficiary Reporting sheets so we can track them separately.

What is the Difference between Direct Effects and Indirect Effects?

A USAID-funded project may have a direct effect on learners through an activity that is delivered directly to learners (i.e. activities implemented at the school level). A USAID-funded project may have an indirect effect on learners through an activity that is not delivered directly to learners but is expected to benefit the learners through one or more causal links (i.e. activities implemented at the systems level). There is no relationship between whether a beneficiary is reached through direct/indirect effects and whether they are categorized as direct beneficiaries or indirect beneficiaries.

Programs are often designed to have some components that will have a direct effect on student beneficiaries (by changing, for example, classroom practices), and other components that will have an indirect effect on student beneficiaries (through, for example, systems strengthening). In a case like this, it could be argued that indirect effect work has a diffuse effect on a much broader group of students than the direct effect work. However, because the indirect effect work is designed primarily to support the direct-effect work, E3/ED recommends counting only the beneficiaries of the direct effect work.

Decision Tree for Identifying Direct Beneficiary and Indirect Beneficiary Contributions to the USAID Education Strategy

Regardless of who designed, funded, or implemented the program, does it lead to outcomes aligned with Goals One or Three of the USAID Education Strategy?

No → This program is not aligned with Goals One or Three of the USAID Education Strategy. Do not report results of this program as contributing to the Goal One or Goal Three targets.

Yes ↓

Does the program directly affect student level outcomes? No →

This program is aligned with the strategy but does not result in student level outcomes. Do not report results of this program as contributing to the Goal One or Goal Three targets.

Yes ↓

Does the program directly affect student level outcomes in 2011 or later? No →

This program falls outside of the timeframe of the USAID Education Strategy. Do not report results of this program as contributing to the Goal One or Goal Three targets.

Yes ↓

Is the program funded by USAID?

This can include programs fully and partly funded by USAID.

Yes, Fully

Yes, Partly

Beneficiaries reached through this program are DIRECT BENEFICIARIES and should be counted as contributing to the USAID Education Strategy.

No ↓

Is the program based on a technical approach that USAID had a critical role in developing? Yes →

Beneficiaries reached through this program are INDIRECT BENEFICIARIES and should be counted as contributing to the USAID Education Strategy.

No

This program does not contribute to the USAID Education Strategy.

Do not report results of this program as contributing to the Goal One or Goal Three targets.

What is the Difference between Actual Values and Projected Values?

On the Beneficiary Reporting Sheets, we ask you to indicate whether the numbers you report for a given year are actual values or projected values.

Actual Value: This is a number that is based on the known (or best estimate) number of students who have been reached by a program in past years or the present year. Numbers reported as ‘Actuals’ are numbers that are not expected to be revised in future data calls (although we can revise ‘actual’ values if necessary).

Projected Value: This is an estimated count of the number of students who are expected to be reached by a program in future years or the present year. Numbers reported as ‘Projections’ are numbers that are likely to be revised in future data calls when they can be replaced with Actual values.

E3/ED encourages mission to report projections for future years whenever possible so E3/ED can have the best possible understanding of our potential future reach through the strategy. It is understood that projections are estimates and may change with circumstances.

Can the numbers I report be estimates?

We recognize that some of the numbers you report on the Goal One or Goal Three Beneficiary Reporting Sheets may be estimates rather than precise values. This may be because, for example, you do not know precisely the number of Grade 1 students who are new entrants vs repeaters, or because you do not know the precise breakdown of students by grade or sex.

When precise values are not available for the number of students reached in past years (actuals), please report your best estimated value. If there are serious concerns about validity of the data you are reporting, please note them in the appropriate text box in the Goal One or Goal Three Beneficiary Reporting Sheet.

By definition, projections of the number of student beneficiaries reached in future years must be estimates.

How do I Report on Increased Access to Education for Goal Three Programs?

In the 2014 data call, E3/ED took an indirect approach to measuring progress towards the Goal Three Target. We asked Missions to report the annual total number of student beneficiaries for each Goal Three program, the annual total number of new entrants for each Goal Three program, and the nature of the work being performed by each program. We then used this information to identify the number of unique beneficiaries with increased access to education. The approach led to some confusion around what E3/ED is actually counting as increased access to education, and may not have been successful in uncovering the full extent of increased access associated with Goal Three programming.

This year E3/ED is taking a more direct approach. We will ask Missions to directly identify (or estimate) the number of unique students with increased access to education associated with Goal Three programs.

This section of the guidance is intended to define and provide examples of what Missions should report as increased access.

Increased Access to Education is the count of out-of-school children or youth who gain access to primary or secondary school (or the non-formal equivalents of primary or secondary school) through Goal Three programming.

The intent is that this number captures information on children/youth who are out of school prior to benefitting from the program, who probably would not have become engaged in school if they had not been reached by the program, and who become engaged in school as a result of having been reached by the program.

It is of course, impossible to be certain whether or not a child/youth would have become engaged in school if they had not been reached by the program, but the intent is that we make a good faith effort to count increase in the number of children/youth accessing school outside of the pattern of what probably would have happened otherwise. As an example, if a program is designed to increase intake in a school where there have typically been 100 new entrants to grade one, and following the beginning of the program, intake increases to 120 per year, the annual increase in access associated with the program should be reported as 20 because this is the number of children/youth accessing the school in addition to what probably would have happened otherwise.

For our purposes a child/youth is considered out of school if they are not currently engaged in school.

There is no threshold for how long an individual must be out of school before they quality as out of school. In addition to those who have never been in school and those who have been out of school for an extended period, an individual who was recently in school could be considered out of school if

It is increased access if:

□ The program creates education spaces that did not previously exist.

□ ‘Education’ must include one of the following:

• Formal Primary/ Secondary School

• Non-Formal equivalent of

Primary/ Secondary School with a focus on academic skills including literacy and numeracy.

□ Program targets individuals who are not otherwise participating in education. This includes:

• Individuals who have never been to school

• Individuals who have dropped out of school

• Individuals whose education was temporarily disrupted by a natural or man-made disaster

If a program or program element includes all three of the above, then the individuals who fit these criteria should be counted as contributing to increased access to education.

circumstances have changed so that they no longer have access to that school. A child who is temporarily out of school as part of a natural cycle (e.g. summer holidays or harvest season) and is expected to return to school at the end of that cycle should not be considered out of school.

The Education Strategy does not require Missions and programs to gather detailed information on each individual student beneficiary in order to test whether they qualify to be counted as contributing to the Goal Three Target. Missions can instead estimate the number of beneficiaries who represent increased access based on the design and intent of a program.

For example, if a program establishes new Accelerated Learning Centers intended to create access to out of school youth, each individual participant can be reasonably counted as contributing to increased access. On the other hand, if for example, a program introduces a conflict-sensitive curriculum in existing schools and is not explicitly designed to increase access, none of the students benefitting from the program would be counted as contributing to increased access.

How to identify the number of children/youth with increased access

• The exact approach to identifying the number of children and youth who gain access to education will depend on how the program is intended to create access to education. Below are several common examples of how a program’s contribution to increased access can be identified.

• Missions have the flexibility to identify the approach to counting increased access that is most appropriate for the program. No matter which approach is selected, we ask that Missions us the appropriate space on the Goal Three Student Beneficiary Reporting Sheet to provide an explanation of how the increase in access was identified and can be attributed your program.

This is so we can understand how the program increases access.

• If you believe the best approach to measuring increased access for your program is something other than the options offered here, please reach out to Ben Sylla (bsylla@usaid.gov) to propose an alternative.