Education Performance Improvement, Communications and Knowledge (EPIC) Quarter 2 Report

Agency for International Development (USAID). The project's objective is to improve education sector programming, measurement, and management in the areas of performance improvement and organizational effectiveness, professional development and training, internal and external communications and outreach, and knowledge management uptake and brokering. EPIC consists of support services in four key areas: performance improvement through organizational effectiveness, professional development and learning, communications, and knowledge management, generation, and use. The project period of performance includes a one-year Base Period, followed by two, two-year Option Year periods for a total period of five years (2015-2020). The EPIC contract was awarded to Training Resources Group, Inc. (TRG), along with subcontractors Forum One and Social Solutions International, Inc. (SSI), on October 1, 2015. The Office of Education (ED) within E3 is responsible for implementing the Education Strategy, which includes three goals: improved reading skills for 100 million children in primary grades by 2015, improved ability of tertiary and workforce development programs to generate workforce skills relevant to a country's development goals, and increased equitable access to education in crisis and conflict environments for 15 million learners by 2015. EPIC seeks to work with E3/ED to define, own, lead, and manage a self-sustaining, inclusive, and iterative process of continuous improvement, resulting in an Office change strategy that is aligned with and successful in achieving global, Agency, and Office education goals. The EPIC team continued the consultation process in January and February 2016 by meeting with activity managers to further define the work stream activities identified through the two technical launch meetings. These meetings helped refine activity scopes, determine the period of performance, and estimate the labor and other direct costs for each activity. Information gathered through these meetings was translated into the draft EPIC Year 1 Work Plan and Operational Budget, submitted on March 3rd. E3/ED provided comments on the draft work plan, which were addressed in the second draft work plan submitted on March 31st. With priority actions established, the Office set up inclusive and iterative improvement processes and teams/structures that would be responsible for providing oversight, input, and collaboration across activities being implemented in the organizational effectiveness (OE), professional development (PD), knowledge management (KM), engagement, communications, and partnerships (ECP), and cross-cutting areas. The urgent needs expressed during the consultation process required that EPIC begin implementation quickly to move initiatives forward and to continue the momentum created. In the second quarter of Project Year 1, EPIC implemented priority activities identified in the technical launch meetings. For example, EPIC and the Office began a collaborative effort to improve Office processes by tackling the on-boarding and clearance processes; bi-weekly meetings of the Professional Development Team are laying the groundwork for the first professional development course to be piloted in 2016; an inventory of education toolkit content was created; an after action review (AAR) of the 2015 Education Summit suggests a way forward for the 2017 Education Summit; and EPIC assisted the cross-cutting team in redefining, reframing, and rebranding its role in support of missions, work streams, goal areas, and external stakeholders. The EPIC team continued to work closely with E3/ED to ensure that the project's objectives are met and that the Office's needs are addressed. The team's efforts have resulted in the establishment of inclusive and iterative improvement processes and teams/structures that will provide oversight, input, and collaboration across activities being implemented in the OE, PD, KM, ECP, and cross-cutting areas. The project's progress and achievements in the second quarter of Project Year 1 demonstrate the team's commitment to improving education sector programming, measurement, and management.