Honduras Improving Student Performance Project (MIDEH Project) Quarterly Report for October through December 2013

The project concluded the calendar year with marked progress, positioning it to focus on providing technical assistance and advisory services to support training and evaluation activities carried out by national instances. The sustainability of standards-based reforms is supported through the capacity and commitment of Honduran institutions, professionals, and civil society members to continue reforms beyond the end of the MIDEH Project. The MIDEH Project successfully administered end of grade tests to a sample of over 110,000 students in 502 schools with technical and monitoring assistance. The 2013 sample test application was marked by increased civil society participation, with 900 trained external monitors and more than 450 civil society observers. The design of an electronic platform for scoring open-ended items was used to increase reliability of scoring while reducing the time and resources required to score the writing section of the Spanish test. A baseline study of the Secretaría de Educación (SE) institutional capacity to manage and sustain a national education evaluation system was completed in late December. The preliminary findings on 31 key functions related to administration, finances, and planning and technical capacity assigned an overall value of 45% established capacity in the SE. The study provides information needed to formulate coherent plans and assignment of resources to the development of institutional capacity to improve the quality of education. The MIDEH Project sub-grantees and partners delivered training to over 500 persons this quarter on topics related to the use of education evaluation results and raising awareness of the importance of education evaluation. Participants included nearly 100 youth in student governments in three municipalities in the department of Choluteca, and over 200 teachers in training replicated by the COPRUMH affiliated teachers. The project negotiated the final terms for the last three sub-grants under APS No. 1, with agreements to be signed in February 2014. The Ministry of Education applied both sample and census-based end of grade tests nationwide in 2013, ratifying the current administration's commitment to standards-based student evaluations for grades 1-9. The sample test was applied on November 12, followed by census tests on November 29. The sample was representative at the national level and incorporated 502 schools and 110,850 students, while an estimated 1.4 million students were tested at the census level. The Secretaría de Educación (SE) spurred a flurry of initiatives, policy changes, and activities during the last two months of 2013 in anticipation of a change of Minister. The current Minister, Marlon Escoto, was confirmed to continue in his post on January 30, three days after the inauguration of the new President. The Minister proposed results-based incentives for teachers, including a set of financial and non-financial rewards for teachers who meet or exceed performance targets. The Ministry of Education plans to implement eight major reforms for the 2014 school year, including increasing the school day to five hours, implementing a school week in accord with current Honduran legislation, and dropping the registration age for first grade from 6 to 5. The government aims to serve 130,000 children who currently do not have access to pre-school education. The minimum passing grade will increase from 60% to 70% in public and private schools, and end of year remedial exams will be replaced by continuous assessments that allow students to increase unsatisfactory grades each semester via compensatory education and extra credit projects or tests.