Impact evaluation of USAID/Indonesia's Kinerja program

Two randomized control trial impact evaluations were conducted to test: (1) district-level impacts of the program as a whole; and (2) school-level impacts of the school-based management (SBM) subactivity. Whereas the SBM evaluation provides reliable, attributable impact estimates, the district-level study was constrained by a number of factors identified at the outset and produced findings of limited policy relevance. The evaluation team found improvements across nearly all education and health indicators at the district level, though there was no evidence that positive changes were attributable to the program. The SBM study, however, found a number of significant improvements in intermediate outcomes: (1) better functioning school committees; (2) key school management documents more widely available; (3) more information provided to parents; and (4) parents more satisfied with schools. Conversely, the evaluation did not find evidence of improvements in higher-level outcomes, including school facilities, enrollment, attendance, or parental aspirations for their child's education. In summary, the evaluation team found evidence of positive changes and attributable impacts on governance outcomes but no clear evidence of sectoral changes due to Kinerja. (Excerpt, modified)