LAC education information system network

Evaluation covered the period 2/85-4/86 and was based on site visits, interviews with project personnel and beneficiaries, and document review. The project is surpassing its quantitative targets in a number of areas. Five new research centers have been established, with the sixth (in Honduras) scheduled to open soon; eight bibliographies on educational topics have been produced (12 are projected); 3,472 abstracts and 143 research studies were completed in 1985 (the respective goals were 1,200 per year and 72 per year); country seminars for 520 participants have been held (vs. a targeted 1,500 participants); and computerization is on schedule. CIDE management of the project has been good and the four research centers visited (in Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Colombia, and Guatemala) seem to be operating efficiently. The project"s impact seems to be substantial - in the four countries visited, more than 1,000 persons regularly use the abstract journals and another 300 receive occasional publications - but there is no adequate system in place to track utilization of project services. The Southeast Asia Ministers of Education Organization has decided to replicate the project, and inquiries have also been received from African education researchers and from professionals in other sectors, good indicators of the project"s effectiveness. Another unlooked for development has been the willingness of the 12 participating nations to share project costs, showing that a project can change attitudes toward research if it has clear objectives, well-defined tasks, qualified personnel, and adequate funding and management training. A problem which does exist, however, is the great variance in the quality of abstracts and other publications and services provided by individual centers. Some centers, especially the newer ones, are not providing their expected output. These problems are being addressed by CIDE and the national centers and more TA is planned. Action decisions include, inter alia, to require all project activities to acknowledge their A.I.D. funding, to develop and implement a system to track utilization of project services, and to move quickly in establishing the final center in Honduras.