MIDEH 2011-2016 Project Quarterly Progress Report

The project aims to consolidate and sustain a national standards-based educational reform program to monitor and improve the quality of education in line with Education for All (EFA) goals. The estimated budget for the project is $11,192,521 in federal funds. The project focuses on three key results: the implementation of the DCNB (Diseño del Currículum Nacional Básico) standards, the building of technical, organizational, and financial capacities to design and maintain a national system for monitoring and improving the quality of education, and civil society engagement to promote implementation and utilization of DCNB standards and assessment results at the local level. The project also includes a research program to support the implementation of the DCNB standards and the assessment system. During the month of September 2011, the MIDEH/AIR team made significant progress in establishing its field office in Tegucigalpa and positioning itself to launch program activities in October 2011. The team began operating in temporary offices within two weeks of the start date of the award and identified a permanent location for the field office. The team also published recruitment announcements for key positions, including the Deputy Chief of Party (D-COP) and administrative staff. The project accounting system was established, and the project began to operate with modest funds through AIR's accounts in the local Banco de Honduras. Internal operating procedures were adapted from the previous project and tailored to the new award. The MIDEH COP met with the USAID AOTR for the project to discuss the details of the first six-month work plan, and the COP and Finance and Grants Manager participated in a Post Award Orientation given by USAID. For the next quarter, activities will continue in the management area, working towards getting the field office fully staffed and operating in a permanent location. Program activities will begin in October 2011. Management activities include negotiating and signing a rental contract for office space, selecting and contracting administrative staff, an accountant, and technical positions, and processing a request for exoneration of sales taxes. Program technical activities include completing the construction of census tests for grades 1-6 in Spanish and Math, joining DIGECE to prepare local COMDEs and teachers to participate in a pilot of school-administered end of grade tests, and developing a parallel small pilot of computer-administered end of grade internal tests. The project will also focus on building the necessary technical, organizational, and financial capacities to design and maintain a national system for monitoring and improving the quality of education. This will involve analyzing best direction to take in designing a detailed work plan of financial sustainability activities, developing a preliminary outline for technical capacity building activities, and responding to SE requests for technical support in technology adaptation and cost-saving methods. Civil society engagement will also be a key focus of the project, with activities including holding joint planning and coordination meetings with EducAcción to define areas of collaboration and synergies, reviewing the scope and approach to the competitive grants program and small activities support, and meeting with Transformemos Honduras and FEREMA to define areas of collaboration and forward planning.