Quarterly Performance Report: Zambia Education Data activity April – June 2019

The activity is implemented by DevTech Systems, Inc. under Contract Number 72061118C00005. The primary goal of the activity is to provide distinct assessment, data management, and research and evaluation services to monitor and track the progress of USAID's Let's Read Project bilateral activity. The activity's objectives include completing two large-scale Early Grade Reading Assessments (EGRAs), strengthening the capacity of the Examinations Council of Zambia (ECZ) to independently conduct EGRA in the future, and conducting research on topics agreed upon with USAID and in collaboration with the Ministry of General Education (MOGE). The target population comprises 4,250 schools in 425 zones, 56 districts in 5 targeted provinces: North Western, Western, Eastern, Muchinga, and Southern. During the reporting period from April 1 to June 30, 2019, the Education Data activity made significant progress in achieving its objectives. The activity submitted the FY2019 Quarter 2 Quarterly Performance Report to USAID/Zambia on April 12, 2019, and revised and resubmitted it on June 21, 2019, following feedback from USAID. The activity also submitted the FY2019 Quarter 2 Financial Report to USAID/Zambia on April 30, 2019. The activity made notable progress in EGRA data collection, including the submission of the EGRA Baseline Report to USAID on April 17, 2019, and the dissemination of the report to MoGE officials and ECZ on May 23, 2019. The activity also conducted a total of seven dissemination events between May and June 2019 to share the results of the Baseline EGRA with a wider audience. In addition, the activity transitioned its strategy and capacity building with ECZ, meeting with USAID at the Embassy in Lusaka to discuss the use of a Memorandum of Understanding between Education Data activity and ECZ to have an agreement on the roles and responsibilities and collaboration for the Midline EGRA in 2020. The activity also held further discussions with ECZ on May 24, 2019, to finalize the agreement. The activity's geographic coverage includes 4,250 schools in 425 zones, 56 districts in 5 targeted provinces. The target beneficiaries are Grade 2 learners and ECZ staff. The activity's reporting period is from January 1 to March 31, 2019, and the planned LOP funding is $5,839,206.