Quarterly Progress Report January 1, 2016 – March 31, 2016

The project is being carried out by the American Institutes for Research (AIR) in partnership with several non-governmental organizations, including CARE, Catholic Relief Services (CRS), ChildFund, Save the Children, Fundación para la Educación Ricardo Ernesto Maduro Andreu (FEREMA), and Fundación Aned. The project is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) under Cooperative Agreement No. AID-522-A-11-00003. During the first quarter of 2016, TCPP staff implemented several strategic activities, including hosting a national event on community participation in education. The event, which took place on March 15-16, was attended by 190 representatives from various stakeholders, including the Government of Honduras, municipal authorities, universities, international cooperation agencies, non-governmental organizations, educational authorities, teachers, and COMDE and CED members. The event's agenda included a general conference and three simultaneous sessions, where attendees shared, discussed, and analyzed key topics related to community participation and the quality of the pedagogical process in public schools. As a result of the dialogues that took place at the national event, the attendees concluded that stakeholders at municipal and community levels must be aware of the roles and tasks of community participation structures as defined in the law on Strengthening Public Education and Community Participation in Honduras. They also emphasized the importance of considering community participation as a right and duty of every citizen in Honduras, and the need to observe its impact at the classroom level. TCPP staff also implemented a municipal consultation process to analyze the status of education in each municipality served by the project. To date, 109 of the 115 municipalities supported by TCPP have hosted a consultation. During each event, CED and COMDE members, CCEPREB volunteers, teachers, municipal authorities, educational authorities, and parents analyzed the achievement of Education for All (EFA) goals from 2011 to 2015, identified gaps and their causes, and discussed student academic performance at the municipal level by reviewing EOG test results for 2012 and 2015. The data presented during the municipal events showed that the municipalities served by TCPP faced difficulties achieving EFA goals for 2014 and 2015, with the exception of grade 1 repetition rate in 2015. However, EFA goals 1 and 2 showed a positive net change between 2014 and 2015, indicating an increase in the primary completion rate. TCPP staff expected Goal 4 and Indicator 1 to improve in the coming years, based on the data presented during the municipal events. The project's implementation is aligned with the design of Mathematica's impact evaluation, which studies the application and use of formative assessments and end of grade tests to determine their impact on students' academic achievement and early reading skills from 1st to 3rd grade. The intervention has been incorporated in the project design as Result 3. TCPP staff also conducted a municipal consultation process to analyze the status of education in each municipality served by the project. The data presented during the municipal events showed that the municipalities served by TCPP faced difficulties achieving EFA goals for 2014 and 2015, with the exception of grade 1 repetition rate in 2015. However, EFA goals 1 and 2 showed a positive net change between 2014 and 2015, indicating an increase in the primary completion rate. The project's implementation is expected to continue in the coming quarters, with a focus on improving education outcomes in the municipalities served by TCPP. The project's staff will continue to work with the municipalities to analyze the status of education, identify gaps and their causes, and discuss student academic performance at the municipal level. The project's impact evaluation will also continue to study the application and use of formative assessments and end of grade tests to determine their impact on students' academic achievement and early reading skills from 1st to 3rd grade.