Quarterly Report #5: October 1 – December 31, 2015

The services aimed to strengthen the design, management, and evaluation of regional and bilateral education programs in LAC. SSG Advisors provided support to enhance the Education team's ability to plan, design, and implement new programs and activities, monitor and evaluate the performance of LAC regional and Mission education programs, support organizational learning and knowledge management, and collect, analyze, and communicate data about education and programming in LAC. During the fifth project quarter, October 1 through December 31, 2015, SSG Advisors made significant progress in various work streams. In the Project Management work stream, SSG sent weekly written progress updates and held weekly calls with LAC/RSD. However, challenges arose due to the need to submit another request for Labor of Effort (LOE) realignment, as certain labor categories were utilized more than others. LAC/RSD exercised option year one to ensure coverage for budget line items such as travel. In the Miami Regional Education Workshop work stream, SSG coordinated a five-day technical workshop held by the LAC Regional Bureau for the ten field Missions with active education programming. The workshop was completed without any challenges. Similarly, the Miami Workforce Development Training work stream was completed without any challenges. In the Nicaragua Youth Employment Project Design Activity work stream, SSG developed a project solicitation document for a new youth workforce development project that will provide employment opportunities for at-risk, out-of-school youth in Nicaragua. The Higher Education Project Design Activity work stream involved supporting the development of a solicitation document for a new regional higher education program, which focuses on strengthening the capacity of LAC higher education institutions to provide market-relevant quality training for marginalized populations with limited access to tertiary education. This work stream was also completed without any challenges. The Dominican Republic Final Performance Evaluation of the Effective Schools Program work stream involved assessing the effectiveness of the USAID/Dominican Republic Effective Schools Program in achieving its performance goals and its contributions to the Dominican primary education system. In the Nicaragua Youth Assessment and FADCANIC Evaluation work stream, SSG carried out primary and secondary research for both the assessment and the evaluation. The team engaged Bluefields Indian and Caribbean University (BICU) to conduct a survey of FADCANIC EFS at-risk youth model. Draft assessment and evaluation reports were submitted to USAID on October 9 and December 3, respectively. However, including a survey into the EFS model evaluation required changing the scope, timing, and budget. Survey data collection took longer than anticipated due to security issues and geographical isolation of some regions where survey and interviews were being conducted. The Honduras Design Support work stream involved providing support to the USAID/Honduras Education team to successfully complete program design and procurement processes under both Development Objectives of the CDCS. As a result of ongoing technical support needs of the Mission, the consultant's agreement was extended until December 31, 2015, and she had 22 hours remaining at the end of the year. The Honduras Sample Design work stream involved defining a sampling scheme for an assessment of academic performance in public schools (grades 1-9) that will enable USAID to accurately estimate academic achievement within each municipality in Honduras. In the Peru Implementation Support work stream, SSG engaged a consultant to provide technical support, including preparing and reviewing technical documents and providing design support for the Reading and Gender Workshop. The consultant submitted final deliverables to USAID/Peru in September. The Peru Reading and Gender Workshop work stream involved designing and implementing two 3-day workshops in Spanish for USAID reading program implementers in Peru to strengthen technical knowledge and skills in early grade reading and gender education. SSG hired a technical consultant to carry out both workshops, and Joey Elton from SSG traveled to Peru to provide logistical support to both workshops. In the Honduras Workforce Development Design work stream, SSG identified a consultant for this activity and was in the processing of fielding the consultant at the quarter's end. The Peru Study Tour to Texas work stream involved deepening participants' pedagogical framework of the five essential components in reading. SSG discussed the goals of the study tour with USAID to clarify expectations and began to identify consultants, including a technical lead and logistics support providers. However, this activity has been put on hold pending further information from USAID. In the next quarter, SSG anticipates prioritizing the following activities: Project Management, Nicaragua Youth Assessment and FADCANIC Evaluation, and Honduras Workforce Development Design. SSG will continue to submit weekly written project updates and hold weekly calls with the LAC/RSD team. The Team Leader and Senior Data Analyst will finalize the assessment report and evaluation report for the Nicaragua Youth Assessment and FADCANIC Evaluation work stream. SSG will also submit quarterly accruals as well as the quarterly program report at the end of the