Quarterly Report # 7: April 1 – June 30, 2016

The contract aimed to strengthen the design, management, and evaluation of regional and bilateral education programs in Latin America and the Caribbean. SSG Advisors provided services to enhance the Education team's ability to support USAID/LAC Missions with planning, design, and implementation of 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. The contract is for two base years with three option years, with the first option year exercised, extending the current end date to September 2017. This report describes major activities in the seventh project quarter, April 1 through June 30, 2016. SSG Advisors utilized the in-house resources of Senior Subject Matter Expert Katherine Daniels and Mid-Level Subject Matter Expert Andrea Alcala, as well as the interim support of Junior Logistics & Program Specialist Elise Barry. Weekly phone calls were held with LAC/RSD to discuss progress on activities and challenges encountered. SSG Advisors made significant progress in various work streams during the project quarter. In the Project Management work stream, SSG sent weekly written progress updates, held weekly calls with LAC/RSD, and submitted the FY 16 Qtr. 2 Quarterly Report and Quarterly Budget Report. In the Nicaragua Youth Assessment and FADCANIC Evaluation work stream, SSG submitted and received approval of the FADCANIC Evaluation and Youth Assessment Reports. In the Education Systems Research Task work stream, SSG submitted multiple revised drafts with additional information and received approval of the final draft that was disseminated to Missions by LAC/RSD. SSG Advisors also explored printing services for uploading reports to the Development Experience Clearinghouse (DEC). The Peru Study Tour activity was not currently tasked with SSG Advisors, but LAC Reads is responsible for this activity. SSG Advisors will continue to submit weekly written project updates and hold weekly calls with the LAC/RSD team in the next quarter. They will also finalize the uploading of reports to DEC, identify and field a team to design and deliver a workshop in Haiti, and engage consultants for the Haiti Mission. SSG Advisors will continue to communicate regularly with LAC/RSD and Missions to ensure responsiveness to changing resource needs.