Rapid Feedback Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, and Learning: FY21 Quarter 2 Report

The program addresses the lack of systematic testing and availability of timely evidence to inform ongoing activity refinement and improvement. Rapid Feedback MERL embeds rigorous monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) approaches into activity design and implementation. A Consortium of four organizations—Results for Development Institute (R4D), Mathematica, Abt Associates, and the Pulte Institute for Global Development at the University of Notre Dame – convened and supported by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) Global Development Lab (the Lab) – is designing and testing the implementation of the Rapid Feedback MERL approach. The approach was developed as part of the Lab’s initiative to co-create and co-design development solutions that innovate on traditional MERL approaches. During the second quarter of Year 6, the Consortium implemented several activities. Activity 1, Consortium management, involved coordination with USAID, with R4D serving as a liaison between the Consortium and the Bureau for Policy, Planning, and Learning’s Office of Learning, Evaluation and Research (PPL/LER). The PPL/LER team and R4D held bi-weekly calls and worked closely on pilot generation and development. Activity 2, Rapid Feedback MERL framework development and pilot selection, involved pilot selection discussions with several Missions and Operating Units, including the Global Book Alliance (GBA), Tanzania, and Mali. Activity 3, Pilot implementation, focused on the Lecture Pour Tous (Senegal) pilot, which aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of coaching and continuous teacher professional development (CPD) models. The Consortium began Lean Testing LPT’s coaching experiment and CPD activities in early 2021, starting with an SMS survey sent to all teachers and coaches. Following the survey, the Consortium organized a three-day qualitative data collection training session to prepare a team of enumerators to conduct phone interviews with coaches and teachers. The training was conducted remotely by the Consortium and facilitated in-person by the team’s in-country coordinator. The Consortium also implemented the THALI/IDAT (India) pilot, which aimed to determine which patient characteristics are associated with non-adherence to tuberculosis (TB) medication among patients selected for a pilot of various technology adherence tools. The pilot explored two research questions: What patient characteristics are associated with greater technology engagement and treatment adherence, and how are those characteristics correlated with technology engagement and treatment adherence? The TIGER-OR (Ethiopia) pilot, a USAID initiative to generate evidence on the improved and deliberate linkage and integration of Government of Ethiopia (GOE) programs to increase the resilience of vulnerable populations in the Ethiopian highlands, was in the design phase. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Consortium was unable to launch in-person implementation activities for this pilot. Instead, the Consortium carried out an extended set of formative research activities that could be completed remotely. The Health Services Delivery (Guinea) pilot focused on understanding how well training for community health workers (CHWs) impacts the quality of care provided to patients. The pilot aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a training program for CHWs in improving patient outcomes. The Consortium plans to finalize data collection tools for the Lecture Pour Tous pilot in April and will organize training sessions with the data collection team in early May. The Consortium also plans to send the first of two SMS-based surveys to teachers, directors, and coaches at the end of April.