Rapid Feedback Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, and Learning Year 6 Annual Progress Report: October 1, 2020 – September 30, 2021

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) Bureau for Policy, Planning and Learning (PPL)—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 Year 6, the Consortium implemented several activities to advance the Rapid Feedback MERL approach. Activity 1 focused on Consortium management, 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, pulling in relevant Consortium members as needed. Activity 2 involved the development of the Rapid Feedback MERL framework and pilot selection. The Consortium selected four pilots: Global Book Alliance (GBA), Tanzania, Mali, and Senegal. Activity 3 focused on pilot implementation, with the Consortium working with USAID and LPT to develop a plan for the pilot in Senegal. The Consortium conducted data collection on the agreed-upon research questions, including a Lean Test of LPT’s coaching experiment and CPD activities via an SMS survey, and administered four SMS surveys, 61 key informant interviews, and 30 classroom observations. The final report, submitted on July 23, was organized in three parts: the effectiveness and sustainability of LPT’s distanced continuous professional development approach; findings from the classroom observations; and a comparative analysis of the three coaching models. The Consortium held a Learning Check with LPT and USAID/Senegal on July 27 and later held meetings with LPT to discuss methods for a cost-effectiveness analysis of the coaching models. In addition to the pilot in Senegal, the Consortium also worked on the TIGER-OR (Ethiopia) project, which aimed 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. The Consortium focused on familiarizing and gaining buy-in from relevant Agreement Officer’s Representatives (AORs) and Contracting Officer’s Representatives (CORs) managing Highlands Resilience (TIGER) activities in Ethiopia. The Consortium developed an approach to understanding USAID/Ethiopia’s evidence base on resilience programming and mapped the evidence gaps in the current base. The final evidence review template generated through this work was shared with USAID/Ethiopia in mid-September. The Consortium also conducted a deeper dive analysis on eight documents, most of which were research reports on evaluations funded by USAID/Ethiopia. The results of these activities will inform the development of easy-to-use tools for USAID/Ethiopia and implementing partners to deploy when identifying kebeles (sub-districts) and households to participate in livelihoods programming.