Synthesis of Findings from USAID-Funded Evaluations, 2013-2016: Education Strategy

The evaluations were conducted as part of the USAID's 2011-2015 Education Strategy, which aimed to improve reading skills for 100 million children in primary grades, increase the ability of tertiary and workforce development activities to generate workforce skills relevant to a country's development goals, and increase equitable access to education in crisis and conflict environments for 15 million learners. The evaluation synthesis study found that USAID-funded early grade reading interventions had positive effects on student scores, although the magnitude of the gains was generally small. Activities with extremely low or high baseline scores tended to have the most difficulty showing improvements. Boys generally outperformed girls on most activities, although girls often made progress in closing achievement gaps from baseline scores, especially in the early primary grades. Some district-level teacher coaching and in-school mentoring models showed promise, but most experienced implementation difficulties due to staffing, training, and logistical issues. Capacity building was a common theme in the evaluation reports, but the review found a lack of strategic focus on systems strengthening, with little evidence of follow-on investment to sustain and scale up reform across institutions and systems. Reported activities related to Goals 1 and 3 centered around improving M&E systems by ministries of education, improved learning environment, and improved local governance and leadership in school management, whereas reported activities related to Goal 2 centered around Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), professional development, industry associations, and training of faculty and university administrators. Violence prevention and countering violent extremism (CVE) were also key themes in the evaluation reports. Analysis of Goal 2 activity evaluation reports suggests that sustainable livelihoods and workforce participation are thought to promote stability and peace. WfD interventions are commonly employed to prevent youth participation in violent activities and mitigate against the negative labor market and community conditions that affect young people as a result of conflict and crime. However, few evaluations measured the effect of WfD on violence prevention and CVE outcomes. Equity was another critical theme in the evaluation reports, with issues centered around how vulnerable or at risk a child was. The review of the evaluation reports suggests that equity, defined broadly, is best addressed through cross-sectoral interventions. Gender and marginalization were the most commonly addressed vulnerabilities, with community-based education (CBE) activities having a significant impact on reducing inequities in access to education. Key findings from the evaluation synthesis study include the importance of conducting and deepening gender analysis prior to activity design to identify gender-based dynamics affecting education quality, access to education and training, and youth labor market outcomes after activity completion. The analyses should focus on increasing equity, safety, and empowerment while promoting gender equality and reducing gender gaps. Additionally, efforts should be made to create inclusive learning and work environments for people with disabilities, including requiring a component on improving access for populations of people with disabilities in very large education activities and creating pilot activities around key disability categories that can be replicated in larger activities.