USAID Ethiopia Quarterly Report III: July - September 2019

Agency for International Development (USAID)-supported activity implemented by American Institutes for Research (AIR). The project focuses on monitoring and evaluating early grade reading as well as on the M&E needs of the overall USAID READ program. READ M&E works closely in partnership with the Ethiopian Ministry of Education (MoE) and the National Educational Assessment and Examinations Agency (NEAEA). The project also collaborates with Regional State Education Bureaus (RSEBs) and City Administration Education Bureaus (CAEBs). The objectives of READ M&E are to assess student learning progress by analyzing and synthesizing nationally representative Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) data collected for seven local languages. The project also undertakes National Learning Assessments (NLA) at Grades 4 and 8 for reading, comprehension, and writing aligned to the new national reading curriculum developed through the READ Technical Assistance (TA) program. Additionally, READ M&E supports continuous assessment in schools, monitors the performance of USAID's READ projects, and conducts midterm and final evaluations of the three READ projects. The project tracks progress and measures the performance and impact of key interventions supported by USAID through regular monitoring of READ projects and evaluating READ projects at defined intervals. These efforts provide information to USAID and other stakeholders about how combined investments across the READ projects are producing the desired changes and how implementation can be improved. Implementation progress is reported under three Clinical (CLIN) areas: CLIN #1, EGRA 2018 Dissemination Workshop; CLIN #2, Formative Continuous Assessment; and CLIN #4, Technical Leadership. The project has made significant progress in these areas, including the dissemination of EGRA 2018 results, capacity building for formative continuous assessment, and technical leadership in reading education. The project has also made progress in staff actions, management, and administrative issues. The financial report indicates that the project has been implemented within budget, and planned activities for the next quarter include continued implementation of CLIN areas, staff training, and monitoring and evaluation activities. The project has achieved significant results to date, including the training of 30 data collectors for READ Community Outreach (CO) final data collection. The project has also made progress in supporting continuous assessment in schools and monitoring the performance of USAID's READ projects. The project's impact evaluations and research studies have provided valuable insights into the effectiveness of the READ program and related key projects. Overall, the READ M&E project has made significant progress in achieving its objectives and has provided valuable information to USAID and other stakeholders about the effectiveness of the READ program. The project's continued implementation and evaluation will provide further insights into the impact of the READ program and inform future investments in reading education in Ethiopia.