Improving the Evidence-Base in Lebanon for Decision-Making

• In Event: Collaboration is Key: Using Co-Creation of Early-Grade Interventions to Ensure the Right to Education in Bangladesh, Tanzania, and Lebanon

Proposal

Since 2014, the QITABI and QITABI 2 projects in Lebanon, funded by USAID, have worked with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE), the Department of Orientation and Guidance (DOPS), and the Center for Educational Research and Development (CRDP), to improve student performance in reading, writing, and math in all public primary schools. The projects support government efforts to strengthen national service delivery of quality education.

Both projects have used co-creation with MEHE/DOPS and CRDP to design interventions ranging from in-service teacher training programs to materials production, coaching programs, and policy frameworks. Collaboration guides the implementation of interventions with CRDP leading all training of teachers and DOPS managing the coaching programs. In addition, CRDP and DOPS have worked very closely with QITABI and QITABI 2 to improve the evidence base for education in Lebanon.

In 2019, Lebanon was rocked by massive protests that disrupted all economic and social activities, including schooling. Protesters demanded more accountability from the government, which they viewed as corrupt and responsible for the socio-economic crisis. Schools closed for several weeks in 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic immediately followed the “revolution”, resulting in prolonged school closures and deepening the economic crisis. Since 2021, public school teachers have protested, through recurring rallies and strikes, working conditions and demanded increased wages to cope with rising inflation. Yet, even as they lead protests, public school teachers are sounding the alarm on unprecedentedly low student performance levels due to a lack of resources and school closures. This presentation will focus on two areas of collaboration to generate, in time of crisis, educational data for decision-making in Lebanon.

First, we will discuss how the project worked with CRDP to improve student learning outcomes data in the early grades. The presentation will focus on the multi-year approach to capacity strengthening in assessment. We will examine the evolution of this collaboration from 2015 to 2023, identifying opportunities and challenges. We will also explore how the QITABI 2 approach recently expanded to include inter-agency (CRDP + DOPS) collaboration and teachers as critical stakeholders. Despite massive teacher strikes, QITABI 2 worked with CRDP, DOPS, and teachers to review and interpret assessment data to set benchmarks for reading and math. Including teachers in the benchmarking process was a rare opportunity to work with DOPS and CRDP and review expectations for and the reality of student performance levels.

Second, we will discuss a recent example of collaborative research which explored how well teachers are applying evidence-based methods, introduced by the teacher training programs, into their classroom practices. The study was designed and implemented by QITABI 2 and DOPS. As researchers, DOPS coaches spent a week observing grade 3 reading teachers and conducted in-depth interviews. Such research was a first for DOPS coaches who typically visit classrooms once a year. The study highlighted challenges for teachers trying to complete the entire curriculum even as the number of actual school days decreases and allowed DOPS coaches to discuss with teachers the instructional support needed to improve teaching and learning.

Author

• Gaelle Simon, Management Systems International