Using Cost Measurement and Analysis For Continuous Learning and Improvement in the Education Sector

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

In this session, attendees will hear and discuss lessons learned from organizations who are utilizing the findings from cost analyses to make education interventions more efficient, equitable, and sustainable in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Attendees will hear from four organizations who have used cost evidence as part of learning and continuous improvement in the education sector. Additionally, attendees will learn about key resources, including guidance documents and templates, they can access to conduct similar analyses of their own programs. This panel provides examples of how cost analysis can be used to empower local decision makers with the information they need to allocate scarce resources in the education sector most equitably and efficiently and contribute to a more inclusive society.

First, the session will provide a brief overview of the USAID Center for Education’s Cost Measurement Initiative, which has established systems and processes for capturing and analyzing the costs of USAID-funded education activities. By using a standardized approach, USAID can ensure that data can be used effectively to achieve greater and lasting impact. The presentation will focus on learnings to date from the Cost Measurement Initiative, highlighting the specific aspects of the approach which have made it successful.

Then, we will have four presentations from implementing partners and researchers on how they have utilized cost measurement and analysis to improve the sustainability of interventions, enhance localization efforts, and ensure that quality education is reaching and can continue to reach the most marginalized populations.

First, World Education will present a retrospective cost-economy and cost-efficiency analysis for a USAID Education scale-up activity in Mozambique. It will describe multiple adjustments made in the scale-up of the activity and their respective impact on cost-economy and cost-efficiency, including changes to the cascade training model, shifting resources to community and school-based interventions, and shifting of activities to local partner leadership.

Next, VVOB will present a cross-country cost analysis of blended Continuous Professional Development (CPD) programs funded by the LEGO Foundation. The analysis estimates the cost per participant for each modality and was conducted from three perspectives. Overall, the study found both programs were relatively low-cost in absolute terms and when compared to alternatives, and the synchronous modality is twice as resource intensive as the asynchronous version. The presentation will discuss the programmatic and policy implications of these findings.

The final presentation will be by the Center for Effective Global Action, at the University of California, Berkeley. The presentation will discuss how researchers apply cost analyses and produce quality cost estimates, referencing a synthesis of cost evidence in a review of community development interventions and using costing pre-analysis plans as tools for integrating cost research with randomized evaluations of development interventions.

The panel will conclude with a discussion and Q&A highlighting some of the common themes across the presentations.

Sub Unit

• Monitoring and Evaluation SIG

Chair

• Emma Venetis, EnCompass LLC

Individual Presentations

• Cost Measurement at USAID: How the Initiative Has Grown and What It Has Supported - Melissa Katelyn Donaher, DDI Center for Education, United States Agency for International Development USAID; Emma Venetis, EnCompass LLC

• Understanding Cost Impacts at Scale: A retrospective cost-economy and cost-efficiency analysis for a USAID Education scale-up activity in Mozambique - Yuri Machkasov, JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc.

• Findings from a Comparative Cost Analysis of Blended CPD Interventions in South Africa and Vietnam - Stefaan Vande Walle, VVOB - education for development; Jef Peeraer, VVOB - education for development