Research Development Activities at the USAID Africa Bureau

Session Submission Type: Group Panel

Description of Session

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Bureau for Africa has supported research which focuses on the review of the current status of early grade reading across a number of sub-Saharan Africa countries, and has supported research to improve the current status of early grade reading in the region. The USAID Bureau for Africa focuses on equal access to quality education for all children, which is an important part of the international discourse surrounding education and aligns with the CIES theme of “Imagining a Humanist Education Globally.” USAID shares this growing international concern for promoting educational experiences that are fair and respectful to all children.

Through the Data for Education Research and Programming (DERP) project, USAID has conducted research on a range of topics in the sub-Saharan Africa region. Broadly, the project supports data-related activities which assist the Africa Bureau and supported missions in their programs and to contribute broadly to the achievement of Education Strategy goals. Key areas of focus include using tools to address data gaps, using data to identify transnational trends, analyzing indicators in the USAID Education Strategy Implementation Guidelines, and developing data collection tools with broad applicability across the region. This accurate and current education data helps to underpin programming decisions and can inform activities of all implementers.

The panel will broadly focus on research activities of the USAID Bureau for Africa under the DERP project, and will include three separate presentations, followed by a discussion between the presenters and the attendees. The presentations are:

•Towards the conference theme of inclusiveness and equality, the USAID-developed Guide for Promoting Gender Equality and Inclusiveness in Teaching and Learning Materials will be presented. The guide is developed to help those who are creating or revising teaching and learning materials to produce materials which are optimized for all population subgroups – so that the materials are gender sensitive and inclusive of minority social subgroups.
•In response to the conference theme, the USAID Bureau for Africa will present its recently developed resource, Planning for Language Use in Education: Best Practices and Practical Steps to Improving Learning Outcomes. This presentation will include a factors to consider when planning for language use in education, as identified through a detailed literature review of best practices. In addition, the presentation will share recommendations for optimizing learning outcomes in bi- and multilingual contexts in order to improve learning outcomes and equity. This discussion will include a spotlight on the current status of work surrounding this issue in Senegal.
•The panel will include a presentation on the State of Literacy in Selected Sub-Saharan African Countries, which will review Early Grade Reading Assessments (EGRAs) conducted in 20 selected countries in the region over the past 5 years. This presentation will provide an overview of broad results and trends, comparability as possible, as well as improvements to the tool and assessments in the region.

Sub Unit

• SIG: Africa

Chair

• Catherine Powell Miles, USAID

Individual Presentations

• Guide for Promoting Gender Equality and Inclusiveness in Teaching and Learning Materials - Jennae Bulat, RTI International

• Language of Instruction: Imagining Humanist Language Policy - Catherine Powell Miles, USAID; Alison Pflepsen, RTI

• The State of Literacy in Africa - Jonathan Stern, RTI International

• Teacher effectiveness and education policy in Sub-Saharan Africa - Lee Nordstrum, RTI International