Estimating the cost of delivering a TPD@scale model in Honduras

• In Event: Lessons learned from piloting a new costing tool: Transforming education systems for scale

Proposal

In Honduras, a Central American country with a population of nearly 10 million, only 1 out of 3 young people between 15 and 17 years of age attends an educational center (INE, 2021). Despite an education budget representing around 4.9% of the Gross Domestic Product (BCH 2021), indicators demonstrate low levels of learning, in reading, mathematics and science, young Hondurans are one year behind the average for Latin America (OCDE-PISA-D, 2018).

As part of a program aimed at improving teacher quality, SUMMA, The Laboratory of Education Research and Innovation for Latin America and the Caribbean, and SEDUC, Secretary of Education are adapting and testing a model of teacher professional development, TPD@scale, which is mediated by technology based on the principles of the TPD@scale model. In conjunction with this effort, the team, in collaboration with the Brookings Institution, has conducted a costing exercise to estimate the differential levels of public spending for delivering various TPD programs using the recently developed Brookings Childhood Cost Calculator (C3), a public good for the global education sector.

The costing exercise seeks to compare a model that is being carried out through the implementation of a five-week course in five departments of the country, including the two most populated areas, with other alternative delivery models such as in person training or blended courses. The costing exercise attempts to answer the questions of how efficient a technology mediated teacher training model is in comparison to more traditional TPD processes.

The research applies a multi-method design, combining cost data from the implementation of the TPD@scale initiative with data drawn from interviews and meetings with partners. The process has been structured into several phases. First, a core costing group was established that works directly with data. Alongside this, a wider group of facilitating and enabling stakeholders has been convened to facilitate government support and enable smoother collection of the cost data. These two groups have worked together to establish the country's priorities regarding the costing exercise. Following the establishment of these groups, the team commenced the process of data collection, through semi-structured interviews with key informants to obtain a general categorized structure of costs. These interviews were complimented by a continuous process of endorsing the information provided by the teams, in order to reach the most accurate cost estimates available. Next, the team input the data into the tool, C3, through an inclusive process of capacity building, which was accompanied by relevant discussions. Finally, the team will disseminate the tool’s output data to various stakeholders, so that decision makers can take these cost data into account in the construction of an equitable and quality public policy for TPD approaches in Honduras.

The team will share the findings of this costing exercise, as well as their use of C3. They will present their experiences in the piloting of this global public good, as well as with collaboratively strengthening capacity for the use of accurate cost data and a more transparent / holistic approach to decision making around public spending.

Author

• Rosa Maria Moncada, SUMMA