Education Reform Support: An Update August 3, 2006

Education Reform Support: An Update 1.What is education reform support? 2.How do projects incorporate reform support activities? 3.What else is needed to help program staff better understand and operationalize education reform support activities?

Why Reform? Cannot continue to define the problem as needing more resources for expansion (EFA) Repeated calls for universal access lead to estimation of the funding needed, massive shortfalls in additional assistance, followed by recriminations about inadequate funding or lack of political will Even with impressive gains in access and tons of resources, learning is limited Reform is still needed

Requirements of Reform Expand Access Improve Quality Improve Instruction Testing and Accountability Build Schools Eliminate Fees Reallocate Resources Hire Teachers Reform Civil Service New Management Systems Decentralize Buy Off Unions Retrain Administrators Mobilize Stakeholders Design New Funding Formula Rewrite Laws Retrain Teachers Civil Society Leadership Resources Institutional Capacity Politics

Contribution of Education Reform Support ERS does not try to explain all the complexities of reform, nor does it try to identify every factor that may influence reform outcomes Focuses on the politics and process of reform Applies the logic of projects – i.e. discrete inputs, activities and processes can lead to desired outcomes Messiness of reform can be addressed, but projects will need to be strategic and opportunistic, not linear

Contribution of Education Reform Support Clearing Space Clearing away mental, institutional and political obstacles Filling Space Promoting, experimenting, modeling the substance of a reformed system and defining the conditions of success for reform implementation Building Reform Support Infrastructure Bringing together the variety of actors with the broad range of capacities needed to systematically and continuously clear and fill space

Clearing and Filling Space Interest Groups Economy Ideologies Population Growth Mental Models Bureaucratic Structures Lack of Knowledge Lack of Capacity Momentum of the Status Quo Union Contracts Rules and Regulations The Substance of Reform Re-organization of schools Re-organization of schools Decentralization Decentralization Effective school support Effective school support Teaching innovations Teaching innovations Curriculum modifications Curriculum modifications Accountability Accountability

The Basic Tool Box Data and Information –demand-driven approach to data –creative use of existing information –surveys Analysis –cost-effectiveness of policy options –quantifying inequities –cost projections and simulations Dialogue and Communications –policy presentations, debates, deliberations –social marketing and mobilization campaigns –media campaigns Networking and Promoting Reform Support Infrastructure –seeding collaborations and coalitions –financing coalitions, collaboratives, networks –encouraging and financing advocacy NGOs

Education Reform Support: An Example Data –Simple reading assessment (fluency of reading - words/minute) –Recording of students reading a passage –Characteristics of schools where students read best Dialogue and communication –Live policy dialogue sessions in four localities –Broadcast on prime-time TV –Editorials in newspapers, discussions on talk shows, etc Strategic choices/opportunities –Use of video decided after seeing how powerfully people reacted to recordings of children reading –Video opened up broadcast possibilities –Performance indicators that reflect reading fluency –Reading fluency added to national household survey Policy Dialogue on School Quality in Peru