Learning

USAID has made significant progress in establishing an approach to linking country-level learning assessments to global proficiency expectations so countries can set appropriate targets for achieving outcomes in early grade literacy and math.

USAID and its partners recently experimented with cash benchmarking to better understand the cost-effectiveness of its investments. There are currently five cash benchmarking studies underway, each with a different research design.

USAID commissioned the Higher Education Landscape Analysis (HELA) to take stock of the depth of its HE programming across sectors and regions. The HELA found that during fiscal years 2014-2018, USAID implemented five primary activity types.

Here are five recommendations the Higher Education Landscape Analysis team made to USAID taking into account the lessons learned, challenges, and gaps the review identified. 

Why does USAID use a Positive Youth Development approach, and how can education practitioners integrate PYD into their programs?

As a young, independent Balkan nation working toward integration to the European Union, Kosovo’s development priorities include strengthening governance and reforming its public administration and education systems. 

USAID and its partners have used different methods to set performance benchmarks for primary school students over the years, with the vast majority of benchmarking exercises relying on student reading assessment data to identify proficiency levels.

The following retrospective focuses on systems strengthening initiatives that exist across global organizations, within sectors at USAID, and then more specifically in education programs in Africa.