Quarterly Report

READING FOR SUCCESS – SMALL SCALE EXPERIMENTATION (RFS-SSE) Contract No. AID-OAA-I-14-00055 Task Order No. AID-608-TO-15-00002

Year 2 Quarter 1: October – December 2016

Draft Submitted January 20, 2017 Final Submitted January 30, 2017 This report and reflection of achievements are made possible by the support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID.) The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of Chemonics International Inc. and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACRONYMS 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 I. PROJECT OVERVIEW 5 II. ACTIVITY AND ACHIVEMENTS 6 A. Test the effectiveness of a new approach to Arabic reading lessons and the impact on student reading competencies in grades 1 and 2 6 B. Introduce summer reading enrichment activities and test their effectiveness in reducing learning loss among students in grades 1 and 2 9 C. Cross-Cutting Activity: Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) 11 III. MONITORING AND EVALUATION 13 IV. CHALLENGES AND LESSONS LEARNED 16 I. FINANCE, MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION 18 A. Personnel 18 B. Modifications and Amendments 19 A. Financial Information 19 II. PLANNED ACTIVITIES FOR NEXT QUARTER (January– March 2017) 20 ANNEXES 21 Annex 1: Executive Summary in French 21 Annex 2: Teacher’s Toolkit for Reading Success 22 Teacher’s Toolkit for Reading Success 23 Annex 3: Deliverables for the Quarter 24

RFS-SSE: Quarterly Report, October 2016 – December 2016 2

ACRONYMS

AREF Regional Academy for Education and Training DOEVS Directorate of Organization and Evaluation of School life CNEE National Center for Evaluation and Examinations CNIP Centre National des Innovations Pédagogiques CRMEF Teacher Training Institute CSO Civil Society Organizations EGRA Early Grade Reading Assessment MNEVT Ministry of Education and Vocational Training MSA Modern Standard Arabic RFA Request for Application RFS–SSE Reading for Success — Small Scale Experimentation SSME Snapshot of School Management Effectiveness STS School-to-School International UCFC Central Unit for Teacher Education USAID United States Agency for International Development MEL Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY1 The USAID/ Reading for Success – Small Scale Experimentation (RFS-SSE) Project is pleased to present the first quarterly report for Year 2, covering the period of October - December 2016.

The project team kick-started Year 2 with an internal ‘Day of Reflection’ on October 6. The purpose of the day was to reflect on the past years achievements and lessons learned. These takeaways were then channeled into a four-day work planning workshop from October 17 – 20. The workshop was collaborative effort to develop the Year work plan, which included the participation of the full project team, as well as the PMU Director from Washington, the USAID COR, as well as local partner Al Jisr.

After a preceding year with significant achievements under Result 1, focusing on the production of teaching materials, in the first quarter of Year 2 the RFS-SSE project pivoted to focus on teacher training and support as well as evaluation. The quarter was bookended with a series of trainings, starting with the grade 1 and 2 teachers training in early October in all eight target provinces, and ending with a four-day additional training of trainers at the end of December in . These additional trainings are a start to a year, which will emphasize this kind of teacher support and training.

Although the shift to teacher support has started, this quarter also saw the finalization of the material production. The production and printing of the teacher’s guidebooks (grade 1 and 2) were completed prior to the teacher’s trainings in October, and the development, production, and distribution of

1 The Executive Summary in French has been included as Annex 1 RFS-SSE: Quarterly Report, October 2016 – December 2016 4

student exercise books (semester 1) for both grades and the teacher toolkits for both grades were completed this quarter. The second semester student exercise book is currently under production by national and international experts, and will be distributed during the next quarter.

The teacher toolkits were a highlight of the quarter, as this was supplemental to what was originally planned, and based on recommendations from the teacher focus groups in June. (Read Annex 2 - Highlight of the Quarter). In addition to the pedagogical materials within the toolkit, it also contained an interactive platform on a USB key that allows users to access all the training guides, stories, texts and flashcards.

This quarter was also paramount to the design and implementation of Result 2, the summer grants program. In December, half-day meetings were held with the school directors in each of the eight provinces. These meetings were vital in terms of introducing the summer program, as well as better understanding how a primary reading grants program would work in each province. These meetings were also a great opportunity to reinforce the already existing collaboration between school directors and the different aspects of the project.

I. PROJECT OVERVIEW

RFS-SSE is the second phase of a USAID-assisted process that spans from analysis to national implementation of the Reading for Success Program (RFS).

RFS comes at a time when the MNEVT is working to implement reforms laid out in a 15-year education reform plan, Vision 2030, which includes a set of medium-term activities for the period 2015-2020. Through RFS-SSE, a new reading approach will be developed and tested, the results of which will feed into the planned MNEVT curriculum reform, so that the interventions are evidence-based and strategic.

RFS-SSE is a pilot project designed to work behind the scenes to empower the MNEVT to develop and test the most effective approaches for strengthening children’s Arabic reading skills in targeted primary schools. MNEVT staff at all levels are engaged in the design, training, implementation, and evaluation of the new approach of reading instruction. The program aims to strengthen primary grade reading skills by improving instruction methods, teacher and school capacity, and enrichment opportunities. With a framework that emphasizes experimentation and monitoring, the project is employing new teaching methods, evaluating their impact, and adapting the methods to meet student needs.

In its first year, RFS-SSE focused on Result 1 – Developing Arabic Reading Materials for Grades 1 and 2. Based on international best practices and Moroccan expertise, RFS-SSE introduced the phonemic method of teaching, which uses individual syllables and sounds as building blocks for basic reading skills. By learning individual sounds, students learn how to decode and understand letters, words, and phonemes. This is in stark difference to the current method of teaching in Morocco, which is limited to textbooks and the rote memorization of words, rather than children decoding words by sounds.

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To pilot this approach, RFS-SSE worked closely with the MNEVT to select eight provinces in four that best represented the geographical differences of the country. Within the eight provinces, 90 intervention schools were selected to participate in the pilot.

As an experimental project, an integral and cross cutting element of the project is data collection and assessment. Early Grade Reading Assessments (EGRA), which provides data on student performance on the most basic skills required for reading fluency, assessing the skills needed to acquire reading, staggered throughout the course of the project reinforce and supplement the project’s qualitative data.

II. ACTIVITY AND ACHIVEMENTS

A. Test the effectiveness of a new approach to Arabic reading lessons and the impact on student reading competencies in grades 1 and 2

Grade 1 and 2 Teacher Training – At the very beginning of the academic year, from October 10 to 14, 2016, 332 grade 1 and 2 teachers from the 91 intervention2schools in each of the eight target provinces (Inezgane-Aït Melloul, Tiznit, Témara, Kenitra, -Angad, Figuig, Taouanate and ) participated in a 4-day training on the new reading approach.

The trained trainers, who were trained in the previous quarter, facilitated the trainings in each of their respective provinces. During the training, each teacher received a copy of the teacher’s guidebook based on their respective grade for teaching (17 teachers received both guidebooks as they have multi-grade classrooms). During the trainings, teachers were divided into two groups based on whether they were trained in the approach for grade 1 or for grade 2.

2 An additional school has been added to the original 90 target schools that are participating to the reading intervention. The additional school was added in the Inzegane delegation prior to the start of the academic school year because two of the teachers that were previously trained last year had been transferred to this new school. Rather than losing these two teachers in the intervention for the upcoming school year, it was decided to include the school into the intervention. RFS-SSE: Quarterly Report, October 2016 – December 2016 6

School directors were invited to attend the first day of the training and were provided with copies of both the teacher guidebooks (grade 1 and 2) for their reference.

A training evaluation questionnaire was distributed to the teachers during the last day of the training. Results from the training evaluation are included in the Monitoring and Evaluation section Grade one teachers during the second teacher's training in Inzegane, October 2016 below.

Supplemental Teaching Aides -

Grade 1 and 2 Student Exercise Book (Semester 1) During this quarter, the first semester of grades 1 and 2 student exercise books were developed by international and local consultants. The student exercise books for each grade correspond with activities for each unit of the first semester per the teacher’s guidebook. The final printed copies of the first semester student exercise books were distributed to the regions during the last week of November 2016.

Starting in December 2016, the project began to develop a second semester student exercise book, similar to the student exercise books developed for the first semester. The exercise books will be developed by the same international and local experts whom developed the first semester, and will correspond with activities for the second semester per the teacher’s guidebook. The exercise books will be distributed regionally prior to the beginning of the second semester in February 2017.

Grade 1 and 2 Teacher’s Toolkits During the first week of December 2016, in addition to the student exercise books, all teachers in the 91 target schools received a pedagogical tool kit, as a supplemental teaching aide. The toolkit includes pedagogical tools that complement the activities and approach in the teacher’s guidebooks. For grade 1, it includes letter flashcards (inclusive of all the Arabic variations of the letter), word flashcards, illustrations that correspond to the stories and texts, and a USB key that contains all of these same

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materials and guidebooks electronically in an interactive platform. For grade 2, the toolkits contain illustrations to correspond with the stories and texts and the interactive USB.

Grade 1 Story Booklet In addition to the student exercise books, the ten stories that will be taught during grade 1 were printed in its own story booklet and distributed in December 2016 to each grade 1 student and teacher.

AREF Meetings in Target Regions - During the first three weeks of December, RFS-SSE held AREF meetings at the regional level in three of the four target regions (Rabat-Sale-Kenitra, Orient, and Sous Massa)3. The meetings were attended by the AREF Directors and at times the Chef de Service for the region. During these meetings, the technical team presented a summary of achievements from the previous year, a summary of the activities that will take place in the upcoming year, and a small demonstration of the contents of the teacher toolkits. The main objective was to further familiarize the AREFs about the project, our objectives, and to introduce the summer grants program.

Coaching for Teachers - In order to complement the MNEVT coaching program that is in its nascent stages of implementation, the project has collaborated with the CNIPE to identify MNEVT coaches that either already work in one of the RF-SSE target schools or has geographic accessibility to one of the schools. These MNEVT coaches have already received general coaching training from the Ministry, and in the upcoming quarter the project will complete their training to specifically focus on literacy coaching.

Early Grade Reading Coaching Manual – During this quarter the project also worked with an international consultant, Dr. Hanada Taha, to develop a coaching literacy manual for the MNEVT coaches in order to complete their training in early grade reading instruction (based on RFS-SSE approaches and best practices).

The Coaching Manual will be in Arabic will be divided into two main sections: (1) the first section will include background, definitions, roles, techniques, and best practices. Most of this section will be extracted and adapted from MNEVT’s coaching manuals; (2) the second section of the manual will focus on coaching for early literacy and will include the RFS-SSE early reading approach, early grade reading strategies, and reading assessment. The final version of the manual will be completed in the following quarter, in order to train and share with these identified MNEVT coaches.

Additional Training of Trainers – A four-day additional training of trainer’s workshop was held from December 26 – 29, 2016, in Rabat. The workshop was facilitated and led by international consultant, Dr. Hanada Taha, and attended by 39 trained inspectors and CRMEF trainers who have participated in previous ToT workshops.

The workshop focused on three key technical aspects of the approach:

3 Fes- AREF meeting was canceled due to the availability of the AREF Director. It will be rescheduled for January 2017. RFS-SSE: Quarterly Report, October 2016 – December 2016 8

. Classroom Management and Practical Facilitation Techniques . Pedagogical Support on Specific Reading Strategies . Continues Evaluation (both individual and collective)

The workshop was a great success in that it successfully demonstrated to the trainers/inspectors that there are facilitation and teaching techniques that can be both fun and educative for the students. The facilitator was able to convince the inspectors to try a different method of training and teaching. These new techniques will be further emphasized during the follow up teacher training in the next quarter.

Additionally, woven in to the workshop of the three key technical aspects of the approach, were coaching techniques that will be further elaborated in the coaching manual discussed above. The workshop participants were not trained to become coaches; however, coaching best practices and techniques were Consultant, Hanada Taha, doing a demo during the additional ToT in Rabat woven into the workshop, in order to provide the trainers with tools to provide additional training and support to the teachers during the course of the year.

A training evaluation questionnaire was distributed to the trainers on the last day of the training. Results from the training evaluation are included in the Monitoring and Evaluation section below.

B. Introduce summer reading enrichment activities and test their effectiveness in reducing learning loss among students in grades 1 and 2 Design of the Grants Program – In line with the RFS–SSE grants manual that was developed and approved in Year 1, RFS-SSE outlined the summer grants program. In collaboration with USAID and the MNEVT, during the months of October and November, the project determined who the target students are, the number of students required

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for the evaluation to be statistically significant, roles and responsibilities of each stakeholder, and the type of competition that is needed to achieve the desired results.

Orientation of the School Directors – In order to introduce school directors to the summer program, the project organized half-day meetings during the first three weeks of December in each of the eight provinces with all of the school directors. The objective of the meetings was to introduce the summer program and to implicate them in the program from the beginning. This will help the project work within the target schools and help access parents in order to encourage them to sign-up their children.

During these meetings, RFS-SSE introduced the goals of the summer grants program, but also used the opportunity to hear from the School Directors in terms of what they felt was feasible (specifically in terms of each of their provincial differences) and what the best ways of working with CSOs would be.

The local provincial administration and the regional coordinator for the province were actively engaged in these meetings, in order to demonstrate the collaborative effort of the program.

Some of the main recommendations from these 8 provincial meetings were:

. Continue working closely with the school directors to help orient the parents about the summer reading program and its benefits for their children; . Involve school directors at every stage to promote ownership and accountability; . Take into consideration the particularities/differences of the urban and rural environment; . Organize an informational session for the local CSOs in order to communicate the key elements of designing a suitable and sustainable program; . Ensure the appropriateness of the activities for the targeted children taking into account their age, motivations, interests and socio-cultural differences between the different regions; . When possible integrate digital/technology tools and techniques; . Broaden the fields of intervention beyond reading by promoting students' creativity; . Utilize the summer program as a leverage for shifting attitudes to make reading fun and part of the children’s routines; . Involve AMPTEs (Parent – Students Associations) and local authorities ; . Promote good management of the project (operational and financial aspects) and provide training as needed to ensure best practices.

Preliminary Identification of CSOs - As the target students for the grants program will be the same students that are participating in the new reading approach under Result 1, it will be essential to work with education CSOs that already have a partnership agreement with the Regional Academy or Provincial Directorate of the MNEVT. Hence, during the AREF and School Director meetings in December 2016, RFS-SSE requested that each provincial directorate submit a list of CSOs from their province that they have an existing partnership agreement with. Following these meetings, RFS-SSE has been closely following up with each provincial directorate for these lists, as this will become the pool of organizations that the final grantees will be selected from.

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Design of Limited Request for Applications (RFA) – In order to select amongst the interested CSOs, during this quarter RFS-SSE has developed a simplified request for application (RFA) in order to solicit concept papers and budgets from the interested CSOs. The RFA details the evaluation criteria and provides instruction on the assessment process. The RFA is in the process of being translated into Arabic and will be released to the pool of identified CSOs at the beginning of the following quarter.

C. Cross-Cutting Activity: Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA)

Midline 2 Data Collection – During the previous quarter, RFS-SSE conducted a three-day refresher training for enumerators from September 19 - 21, 2016, in Rabat. All Midline 2 enumerators have also served as enumerators during the Baseline and Midline 1 assessments and had successfully completed a seven-day enumerator training in January 2016 and a three-day refresher training in May 2016. Those who acted as supervisors during Baseline and Midline 1 data collection were also re-trained to administer all six SSME tools using Tangerine and to supervise data collection teams. Eight Provincial Field Coordinators (PFCs) also attended the refresher training in Rabat in September 2016.

Following the three- day enumerator refresher training, the enumerators traveled to the 90 schools (45 experimental and 45 control) to administer the EGRA and SSME tools from September 24 to October 13, 2016. Students that were in grade 1 last year were tested again as grade 2 students this year, as well as a new cohort of grade 1 students that were tested for the first time. Photo description: An EGRA enumerator explaining the purpose of the EGRA practice in

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To ensure the quality of data collection, a trained supervisor oversaw each data collection team of two EGRA enumerators. At the end of each day, supervisors and enumerators discussed progress and problems encountered that day. The supervisors verified that each enumerator had reached as many of the intended participants as possible at each school and ensured that a daily data collection report was completed.

Breakdown by gender and study group of the students assessed at Midline 2 (GRADE 1/New Cohort)

Girls Boys Total n (%) n (%) n (%) Control Group 418 (49.4%) 428 (50.06%) 846(50.6%) Experimental Group 408 (49.4%) 418 (50.06%) 826(49.4%) Total 826 (49.4%) 846(50.6%) 1,672 (100.0%)

Breakdown by gender and study group of the students assessed at Midline 2 (GRADE 2/Previous Cohort)

Girls Boys Total n (%) n (%) n (%) Control Group 396 (50.3%) 423 (51.5%) 819 (50.9%) Experimental Group 392 (49.7%) 399 (48.5%) 791 (49.1%) Total 788 (48.9%) 822 (51.1%) 1,610 (100.0%)

Based on a detailed planning schedule that was developed for each data collection team during the Enumerator Refresher training, each team visited one or two schools per day. Due to the longitudinal study design, where it is necessary to test the same students that were previously tested, it was occasionally necessary to re-visit schools to test students who were absent during the first scheduled school visit. When possible, schools with missing students during the first day of data collection were visited a second time in order to try to reach the missing students. If the students were also missing on the second school visit, then the students were marked as “absent” in the dataset and not included in the Midline 2 sample. The teams uploaded the data from their tablets to a cloud database each evening after data collection. The data sets were then reviewed and tallied each evening by RFS-SSE team and discussed with the PFCs as necessary.

Draft Midline 2 Report – After collecting data for Midline 2, during this quarter a draft report of the findings has been prepared. However, the project is currently in the process finalizing the report results according to the impact and custom indicators included in the RFS-SSE MELP. A final draft of the report will be submitted to USAID for review and approval during the next quarter.

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Based on the preliminary results from the draft Midline 2 report, it is clear that the results show that during the summer break (three months) there is significant learning loss for both control and experimental groups. The expected finding has been presented during the provincial meetings with the School Directors in order to explain and emphasize the importance of the summer grants program under Result 2.

III. MONITORING AND EVALUATION

This quarter four project indicators were measured and two trainings were evaluated, namely, the teacher’s training in October 2016 and the additional training of trainers in December 2016. Below, we present a summary of the indicators’ results as well as main take away from the training evaluations.

Indicator Progress Table:

Program objective: Activities tested and stakeholder engagement strengthened to improve reading skills in early grades Number of primary or secondary Total: 332 educators who complete professional development activities with USG Female: 181 Male: 151 assistance Number of education administrators and Total School Directors: 82 Total Trainers: 39 officials who complete professional Female: 3 Female: 4 development activities with USG support Male: 79 Male: 35 Total: 19,482 textbooks and TLM Number of primary and secondary - Teachers Guidebook Grade 1 (390) textbook and other teaching and learning - Teachers Guidebook Grade 2 (390) materials (TLM) provided with USG - Student Exercise Book Grade 1/Semester 1 (6259) assistance - Student Exercise Book Grade 2/Semester 1 (5860) - Story Booklet Grade 1 (6254) - Teacher Toolkit4for Grades 1 and 2 (369) Number of learners reached in reading Total: 9450 programs at the primary level Girls: 4630 Boys: 4820

Teacher Training

The Teacher Training Workshops took place October 10 – 14, 2016, simultaneously at the eight target provinces: Inezgane-Aït Melloul, Tiznit, Témara, Kenitra, Oujda-Angad, Figuig, Taouanate and El Hajeb. The regional inspectors who had previously been trained through a training of trainer’s workshop were facilitating the teacher trainings. At least one RFS-SSE project staff attended each training, however, they were not attending the trainings in any sort of facilitation capacity. RFS-SSE presence was simply

4 Teachers toolkit includes : printed bags, letter cards, word cards, illustrations for Grade 1 and 2 and USB key RFS-SSE: Quarterly Report, October 2016 – December 2016 13

to take notes on how the trainings were being organized, note any difficulties in content or in organization, and to provide institutional moral support.

In total 332 teachers were trained, of which 302 have completed the evaluation questionnaire. The evaluation questionnaire assessed five training components: (1) training relevancy/importance; (2) training efficiency; (3) facilitation; (4) training condition/Logistics5and (5) general satisfaction.

Figure 1 Number of Trained Teachers by Delegation

38

25 25 24 25 21 21 18 16 F 13 13 11 11 M 9 7 6

Based on the 284 participants that included their age on the evaluation, the demographic findings show that more than half of the trained teachers (66.19%) are 46 years old or older. This is important to note for the generalization of the approach, as many of these teachers will be soon going into retirement. This is particularly the case for the teachers in the 56-60 age range that represent 35.75 % of the trained teachers.

Age Range 25-35 36-45 46-55 56-60 Number of teachers 23 73 87 101 Rate 8.10% 25.70% 30.63% 35.75%

Training Relevancy/Importance This component was measured through one question asking the participants to rate the relevancy and importance of the training in regards to their work as a teacher. The result obtained, on a 1 to 5 scale, is 4.1. This demonstrates that teachers think that the training is very relevant and important to their work.

5 Results for this category are not presented in the narrative, as the data is collected to inform internal logistics, such as quality of the meals/catering services. RFS-SSE: Quarterly Report, October 2016 – December 2016 14

Efficiency of the Training The efficiency of the training was assessed through a series of self-assessed (teachers) questions. On average, the rates are all close to four (1-5 scale), which shows general satisfaction and that increasing the training length from 3 to 4 days have had a positive impact. However, the results also show that more training can be done in terms of facilitation to ensure that the trainers are effectively transferring the knowledge to the teachers.

Teachers were asked to rate their ability to complete/implement the below elements, which in turn informed the training efficiency from their personal perception. The questionnaire were completed individually during the last day of the training.

Sound understanding of the theoretical aspect of this approach, concepts and new 3.71 vocabulary

Teacher’s ability to convey what they learned inside their classrooms 3.64

Teacher’s ability to implement the vocabulary acquisition via student stories 3.72

Teaching reading with a phonemic-based approach 3.84

Applying reading strategies with students 3.71

Understanding the principles of collective reading (and its implementation with 3.84 students)

Training Facilitation Training facilitation was assessed through three different questions (animation, work in groups, trainers), all three questions scored above 4.20, which is very encouraging and similar training delivery capacity should be maintained in future trainings.

Training General Satisfaction When asked teachers about their general satisfaction, on a scale from 1 to 5 the average was 3.22. It was indicated that teachers would have preferred a longer training period. This was particularly acute for Grade 2 teachers that had not participated in the intervention in the previous year and required a sound understanding of the reading approach foundation from Grade 1 in order to teach Grade 2.

Recommendations

. Expand the training period (some teachers suggested one full week).

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. Trainers to provide practical methods/tip/facilitation technique to “The facilitation techniques acquired implement the new approach. during this training will not only help me . Hold follow up meetings with the teachers be a better teacher’s trainer but also a post trainings to discuss the challenges faced better facilitator and communicator in and how can they be overcome. general. These are long lasting skills.” . Find a way to share best practices amongst

teachers and trainers. A good platform to do Male participant, Inzegane this type of sharing is the APAR.

Additional Training of Trainers

A four-day additional training of trainers’ workshop was organized for 39 trainers, among which 4 were female participants and 35 were male participants, in December 2016. During the last day of the training, an evaluation form was distributed to assess the overall training satisfaction as well as give the trainers an opportunity to share their feedback and recommendations. In total, 37 trainers completed the assessment.

Trainers were asked to rate their overall training satisfaction, of which the average result was 4.71 out of the 1 to 5 Likert Scale. In addition, when asked about the techniques/methods/tools used by the trainer during the training, the result was also very satisfactory, namely 4.82. These two training assessments clearly indicate the success of the additional training of trainers, as well as the technical expertise of the international consultant who was able to provide the trainers with the tools and techniques to support the teachers during the months ahead.

Recommendations

- Ensure that Student’s evaluation technique and methodology to be used in the classrooms is developed in collaboration with the “super 8” regional coordinators and that it is well explained to the teachers who will need to use the tool. - Develop a student evaluation grid template and share it with all trainers to ensure standardized evaluation and dissemination amongst the teachers. - Share printed documentation about facilitation techniques and the content and presentations during the training.

IV. CHALLENGES AND LESSONS LEARNED A. Challenges

. Multi-level Classrooms. When selecting the target schools to participate in the project, one of the criteria for the schools was to not have multi-level classrooms. This criterion would allow the project, during this pilot phase, to focus on developing materials specific to one-grade and training teachers only on that material. However, in Year 2, it was not

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possible for each school to guarantee that there would not be multi-leveled classes, as this depends on the number of teachers there are per school compared to the number of students. For example, this year in the El Hajeb province 16 teachers are teaching in multi- level classrooms. This not only causes problems for the teacher in the classroom, as it is difficult to simultaneously teach two different classes, but also increases the complexity of teacher training. With only four days of training, it is very difficult to make sure that the teachers with multi-level classrooms are prepared and have a sound understanding of both grades, and how to teach multi-level classrooms.

. Delay in Supplemental Teaching Materials. The biggest challenge faced this quarter was completing and printing the supplemental teaching materials, such as the student exercise books, the story booklet, and the teacher’s toolkits. In order for the student exercise books to correspond with the teacher’s guidebooks, it was necessary to wait until the teacher’s guidebooks were completed and finalized (early October) to commence drafting the student exercise books. The project had optimistically thought that it would be feasible to complete these materials in one month. This proved to be a far more challenging and lengthy process than initially predicted. Due to the sensitivity of materials that will actually be given to students and possible reactions from parents and school directors, there were numerous reviews and a lot of detailed back and forth comments and revisions for materials. Similarly, as every single student in the target schools would receive an exercise book (more than 12,000 students), the actual printing of the materials took longer than anticipated. The project is taking these delays into consideration and is expected to complete and print the second semester student exercise books on time prior to the start of the second semester of the academic year.

. Lack of Follow-Up Teacher Support. Due to the delay in delivering the supplemental teaching materials (as discussed above), it was best to wait to provide follow up support to the teachers after student exercise books were delivered. The teachers would not have been receptive to the support prior to the materials arriving, and could have caused a counter-productive environment. Additionally, much of the follow up support would be to train the teachers on utilizing the supplemental materials. Hence, an earlier production of the materials would have permitted further support to the teachers as initially planned. However, now that the materials have been delivered, the project is scheduled to hold regional feedback and support forums (APARs) in all eight delegations early in the next quarter.

. Coordination and Launching of the Grants Program. A considerable challenge this quarter has been designing and launching the summer grants program under Result 2. Due to the request from USAID and MNEVT to target the same students that have participated in the new reading approach under Result 1, the project is now required to coordinate with the MNEVT in a manner that was not originally anticipated for Result 2. However, in order to target these same students and possibly even host some of the summer activities in the schools, it would require close coordination with the school directors and the provincial and regional administrations. Hence, close collaboration with

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the MNEVT is necessary. Despite the project having the support of the provincial and regional administrations, often coordination can still be challenging. For example, the project has requested lists of current CSOs from each of the provincial directorates, yet despite continuous follow up, not all directorates have sent their lists. These delays have had considerable consequence in regards to field preparation and mapping, as well as releasing the grants request for applications (RFA) on time.

B. Lessons Learned

. Early Coordination and Follow Up. The trainings this quarter were only scheduled and discussed as an option once the technical expert facilitating the workshop had confirmed their availability. Previously, due to the tight implementation schedule, there was limited flexibility on the dates for workshops that resulted in challenges in securing the technical resources required for workshops and trainings. However, now that the project had a little more flexibility, we were able to schedule the workshop around the availability of the consultant and hence secure their attendance. Similarly, as the dates were confirmed months ahead of time, this also allowed the ministerial correspondences to be sent out to the participants early in order to ensure their confirmed attendance.

. Coordination with School Directors. In order to design the summer grants program, the project met with the school directors in each province. Not only did these meetings help the project better understand the realities on the ground for each province, but also secured their engagement in the program. The school directors expressed gratitude for being included during the design stage, and requested to be more involved with the projects activities.

. Further Support for Trainers. Based on observation and feedback from the different teachers’ trainings, it is evident that not all trainers have the same training ability in terms of comfort with the material, sound understanding of Grade 2 curriculum, as well as confidence in delivering the materials. Hence, continuous support to the trainers from the “Super 8” regional coordinators will be essential in ensuring successful follow up and knowledge transfer to the teachers.

I. FINANCE, MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION

A. Personnel The following personnel are currently engaged under the Morocco RFS-SSE project:

Morocco RFS-SSE Field Office Team

Position Title Name

Program Director Ms. Shamineh Byramji Deputy Director and MEL Advisor Mr. Abdelaziz El Ghordaf

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Morocco RFS-SSE Field Office Team Teacher’s Professional Development Advisor Mr. Miloud Ahbeddou MEL Specialist Ms. Selma Talha Jebril Reading Specialist Ms. Iman El Haddouzi Director of Operations and Finance Ms. Tahra Kham Finance Specialist Ms. Fatima Azzahra El Mansour Administrative Assistant Mr. Driss Chaouki Driver and Logistics Officer Mr. M’Hammed El Hamzaoui

B. Modifications and Amendments There were no contract modifications or amendments this quarter.

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II. PLANNED ACTIVITIES FOR NEXT QUARTER (January– March 2017)

Result 1: - Complete Grade 1 and 2 Student Exercise Book (Semester 2) - Four day Workshop with 11 Inspectors/Trainers (Super 8) - Regional Feedback and Support Forums (APAR forums) in all 8 Delegations - Additional Teacher Training for Grade 1 and Grade 2 Teachers - Inspectors/Trainers Follow-Up Visits to Classrooms - MNEVT Coaches Training on the Phonemic-Based Reading Approach - MEL Field Visits to conduct Class Observations

Result 2: - Release of Grants Request of Application (RFA) based on Concept Notes - Information Sessions with CSOs in each Province to Explain the RFA - Concept Notes Submission - Evaluation of Concept Notes - Development of Grants Program with Selected CSOs

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ANNEXES

Annex 1: Executive Summary in French

Le projet USAID / Maroc de Lire Pour Réussir- Expérimentation à Petite Echelle (LPR-EPE) est heureux de présenter le premier rapport trimestriel pour la deuxième année, couvrant la période d'octobre à décembre 2016.

Le premier trimestre de la deuxième année a débuté avec un atelier intitulé “Journée de Réflexion” le 6 Octobre à Rabat. L’objectif de cette journée de réflexion était de discuter les réalisations et les leçons apprises. Cette discussion réflective a été complémentée par un atelier de planification durant 4 jour du 17 au 20 Octobre. L’atelier a été conçu pour planifier les activités de la deuxième année en adoptant une collaboration et participation de différentes partenaires à savoir l’équipe technique, l’équipe opération, la directrice du PMU de Washington, la représentante du département d’éducation à USAID Maroc et les membres du sous contractant Al Jisr.

Après une année précédente avec des réalisations significatives pour la première composante du projet (Résultat 1), notamment axé sur la production de matériel pédagogique, au cours du premier trimestre de la deuxième année le projet s'est orienté vers la formation, soutien et évaluation des enseignants. Le trimestre a été complété par une série de formations, commençant par la formation des enseignants de première et de deuxième année au début du mois d'octobre dans les huit directions provinciales et se terminant par une formation supplémentaire de quatre jours à Rabat au profit des formateurs (inspecteurs pédagogique).

Bien que le passage au soutien des enseignants ait commencé, ce trimestre a également vu la finalisation du matériel de lecture pour les élèves de première et deuxième année du primaire. La production et l'impression des guides des enseignants de première et deuxième année ont été complétées et cela avant la formation des enseignants qui a eu lieu durant le mois d’octobre. De plus, le développement, la production et la distribution des cahiers des élèves pour le premier semestre ont aussi été accomplis ce trimestre. Le cahier d'exercice pour élèves pour le deuxième semestre est actuellement en cours de finalisation par des experts nationaux et internationaux et sera distribué au cours du prochain trimestre.

Les malettes pédagogiques pour les enseignants représentent un point fort du trimestre, car il s’agit d'un complément à ce qui était initialement prévu et était basé sur les recommandations des focus group avec les enseignants complétés lors du mois de Juin. Outre le matériel pédagogique inclus dans la malette, le trousseau pour chaque enseignant et enseignantes contenait également une plate-forme interactive sur clé USB qui permet aux enseignants d'accéder à tous les guides de formation, comtes et textes et carte des mots.

Ce trimestre a également été primordial pour la conception et la mise en œuvre de la composante 2 du projet, à savoir le programme de subventions d’été. En décembre, des réunions ont eu lieu avec les directeurs d'école dans chacune des huit directions provinciales. Ces rencontres ont été essentielles pour l'introduction du programme d'été, ainsi qu'une meilleure compréhension du fonctionnement d'un

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programme de subventions à la lecture pour les élèves du primaire. Ces rencontres ont également permis de renforcer la collaboration, déjà existante, entre les directeurs d'école et le projet.

Annex 2: Teacher’s Toolkit for Reading Success

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Teacher ’s Toolkit for Reading Success

As the saying goes, “you’re only as good as your tools”. Launched in 2015, USAID’s Reading For Success- Small Scale Experimentation (RFS-SSE) program has been developing training guides, teacher guidebooks, and student exercise books based on a new phonics-driven approach for teaching reading in Arabic for Grades 1 and 2.The new method and materials are currently being used in 90 targeted primary schools across eight Moroccan provinces.

During its first year of implementation, the reading program REGARDING THE PHOTO achieved ambitious milestones including developing, piloting and CREDIT evaluating Grade 1 reading materials, developing Grade 2 Grade 1 and 2 teacher group photo holding RFS-SSE manuals and materials, and crafting texts and stories, which were then guidebooks at the end of a teacher introduced during the 2016/2017 school year. To date, over 330 support workshop in Oujda (Jan 2017). teachers have been trained on implementing this new reading approach.

In addition to teacher’s guidebooks and student exercise books, teachers were given a pedagogical toolkit containing letter flashcards (inclusive of all the Arabic variations of the letter), word flashcards, large size illustrations corresponding to the stories and

: texts, and a USB key that includes all of these same materials

Photo electronically in an interactive platform. These complementary instructional aids are specifically tailored to support teachers to USAID RFS-SSE has trained better teach reading. Across the eight provinces, teachers were over 330 teachers in the new trained on how to best use their new toolkits for teaching reading. phonics-driven reading These supplemental learning tools have positively influenced the approach benefiting 9,450 manner in which teachers implement the approach, ensuring students across 8 provinces in standards in teaching, continued professional growth for teachers, Morocco and students’ higher enthusiasm for reading.

As noted by this teacher from Oujda, “Not only have the teaching Photo: CHEMONICS INTERNATIONAL tools helped put into practice this innovative reading method but they have also contributed to the fact we are seeing improvements on students learning.”

In 2015, USAID-funded research studies on reading in Morocco identified the lack of teacher training and the absence of supplementary reading materials to be two of the main factors affecting students’ overall reading performance. As a result, USAID and the Government of Morocco have created the RFS- SSE Program, which aims to enhance educational attainment for children in the early grades of primary school with a main common goal: reading success for Moroccan students.

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Annex 3: Deliverables for the Quarter ● Year 1 Annual Report (Revised Submission November 9, 2016) ● Year 1 Cost Data Report (November 23, 2016) ● Revised Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Plan (November 23, 2016) ● Year 2 Project Work Plan and Gant Chart (November 30, 2016)

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