Education Reform Support Today

Home , Education reform, Traditional education

Joseph DeStefano and Luis Crouch SEPTEMBER 2006 The original Education Reform Support series is available for download:

Volume One: Overview and Bibliography Luis Crouch and F. Henry Healey http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNACA717.pdf

Volume Two: Foundations of Education Reform Support Luis Crouch, F. Henry Healey, and Joseph DeStefano http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNACA718.pdf

Volume Three: A Framework for Making It Happen F. Henry Healey and Joseph DeStefano http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNACA719.pdf

Volume Four: Tools and Techniques Luis Crouch, Beverly Schwartz, F. Henry Healey, and Joseph DeStefano http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNACA720.pdf

Volume Five: Strategy Development and Project Design Luis Crouch and Joseph DeStefano http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNACA721.pdf

Volume Six: Evaluating Education Reform Support Joseph DeStefano and Luis Crouch http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNACA722.pdf

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This paper could not have been drafted without the collaboration and input of several colleagues. Jonathan Berry of the Center for Collaboration and the Future of Schooling provided research support and completed an extensive literature review that allowed us to update many of the references in the Education Reform Support series. Boon-Ling Yeo of the Research Triangle Institute also helped with research, particularly having to do with the case examples. Many of the examples we could not have compiled without the help of colleagues whose experiences in the field shed invaluable light on the practical applications of ERS. We would like to thank Frank H. Healey, Donna Kay LeCzel, Jeff Puryear, Alastair Rodd, Audrey-marie Schuh Moore, and Carmen Siri. In addition, John Gillies responded to our initial draft and helped shape our discussion of the evolution of funding modalities. Finally, David Plank, Patrick Collins, Ash Hartwell, and Audrey-marie Schuh Moore provided valuable feedback and input that helped improve early drafts of the paper. Education Reform Support Today

Joseph DeStefano and Luis Crouch SEPTEMBER 2006 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive Summary ...... 1 The Case for Reform Support ...... 1 Education Reform Support...... 1 How Education Reform Support Works ...... 1 The Tools of Education Reform Support ...... 2 What ERS Projects Can Do...... 2

1. Introduction ...... 5

2. Dealing with Scale and Sustainability: Moving Beyond the Technical Challenges of Education Reform ...... 7 Scale and Sustainability ...... 7 Literature Confirms Requirements of Reform...... 8 Changes in the Donor Environment Make Reform Support All the More Important...... 9 The Tools and Techniques Discussed in ERS Are Still Valid ...... 11 New Focus on the Institutional Environment for Reform ...... 12 Implications for Donor Projects...... 13

3. Clearing Space, Filling Space, Building Reform Support Infrastructure ...... 15 Clearing Space ...... 15 Filling Space ...... 16 Ensuring schools have the resources and authority they need ...... 17 School-community collaboration ...... 17 Public-private partnerships ...... 17 Accountability for results ...... 18 Timeliness and effectiveness of school and teacher support...... 18 Filling Space and the Conditions for Success ...... 19 Reform Support Infrastructure ...... 19

4. Education Reform Support Activities and Projects ...... 23 Data...... 25 Analysis ...... 27 Dialogue and Communication...... 29 Building Reform Support Infrastructure...... 33 Projectizing Data, Analysis, Dialogue, and Support to a Reform Support Infrastructure ...... 36

5. Limitations (and Advantages) of the ERS Approach ...... 37

6. Justifying an ERS Approach ...... 41

7. Jump-Starting Education Reform Support (What Can Be Done Now?) ...... 45

8. Conclusions ...... 47

Annex A ...... 49

References ...... 51

Education Reform Support Today 1 uc- ying ed for successful is no lack of “solutions” e equir major problem in carr A If space is cleared in the educa- ests on the general good. Reform support infrastructure: the network and of institutions and actors that clear fill space Filling space: introducing the substance of sound educational improvement Clearing space: making room in the existing political economic landscape • • • Clearing Space. out a reform agenda is the existence of preconceived ideas, mental models, interest groups, space” and institutional traditions. “Clearing refers to the need to reduce the intellectual views and political space taken up by existing and interests. It involves bringing hard evidence and countervailing and political power to bear, it implies isolating narrow interests or traditional and beliefs both intellectually and politically demonstrating the negative effect of these inter Filling Space. tion landscape, ther waiting to fill it back up—often those solutions proffered by the interests that needed to be cleared out in the first place. Space-filling activities should be judged primarily by whether they are demonstrably effective at improving education outcomes. And filling space requires not just introducing the innovations, but also str turing them so that their impact can be evaluated, the conditions r status quo. The literature supporting such an reformunderstanding of education is rich. ERS draws on that literature step fur- and goes one tools and techniques for sup- ther to outline the portingthe reform and strategically managing process. SUPPORT REFORM WORKS HOW EDUCATION ERS is organized around three notions: implementation can be documented, and obstacles that may need to be “cleared” for those innovations to be sustained can be identified. eau- not acci- e ealistically ms lead to efor rent situation. ogatives—ar strained by union pre- r dental. Powerful political forcesfrom, benefit shape, and defend the cur Changes within the system cannot r be implemented without needed? Ten years ago needed? Ten t support. m that national r suppor efor e m efor process.” onment. Altering that environment means m efor cratic concerns, teaching improvements con- USAID published the Education Reform Support ERS (ERS) series to answer just this question. recognizes that the existing arrangements in the education sector—urban-rural inequities, management environments skewed by bur first dealing with the preexisting institutional envir recognizing who stands to win or lose from proposed reforms,incentives signal and what them to either work for change or defend the Why is r EDUCATION REFORM SUPPORT EDUCATION Traditional projects introduce in education inno- Traditional level, sometimes improv-vations at the school ing learning of schools. in a defined number piloted successes The hope is that somehow can be replicated But too or taken to scale. often they are this, not. Dissatisfied with policy-level interventionsdonors may choose that promote resource reallocations, specific policy reforms, and investments in administrative and management capacity to effect system-wide change. But the record of policy reforms having impact on learning school at the level is disappointing. If we fund school-level projects, the challenge lies in how to create policy and institutional reforms that support replicable school-level success. If we support policy-level interventions, the challenge lies in how to ensur schools. changes in the day-to-day practice of Both approaches require effective programs of what we call r Executive SummaryExecutive SUPPORTTHE CASE FOR REFORM ther to outline the fur tools and techniques for supporting and strategically managing the r “ERS…goes one step “ERS…goes Education Reform Support Today 2 suppor implementation andimpact. tion andevaluationthatcan leveragebroader systematic experimenta- tions. ERSsupports analysisofexistingeducationalinnova- rigorous bythelackof oftenhampered deliberations are policy concer finance, forexample,shouldbedrivenbysharp Analysis. purpose. original dataforaspecificpolicydiscussion debateorgather existing datatosupport forERSuse The dataactivitiesrecommended systems (EMIS)orgeneral-purposesurveys. supply-driven educationmanagementinfor andmaintainingtraditional, oncreating energy thatdonorsspendmuch does notrequire ofr and promotion Data. infrastructure. support reform onbuilding and communication.ERSalsorelies generation anduseofdata,analysis,dialogue, mented strategically chosen andimple- theyare activities provided ERS isimplementableasasetofdiscrete THE TOOLSOFEDUCATION REFORMSUPPORT many actors. among on collaborationandcoordination a possesses allofthesecapabilities.Therefore, Noone organization compelling formats. dataandanalysisin cation, andpresenting constituencies, engaginginstrategiccommuni- andmobilizing among stakeholders,organizing forandfacilitatingdialogue opportunities creating generating demandforspecificreforms, includes infrastructure support of areform Thework workeffectively. cannot doreformist is neededbecausedonors,bythemselves, Thisinfrastructure about successfulreforms. andindividualsthathelpbring organizations todescribethenetworkof infrastructure,” support “reform ERS seriescoinedtheterm, Infrastructure. Support Reform issues thatr analysis ideallymustbedrivenbydebateabout viable reform support infrastructure depends infrastructure support viable reform Empirical datahavetounderpinanalysis t data ef Donors cansuppor equir n over fundingequity for r e ts. But promoting r ts. Butpromoting efor . eform. Analysisofschool eform. The toolsofERSfocuson m, sodonorsshould t analysis, butthe The original . Also, policy eform mation r clearing space,fillingandbuilding communication withthechallengesof how ERSalignsdata,analysis,and The matrixonthefollowingpagesummarizes with eachother. ing inhelpingthemnetworkandcollaborate invest- tions andindividualsand,inparticular, building upthecapacityofavarietyinstitu- can beongoingandadaptive.Thisrequires policy dialogue,andstrategiccommunication data-basedanalysis, whereby infrastructure the assistance shouldbetohelpcreate Thegoalofdonor debate anddesignreform. does notinstitutionalizeongoingcapacityto fundingsuchactivitybyitself Merely reforms. agivenpackageof implemented tosupport of theactivitiesdiscussedabovecanbe Infrastructure. Support Building Reform competition andsearching. of adialogue-drivenprocess from emerge is thatsustainable,implementablesolutions for analysisanddataisweak.TheERSposition without communicationanddialogue,demand integral todataandanalysisactivities.Infact, logue. Communicationanddialogueshouldbe is fosteringcommunication,debate,anddia- elementoftheERSapproach most important Dialogue andCommunication. • Forexample: existing project. outquickly,be carried withintheconfinesofan can as apracticalmatter, smallerinterventions impact.However, tohaveaprofound sufficient whosesizeand durationare activities (projects) setsof of theabovebydesigningcoherent Ideally, weadvocatethatdonorsimplementall WHAT ERSPROJECTSCANDO efor inequality orpoorandunequal results. be usedtofocusattention onresource dren’ tochil- can beuseful,forexample, inregard ing. Dramaticcomparisonsandillustrations ofthepoorquality school- ter awareness quality intopolicydialoguesessionsthatfos- A msupport infrastructure. msupport pr oject can inject fresh dataonschooling oject caninjectfresh r s eading ability . Such comparisonscan erhaps the Perhaps All Education Reform Support Today 3 e r u t c u r t eform s a r f ticulated n I t r o p eform-minded p u nment) to do data, y of change ent capacities and S

oss institutions with fer m omoting the emer- r o Investing in building Investing in local institu- capacity of tions (inside and outside gover analysis, dialogue, and communication Investing in networking acr dif pr gence of common agendas and an ar theor f e • • R can ficulty oader ticular ound ts, and they potentially can increase the ms of vations fs (political o n n ventions ERS activities provide high-leverage possibilities for affecting the direction of national r effor scale at which school-level projects can have impact. Strategically supporting use of data and analysis, targeted communication, and dialogue and networking among r institutions can advance larger-scale, more sustainable reforms system policies in education and practices. i Filling Space w om pilot successes o nd in ter Demonstrating the Demonstrating validity of par inter Comparisons of trade-of a management dif and potential impact) in Involving stakeholders dialogue ar h be implemented Drawing out br institutional implications fr Cost-benefit comparisons • • • • • ofi- ting strategic alliances nered edefine tunities efute gent points of view ming and mobilizing specific constituencies Clearing Space omoting and suppor eating oppor rangements r nfor he limitations or Pr Building strategic management capacity I diver Cr for genuine deliberation and debate Using data to r Using data r issues or to conventional wisdom Demonstrating t inequities of existing a Giving voice to • • • • • • • t e es paying constant attention to uctur equir Data m Suppor ess some of the policy issues gar Analysis Dialogue & Infrastr Networking & Communication Refor cient analysis and position paper in the mid- cient analysis and position paper in dle of a peak moment of policy decision making is a good way to have greater impact than the cost of the activity would indicate, but it r the debate and being ready with useful interventions at a moment’s notice. An existing school-level project can also pursue data, analysis, and communication to addr from its on-the-ground experience. Data can be gathered that show how the conditions for success need to be changed at the school level to maximize the impact of, say, teacher training. Communication and dialogue can help clear space, mobilize sup- porters, and advocate for establishing those conditions on a broader scale. At certain points in the policy process, the debate will peak. Being ready with a pr • •

Education Reform Support Today 5 way rces about st what ms nd chases ganized a -instigated or e …we must talk transforming the education syste ar managed, not ju additional resou must be spent.” “ most donor such innovations, if massive pur , , ces must be ganization of education are altered, esour ted reorganization of ministries, training efore, reform, whereby the policies, prac- mulated too often remain at the level of omoting them. However policy reforms are not formulated well enough to be implementable. Those that are decently for intention. In the rare cases where policy reforms are implemented reasonably well, it is not clear they are to operate at scale and be sustained, changes in necessitate a host of accompanying institutional incentives (Pritchett, 2004). Ther tices, and or needs to remain on the front burner. Like the recurring calls for achieving education for all, the drumbeat of reform been sounded has Countless programs and projects, repeatedly. citing reform put resources as an objective, on the table to support policy development, analysis, and institutional capacity building. Projects have suppor of education officials, and of computers and information technology. Despite these investments, however spent. Tangible interventionsspent. Tangible that can increase educational effectiveness are available and needed (e.g., a focus on methodologies for teaching reading in early primary grades), and resources can and should be directed to pr Even under the best of circumstances,Even under the best it is hard to imagine where will this additional funding come from. As long as we define the problem as mobilizing sufficient of additional amounts resources, will continue to be disappointed we when large increases in foreign fail assistance talk realistically is needed. To to add up to what about improvements that can dramatically increase the effectivenessschools in most of developing countries (and in many developed countries), we must talk about transforming the way education systems are organized and managed, not just what additional r education ongoing aid y , own estimates. s egular slotted to access the e Pasco, & Sampe, 2005). Most , get for achieving universal primar epeated commitments to ensuring education for epeated commitments to ensuring education FTI by 2008, pushing the estimated additional funding gap to US $3 billion a year for the next decade or so (FTI Progress Report, 2006). recently, the Education for All (EFA) Fast Track the Education for All (EFA) recently, Initiative (FTI) was created to mobilize additional multilateral and bilateral resources to support countries’ plans for achieving universal access by 2015. For the 20 countries that have qualified support,thus far for Fast Track million US$600 has been pledged on top of r transfers for education. But, even this heroic effort to support falls short EFA by US $510 million this year alone, based on the FTI’ Another 40 countries ar With of 115 million 6- to 12-year-olds still out of improvingschool, the challenge access to basic education remains critical. Furthermore, as many as one in threein sub-Saharan Africa, even four years of students fail to complete primary for Statistics school (UNESCO Institute 2006). With such high dropout and little levels, learning,if any evidence of improving the effectiveness of schools supersedes the need to expand access if what we are after is truly education for all. What is the point of expending ever increasing resources to get more children into schools that fail to provide adequate education? witnessed Since the early 1960s, the world has r all children and recurring to mobilize the calls time the funds needed to make it happen. Each tar another is missed, the date is pushed back decade or so, and a lack of resources and political will is blamed for the inadequate progress 2004). (Clemens, of calls to Despite this seemingly endless cycle action, missed targets, and recalculated funding have been gaps, over the years, many millions mobilized to support each push to achieve education for all. By some estimates, low- and middle-income countries spend about US$70 billion a year on education (Abadzi, Crouch, Echegaray 1. Introduction Education Reform Support Today 6 we tain school-levelandchild-levelsuccess.And,if extend,andsus- thatsupport, tional reforms thepolicyandinstitu- lenge ishowtocreate thenthechal- If wefundschool-levelprojects, been developedendogenously. suchtechnologieshave isbetterwhere record isquitedisappointing.The IRI interventions tion, scale-upandsustainabilityofdonor ofthisinterven- demonstrate theeffectiveness successful experiments,andstudiesthat (IRI).Inspiteof Interactive RadioInstruction not.Agoodcaseinpointis often theyare ortakentoscale.Buttoo es canbereplicated and thehopeisthatsomehowthesesuccess- canbedemonstrated— andlearning improved, qualityis achieved—access isincreased, successesare tiveness. Sometimesreal qualityandeffec- seekingtoimprove projects of oftenthestuff andinteractionsare relations school-community tor training,andimproved teacherandadministra- riculum improvements, ofnewteachingtechniquesorcur- Introduction attheschoollevel. vation andimprovement inno- introduce thatdirectly instead inprojects istoinvest grand plansforsectorreform into toputtingresources Often, thealternative effective. development are whether ourmethodsforinvestingincapacity education,wehavetoask strains improving tional capacity, alackofsuchcapacitystillcon- quality. Ifafterdecadesofinvestingininstitu- what school-levelimpacttheyhave,atleaston challenge wefaceishowtoensur the national policyandinstitutionalreforms, and updating the ERS approach 10yearslater,and updatingtheERSapproach fied, pursued,andimplemented. Inrevisiting beingidenti- national-level policychanges from and institutionalobstacles that toooftenprevent thepolitical assistancetoovercoming to direct need programs contends thatsuccessfulreform Suppor In 1997,USAIDpublishedtheEducationReform support. ofwhatwecallreform programs both cases,thechallengeisdesigningeffective changes inschools’day-to-daypractices.In implementedinawaythatleadsto are reforms suppor t (ERS) series.TheERSappr t policy-level interventions thattar policy-level interventions e oach that those -based get ar section 3welayoutsomebasicconceptsthat oftheissue,in established theimportance need tosuppor mental” justificationforwhydonoragencies or“develop- the“theoretical” section provides The inthisarea. literature isagrowing there anddonations.Welevel projects notethat than simplyameliorateconditionsviaschool- help countriessustaintheirownr isaneedto section 2,weexplainwhythere issues.In operationalandconcrete the more considerations,andthenmovesto theoretical generaland withthemore This paperstarts tosuccess. political andinstitutionalbarriers issues, leveragingimplementation,orremoving andnewinsightinto dialoguearound promoting for agenda canmoveareform tunistic support andoppor- to showhowstrategicallytargeted founded andhaveaddedamultitudeofexamples theideasonwhichERSwas have reconfirmed the originalbodyofwork.Ten yearsofexperience and operationalguidelines.AnnexAsummarizes to consolidatemanyofitstheories,frameworks, seriesandattempts Support Education Reform This papertakesanupdatedlookatthe to scale. innovationsthatcanbetaken to introduce thatworkdirectly agendas orschool-levelefforts thathelpshapenationalreform level programs be it have beendesignedwiththis purposeinmind. thatmaynot activities,even in projects support reform can“jump-start” donor agencyofficials someexamplesofhow section 7provides thatworkinthem.Finally,the professionals the imperativesofmostdonoragenciesand cal) justificationforr operational(asopposed totheoreti- provides por sup- andsuggestshowtoadaptreform support equallysuitableforreform and situationsare ties. Section5explainswhynotallcountries plentyofexamplessuchactivi- and offers rization ofpossibler catego- aconcrete Section4provides reforms. e is clearthatthosesameobstaclesmuststill ward—instigating demandforchange, ward—instigating overcome, whether we are designingpolicy- whetherweare overcome, t helpful inunderstandinghowtosupport ideas to difficult circumstances. Section6 circumstances. ideas todifficult t education reform. Having education reform. efor efor m m suppor support in terms of interms support efor t activities ms, rather Education Reform Support Today 7 est that whichever e Sebatane, 2001). f & e, 1996; Samof eatened. When large-scale, policy-level change eady benefiting (Moe, 2003; Hess, 2004b). eady benefiting (Moe, 2003; Hess, ograms, rather than full-scale implementation oups have worked to ensur sustained, understand why not, and develop sustained, understand means to address prevent the blockages that scale-up and sustainability. For one, the last decade of research and experience reconfirms the Education Reform Support explanation of why scale and always pursued, are while rarely sustainability, obtained. Implementing large-scale change is inherently different from introducing minor adjustments or small-scale, pilot initiatives (Elmor The existing situation in a given education system The existing situation in a given education interestis not an accident. Well-entrenched gr policies, resource decisions, and institutional arrangements are pursued are will those that at a minimum, will not directly benefit them or, threaten the status quo from which they are alr When a proposed school-level reform is seen as only affecting a small partof the system, then important interest groups may not be thr that entails resource reallocations with tangible winners and losers is proposed, then the inter groups resistant to change see the need to respond and to do so forcefully (Inter-American Development Bank and David Rockefeller 2005). The natural outcome of this Center, dynamic is often partial implementation of many pr of any particular reform. People end up settling for what they think they can accomplish given the local political realities, rather than what they should accomplish (McDermott, 2000). e, We wrote We . in an academic study, it in an academic study, y mers recognize that programs or is that good educational practice is not efor m oach to supporting reform is as great gely consistent with the motivations and gely consistent with the motivations efor is of little help if the aim is actually to design is of little help if the aim is actually projects to support reform. Providing tools and techniques was a hallmark of the ERS approach, and this is taken up again in this 10 years, update. This section looks at the last and what notes what has changed in the world other donors and experts have concluded during that time about reform processes, and explains that the need for a systematic appr today as it was 10 years ago. SCALE AND SUSTAINABILITY The central challenges of scale-up and sustainability have not gone away 10 years ago in the ERS series that good educational practice can be found anywher but that the central challenge of education r found everywhere. make good practice the To norm than the exception, ERS stipulated rather that r projects often do not go to scale and are not Since publication of the ERS series in 1997, Since publication interest reform in understanding education has only increased. The recent literature, on which we draw throughout this document, has been lar principles the ERS approach first laid out a the literature does not decade ago. However, offer guides to providing many “practical” reform support assistance. It seems to imply that the typical reform process is so messy and so political that it is too difficult to offer techniques specific suggestions about tools and this that can help in its management. While may be satisfactor 2. Sustainability: and Scale with Dealing Technical Beyond the Moving Reform of Education Challenges Education Reform Support Today 8 and mobilizing broad publicsuppor and mobilizingbroad drawing oncompetinginstitutionalr weakening oppositionwithinkeyinstitutionsby ofpoliticaldebate,and settingtheterms reform, thetimingof bycontrolling obstacles toreform 1990s highlightshowpoliticalleadersovercame inLatin Americainthe education reforms to befoughtornegotiated.Grindle’ thepoliticalbattlesandtrade-offs that recognizes leadership requires therefore Successful reform change(Grindle,2004). to achievethedesired orovercome andbiasescanbealtered interests politicalandinstitutional whether entrenched A per thatunfoldswithinparticular, political process needstobeseenasadynamic,largely Reform OF REFORM LITERATURE CONFIRMSREQUIREMENTS (Moe,2003). hurdles constant negotiationofavarietypolitical layers ofimplementationmanagement,and strategies,multiple numerous that oftenrequires outareform tosuccessfullycarry much harder totakeaction.Itis thatonerefuse requires toblockchange,whichsometimesonly reform to resistance fact, itiseasierfororganized education thatthesuperintendenthadtogo.In of butalsopersuadingtheboard curriculum, pushed back,notonlyeliminatingthenewmath the districtneeded),butultimatelyteachers changesshewanted(and thecurricular through Thesuperintendentwasabletopush perfectly. San Antonio(seetextbox)illustratesthis (Moe, 2003).Theexampleoftheteachersin tofightback strategic skillsandresources into thenight.Theyusetheirpoliticaland a on maybeovercome opposedtoreform groups tosustain.Interest oftendifficult are reforms policy-level large-scale, For thissamereason, up over time, imparting behavioral norms and behavioral norms up overtime,imparting willhavegrown andarrangements relationships education system,acomplex setofinstitutional that gover attentiontothe institutionalframeworks requires successful educationalreform politics ofreform, In additiontoleadershipthatcannavigatethe given issue,buttheydonotthenjustgoquietly series ofstrategicdecisionsdeter haps changing,institutionalcontexts. n operation ofthesector W . t r s esources mines (p. 21). eview of ithin each contexts, often threatening theexistingpolitical contexts, oftenthreatening systems willbumpupagainsttheseinstitutional administration, financing,andaccountability quo. Operationalchangesinthemanagement, tothemunderthestatus benefits thataccrue happywiththe interests done, andentrenched modelsforhowworkgets codes, prevailing What’ championed. she thereforms through to carry sheneededinherowndistrict support leadership, failedtobuildthepolitical forheracademic thecountry around superintendent, whogainedrecognition consultation.The eyes) sufficient imposed onthemwithout(intheir anobligation saw itastooforceful way itwasbeingimplemented.They buttheydidnotlikethe the program, association leadershipsaidtheyliked Why didthishappen?Theteachers’ San Antoniowasfired. gainsin who hadledtheimpressive thereafter, thesuperintendent Shortly a no. That’ ofdistrictteachersvoted 70 percent vote oncontinueduseoftheprogram, beallowedto thatstaff requested However, whentheteachers’association high-quality, successfulprogram. asasound, administrators recognized thatteachersand math curriculum anew The districthadintroduced years. thantripledinjustthree more African AmericanandLatinostudents example, mathematicsachievementfor school systemintheUnitedStates.For urban student outcomesforalarge, gainsin experienced unprecedented Independent SchoolDistrict reforming and improving education. andimproving reforming allofthechallenges address butbythemselvestheycannot effects, can beimplementedandhavegood Technically soundschool-level solutions In program thattheyadmittedworked. program the late1990s, s the moralofstor s right; theyvotednottouse San Antonio y? Education Reform Support Today 9 quo o ms to mal, opriate efor ms required in es in education so efor uctur needed as education systems were nonproject approachtended to e s oeconomic “adjustments” and the ograms adhered that getting to the notion esents so many opportunities for r large gathering, would be carried out. ERS uccess. Since most development projects most development success. Since pay of reform, the technical aspects attention to we since most aside. Conversely, leave those projects fail to address the process and politics of reform, it is on those that we focus. In particular, political and ERS concentrates on the of reform.institutional dimensions touch on We resources, capacity, leadership, institutional but within the context and civil society issues, to define, advocate for, of how one uses them advance, and carry through reforms in the face obstacles. of political and institutional ENVIRONMENT MAKE CHANGES IN THE DONOR REFORM SUPPORT ALL THE MORE IMPORTANT In the 1990s when the ERS approach was being documented, education reform efforts were shaped in large part by the structural Bank. Reformadjustment approach of the World pr sector the policy framework right would allow development to take off. Sector policy adjustments wer often plagued by inadequate or inappr resource allocations, poor management, and Bank’s the World Both misdirected policy. sector adjustment programs and efforts such as USAID’ matter assume that policy change is a technical moreof shifting a “parameter” or two (devote properfunding to girls’ education, set up a unit), EMIS unit, set up a quality assessment pr or that, if politics was involved, a quid of financial support in exchange for policy change would be sufficient. At most, for one-shot “dialogue” sessions of a few hours, in a was formulated to make the case for greater attention to the politics of reform and to highlight the inherent differences between macr implementation-intensive r Changing management the education sector. and administrative str that more effective teaching techniques can be used in classrooms across an entire country pr be sidetracked, resisted, distorted, or ignored, getting the central bank to compared to, say, oles to explain esent y ganized ests, of course, will have an advantage Last, since education is often the largest, most visible public service, there is ample of r scope for civil society to play a variety inners with a potential loss (whether real a potential loss winners with or or merely perceived) authority, of status, resources.access to a minimum, reform At requires beyond what the additional capacity sector areinstitutions in the accustomed to doing. Reforms seeking to improve education (making schools more effective, producing better educational results) are necessarily about changing how resources are When the used. primary concern is expansion of access, reforms are often about how to use the additional resources would be required—more that money in the budget, more schools to be built, more teachers to be hired. When the central challenge then is ratcheting up the quality of education, the use of existing resources needs to be stakes This raises the challenged more directly. for the political and institutional interests in Bank the sector (Inter-American Development 2005). and David Rockefeller Center, in either supporting or opposing education reforms. In democratizing contexts in particular, the roles of public constituencies are magnified, as elected officials will feel pressure to respond to the issues (Grindle, 2004). Or inter over diffused sets of actors, so teachers’ unions, for example, may exercise even more clout given their well-practiced ability to dominate there is opportunitycivic debate. However, for other civic actors to organize and pr their points of view and, perhaps, marshal constituencies large enough to exert countervailing political weight. While all the above is important in considering what issues need to be addressed for reform to succeed, this paper does not tr all the complexities and interactions of every conceivable factor that will influence the outcome of an education reform. Reform Education Support by definition is preoccupied with what outside agents can do through programs and projects to increase the probability of reform 10 Education Reform Support Today the premise thatdevelopment assistanceis the premise the MillenniumChallengeCorporation basedon (2005). In2004,theUnited Statesestablished and theParisDeclarationon aideffectiveness (2003), Rome declarationonharmonization Summit(2002),the (2000), theMonterrey (2000), theMillenniumDevelopmentGoals initiatives beguninJomtien(1990)andDakar goals:theEducationforAll of international establishment levelthrough at aninternational countries ofdonorsandrecipient coordination have movedhandinwiththeincreased infundingmechanisms trends These recent and accountability. capacity government systems thatundermine funding, donor-drivenagendas,andparallel such ashightransactioncosts,unpredictable addr isintendedto some bilateralprograms, well asbasketfundingamongmultilateralsand fundingmechanisms,as budgetsupport direct useofgeneralor of education.Anincreased r impr donorleverageforpolicychange, greater enables This,intheory, that commonprogram. of “pooled”insupport and donorfundsare onasingleprogram, agree and governments intentisthatdonors developed, butitscore isstill being TheSWAPrequirements. structure reporting and excessiveuncoordinated competing donorprioritiesandstrategies, and poor localownership,uncoordinated thechallengeof the late1990stoaddress in (SWAPs)Sector-wide approaches emerged countries thatcandemonstrategoodgovernance. toinvestinpoor donoreffort coordinated more butaddedtoita approach, reform sector development philosophyhasmaintaineda Since thelate1990s,dominantinternational implementation. and stumblingatbothpolicyformulation were work, whenappliedtotheeducationsystem, would adjustmentapproach assumed amacro that centrally plannedsectoralprograms because management ofthepoliticsreform, tothestrategic case fordevotingresources apeggedexchangerate.ERSmadethe drop epor oved donor coordination, andreduced oved donorcoordination, ess the shortcomings of project-based aid, ofproject-based ess theshortcomings ting and management burdens forministries ting andmanagementburdens still calledfor are reallocations andresource Policy reforms asendsinandofthemselves. policy formulation allocationsand“grand” attention toresource hasshiftedawayfrom education reformists Emphasisamong education forallchildren. ef ment challengessuchasproviding todevelop- inresponse energy entrepreneurial innovate and“seek”solutions,tounleash localcapacityto and, instead,supporting fr formovingaway strongly assistance, argues by Easterly’s(2006)critiqueofdevelopment thinking,epitomized 2001).Current Williams, school level(Moulton,Mundy, Welmond, & atthe less intoimplementedimprovements translate intosustainedpolicychange,much doesnotautomatically centrally plannedreform that evenwhenpoliciescanbewellformulated, Whatweknowis mented system-widereforms. translateintoimple- strategies caneffectively whetherthewell-defined plansand determine thatactually dynamicsofanycountry internal the are interact. Whattheyfailtoaddress which fundingagencyintentionsandprograms thewaysin toimprove they atleastpromise encouraginginthat are trends These recent of ownershipandcoherence. takesonthefundamentalissues therefore, developmentand, country-led stresses paradigm and strategypapers.Theemerging their policycommitmentinwell-definedplans The emphasisisoncountriesdemonstrating andgoodgovernance. reduction, poverty growth, economic with policiesinplacethatpromote tocountries whenitisprovided effective more direct bilateral programs. Inthesepolicy-level bilateralprograms. direct whether inthecontextof FTI,aSWAP, or policy-level reforms, involved insupporting still and community-levelchanges. Fundersare andsustainingschool- obstacles tosupporting need toworkonpoliticalandinstitutional hasalwaysemphasizedthe The ERSapproach schools. effective how thosechangeswillleadtomore theperspectiveof from must beapproached and change, constantlyandatthemargin, onpolicy how onesustainsandimproves om a central, grand, comprehensive plan om acentral,grand,comprehensive , but attentionmustbepaidto fective Education Reform Support Today 11 -American of particular reform t 2004) highlights the of the their interests and , e nment getting what it needs (Inter onting union leadership that has a longer onting union leadership that has a ent disadvantage government has when importance of technical assistance in supporting the building of just such collaborations. Experience in Guinea helps illustrate the above point. In the mid-1990s Guinea wanted to redeploy surplus lower secondary school measures. A Rand Corporation study (Bodilly, Ikemoto, & Stockly potential gain. For these reasons, successful reform requires dedication of resources and effort to forming purpose-driven networks of organizations that can align and mobilize large constituencies in suppor echniques for identifying, formulating,techniques and deal with those strategies to implementing stressespolitics, and and information data as and debate shaping the dialogue critical to around is needed. In addition to analytical what data, ERS promotes communication and marketing approaches to information use—for example, surveyingto understand stakeholders market-testing differenttheir points of view, highlighting issues to see ways of defining or how key interest groups react, and promoting deliberation over policy public dialogue and emphasizes the need to options. ERS also of actors and stakeholders network with a variety to form coalitions that could support reforms and work to overcome other interest groups that may oppose them. What recent research and experience have tools and added to ERS’s original set of political techniques are a greater emphasis on collabo- building in ration and purposeful constituency support of reform. It is not enough merely to in identify and seek to include key stakeholders dialogue. For example, Navarro points to the inher confr planning horizon. Unless other forces are to unions mobilized, this disadvantage leads getting what they want more often than gover Development Bank and David Rockefeller 2005). What adds to the challenge is Center, that the entrenched interests are well organized and have sharp, narrow objectives, while the beneficiaries of reform are loosely organized and often unawar ying to tr ganized, how e or e tions have to develop explicit, strategic that theories of change state how the school- and community-level successes will be used to leverage institutional, and resource policy, Because ERS is primarily about . m, we elaborate on these two below. efor addressing the politics and institutional context of r Ten more years of experience and research Ten only reiterate the primacy of politics in education reform. ERS introduces some tools and THE TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES DISCUSSED IN ERS ARE STILL VALID programs, remains, the key question “How do national reform efforts into real translate environmentsin the institutional changes that create at the school for success conditions level?” resourcesAs funders also invest and effort in projects can demonstrate impact in terms that of improved student outcomes, the tendency will be to do more direct piloting of school-level interventions. These kinds of targeted interven- changes in the system. ERS specifically addresses the steps needed to “walk up the ladder” from projects to policy reforms. Those involve identifying the insti- steps, by necessity, tutional requirements of the “reformed” sys- interact tem—that is, changes in how teachers with students, how schools ar ministerial personnel hold schools accountable, and how the public stays informed about resource use. Considering how to put in place those institutional requirements forces programs and projects and to take on the political institutional interests wedded to the existing rules of the game. Whether school-level programs ar have an impact and be sustained beyond the immediate scope of a project, or assistance to policy-level reforms to lead to impact is going at the school and community levels, we are forcedwith the politics of reform to deal and the institutional contexts that govern the education sector policy reforms.” ERS specifically addresses the steps needed to ‘walk up the ladder’ from projects to “ 12 Education Reform Support Today not suppor doesor how theinstitutionalenvironment needtopayattention efforts make. Reform choicestheymay disincentives forthedifferent incentives,and expectations,norms, creates that operate withinaninstitutionalenvironment iner of logicofinstitutionsasasource the internal buttendednottoobviate andpressures, groups focusedoninter The originalERSapproach ENVIRONMENT FORREFORM NEW FOCUSONTHEINSTITUTIONAL schoolbecauseofit. denied accesstoprimary were thepeoplewhosechildren table from the defend theirsituationwhilesittingacross teacherscouldnolonger Surplus secondary media campaignandlocaldialoguesessions. a as aconstituencyineachdistrictthrough activated that hadschoolsbutnoteacherswere andcommunitymembersinvillages Parents would lobbyinfavorofteacherredeployment. need tomobilizeanotherconstituencythat the recognized TheMinistry such areform. natural constituencythatwouldopposejust in only afewhoursweekandlivingcomfortably working teacherswhowere Those secondary schoolsthatlackedstaff. teachers toprimary ar forsuccessandsanctionsfailure rewards Communities thatWork [SCtW]).Tangible (School InstituteforSchoolReform Annenberg citedbothbyFullan(2000)andthe are toimprove themintheirefforts and nurture simultaneously challengeschoolstodobetter schools andtheircommunitiesthatcan to external ofinfrastructures The importance ment sothatimplementationisactuallyfeasible. strategies foralteringtheinstitutionalenviron- impor dramatically changebehaviors.Elmor how system infrastructure (whetherwithinthe how systeminfrastructure strategiesneedtoaddress the system.Reform by than anytangiblebenefitor losspromised to asystemofr howpeoplewillreact tion system—determines ofaneduca- culture oftheorganizational part set ofacceptedbehaviorsandhabitsthatare environment—the thatthenormative argues e small cities around the country were a were thecountry small citiesaround tia. Schoolsandtheircommunitiesneedto impor tant, r tant butbythemselveswillnot t efor the intendedchanges,and,more ms ewar need todefinespecific ds andsanctionsbetter e (1996) est and ar to “respond Thesegroups behave differently. expectedto institutionsare the concerned in individualsandgroups succeed, numerous to involved.Foranyreform are government and itisespeciallysowhenmultiplelevelsof taskstoaccomplish, is oneofthemostdifficult out thatchangingbehaviorswithinorganizations Bodillyetal.(2004)point education reforms, In discussingthechallengestoimplementing communities needtosucceed. thatschoolsand the ongoingsupports andprovide environment changed normative a ispositionedtoreinforce organizations) withother andaffiliations partnerships through ofeducationorarranged ministry ar changesrequire thatproposed the supports Less thandesirableoutcomesoccurbecause theintentionsofreform. orsubvert divert andsomethatactively coping withthereforms, goal,somethatrepresent with thereform that includesomechangedbehaviorsconsistent oftenleadtoadaptations implement reforms schools andschooling”(p.17).Attemptsto of intheinfrastructure inherent and regulations super Infact,Heneveldetal.foundthat present. was the useoftextbooksinclassroom toreinforce andsupport supervision nor regular of trainingforteachersonhowtousebooks infrastructure because neitherthesupporting Theyconcludedthatthiswas instruction. books wer level thantheyhadbeeninthepast,but textbooks wer Ndidde, Rajonhson,&Swati,2006)foundthat Heneveld andhiscolleagues(Heneveld, impr illustrate thispoint.Inastudyofschool Two examples,onenegativeandpositive, infrastructure. institutionalized assupporting programs, DeStefano, Hartwell, Moore, and Moore, DeStefano,Hartwell, programs, education community-based complementary school outcomes.Incontrast, inastudyofnine notvisiblyassociated withimproving were and confusedseveraldif unfocused lacked anymeaningfulfollow-up,were e not put in place, and certainly ar not putinplace,andcertainly ovement infourcountriesEastAfrica, vision andsuppor e driven by many varying incentives,rules, driven bymanyvarying e still not used regularly toenhance still notusedregularly e mor e available attheschool t fer were infrequent, were ent purposes,and e not Education Reform Support Today 13 para- e still the e concurs that politics ar e tant, and that the basic tools and Whether supporting policy-level reforms or improvements,initiating school-level if funders are going to provide targeted assistance, that be strategic in addressingassistance has to outlined the political and institutional obstacles beyond above if it is going to leverage impact the immediate scope of a project. This section has argued that scale and the following: sustainability are still a problem, that the more recent literatur IMPLICATIONS FOR DONOR PROJECTS FOR DONOR IMPLICATIONS alwanz (2006) found that the effectiveness found that the Balwanz (2006) of in part schools derived the community from support of well-trained teacher networks at least once a that visited schools personnel in these programs are given month. Teachers additional intensive supportinitial training and and continuing for during their first year several years mount, that changes in the donor environment make a reform support approach all the more impor techniques proposed 10 years ago ar right ones. This approach is enriched by paying attention to institutional inertia. now turn to We considera- how one takes all these factors into tion in supportingreforms. 14 Education Reform Support Today Education Reform Support Today 15 equitable than e , ms in teacher deploy- efor ness). on the losing end of that e yone knows that more teachers are needed uniform capitation grants (something that may go against the prevailing mental model of what constitutes fair to be In other cases, the space that needs cleared may be more political than intellectual. Ever in rural areas, work but the teachers’ unions hard to protect the interests of their members who prefer working in towns and cities. Unless another political force can be mobilized to oppose the interests of unions, space will not be cleared to allow r resource allocation are voiced, organized, and mobilized, will it be realistic to expect that policy will change. Clearing political space involves mobilizing the stakeholders and interests that stand to gain from proposed policy changes, and working strategically to overcome or neu- tralize the interests that oppose change. based on need would be mor ing patterns and then devote resources, time, and effort making the case for why changes to in the existing circumstances be better. would If improved quality requires more interactive admin- teaching methodologies, then teachers, istrators, students, and parents need to be dis- abused of their prevailing mental model that a good classroom has children attentive quietly to the teacher’s every word. In the case of a policy-level project focused on more broad-scale reform, the same intellectual space-clearing may be required. For example, to promote fund- aproject may need to ing reform successfully, allocations help build the case for why weighted ment. Ministry officials who are concerned about unrest in the capital city will make sure that resources are spent on urban schools and university students. Only when the interests of those who ar ecog- ganized, ACE in the front of the room? To propose in the front of the room? To ms to these well-entrenched views of when d common and impenetrable jargon? Why do efor CLEARING SP Scale-up and sustainability remainScale-up and sustainability elusive for Building ReformBuilding Support Infrastructure most education reform efforts because of intel- institutional resistance.lectual, political, and Doing something about those limitations requires, first, recognizing that the existing arrangements in any education system are not accidental. Making room in the existing political sector— economic landscape of the education of clearing space—so that the substance sound educational improvement can be intro- opera- duced—filling space—constitutes the tional core of the Education Reform Support approach. One of the major problems in setting forth and sustaining a reform agenda is the existence of preconceived ideas, mental models, institution- benefits al traditions, and economic and social derived from the existing arrangements. A key step in supporting reform is thus to reduce the existing views and interests. Why does the U.S. school year still follow the rhythms of an agrarian society that has not existed for at least 70 years? Why are curricu- 3. Space Filling Space, Clearing intellectual and political space taken up by intellectual and political space taken lum documents in almost all cultures written in a most classrooms around the world have children sitting in rows copying notes off a black- boar r school is in session, what curriculum looks like, or how classrooms should be or we have to clear intellectual space. School-level projects that want to introduce and bring to scale innovations in education need to r nize how those innovations depart from prevail- 16 Education Reform Support Today policy to promote and support theestablish- andsupport policy topromote specific andwrote anoffice Education created of izations? InMali,in1995, theMinistry withcommunity-based organizing relationships for mechanisms withinthebureaucracy there Are with NGOsorprivatesectorfirms? (NGOs) interact.Canministr institutions mental andnongovernmental ofhowgovern- interms needs tobecleared thenspacealso reform, mobilized tosupport oftheinstitutionalcapacity involved aspart tobecome In addition,ifotheractorsare flict andcooperationovertime”(p.14). ongoingincentivesforcon- iors andthatcreate have “historiesthatshapevaluesandbehav- losers (andwinners)defendtheirpositions that theinstitutionswithinwhichpotential Grindleobserves out.Furthermore, and carried be implementedforhowjobswer to were themselves aslosersifnewstandards oftheirpower basealsosaw aspart patronage on leaderswhorelied Politicalparty standards. having todealwithgenuinejobper or losers, fearinglossofjobsorresponsibility American ministriesalsosawthemselvesas withinLatin benefits (p.11).Bureaucrats losingjobsand teachers’ unionsthatfeared defined themselvesaslosers”—forexample, thatreadily groups dens onpoliticallyimportant bur- the 1990s“imposedatleastshort-term inLatinAmerica shereviewed all thereforms context. Grindle(2004)pointsouthowalmost dynamics thatunderlietheexistinginstitutional wefirstneedtounderstandthe take root, practicesto administrative andorganizational and expect newmanagerialrelationships wecan Before incentives, andrelationships. expectations, institutionalnorms, prevailing ability, ofthe clearingspaceinterms requires andaccount- ofeffectiveness with whatdegree To changewhattheydo,howdoit,and ofthegame. rules andprevailing arrangements benefit withintheexistingsetofinstitutional outhowtooperatetheirown have allfigured withinthesystem andotherofficials offices, andlocaleducation regional tral ministry, withinthecen- menting education.Directorates institutions involvedinmanagingandimple- A third kind of space-clearing concerns the kindofspace-clearingconcerns third y of ficials partner e formance assigned mal- these interests onthegeneralgood. these interests of todemonstratethenegativeeffect trying of beliefbothintellectuallyandpolitically ortraditionalmodes interests to isolatenarrow power, toclearawayobstacles.Itimpliestrying har summarize, thetaskgenerallyinvolvesbringing listedinsection5,but,to space-clearing are outthis views. Thetoolsonecanusetocarry and theinfluenceoftraditionalinterests reduce totheneed “Clearing space”thusrefers andpoliciescouldbeputinplace. office enough institutionalspacesothatthenew public sectorcouldnot.ThoseNGOscleared thatthe children reaching because theywere theseschools andsupport recognize officially to thatitwasintheirinterest officials Ministry workedtoconvince NGOs, withUSAIDsupport, schooling.Acoalitionof with NGOsinproviding tointeract wayforthegovernment new, official a ment ofcommunityschools.Thiscreated something willfillthatspace.Ther intheeducationlandscape, space iscleared vacuum. Ifintellectual,political,orinstitutional abhorsa In education,asinphysics,nature FILLING SPACE the ver of “solutions”waitingtobepr achieve their effectiveness at reasonable cost. atreasonable achieve theireffectiveness andwhetherthey effective by whethertheyare Space-filling activitiesshould bejudgedprimarily activities topromote? space. Buthowdoweknowwhichspace-filling conjunction withtheirinvestmentsinclearing tainable r thatsuppor filled nomatterwhat,projects Becausespacegets overloaded curriculum. intoanalready stuffed tourism studiesare sothatEnglishor business sectorwillpress isthekey.connectivity totheInternet The that toargue ers-in-education lobbyisready high-qualityteachers.Thecomput- and retain salariestoattract that oneneedstoincrease to argue teachers’ unionisalwaysprepared The Educational qualityneedstobeimproved? outinthefirstplace. needed tobecleared d evidence, and countervailing political evidence, andcountervailing y political and institutional interests that political andinstitutionalinterests efor m need toinvestinfillingspace offer e ed—often by is nolack t sus- Education Reform Support Today 17 ting ow- ficial is gr e ther t epor than just the of e and Jalloh (2005) r ting and, carrying out educational o growing local control emphasis on is not limit- owth of charter United States; schools in the ing evidence that successful collaboration between school and community groups has led to improved academic and social/emotional outcomes. ministerial education apparatus (Bray, 2000; ministerial education apparatus (Bray, Care International, 2003; Lake & Hill, 2005; Miller-Granvaux et al., 2002; Nath, Sylva, & Grimes, 1999). PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS PUBLIC-PRIVATE In addition to greater local control, purposeful public-private partnerships hold promise as effective strategies. space-filling Nongovernmental organizations have continued to play increasingly significant roles in promoting, suppor improvements around the world (Shanti, 2001; 2002). The & Wolf, Miller-Granvaux, Welmond, gr the success of large-scale nongovernmental complementary education programs as diverse as the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) and the School for Life in Ghana; and the increased role of nongovernmental actors in shaping policy and suppor implementation all demonstrate how the notion of education system capacity needs to be expanded to include mor SCHOOL-COMMUNITY COLLABORATION SCHOOL-COMMUNITY A moreed to delegating and resources power to Ample researchschools. now argues for increased as a school-community collaboration improvedvital component of local governance Dohertyand decision making. Abernathy and improving(1998) state that relationships their communities is a between schools and vital part change of making any kind of lasting in the learning environment. Dyakowska (2004) notes that professionals need to recognize that parents can be considered experts in knowing children.what is best for their Warren (2005) can emphasizes that community initiatives improve the social context of education so that children come to school better able to learn. Mastr ovide oBmann and (W t most associated e consistently pr e and organizational , (AISR) refers to as changes 2006). Two cross-national m , ends in International Mathematics r schools have the power and e is to be visible in the daily work of m national Student Assessment (PISA) data efor way as to create the clear objectives for ganizing schools that mor WoBmann & Fuchs as cited in Winkler, 2006). & Fuchs as cited in Winkler, WoBmann rural, poor children with better opportunities to learn (DeStefano et al., 2006). Research on autonomous schools in Nicaragua found that those schools with greater local authority have better student outcomes (King and Ozler as cited in Winkler studies using T and Science Study (TIMSS) and Program for Inter found that schools that manage their own budgets and recruit their own teachers have higher test scores than those that don’ schools (Earl, Watson, & Katz, 2003). For schools (Earl, Watson, example, research on effective community schools has highlighted the important roles that local governance and decision making play in or capacity to respond challenges to their day-to-day if r with tangible improvements in outcomes for students include what the Annenberg Institute for School Refor that ensur resources that enable them to respond to the needs of their students. School administrators must have and teachers (and their communities) the knowledge, authority ENSURING SCHOOLS HAVE THE RESOURCES AND ENSURING SCHOOLS HAVE AUTHORITY THEY NEED Space-filling activities that ar asterly (2006) arguesEasterly (2006) development that most projects whether evaluate fail to systematically they introducethe innovations produce actually details of educa- impact. While the measurable tion sector reforms and innovations are obviously context-specific, there set of is an identifiable reformsthat research is and experience show to greatermost likely to contribute educational effectiveness. be filled in such Space needs to a provideschooling system; sustained, adequate to achieve those objec- financing to schools and teachers sufficienttives; give principals for results;autonomy to manage create and respondaccountability systems to monitor and to results (Pritchett, 2004, p. 65). 18 Education Reform Support Today national policyinNamibia. of schoolself-assessmenthasbecome impr agr the nationalexamination,culminatinginjoint on to discussstudentachievementresults bring communitiesandtheirschoolstogether appraisalmeetingsinGhana performance education.School toimprove resources accountable fordemonstrablyusingthose community’s capacitytoholdtheschool enhanceseach in thenewspaper—greatly on awallattheschoolandhavingitpublished thatitbeposted school inUganda—byrequiring Making publicthebudgetallocatedtoeach understanding oftheissuesinvolved. canhaveequal so thatthevariousgroups implementation, andonstudentperformance onfinances,program information share ing orbeingabletofigur and savvy(Sexton,2004)—forexample,know- communicationtechniques available requires hoped? Makingthesekindsofdatapublicly to expectation,ar being implementedup programs intended, are actuallyavailableandusedas resources theyexpect.Are againsttheresults measured as performance dent, school,andpartner data systemsthatenablethemtomonitorstu- need ment. Localdistrictsandtheirpartners not)contributingtoimprove- (orare gies are sotheycantrackhowtheirstrate- past results and and localdistrictsneedtoknowcurrent forstudents.Schools betterresults to produce beingused andauthorityare tional resources but shouldfocusondemonstratingthataddi- not belimitedtoanaccountingofresources, thataccountabilityshould argues Annenberg accountability.mechanisms forincreased space intheeducationlandscapemustalsobe ofwhatfills thenpart overresources, control authorityand tohavegreater If schoolsare ACCOUNTABILITY FORRESULTS eements aboutwhatcanbedoneto ove studentoutcomes.Asimilarpr r e esults improving asfast esults improving e out thebestwaysto ocess sions regarding their children’s schools. their children’s sions regarding linkstotheauthorities thatmakedeci- direct cluded thatcommunitiesneedcloser, more totheneedsofpoorpeople,con- responsive ices likepubliceducationcouldbemademore (World Bank,2004),whichexaminedhowserv- decr while thosewithpoorcapacitysawtestscores whenauthoritywasdecentralized, test scores in the decentralizedlevelsawimprovements withbettermanagementcapacityat Argentina Winkler, in 2006) foundthatprovinces (citedin munities. GalianiandSchargrodsky schoolsandtheircom- toandsupport respond making theeducationsystembetterableto in ofdecentralizedstructures to theimportance alsopoints (DeStefano etal.,2006).Research schoolquality all contributetoimproved meetingsamongteachers gies, andorganized demonstration ofspecificpedagogicalstrate- obser andongoingtraining.Frequent teacher support includer programs thateffective reveals oncommunityschools schools. Research andsustainimproving that cansupport Space needstobefilledwiththeinfrastr need tosucceed. thatschoolshavewhatthey for makingsure holding theschooldistrictpubliclyaccountable in VOICE, 2005).Thisactivityisanexercise their studentswhentheyopeninthefall(DC andprogramming—for materials, resources, ofstaffing, terms ready—in if schoolsare todetermine anannualsurvey D.C., organizes inWashington, organization support reform implementation. DCVOICE,acommunity-based critical systemcapacitiesforsuccessfulreform are interventions ofsupport and effectiveness Timeliness availableandeffective. nities are schoolsandcommu- that canassiststruggling andinterventions thesupports making sure tantly, thesystemneedstobeaccountablefor then,concomi- be heldaccountableforresults, goingto If schoolsandtheircommunitiesare AND TEACHERSUPPORT TIMELINESS ANDEFFECTIVENESSOFSCHOOL ease. The2004World DevelopmentReport vation andfeedbackr egar ding instruction, egular ucture Education Reform Support Today 19 ov- An Example of a An Example This group of organizations all . ning organizations, school-commu- variety of data on student developing education, and reform as a process groundedwhat works at the in school and classroom level. The Alliance formed relationships with 11 schools and the district office in Cataño, a poor San Juan neighbor- hood. It cleared intellectual space in the local community by challenging the prevailing mental model of quality education and worked to fill space with school-level innovations in teaching, school organization, community engagement, and district support activities (based on personal knowledge of the authors). San Juan Metropolitan for Alliance (SJMAE): Education Multifaceted Reform Support Infrastructure In forming the SJMAE, several each organizations came together, bringing different capacities to the table. Sacred Heart contributed University expertise in teaching and learning for teacher and institutional capacity professional development and support. ASPIRA, a nonprofit organization steeped in community organizing, brought to the collaborative proven methodologies for training, mobilizing, and supporting parents and communities. The College Board of Puerto Rico contributed expertise in developing and managing assessments and using a ment. The Puerto Rico Community Foundation had ties to the local community shared a common vision of schools as lear nity relationships as central to impr edible and on and on. , to teachers. At issue is whether the pre-to teachers. At issue is whether the t How do the space clearing and space filling How do the space clearing and space This goes far beyond the usual institutional REFORM SUPPORT INFRASTRUCTURE Space is cleared and filled all the time in education systems. If the newly named minister believes strongly in vocational and technical high schools, he’ll clear space for investment in building or equipping some of them by reduc- ing funds for other things. Numerous projects fill all kinds of space with the solutions they offer—new textbooks, HIV/AIDS education, girls’ scholarships, construction of secondary schools, Internet connectivity activities that support reform get implemented and strategically coordinated? Whose job is it to see that space is cleared and that sound, cutting-edge innovations and improvements are introduced? capacity issues—for example, district supervi-capacity issues—for example, district sors being trained to provide pedagogical suppor vailing institutional environment permits, promotes, and rewardsperformance the new job standards—forexample, on what basis are district supervisors evaluated, what traditionally has been their source of power and prestige in their jobs, and what is the history of their rela- teachers. tionships to individual schools and Unless these other issues can be identified and understood, we cannot mount cr strategies for truly assembling the conditions for success needed to support teachers trying out new pedagogy in their classrooms. FILLING SPACE AND THE CONDITIONS AND FILLING SPACE FOR SUCCESS projectsMost school-level what do invest in activities, as space-filling can be characterized often ones that are the consistent with filling research above. However, summarized space requires just introducing not the innovations, but also structuring the way in which they are introduced impact can be eval- so that their requireduated, the conditions for successful be documented, and obsta- implementation can to be “cleared”cles that may need for those sustained can be identified. innovations to be 20 Education Reform Support Today a &Handley system managers(Kronley capabilities ofmostpolicymakersandeducation farsurpasstheimplementation outreforms carry And thecomplexpolicystrategiesneededto institutional contextthatneedstobechanged. ofthevery alsopart Theseactorsare reform. they willsuddenlybecomeadvocatesfor Itispoliticallynaïvetothink quo arrangements. thestatus benefitingfrom political interests developing specifictechnical “fixes”ormodels engaging instrategiccommunication campaigns, andmobilizingconstituencies, organizing facilitating dialogueamongdiversestakeholders, forand opportunities creating specific reforms, and capacities,suchasgeneratingdemandfor complex andspansafullrangeofcompetencies is infrastructure support The workofareform can besthelpbringaboutsuccessfulreforms. andindividualsthat network oforganizations todescribethe infrastructure,” support “reform The originalERSseriescoinedtheterm, on thiswork. andcarry actors whocanstart r out thus haveto“bootstrap”theabilitycarry them andthedonorssupporting governments than implementationskills.Refor with newideas)ar (clearspace,fillspace fix thepolicyproblems that the“meta”skillsandattitudesneededto commonsensesuggests education services, actors withinthesystemar not occurinaneducationsystem.Manyofthe tional contextdictatemostofwhatcanorcan- politicsandinstitu- stated inourintroduction, implemented atscale,andsustained.Aswe tobedeveloped,promulgated, specific reforms andstrategicmannerneededfor coordinated tem onitsowncanclearandfillspaceinthe It thoroughly.implement thosereforms neededto thesupports activities thatprovide setofspace-filling often missingisacoherent the vastmajorityofstudents.Andwhatistoo andoutcomesfor educational opportunities thatactuallyimprove clear spaceforreforms What efor countr is toomuchtoexpectthatanyeducationsys- by m is missing is a coordinated attemptto is missingacoordinated y is not effectively providing evenbasic providing is noteffectively helping bringtogethernetworksof e likely tobeevenscar e affiliated withthe affiliated m-minded , 2003). If cer capacity intheneededareas. andimplementation mobilize technicalexpertise could infrastructure support then thereform andpracticesforimplementation, procedures If whatisneededongoinghelpdesigning and facilitatepolicydialoguedeliberations. couldorganize infrastructure support reform then the political andinstitutionalinterests, amongcompeting negotiate specifictrade-offs or agreement If whatisneededtobroker reforms. necessary the niques togatherconstituenciespromote andmobilizingtech- and onusingorganizing communication campaigntogeneratedemand, ina concentrate onusingdataandinformation could infrastructure support then thereform reform, thatprevent interests the entrenched tocounterbalance group mobilized interest a if theneedistogeneratedemandfrom fairlycommon.Forexample, types ofactivitiesare any pointistotallycontext-specific,yetcertain What ar page). the previous experiences ofstudents(seethetextboxon sustaining meaningfulchangesinthelearning and insupporting interest with ashared a Alliance forEducationwasfoundedin1994by 1997). Forexample,theSanJuanMetropolitan isbeingpursued(Healey&DeStefano, reform well asthesociopoliticalcontextwithinwhich pointas challengeatanyparticular reform ofthe needed dependsonboththenature setofactors Theparticular infrastructure. support could cometogetherasareform entities network ofpublic,private,andnonprofit agenda.A commitment toaspecificreform What unifiesacollectionofactorsistheir andindividuals. of avarietyorganizations depends onthecollaborationandcoordination bynecessity, infrastructure, support reform aviable ofcapabilities.Forthisreason an array couldpossessthisvast No singleorganization etc. formats, dataandanalysisincompelling presenting of diverse group of institutions in Puerto Rico ofinstitutionsinPuerto diverse group effective managementandadministration, effective efor m suppor t infrastr ucture doesat ucture Education Reform Support Today 21 ms in how efor and worked with d ough partnerships with university- ed to analyze the experiences of teachers are hired, developed, supported, and evaluated. The framework was used to clear intellectual and institutional space for thinking differently about the human resources challenges in the District. In addition, thr based researchers, data were gath- er first-year teachers. Enlisting the community-organizing -mobilizing skill and of DC ACORN, DC VOICE used the data to clear political space by inform- ing and mobilizing parents and other community members to advocate for better induction and mentoring for new teachers. DC VOICE testified before the school boar school district staff to fill the cleared space with well-crafted induction and mentoring policies and programs (based on personal knowledge of the authors). he Strategic Actions of District The Strategic Informed for Voices Community Education Change DC VOICE brought together a number of community organizations and indi- work initially in one vidual activists to cluster of elementary a schools and collaborative then middle school. The broaderset its sights on the education reform conducting research agenda, and focus groups to identify critical system-level factors that affect the quality of teaching and learning in D.C. classrooms. The framework they developed, “Supports Quality Teaching,” for highlights needed r evidence; and early attention to scale d each case, what is requiredeach case, is a flexible and sustainability as key long-term goals. Voices The experience of District Community Informed for Education Change (DC VOICE) related in the box below illustrates the strategic actions of a reform support infrastructure. etwork of organizationsnetwork of individuals capable and of responding to the emerging strategically and opportunitieschallenges a associated with reform In reviewing agenda. a Ford Foundation supportinginitiative aimed at reform support Chun, U.S. cities, Bodilly, networks in eight (2004) concluded that the Ikemoto, & Stockly success of the reform support infrastructure in on the amount of time, each city depended interaction, and trust collaborative among and authority of the members; the legitimacy lead organization (which was different in each of data to informsite); the adept use the group’s theory the group’s of action; commitment to continuous reflection and re-strategizing based on har In 22 Education Reform Support Today Education Reform Support Today 23 than gin. e ent tools in fer oach, to better decisions at the mar oach, is to adapt the classical corporate fort; with certain tools in the toolbox being omote deliberation concerning public policy single bottom-line rational decision, but to nonlinear and difficult to plan very While rigidly. ef ment, so they can use many dif pr appr a The ERS approach, however, also turns the The ERS approach, however, competition (dialogue, discussion, debate, ently t. appr in f ojects. And holding a In the examples challenge to donors’ planning. experienced staf donor agencies who canmentor others who have the toolbox as opportunities permit or situa- never set up such demand, rather than according tions to a pre- pr workshop or two to suggest a few policy realize this poses a set and linear plan. We changes or discuss follow we try that some conditions is also to emphasize some of the nonlinear and opportunistic aspects of the something donors havebeing the need to rise to the challenge of experience with. But process, to highlight their importance and thus responsive to opportunity, and to show that implementing reform with a little effort creativity and such changes can readily be made. ete The process is indeed inher itself a “projectizable” activity. itself a “projectizable” activity. . t activities in the manner discussed in a proficient manner. This section sug- in a proficient manner. suppor t m m one-time formal or workshop. discussion working. Mor ing, and what seems to be known art, even if it is not a simple blueprint requires that donors have a well-stocked “tool- efor efor gests approaches and activities that can maker trade-offs a “searching” that leads, in ERS does retain some of the messiness ofpolitical activity sequence around and suggests that it is policy However, ERS proposes that reformHowever, support,like any project, can be thought of as beingcomposed of discrete inputs, processes, and decision support paradigm: data-gathering activities aimed at contributing to a reformed leads to analysis, which leads to a rational system, and, therefore, that donors can apply decision. In trying to support transparent public technique to the messy process of supporting decision making, we alter this basic paradigm r in two ways. First, the objective is not to reach above is relatively new ground. What does ittake? It might appear that supporting reform isan arcane and purely intuitive “political” ar to think of “projectizable” The easiest way ERS activities, and the one followed in the ERS The foregoingthe sections have noted importance of supporting reform and the “bigpicture” aspects of reform support. From these be clear that supportingsections it should come up with discrete, one can projectizable a (“tools in a toolbox”) to constitute activities is differentreform,as a donor activity, from projectstraditional donor education and fromdonor approaches that assume reform is a reform support process, the number and order is likely to of activities or tools one deploys policy simple matter of laying down some change during the lifetime of a reform support in suggestions and conditions, and engaging a depending on political opportunity, tim- for later, deployed ahead of plan, and others relegated 4. ReformEducation Support and ProjectsActivities Implementing projects that build schools, makecurricular changes, or train teachers is at least traditional projects one-shot dialogue ses- or a sions, ERS is opportunity-It and event-driven. process. There are models to follow and box” and a deep awareness of the environ- suppor d activities aimed thought of as being mposed of discr reform support, e any project, can formed system…” contributing to a puts, processes, … lik be co in an at re “ 24 Education Reform Support Today port capacity. Further discussion and specific examples from donor projects follow. donorprojects discussionandspecificexamplesfrom capacity. Further port sup- todata,analysis,dialogue,andcommunicationbuildingreform relating can besupported somebriefexamplesofactivitiesthat Thetextboxbelowprovides process. areform to support activitiesinanyor(ideally)allofthoseareas analysis, anddatafunctions.Onecanthenpropose thesedialogue, theabilitytoperform that donorsneedtohelpinstitutionalizewithinacountry paradigmbyproposing alsoaugmentsthisdecisionsupport fall ondeafears.TheERSapproach seriousanalysis;withoutsuchdemand,analysistendsto that leadtodemandsformore bypolicydebate data gathering.Itisthedissatisfaction,competition,andsocialtensioncreated leadstothedemandfor social marketing)thatleadstothedemandforanalysis,which,inturn, Refor Communication Networking & Infrastr Dialogue & Analysis m Suppor Data uctur e t • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Developing sustainablefundingforadvocacyandanalysisinstitutions Developing analyticalandadvocacycapacityincivilsociety gover ance-oriented contractsratherthangeneralpurposesuppor Encouraging andfinancinganalysisadvocacyNGOsbygiving themper Encouraging andfinancingr Use ofmedia Social marketingandmobilizationcampaigns Policy pr For School ef to prioritizeorlobbyforimpr Cost pr expenditur Inequality analysisondistributionoflear (rates ofr T ef Cost-ef of inter Gathering political“data”thr Use ofsur Use ofexistingdatatodrivediscussionsonequityr raditional inter fectiveness ofmor ums fordialogue fectiveness analysisofvariouspolicyoptions,suchasthecost est gr ojections andothersimulationtoolstounderpindebatesabouttheneed esentations, debates,anddeliberations fectiveness analysistounderpindebateaboutmanagementr etur e veys, forexample,onschoolquality distribution oups’ positionsonkeyr n, labormarketimpact)analysis nal ef e ficiency (r spending onsalariesversusmaterials efor ough meetingsandsur epetition, dr oved fundingforthesector m coalitions andnetworks efor ning r m pr opout, flow-thr oposals esults, schoolaccess,orinputand , todemonstrateneedforr veys tocr esour ough) andexter t ce allocation eate politicalmaps nment itself efor nal efor for ms m m- Education Reform Support Today 25 the video led to discus- , ata for policy-level dialogue in dialogue Data for policy-level d. The winning president adopted simi- en who cannot read, pointing out that too to teachers on instructional techniques. t simple and dramatic way to illustrate the Example 1. Peru. point is a recent A case in (2005 and in Peru, Bank experience 2006) World where simple data on children’s reading were gathered to feed a policy dialogue process focused and learning.on school quality Peru, which had participated in PISA in 2000, carries out a sur- learningvey-based national approx- assessment imately every three years. These surveys are felt that something moreuseful, but it was dra- was needed to reallymatic and simple focus hit upon the Bank team attention. The World childrenidea of simply asking to read in a small but representative sample of 254 children in 22 schools, and recording (in both audio and video) the difference between a child who can read fairly well and an average child (not reading very that policy well, if at all), so the dif- makers and opinion makers could see ference. The reading assessment was extreme- (wordsly simple; it focused just on fluency read compre-per minute in a simple paragraph) and hension. A video was then created showing the difference between children who can read and childr many children cannot read, and indicating that there are already quite a few schools where children can read. These schools are characterized by the use of standards and monitoring, and sup- teacher accountability and devotion, por in four Shown in live policy dialogue settings localities to more than 2,000 persons, as well as on prime-time TV sions on talk shows, editorials in the newspa- pers and magazines, and so on. A healthy debate on quality and learning standards ensued, and is continuing. This policy dialogue was held during the presidential campaign, and one of the political parties adopted the issue of early-grade reading, including fluency goals (words read per minute) as an educational standar lar standards and highlighted them in his inau- gural speech. These sorts of goals have also been embodied as preferred performance indicators by the Ministry of Finance. While the idea all along was to use children’s reading as a not meant to be copied, e ching approach: data, used strategically, ent from usual EMIS or general-purpose DATA underpin the empirical data must Ultimately, and promotionanalysis of reform ideas. promoting reformHowever, does not require much energythat donors spend funding on and the creation and maintenance of traditional, or recurrent,supply-driven EMIS general-pur- surveys.pose school or household On the con- trary, there are good reasons believe that, to when therearising from is no demand for data policy ideas or the need to the competition of in a publicly accountable manage the sector generated by EMIS systems fashion, the data used, and the systems will will tend not to be tend not to be sustained (Crouch, 1997). Furthermore, already countries many have more data than they are using. Data use is currently far more constrained by demand and by in the lack of technical skill and imagination using what is already gathered, than it is by the supply of data. The sorts of “projectizable” data activities rec- to feed ommended for ERS use existing data gath- alternatively, into dialogue processes, or, policy er original data but, again, for a specific discussion purpose. This approach is very differ school (or household) survey sortsof activities. The recommended approach reasons and first foremost from the demand side: the data are gathered (or compiled if they already exist) to What follow enlighten a specific policy dilemma. are three examples of different ERS data activities from a variety of contexts. In each case these activities were identified as useful in advancing elements of the different reform agendas from different starting points, through different interactions with education officials and the broader public, and with varying specific tactics. What they have in common is an overar are an essential component of reform support. These examples ar but we hope they and the others elaborated throughout this section of the paper will convey how ERS activities work, and demonstrate that they can accompany projects that include more traditional education components. 26 Education Reform Support Today are expected to reflect ontheirownpractice expectedtoreflect are theself-assessment,teachers With progress. andimprovement ate theireffectiveness toevalu- ing schoolsusedthesystem regularly Thepar school self-assessmentprocess. whichincludedimplementation ofthe Program, wer than2,500teachers 404 schoolsandmore fur indicators andmethodologies,thusacquiring the These sameteamsthenworkedonrevising toimplementthesystem. teams intheregions support thecircuit teacherswhoform resource Inspectors ofEducation,advisor workedwiththe in 2001.Theproject teachers,andprincipalsstar with parents, andtriedinafewschools education officers workingwith staff that wasdesignedbyproject pr ect, someseniorMinistr theUSAIDproj- from support With provinces. planninginfourNorthern school improvement andcommunity-supported dent progress, continuousassessmentofstu- active learning, suppor that highlightedbyaproject and by2000were educationdevelopmentforyears, supported had black populationslived.USAIDprograms poor, thelargely where provinces, Northern inthe insociety, particularly nomic opportunity thedisparitiesofeco- Namibia wasaddressing Namibia. Apost-independencepriorityin level ratherthanatthepolicylevel,isfrom suppor to Namibia. Anothercaseofusinginformation Example 2. 2006). Perez, tic ratherthanaplannedone(seeAlvarado ofgeneratingdebate, wasanopportunis- terms in oneinthewholeprocess, most powerful the outtobeperhaps innovation thatturned soundslike.Thus,the child’sreading proficient towhata compared haltingreading children’s ofsome simpleaudiorecordings they heard when reaction stakeholders’powerful observed because theanalystsandWorld Bankstaff onlyarose powerful, up beingextremely the wholenotionofusingavideo,whichended schoolquality, policyaround need toimprove oposed aschoolself-assessmentsystem ther ownershipofthesystem.Eventually, e par ted key reforms builtonafoundationof ted keyreforms t reform, butthistimeattheschool reform, ticipating intheSchoolImprovement Data forlocalaccountabilityin y of Education y teachers, and ticipat- ficials ting BES3 Project, June 6, 2006; Carolyn Pugliese, June6,2006;Carolyn BES3 Project, communication, DonnaLeCzel, ChiefofParty, andnonjudgmental way(personal supportive ina andtouse theinformation est reporting, pr to localproblems, the schoolleveltoaddress at ed onestablishingwaystouseinformation itself achallenge.Muchofthesuccessdepend- was reform tosupport gy ofusinginformation tocentralauthorities.Thestrate- est reporting hon- forresisting had manyhistoricalreasons levels. Schools,teachers,andcommunities atseveral space andenablingactivesupport element, butsuccessdependedonclearing The Minister’sleadershipwasobviouslyakey of initiatives,strategies,andcir amix required as anengineofsystemreform became richer. ThesuccessoftheSSAsystem the originaldesign,anditsinterpr somewhatfr purposes andusesdiverged else,its somewhere simply copyingatoolfrom adaptationratherthan involved inathorough tool developed,andaslocalactorsbecame with theMinistry wascollaborativelydesigned and anapproach wasseized Theopportunity became interested. an adaptationoftheScottishsystem)and such asysteminoperation(whichwas,turn, theysaw where study tourtoanothercountry, ina tookpart officials andMinistry al officers itselfwhenafewregion- presented Opportunity oftheoriginalworkplaninthisproject. part tonotethatthisSSAwasnot It isinteresting atthelocallevel. Effectiveness ofSchool NationalStandards introduced toolforoperationalizingthenewly Ministry's needs, andithasbeeninstitutionalizedasthe activitiesbasedonactual support improvement site-based teacherdevelopmentandschool toprovide educationoffices enabled regional dence. SchoolSelf-Assessment(SSA)has activitiesusingempiricalevi- improvement ofdefiningandimplementingschool process inthe principals, andlocaleducationofficials and communitymembersaswellteachers, meanstoincludeparents become apowerful Namibia's schoolself-assessmentsystemhas discussion. overall schoolimprovement inthe toparticipate and usethatreflection otect elementsofschooldatatoenablehon- . Further more, asuseofthe more, cumstances. etation om Education Reform Support Today 27 1 assumes , sustainable when e The notion of involving non- . used for some vaguely specified oader e find local solutions to problems;find local (d) and one-for-one matching grant component was one-for-one matching function, called “management” (thus the “M” in EMIS), and therefore emphasizes the production of relatively raw data, which, not surprising, are not used for much of anything, except, perhaps, reporting to international organizations. ANALYSIS Raw data do not say much, without the value- added of an analytical process. Most traditional data gathering in education, however that data ar c) emphasis was placed on using information was placed on (c) emphasis to problems referred were to higher authorities stakehold- political and community pursued by initially aim to improveers. USAID did not situa- resourcetions by adding resources. However, progressconstraints limited in implementing by the stakeholders, so action plans developed a introduced, which leveraged funding from public By leveraging data, dia- and private sector. the projectlogue, and the grants, enabled local resources allocated more to be efficiently and project For example, the helped to (a) equitably. increase resources from a variety of local sources; (b) reallocate physical resources first, (benches and teachers) among schools before providing additional resources, to ensure that every criteria; school met minimum and (c) change state policy in response to local advocacy for a specific reading hour in the cur- the riculum. It should be noted that while process was generally effective and well received, it worked better in some areas than is instruc-in others, and this variation in itself tive about the ERS approach. For example, changes tended to be mor there were changes in government (after elections) in areas where dialogue involved not just the incumbent politicians, but where the dialogue was br in the Peruincumbent politicians, also tried out and example listed above, was highly innovative communi- somewhat criticized at first (personal cation, Alastair Rodd, June 10, 2006). t ep- ents; esources epresentatives. presented graphically, e se of data to drive community Use of data that (a) district education officers led the esenting the distribution of r e At least in most education systems in most developing countries where donors work. Once data production is sufficiently agile and suffi- epr 1 Program Project; Associate, BES3 see also & LeCzel, 2003). Muhammed Example 3. awareness and solve equity problems in pre-selectedNigeria. In various govern- local ments, USAID provided support to improve equity in resource allocation via the use of forumsdata. A series of stakeholder was con- the level of funding allocated vened to discuss to primary distribu- education and the equitable tion of existing resources among schools. identified participants,Stakeholder analysis who included representatives of parents, political schools (teachers), local businesses, parties, religious leaders, and local governmen administration and elected r Facilitated by local government education administrators, the forums one took place over Stakeholder representatives were first year. impor- asked to identify and prioritize the most tant problems of the schools in their local government. Information on those problems was based on existing school census surveys pre- a subse- sented back to the stakeholders at quent forum.wer Data r as among schools, using indicators such pupil:teacher ratios, pupil:classroom ratios, However, pupil:seat ratios, and books per child. feedback from stakeholders suggested discr ancies between the reality in the schools and the data reported. It was decided therefore to collect data collaboratively (parents and educators) and present to stakeholders again before they were asked to use the information to establish minimum criteria for each of their problems and develop action plans. Two subsequent forums monitored implementation compared to the action plan and then, in the final forum, data were used to assess progress. Important elements of the process wer process; (b) comparative data were used to engage the interest of politicians and par ciently based on actual management functions, and once there is sufficient demand for management decisions to be publicly defensible, raw data use for immediate management applications does increase, and supply-side interventions make sense. But this typically begins to happen only in upper-middle-income countries where most bilateral donors are absent or have a marginal presence. 28 Education Reform Support Today the trainingitself.Thecapacity development developed thetrainingmaterials andprovided workingonthepolicyalso tance providers cy development,inthesense thattheassis- withthepoli- The trainingwaswellcoordinated andimplementationpractice. in boththeory demics, inthenatur andsomeaca- someNGOofficials, officials, capacity developmentof(mostly)gover tothetrainingand mulas. Second,wassupport for- theschoolfundingandresourcing revamp to ing system.First,wasanalyticalsupport thefund- toreform ofsupport two majorforms change this.Inthemid-1990s,USAIDpr itcametopower,ment, evenbefore wantedto inequitable. Notsurprising,thenewgovern- andpurposely wasextremely during apartheid well known,educationfundinginSouthAfrica Asis infrastructure.) support ation ofreform donorcr (This casealsoillustrateseffective SouthAfrica. forit,comesfrom donor support Africa. Acaseofdemand-drivenanalysis,and Example 4. fr examples belowshowhowanalysiscanwork implementationandimpact.Thetwo broader whichtoleverage fact-based foundationsfrom experimentation andevaluationtoestablish systematic todomore for donor-fundedefforts Easterly(2006)calls innovations actuallyare. their lish thebaselinefactsabouthoweffective butmostofthemfailtoestab- training reforms, tiveness ofmethodology We todemonstratetheeffec- expectprojects ofeducationalinnovations. of theeffectiveness analysis What isalsooftenlackingrigorous cally willnotfindmuchechoorsustainability. typi- makingdecisions,thentheeffort before outanalysis tocarry “right” and“professional” ception, orconventionalwisdom,thatitis solelyoutofavagueper- analysis ispromoted If efficiency. leading toaneedincrease tosharpbudgetpressure done inresponse hastobe Or analysisofschooleffectiveness overfundingequity.by asharppolicyconcern school finance,forexample,shouldbedriven also shouldnotbesupply-led.Thus,analysisof it reform; debates aboutissuesthatrequire Analysis itselfideallyhastobedrivenby om boththedemandandsupplysides. Demand-driven analysisinSouth of e , the financialr curriculum, orteacher curriculum, eforms, nment ovided e- understanding oftheneed foravision:togen- madetofacilitatestakeholders’ were efforts phases.First, this situationunfoldedinthree todealwith workundertaken support reform be flexiblewer stocked toolbox,andhavingdonorswillingto having awell- oftheenvironment, aware ment policy)—wasquitesuccessful.Being ing thusbeingtightlylinkedtoneedimple- pr being of field-tested,and need, havingbeeninformally and thiscourse—basedasitwasonareal course, wastransmutedintoaformal effort time tocapacitybuilding.Afterayear, this todevote voluntary “club” onFridayafternoons aninformal assistance (TA) started provider andthetechnical edge transfer. Counterparts knowl- preventing solvingwere ties andproblem wer counterparts, assistance, andtheprovider’s oftechnical sive, wasanadd-on.Theprovider inten- case, thetraining,eventhoughextremely Inthis degree. toalarge had beeninternalized outthisanalysis astheabilitytocarry support, intensedonor didnotrequire This reanalysis bebasedonanationaldefinition. targeting thatpoverty suchasrequiring of thereform,” “reforms certain of thesituationandproposed issuedasophisticatedreanalysis government tended consequences.In2003thenational designed, itwasclearthattheyhadsomeunin- were Several yearsaftertheoriginalreforms overmanyyears. and localcounterparts work betweentechnicalassistanceproviders collaborative ofpatient,long-term took theform ects donotcontributemuchtowar proj- acommonend,anddonorsupport toward donotwork reforms unaligned andunrealistic, might looklike.Accordingly, both policiesare af visionofwhatan the generallackofashared inPakistanis Amajorpolicyproblem reform. a kindsofanalysescansupport different modelinPakistan showhow use ofaprojection and visioning inPakistan.Aprocess Example 5. 2006). Crouch, personal knowledgeoftheauthors;see ovider whohadworkedonthepolicies(train- fordable butdesirableeducationsystem fordable e aware thatdemandsofday-to-dayactivi- aware fer ed bythesametechnicalassistance Data andanalysistodrivesector e all keystosuccess(basedon r d efor m. The Education Reform Support Today 29 ation, is ue.” This is . tant part of haps the most nments are Per impor the ERS approach fostering communic debate, and dialog “ gover t m. It continues to keys to sustainable and e efor to dialogue t ms, this is a “planner’s” solution ms, this is a “planner’s” ter s to an affordable or unaffordable education assume that counterpar rational, tend to arrive at “rational-comprehensive” solutions based on discrete bits of evidence, and such solutions are socially optimal put it in and can lead to development. To Easterly’ endogenous policy r (Easterly, 2006). As noted, on occasion this (Easterly, kind of approach is useful, because it can, useful, and sometimes is a good way to put useful, and sometimes is a good way some issues quickly and proficiently on the debate agenda, but is not really ideal. Worse, in some of these situations, “dialogue” becomes an imposition on a task manager’s checklist, and the donor will consider itself to have “dialogued” if it holds a semipublic semi- the “dialogue” nar or workshop. Alternatively, may be just a discussion of policy conditions on a loan or grant. This sort of approach does not take to heart the notion that debate and seeking solutions ar processes can take at least two forms. A rela- itself to tively common one is for the donor engage in dialogue, as an actual actor nd qualified teachers cost and how this adds teachers cost and qualified up A second roundsector budget. of workshops cost. Withfocused on a computer- the use of ized cost-projection model, the costs of various scenarios wereoptimal solu- assessed, and an tion was finally realized vis-à-vis enrollment growth, measures, cost-saving and quality- enhancing reforms (personal communication, June 8, 2006.) Hank Healey, analysis and contribute to sustainable results. Donor suppor DIALOGUE AND COMMUNICATION DIALOGUE AND COMMUNICATION Perhaps important the most part of the ERS approach fostering communication, debate, is data and and dialogue. As can be seen in the analysis examples just presented, communication and dialogue are often integral parts of the communi- data and analysis activities. In fact, cation and dialogue are what create demand for well-trained teachers the cost of the emerg- , e and in a series of stakeholder workshops th in a discussion document distributed for th in a discussion document distributed m ocess faced a key choice: how to elicit feed- ing vision had to be assessed. It is one thing to envision a well-equipped classroom with a qualified teacher in it; it is quite another to determine just what well-equipped classrooms in every classroom, say career ladders to bring about demand-driven professional development the and accountability systems. This became material for an emerging vision that was put for comment around the country. Feedback on this discussion document was gathered in written for that furthered the emerging vision. Here the pr back from thousands of people, yet keep it both focused and manageable. A decision was made to present the emerging vision in chunks—classrooms, schools/communities, districts, etc.—and ask a number of key questions about each chunk, the answers to which would help flesh out critical elements of the vision (and engender widespread ownership of those elements). Finally rate demand for one, given the predominant for one, given erate demand frameworks existing policy view that their to a vision. Throughamounted informed discus- stakeholders fromsions with around the country, was facilitated, but not this understanding first tended to without tension. Stakeholders but the fact that it was think they had a vision, to This led was not clear. not a practical one the realization that the process could benefit from model to support a costing the entire visioning effort. Second, these same stakeholders were their then asked to delineate depiction of the present-day with a par- system planning, management, ticular emphasis on professional development, and finance flows manifest (knowing that these emphases would issues germane to standards, performance and career ladders). appraisal, accountability, With this understanding, these workshop participants were then asked to envision a system in which all of the problems and issues they just identified no longer existed and to delineate werethose elements of the system that crucial to its eventual realization. For example, from a goal of well-trained teachers in every classroom, the discussion addressed mecha- the nisms needed to ensur 30 Education Reform Support Today America and the Caribbean” in direct translation (note that the English name is not a direct translationoftheSpanishname). translation (notethattheEnglishnameisnotadirect America andtheCaribbean”indirect 2 (CINDE)inSantiago, Development Research Washington andtheCorporationfor activity oftheInter-AmericanDialoguein America andtheCaribbean.PREALisajoint Example 6. integral tosoundERS. definedisalso broadly communication more addition tothesekindsofdialogueactivities, definedandtakenon.In issuesare reform pr canadvancenational of thecontextforreform, suppor belowhighlighthowstrategicallychosen here The fourexamplesofpolicydialoguepresented as discussedbelow. infrastructure, support ate anongoingreform of debateiscloselylinkedtotheneedcre- one’s way”(Easterly, 2006).Fosteringthiskind or“feeling searching as wellaprocess, er deliv- intensive sectors,suchassocialservice forimplementation- that dowork(particularly and thatsustainable,implementablesolutions supposedly rationalanalysisoftendonotwork, solutionsbasedon ed sensethatlarge-scale “nice,” but,instead,ontheempiricallysupport- viewpoint thatsuggestsdonorshavetobe based onanemotionalorpoliticallycorrect impor mentality.adopt a“debater”or“searcher” Itis fallible, abandona“planner”mentality, and does meanthatthedonorhastoseeitselfas Butit intense socialmarketingoftheapproach. andevenengagingin approach, particular positionordefendinga espousing aparticular not meanthatthedonorhastoshyawayfrom actor.sees itselfasjustonemore Thisdoes ortruly simply financesthedialogueprocess tothetable,anddonoreither brought are debateisencouraged,opposingactors where genuinedialogue, defends, istofostermore An ficiently, butitisnotthebestwaytoproceed. indeed, putissuesonthetablequicklyandpro- Programa de Promoción de la Reforma Educativa en América Latina y el Caribe, or “Program for the Promotion of Education Reform inLatin ofEducationReform forthePromotion Educativaen AméricaLatinayelCaribe,or“Program delaReforma dePromoción Programa ocesses ofdialogueandshapetheway y) emerge from of a process ofcompetition ofaprocess from y) emerge alternative, whichtheERSapproach alternative, tant tonotethatthisERSpositionisnot ts, withastuteattentiontothepolitics Continental policydialogueinLatin While PREALhasbeenonly oneofthevoices incr andassessmentinLatinAmericahas urement isthatthedriveformeas- institution, thereality toasingle causality behindcontinentaltrends toattributethe While itwouldbefoolhardy keytoeducationalimprovement. ment are andassess- motes thenotionthatstandards and pointsofview. Forexample,PREALpro- itsown advocacy while notshyingawayfrom debateanddiscussion, real ity thatpromotes PREAL isanexcellentexampleofadonoractiv- school autonomy. and assessment, theteachingprofession, suchasnationalstandards, tions inareas gr issue-specificworking lishing region-wide, in discussionsoneducationpolicy, andestab- engagelocalleaders national advocacygroups sector toworkforeducationr outsidetheeducation leadersfrom respected keypolicyissues,convincing that address America, developinguser-friendlypublications of experimental, includingpioneeringtheconcept Muchofitsworkhasbeen education reform. involving civilsocietyleadersintheworkof advocatefor in LatinAmericaandastrong voiceoneducation the leadingnon-government Ithasbecome stituency foreducationreform. andactivecon- tive aimedatbuildingabroad initia- debate insixcountriestoaregion-wide policy topromote limitedeffort arelatively from thanadecade,PREALhasgrown Over more position. for theirofficial ratherthan their personalqualitiesandhistory, society andsociopoliticalleaderschosenfor oninvolvingcivil relies tices. PREAL’sapproach andbydisseminating bestprac- groups, try onindividualcountriesandcoun- cards” report itswell-known “education through progress on debate, butalsobytrackingandreporting notonlythrough reform PREAL promotes to Chile, seeking,asitsSpanishinitialsindicate oups thatidentifyanddebatepolicyimplica- country education report cards inLatin cards educationreport country promote education reform inLatinAmerica. educationreform promote eased tremendously inthelast10years. eased tremendously efor m, helping 2 , Education Reform Support Today 31 oving education had , Postwar dialogue in El Salvador. During the civil war . ed by traditional schools, both parties saw ough a negotiated settlement, El Salvador ough a broad-based social compact (person- oject is currently working to balance the inter- been neglected, though interesting experiments were carried out, particularly in the guerrilla- controlled areas. These experiments tended to emphasize self-help, community involvement in schooling, and the spontaneous creation of “communities of practice” among the teachers in the guerrilla-held zones. While not necessarily providing higher-quality education than that offer these schools as a promising way to increase enrollment and involve communities. The new right-wing government called on USAID to support a process of dialogue that involved all key echnical secretariattechnical policy dia- for a national analyses and technical logue, conducting research in responseto working group concerns. The USAID approachan explicit uses methodology to analysis and communication identify audiences, work with stakeholders, to be targetedidentify behaviors the fac- and tors that affect and develop those behaviors, that respondcommunication strategies to USAID, 2006). The resultthose factors (see was a country-led processwith a high degree of implementation delays fromownership, but with the USAID project management standpoint. Success of the project led to a Ministry request for follow-on support for social investment policy dialogue, with two components—impr the financial efficiency of the education sector, and expanding the broader societal dialogue. In this stage of USAID support, the project has faced greater challenges. The national political environment began to focus on future elec- challenged tions, the Minister’s leadership was by opponents (and congress), and resistance to broad-based dialogue (and perceived empower- ment of political opponents) increased. The pr supportests of maintaining key ownership and of the Ministry the longer-term with USAID inter- reformsest in assuring sustainability of the thr 2006). al communication, John Gillies, June Example 8. Thr emerged in the early 1990s from a long period of civil war oject but including a y philosophy of the ERS e Policy dialogue around finance and ocess, led by the Ministr critical enabling relationship with the key range of institutions. This decision had significant implications for the project: it established a but at the same time, the donor stakeholder, and project lost control of the schedule and structure of the process. The project became a pressing drive forward, this it has been per- and profi- insistent, consistent, haps the most countries where at least in the cient voice, it of PREAL most active. Dissemination has been place throughpoints of view takes an extensive publications program, national and international page, study tours, and task seminars, its web forces and working groups that encourage inter- (creatednational collaboration from personal communication, Jeffrey Puryear, Director, and the authors’ personal PREAL, June 2 2006, PREAL process;knowledge of the for more information and www.thedia- see www.preal.org logue.org). Example 7. elections other issues in Guatemala. After the in 2003, and following the failure of the previ- expecta- ous administration to deliver on high tions, USAID was committed to supporting the new government in substantive reforms, and particularly the Minister of Education, a dynam- USAID identi- ic leader from the private sector. fied two key issues—low levels of investment health) and in the social sectors (education and policy instability from to the one administration next. A bridging, one-year project in 2004 was intended to support a national dialogue among the full spectrum of political actors in Guatemala and to develop a broad-based commitment to increased The initial investment. design sought to use the project as a neutral an empiri- entity to convene all stakeholders in cal assessment of the problem and an explo- ration of solutions that would have support This effortfrom all elements of society. to implement the cor approach immediately ran into resistance from the Ministry, which was concerned about inclu- sion of political opponents and saw the Ministry of Education (MOE) as the only legiti- mate convener of such a dialogue. The pr was modified to support a national visioning pr 32 Education Reform Support Today funding, thus preventing poor municipalities funding, thuspreventing equalization fundsthatpooled allwithin-state state-level bycreating spending inpoorregions under- reduced Second, thefundinggreatly thecasebefor (as waspartially itsownsources capacityfrom revenue-raising allocations basedoneachmunicipality’ tradition-based financialallocations,or, worse, as opposedtoadhocor enrollment, rewarded that soastobedriven byformulas reformed First,thefundingwas features. particular 3 greatly. improved enrollment secondary points betweenthemid-1990sand2001, completion ratewentupby20per onaccess.Theprimary impact, particularly havehadmajor decades.Thesereforms recent in developingcountriesin undertaken reforms tuted someofthemostfar r Example 9. schools (basedonSchiefelbein,2006). basedoncommunity-controlled tained reform tosus- laid thefoundationforanapproach that reached were on solutions.Agreements acteristics, suchastheabilitytostayfocused fortheirpersonalchar- of variousorganizations pr and managementbasedonclearrules process a solutions asopposedtofundamentalvalues;b includeda)afocusonthefeasibilityof process ofsociety.trum Reasonsforthesuccessof spec- afairlybroad that waslegitimateacross toreform succeeded ingeneratinganapproach weekfor12weeks.Theprocess teams every Thiscommitteemetwiththetechnical reports. tovetthe wascreated 30 organizations some from ment) ofabout50representatives committee(mini-parlia- tion sector. Anadvisory intheeduca- one of10criticaltechnicalareas on eachofwhichwas todraftareport formed, ed segments ofsociety, includingthoseassociat- and equity inaccess keytodrivingimprovements were cation sector changeswithintheedu- manylarge-scale were efor While the key financial reforms were in primary education, these had a ripple effect on secondary education. onsecondary education,thesehadaripple effect inprimary were While thekeyfinancialreforms focus on process itselfandtheuseofgood focus onprocess ocedures; andc)selectionofrepresentatives ocedures; with theleft.Ten integratedteamswere m in Brazil.Inthemid-1990s,Brazilinsti- . These financialr Political maneuveringtosupport , but certain financialr but certain -r efor eaching education e ms hadtwo the reforms). centage eforms 3 s There own ) 800 linethatcitizensand PTAs coulduseto aFederal1- for qualityeducation,even creating accountable their localandstategovernments civilsocietytohold engaged andempowered tocitizenletters.He tion newsandrespond educa- nightlynewscasttorelay government’s minuteslotduringthefederal and usedathirty entitled “Wake forSchool,” Time UpBrazil!It’s apublicitycampaign radio talkshows,created in with civilsociety. TheMinisterparticipated anewtransparency thatcreated useful formats acquir begantodisplaythenewly The Ministry and otherissuesindialoguewiththepublic. used thedatatodrawattentioninequality funding andcapabilityofthedatasystems on dataanalysis,adroitly. the Heincreased did mobilizepublicopinionanddebate,based However, theMinister inmanyofthereforms, and maneuveringthanviaopendialogue. outviaquickpolitics may beeasiertocarry sive, andmostlyr Refor processes. inteachingorgovernance reforms cut-and-driedthan,say,tend tobemore should alsobenotedthatfinancialreforms It difficult. made subsequentchangesmore things donequickly, butsomeanalyststhinkit Thisgot approving. tions ofwhattheywere oftheimplica- totallyaware legislators were and dialogue;forexample,itisnotclearthat thr the then-Ministerpushedfinancialreforms level, of publicopinion.Attheparliamentary siderable politicalmaneuveringandmobilization con- noteasyandrequired were These reforms seems, dowork. 11,000to60,000,soincentives,it from school level.ThenumberofPTAs increased changesatthe used todrivegovernance funding.Thus,fundingwas theyreceived before teacher associations(PTAs) andbankaccounts butschoolshad tosetupparent- en formula, setbyanenrollment-driv- level, transferswere within statesandmunicipalities.Attheschool afloorofper-studentspending funds tocreate under-spending,andbyusingfederal from ough largely bystealthratherthandebate ough largely ms thatar ed data and assessment information in ed dataandassessmentinformation e less implementation-inten- equir e only afewdecisions, Education Reform Support Today 33 funding, s eform corporate y or policy r t the notion of policy-oriented and sustained e est and have gone beyond service delivery intervention facie evidence of is itself prima eign indeed. Service deliver is also hard to find. Weak states usually coexist states is also hard Weak to find. with weak private sectors and civil societies, wher philanthropy (such as endowing a think tank) is for social responsibility kinds of philanthropy can be found, but policy-based philanthropy is rare the poorer the in poor countries. Generally, country, where good policy is most sorely needed, the weaker the state, and the weaker the private sector and civil society at providing funds to nongovernmental policy reform units. Is there no way out? Partly the answer is, indeed, no. Donors may simply be called to support this kind of activity for a long time in the weaker countries. It is most likely wishful thinking to expect policy units, beyond the duration of the donor’ interest supporting in proper the analysis, donor intervention be needed to would not Thus, the verybegin with. need for donor support or governmental failure, or at least governmental that the donor inter- weakness, and suggests be sustained after directvention may well not support ceases. Government actors fail to carry out properanalysis not primarily because they areanalysis is technically weak, but because not a priority or results inconvenient in too many truths. The observed incapacity to carry out analysis and proper debate in the education sector is, to a large degree, a consequence of lack of political interest in objective analysis, and not due to an inherent lack of access to donor brainpower or skill. And the common reasoning that “once governments see what they will good things data and analysis can do, be enthused and will sustain the effort” is usually wrong, as has been proven by the constant failure of governments to sustain the lack EMIS and policy units. Unsatisfied with of interest and sustainability of data and policy units in government, the donors have turned to public NGOs or think tanks that work in the inter and into policy analysis and debate. But this approach is also problematic, because private willingness to suppor eate eform ucture is that such s” solution This point of nment. . m efor eatively capacity building should be to help cr better than nothing. But designing one package of reforms is still too much like a “planner’ and not enough like a “searching” solution. The ultimate goal of donor assistance and the infrastr whereby data-based of reforms is, of course, was real governmental e d n the eate can be divided in two groups: those out ongoing policy r institutions outside gover t y d that the system can continue to carry out eport Using a policy. misuse of education local units have access to a tax base, so, in principle, they might be sustainable. The conundrum, of course, is that if ther The advantage of supporting government units to carr oriented toward government and those oriented towar analysis, policy dialogue, and strategic analysis, policy dialogue, and strategic adaptive, communication can be ongoing and so gradual improvements cr view is based on the notion that policy reform itself has to be sustainable and on the awareness that every policy reform raises new problems to be solved. Activities that might help institutionalize r suppor BUILDING REFORM SUPPORTBUILDING REFORM INFRASTRUCTURE discussed above can help All of the activities support a given reform, a given package of or reforms, but they do not institutionalize a country’s to debate and design reform capacity Designing a given package in an ongoing way. r and mobiliza- of political acumen combination the Minister and and dialogue, tion of opinion his team were reforms able to pursue with pro- found and far-reaching in the impacts unusual developed world (based indeed, developing, or, Audrey-marieon personal communication, Schuh Moore, pre- September 2006; various Renato Souza; and discus- sentations by Paulo analysts). sions with Brazilian tegic communicatio or assistance and ptive…” ultimate goal of acity building shoul be ongoing and cy dialogue, and astructure whereby a-based analysis, to help cr don cap be infr dat poli stra can ada “The 34 Education Reform Support Today vate sectorsuppor viaprivatesectorinElSalvador, weakpri- port Example 10. of ideas. The basisofgooddecisionsiscompetition NGOsmakessense. supporting reform-minded, so evenwher analyticalunitshonest,for example, government analytical anddata-basedpr NGO is,ofcourse,recommended. approaches funding,somemixofthese issufficient there outforalongtime.If may needtobecarried take onr fundingNGOsthatcan the situationofdirectly can befound,donorsmayfindthemselvesin Ifneithercondition private sectorcanbefruitful. appr andpr corporate philanthropy ideasthatgobeyondtheusual policy reform private sectorisenlightenedenoughtosupport andthe receptive, isnotvery If government ataxbase. some hopeofsustainabilitythrough is unitsisagoodidea,asthere government most likelyinvestingin reform-minded, truly and isreceptive situation. Ifgovernment onacase-by-caseanalysisofeach has torely gover ornon- government deciding whethertosupport at allinbigger, richercountries.Ultimately, poor,relatively smallcountries,andnoactivity workevenin find privatelybasedpolicyreform deal,andonecan agreat But countriesvary grants.) institutionalsupport rather thanthrough contracts policy work,eveniftheydosothrough donor money—donorscontinuetounderwrite offinancingisstill,typically,but thesource can indeedbecomesustainableasinstitutions, alsoforafee, outadvocacyprocesses carry outstudiesforafee,or whichcarry firms, (Notethatlocalconsulting term. the short poorcountriesin self-sustaining inmostvery tobecome orotherwise) activities (government tional philanthropy and service delivery ornar- delivery andservice tional philanthropy tradi- USAID andtendedtoengage onlyinvery from ed in1987,gotmuchofits earlysupport Foundation forEducational Development),creat- Desarr FEPADE parael (FundaciónEmpresarial oaches, then donor partnerships withthe oaches, thendonorpartnerships nment institutions as “reformist” agents nment institutionsas“reformist” ollo Educativo—Entr esear e Institutionalization of reform sup- Institutionalization ofreform ch and advocacy roles, andthis ch andadvocacyroles, gover t in Peru. InElSalvador,in Peru. nments ar epreneurial essur oblem-fixing r e eceptive and e can keep or r Example 11. a is infrastructures ment andNGOpolicyreform ofgovern- support In othersituations,direct support. policy-orientedactivitieswithfullprivate toward andthengraduallyencourageashift area, delivery grants) thatmaybeintheservice por debates. Donorscantestthewatersbysup- topubliceducation with ongoingsupport theprivatesectormightpitchin where predict to hard be changingrecently. Thus,itisvery thoughthingsmay interventions, responsibility orcorporatesocial scends philanthropic tran- topubliceducationpolicyrarely support privatesectorandcivilsociety Peru, country, Fr tothepublicsectoronpolicyanalysis;see port issues,sup- of privatesectoropiniononreform policydebateandanalysis,mobilization direct (suchas and“strategic”interventions reforms); schools howtoimplementexistingpolicy thatteach level, publicsectorpilotprojects school- grammatic” actions(suchassupporting “pro- donations, corporatesocialresponsibility); suchasadopt-a-schoolschemes, delivery, andprivatelyfundedservice tional philanthropy divides itsactivitiesinto“point”actions(tradi- inLatinAmerica.FEPADEeducation group policyactivitiesofanyprivate most visionary ably multifacetedinstitutionwithsomeofthe issues). Ithasevolved,however, intoaremark- vocationaleducation policyissues(around row the key reforms. Second,USAIDhelpedschool- the keyreforms. understand andbeableto implementsomeof to officials USAID helpedtraingovernment level, headoffice levels. First,attheprovincial opment inimplementingtheser capacitydevel- USAIDsupported cial reforms, finan- cy adviceassistanceonpost-apartheid a over infrastructure support reform ing arobust academic actors,andNGOthuscreat- officials, capacity developmentofgovernmental donors, suchastheNetherlands,investedin South Africa,forexample,USAIDandother eund, 2005).Incontrast,inamuchbigger worthwhile investment. worthwhile period of about 10 years. After providing poli- period ofabout10years.Afterproviding ting initialactivities(say efor m suppor “Distributed” institutionalization t capacity inSouthAfrica.In , via matching efor ms attwo Education Reform Support Today 35 con- t original work support- s m, the Alliance formed the efor of Music and Museum of Ar y ways to work collaboratively on edu- e several community-based organizations, , to Rican education system. A private uni- to Rican education system. A private ting school improvement. That study served own out of the SJMAE’ ing school-level change and has evolved to encompass a variety of strategies for promoting, supporting, and sustaining education reform in Puerto Rico (based on personal knowledge of the authors). In the spring of 1998 a group par- of teachers, ents, and community activists started meeting to explor cation reform of Columbia. With in the District a planning grant from the Ford Foundation, Organized and District Community Voices Informed for Change in Education (DC VOICE) stitute a reform support infrastructure that has gr inked those supportslinked those to efforts to reshape policies regarding support how district-level be structured.needed to to After working recordestablish a in Cataño, the of success to turnSJMAE knew it had attention to the its sustainability: how could issues of scale and they affect education on a broader scale in Puerto could Rico, and what policy innovations ensure happen- the sustainability of what was Alliance’s leaders would ing in Cataño? The dialogue regularly but a with policy makers, more policy systematic assessment of the A work was called for. implications of their 2001–2002 drewstudy conducted in lessons from the Cataño experience for island-wide policy concerning the role of district offices in suppor among all as the basis for facilitated dialogue Puerto Rico’s superintendents and the Department of Education. As a result, the Puerto Rican Department of Education and the K. Kellogg Foundation committed sufficientW. resources to the Alliance’s work to allow the program to expand to six other districts. Based interven-on its success at linking school-level tions to policy r Institute for Education Policy and Community evaluates Development in 2005. The Institute effective grassroots their initiatives to discover for the policy and institutional implications Puer versity the College Board of Puerto the Puerto Rico, Rican Community Foundation, and the Conservator m. The follow- in a domestic efor e infrastructur t Institutionalization of reform sup- support network that was initially suppor m m efor efor U.S. context. Example 12. port in the United States: San Juan and D.C. The San Juan Metropolitan Washington, Alliance for Education (SJMAE) in Puerto Rico is a r seeded and supported by the Ford Foundation. SJMAE was founded in 1994 and initially worked with the 11 schools in the Cataño district in San Juan. The Alliance provided school- level support for reforms in classroom practice and school organization and management, but ing example documents efforts to develop a r nd district-level staffand district-level and apply understand reforms.many of the Other donors provided often more in fact, similar assistance; one than Both USAID the same units. donor assisted embassy supportedand the Netherlands the an NGO that specialized Education Foundation, analysis and providingin policy debate and other services.data digests, among After the end of apartheid, col- many of these NGOs funding turnedlapsed, as donor toward govern- though some eventually ment itself. But, even NGOs providedceased to exist, these useful services helping see for 10 to 15 years or so, the country through a remarkable transforma- contribution tion. In that sense their legacy and has certainly been sustained, even if as institu- have tions they may not have been. Others made a successful transition to contract-based providers of analytical services to government as opposed to being sup- or the private sector, ported by donors’ institutional grants. While of South Africa may be unique in the sharpness the contradictions it faced and exemplified, much of the same sorts of issues can be found way in all countries, albeit in a less dramatic authors). (based on personal knowledge of the The need to institutionalize reform support is The United not peculiar to developing countries. In States, for example, has a similar need. spite of the fact that routine management of United education usually works better in the coun- States than it does in most developing have sim- tries, countries like the United States ilar problems in sustaining r 36 Education Reform Support Today develop. Inthisway helpingto that thepolicy-levelcomponentsare tr some school-levelcomponentsthatconsciously thathave istosetupprojects support reform A andself-aware. formal more willtendtobe that emerges Infrastructure thentheRefor actively promoted, are ofactorsamongwhomrelationships array a tosupporting conscious andplannedapproach Ifdonorshavea infrastructure. support reform various activitiescanfor thatimplementthese The institutionsorgroups INFRASTRUCTURE SUPPOR PROJECTIZING DATA, ANALYSIS, DIALOGUE,AND on personalknowledgeoftheauthors). active publicvoiceforqualityeducation(based and informed amore its missionofpromoting tofulfill ous foundationandcorporatesources vari- stituents. DCVOICEattractsfundingfrom itsvariouscon- workthrough organizing data, analysis,communication,andcommunity- outits Anditcarries will takeonorsupport. to identifykeyissuesthecollaborativenetwork membersandpartners together itsnumerous work,DCVOICEannuallybrings support reform ofits therelevance collaboration andensures ofhowitpromotes peting forfunding).Aspart NGOscom- ductive (asopposedtoonemore tion amongthoseentitieswouldbemostpro- issues inWashington, sothatbettercollabora- workedoneducation tions andactivistsalready the city. thatmanyorganiza- Theyalsorealized educationin and accountabilityforimproved demand lic asessentialtogeneratinggreater pub- andbetterorganized informed saw amore educationinWashington,to improve D.C.They andindividualsworking organizations numerous networkof support came togetherasareform to discriminateinfavorof the poor(bycreating nent thatcoulddesignschool financingpolicies mighthaveapolicy-levelcompo- donor project school implementation.Thus, forexample,a to policy reform “walk downtheladder”from y br particularly effective wayto“projectize” effective particularly to implement, on the ground, thepolicies to implement,ontheground, oad front of reform agendas through an agendasthrough ofreform oad front T TO AREFORMSUPPORT , policy-level projects can policy-level projects a m for mal orinfor m Support mal ronments thatar ronments the changesinpolicyandinstitutionalenvi- work witheducationsectorauthoritiestodefine canthen initiatives.Aproject improvement the conditionsneededtoassur contribute tor can school-levelinterventions Furthermore, years. mentation foranothertwotothree imple- with ongoingissuesthatmaynotrequire thatassistthegovernment dialogue services and will thisgeneratestoputinplaceadvisory years ago,whiletakingadvantageofthegood- setinplacetwotothree of policiesthatwere implementation cansupport not exist,aproject the policy. Alternatively, ifsuchcontinuitydoes school-levelpilotingof tion andthusrequires toimplementthepolicyinques- seriously try beginsto government at whichacounterpart assist withapolicydevelopmentandthepoint years betweenthepointatwhichadonorcan isoftenalagoftwotothree this isthatthere for Thereason continuity ofdonorapproach. isconsiderable there where only inacountry issues incontinueddonoractivity)canbedone ning thesamepolicy-levelandschool-level (twin- should benotedthatthisidealapproach to onhow be trainingdistrictandschoolofficials weight), whileaschool-levelcomponentcould aheavier inwhichpoorstudents carry formulas activities couldthenhelpaddress). (whichERS up theladdertopolicy-levelreforms canwalk lized. Thishowaschool-levelproject and communicationactivitiescouldbemobi- which data,analysis, in relationships—around gover issues—changesinthelaw,identify reform in a for successar fairly traditional school-level pilot project can fairly traditionalschool-levelpilotproject implement these formulas. However,implement theseformulas. it nance policy efor e going to prevail. Inthismanner,going toprevail. e , m needed ifthoseconditions in administrativestr support bydocumenting support e the successof uctures, Education Reform Support Today 37 , e e e un . Ther oject, e often in e not likely om working ticularly if, in eign policy ocess. Ther nment. cing civil society evail ar un pr e of for m ideas that r eas, since overall einfor y’s gover ection of policy and ess in such settings. oaches. Nonetheless, efor nment institutions ar economic and social ogr event donors fr d appr is by r t m is a long-r o” level. ticular ar m eason to be involved in such a e amenable to new polices. tionately small. easonable civil society or espect to donors, par efor oving. Such countries ar ting policy r are disadvantages to the ERS opor e e these conditions pr t to help implement overall policy e is a r ust” the overall dir is impr nance overall, they ar nment will not pr y eign policy r e often mor elief; policy r tance to the donor countr oups at the “micr oach can still work in such settings, but the donor oach can still work in such settings, but the uitful way to invest in such situations, but the uitful way to invest in such situations, but nment’s ideas in par e is a for Reasons and Possible Reactions oving gover vice deliver oach most likely is, again, an inputs-based pr oach most likely is, again, an inputs-based ents’ gr gaining position with r om assistance oriented towar educed scope for suppor , since countries wher y to gover y ong bar esumably ther policy-based appr ovide advisors and suppor str Need for immediate r addition to impr or geopolitical impor a development. On the other hand, only gover hostile to dialogue, but ther community life, and gover at that level, then a good place to star including par A agency has to decide to “tr pr will be r contrar policy and ser to benefit fr is likely to be impatience with long-ter countries in transition ar ERS could be a fr investment would have to be pr The best appr since policy-based work will typically not pr Pr countr e y— y ong oving e not ver vice deliver vices and nment str efor oblems Rendering ERS , depending on team y y Pr ent and hostile to open y of ser om disaster or conflict t gover ts ther ministr

nment institutions that ar opriate or Less Likely to Succeed nance and ser esilient, but has own ideas, ging fr e n o ections; tendency may be specific

o gover counterpar open to discussion about policy dir t in place Counterpar and r in context of good or impr Gover nontranspar discussion, evidence-based policy suggestions, or innovation in general, in a context of generally poor deliver management Emer ype of Countr Inappr T In addition to the context-related caveats mentioned above, ther approach as well as the advantages. We raise these disadvantages and advantages for threeapproach as well as the advantages. We reasons. First, because such awareness can prevent the disappointment that might ensue if one is excessively optimistic at the outset. Second, and more important, because being aware of the problems can help mitigate them. Third, because colleagues and leaders in donor agencies may be aware of the problems but may not be as aware of the advantages. In short, knowing the limitations and advantages of the approach is an operational consideration, because it can affect how one implements ERS, and a “salesmanship” consideration, because it affects how one defends the approach to one’s colleagues in a donor agency. In this section we recognizeIn this section we that there are limitations to the ERS approach and discuss ways to the limitations are though, in some countries harderovercome to overcome than them. Evidently, below shows situations wherein others. The table the limitations are likely to be very difficult to overcome and where, therefore, more “input” projects traditional are likely to remain the optimal or wheretype of donor assistance, for an ERS approachserious adaptations may be needed to work. 5. Advantages) (and Limitations ERS Approachof the 38 Education Reform Support Today respectively. easytoadapttheeducationsector. These are sections5and6on civilsocietyandgovernance, indicators,seeUSAID (1998).Noteinparticular description oftypical governance athttp://www.usaid.gov/policy/budget/cbj2005/afr/pdf/641-005.pdf. project, Decentralized LocalGovernance of theStrengthened Fora 4 match),thelastcolumncannot. each other(theconceptsinthesamerows from across advantages.Notethatwhilethetwofirstcolumnscanberead shows theinherent The For suggestions on this, see USAID (2003). For a description of a combined education and governance program, inGhana,seethedescription program, For suggestionsonthis,seeUSAID(2003). Foradescriptionofcombinededucationandgovernance empower citizens. of thepolicypr enhance thetranspar pr may pr stand theappr countries, maynotunder par Host-countr appr They mayopposean “philanthr pur to decentralizeschool dir that goesinapar par an actualpolicychange, one definestheimpactas The pr inter “played with”byvarious It iseasytogetmisledand enhancing pr than forstandar ther The pr see r it maytakesometimeto The pr having nooutput. significant chanceof ojects ofamor table belowshowsthelimitationsand,ineachcase,suggestionsfordealingwiththem.Italso ection (e.g.,adecision chases), ther ticularly apolicychange ticularly inpoor e ar oach thattriesto est gr esults. Limitations ofan ocess isrisky ocess isnoteasy— ocess isnotquick— ERS Appr efer traditional e fewerblueprints opic” natur oups. y ojects. gover oach and ocess and oach d, input- e e ticular is a nments, er . If e. ency - Limitations andAdvantagesofanERSAppr traditional kind. most ofwhosecomponentsar may beonlyonepar Alter (See sectiononpr appr One mayneedtoacceptthatthe teacher trainingortextbookpr input andpr overall pr actors andtheirinter the policyissues,ingettingtoknow Invest alotoftimeintheinitialforayinto r policy changes.Finally tionality mayleadtosuper donors mayuseconditionality pr One canallyoneselfwithotherdonorsto many policychanges,notjustasingleone. pr can accepttheriskasinher debate, andmakepolicy measur this risk.Onecanr Many mechanismscanbeusedtominimize politics andpolicycir committing toguidesthr out apar most experiencedguidancebefor allows thefundingpr Select animplementationappr Select themostexperiencedimplementers. development sectors. local gover and modelsindemocracygover or localdevelopmentpr those inagover Redefine outcomessotheyar efor essur ocess andspr oach isnotsuitableinallcountries. natively m activity onlyasmallpor e e forthesamechange;some oject thatalsoincludestraditional ticular implementer as lear Means toover nance, orlocaleconomic , thepolicy-basedappr ocess activitiessuchas Limitations nance, citizenpar ead theriskbybacking ning howtoanalyze, econditions forsuccess.) edefine theimpact t ofalar ovider toseekthe -r cles. 4 , onecanmakethe elationships befor oject—seek allies . ough thelocal come Alter ficial adoptionof ent inthe . ger pr , butcondi- e similarto ovision. natively e oach that tion ofan of amor e singling ticipation, oach oject, nance, , one e e oach host countr or billionsofdollarsthe donor can“leverage”millions that itbenefitsthepoor),a a policy change(e.g.,altering about andadvocacyfora needed topr thousand dollarsofinvestment strategy countr for It isthemosthighlyleveraged implementation pr pr beyond thepolicychange tinue tousethisknowledge their demandsandwillcon citizens willlear implementation, because incr citizen demandwillfoster Getting policychangethr education, orschoolnutrition. example, formor expr have tobemobilized T demand-driven. national authoritiesandar r appr gover r sustainable andr It islikelytoleadthemost favor ofr in favorofthepoor esults ar esults, becausethehost o school financefor ocess andintothepolicy m ofdonorinputintoa generate r eased accountabilityin ess demands,for oaches change.The Advantages ofan nment’s systemsand ERS Appr y’s development . Forthefewhundr ural ar e “owned”bythe y’s ownspending ovide advice efor oach eas. n toexpr e quality ms, citizens eplicable ocess. , mula so or in ough ess e ed - Education Reform Support Today 39 secure e eading one’s risk, or that one can have a eading one’s risk, or that one can have policy dialogue process. This usually costs ones as well. he “Advantages” column in the table to the column in The “Advantages” policy-based that ERS—or any left notes approach—is donor highly leveraged the most to a simple way This suggests activity available. one may simply have no avoid the risk that impact, or very allows a little impact. What policy-based approach to bring so much lever- input being age is that it is inexpensive—the purchasedadvisors for might be one or two and some supportone or two person-years for a very little, compared to massive school build- or almost any other ing, teacher training, assistance. The commodity or training-based one can low cost of policy inputs means that thus attempt to change more than one policy, spr relatively small policy-based component in a project more that has larger, input- traditional or process-based components. In that sense of activities the policy-based component of a set is similar to one’s more speculative investments in a balanced portfolio: high risk, yet high payoff. a donor might invest in either a Thus, variety of such ventures, spreading the risk, or in some high-risk ventures but in mor elief; important is the consideration below ossibility of redefiningpossibility goals as education governanceleast two prominent goals. At U.K.’s USAID and the donors, namely Department for International Development (DfID), are making governance the centerpiece approach,of their overall development and are already projects defining whose sectoral emphases are governance-related. Using governance activities goals even in sectoral increasingis thus likely to gain legitimacy and may be a structural trend. table above, one can say summarize the To of the that the advantages and disadvantages ERS approach, as opposed to a traditional school-based approach, are the same as the advantages and disadvantages of truly developmental activities as opposed to philanthropy or giveaways. This is the well-known trade-off between immediate impact or relief on the one hand and sustainability or replication on the there is a whole spectrum in Naturally, other. not just a trade-offthis matter, between two or polar opposites. “Giving away” textbooks money is the least developmental possibility, on r but has the most immediate impact providing funding for textbook writing or textbook procurement management advisors moves in the direction of sustainability; and reforming that budgets and policies (e.g., by ensuring teacher salaries do not eat up 90 percent of the budget), so that countries provide themselves with the expertise on how to write textbooks, is the most leveraged and sustainable approach. An 40 Education Reform Support Today Education Reform Support Today 41 ease ms and efor ts developed and led by to sector r t for actually learning in the e sustainability and focuses on USAID’s premier approach to e m efor oving education, as did agency policy state- oving education, as did agency policy fective policy analysis units within education what children ar classroom or nonformal educational settings. USAID missions work with host governments to adopt and implement policies that incr educational efficiency, promote equitable access, and raise educational quality... An important aim is to help host countries develop their own capacity to design appropri- ate policies on an ongoing basis, manage human and financial effectively, and build sus- This includes developing tainable capacity. ef ministries. (USAID, 2005, pp. 8 -9). capacity-building ef host-country governments. This approach helps ensur Systemic reform is the foundation of USAID’s work to strengthen education systems. Over the past decade, the Agency has developed and refined a sector-support approach that emphasizes suppor more recent trends are really not inconsistent with longer-term trends. Another approach is to focus directly on longer-term trends, ideally not agencies but in donor agency, just in one’s own longer-termin general. These trends in thinking are and fairly sustained within given agencies are surprisingly similar across agencies that would otherwise appear to have different approaches. Starting with the longer-term trends, one can note that USAID’s most current education poli- sys- cy statement (USAID, 2005) still makes temic r impr ments from 10 years ago: of e can sell f will need to lobby for Because these trends f . support activities can be m efor This section therefore looks at the 5 own donor agency operational or bureaucratic terms. s e ticipant comments and feedback from the USAID Education Overview Course in, Hagerstown, Maryland, October 2–13, 2005. ticular issue of how agency staf clear space in their own agencies for this clear space in their own agencies for ecisely because of the political natur Par 5 Pr Thus far the ERS approachThus far the ERS has been justified from or “theoretical” a “developmental” point about develop- Given what we know of view. ment, supporting high-leverage reform activi- simply donating commodi- ties, as opposed to ties or undertaking is the pilot experiments, And, given what we know “right” thing to do. about reform, it is hardto imagine designing reform support interventions that do not take con- into account the politics and institutional we text in the ways described above. However, recognize that within international development agencies, operational staff are challenged to “justify” their programs and project designs in mor of political- ERS, and because the management ly driven processes requires greater flexibility, strategic decisions, and timely, adaptability, development agency staf the room to support the kinds of activities we have described (it is ironic that they will need to work). Confronted by the press for fast results, donor agency officials might well ask themselves how r justified bureaucratically in the agencies where specific they work. In fact, we have voiced this concern. 6. Approachan ERS Justifying par decision makers on using resources for reform support activities. In explaining or justifying reform support project activities, or a reform supportwith- component in a more traditional approach, there are two basic choices. One is to try to justify the approach in terms of the most recent trends in one’ this approach has its dan- can change quickly, gers. But this approach can also be of some use, particularly if it can be demonstrated that 42 Education Reform Support Today that couldsuppor atechniqueadditionaltoSWAPs,sidered or couldbecon- support discussed.Reform are table wher against theprivilegeofgainingaseatat (ideas,geographicalareas) ticular projects tochoosepar- donors’prerogatives trades off Education inAfrica[ADEA],2002),andthat logue (AssociationfortheDevelopmentof thatemphasizespolicydia- oriented approach has muchincommonwithERS:itisaprocess- SWAP systemicreforms. as awaytopromote systems, though countries’ownprocurement andwork which tendstopooldonorresources (SWAP), Approach istheSectorWide particular, modality, donorsin fairlypopularwithEuropean ofthis incarnation noted above,acurrent ofthe1990s.As approach the non-project do so,andUSAIDhasdonesointhepast,with otherdonors sector-wideapproaches, support, sponsorbudget While USAIDdoesnotcurrently &Fasih,2004). or so(seeCrouch nent ofWorld Bankloansoverthepastdecade compo- and sustainabilityhavebeenagrowing itemsthatemphasizeaccountability “reform” similartoERS’s.Finally,using anapproach significantattention, receives tics ofreform thepoli- courseoneducationreform, lar “core” Bank, 1995,p.137).IntheWorld Bank’spopu- earlier(Worldback as1995,andprobably forsustainableeducationchangeasfar reform Bank notedthecentralityofpolitics Forexample,theWorlddonors’ approaches. inother canbeobserved Similar concerns ownership: ofsustainability andlocal the importance emphasize trends themostrecent for results, Inspiteofpressure trends. with longer-term Shorter-r tor implementation-focused companionstoasec- pr traditionalinput-based sustainability ofmore activities canenhancethepolicyimpactand support Reform and/orproject. program reform sector-wide acomprehensive, require support funding asafor doesnotnecessarilyuse ever, support reform ojects and provide well-targeted supports as supports well-targeted ojects andprovide -wide reform program. program. -wide reform un trends are notmutuallyexclusive are un trends e fundamental government policies fundamental government m t of leverage.Nordoesr SW APs. UnlikeSWAPs, how- eform tainability andsus- withreform tojustifyaconcern trends whileonecouldfocusonrecent In short, approach. atthecenterofits whole putting governance DfIDisalso trend. is notlikelyjustashort-term And thisisnottakingplaceonlyatUSAID,soit As noted by many observers, ther As notedbymanyobservers, activities. support caseforreform the internal canbetappedtomake that trend longer-term ability impact, becausetheyar thatshouldseekshort-term projects observing high-levelofficials mightarisefrom results forbetter deliver ultimateyield.Thepressure that taketimeto satisfaction withallprocesses isnotnecessarilydis- with thelackofresults Thedissatisfaction thanreal). apparent more (which iswhywenotethatthiscontradiction thecontradiction resolves noticed andprobably aspect tothiscontradictionthatisnotoften isan Butthere insustainablereforms. interest andasimultaneous fastresults, ble, relatively ent contradictionbetweenadriveformeasura- this has been much more commonineducation this hasbeenmuchmore other palpablequalityoutcome. Unfortunately outcomes orany oflearning interms expressed “quality,”ented toward buttheyhavenogoals forexample,ar cation projects, Manyedu- but thatfailtodeliverthoseeffects. alleviation. (Tobias, 2006) inhealth,education,andpoverty programs nance anddemocracyevenaswesupport issuesofgover- lacking, wemustaddress accountabilitymaybe government tries, where ment… We knowthatin“developing”coun- ofgovern- theresponsibilities of whichare fordevelopment,andall necessary which are allof conditions neededforeconomicgrowth, safety, the educateacriticalmass,orcreate sustainability, citizens'healthand secure noblest ofintentions,outsiderscannotwith donors.Butdespitethe the international to theirowngovernments expectations from andshiftedcitizens’ shirk theirresponsibility to thathaveallowedgovernments ice delivery W e've often created parallelsystemsofserv- e've oftencreated , and hencer , it seems that an interest insustain- it seemsthataninterest efor m, isadeeperand e typical pilotpr e nominally ori- e is anappar- ojects, Education Reform Support Today 43 those t d” the results of reform sup- either at headquarters or field , war the one policy one tries to promote. one tries to the one policy This results. “Bringing for Ensuring that reformEnsuring support approaches, if tried, are addressedfew policies, at a there just one, in case instead of is a failure at is also necessary envi- because the policy ronment developing countries is unpre- in has to be readydictable, and one to strike at opportunities. or A timely memorandum well-written but relatively casual position policy making in ways paper can influence advice processthat a planned policy might memorandum or posi- not be able to, if the tion paper is presented time. at a critical Including reform support activities as smaller components of more traditional projects aimed at immediate results. Precisely because reform support activities can be inexpensive, compared to providing infrastructure, teacher training, or vehicles, they can be an effective though small component moreof larger, traditional projects. ERS or activities can connect school-level pilots demonstrations projects to the broader policy agenda by documenting and communicat- ing the results obtained and the policy and institutional conditions that suppor port activities by justifying them in terms of outputs or outcomes borrowed from the field of governance. This may require an explicit alliance with the governance interests in a donor agency mission level. • • • ed ea- esults, es some mixture of the equir ends. These trends refer to the tr m particular or in direction (toward the poor, Reference to longer-term trends and stand- ing policy and, if desired, noting that emerging thinking is not inconsistent with the longer-ter need for reform support or ERS-like approaches to generate ownership and sustainability. Noting that reform support activities provide the highest leverage. Investing a few hundr thousand dollars in policy advice, analysis, or strategic communication that can help shift local spending of millions of dollars in a improved systems of accountability to citizens, or to deliver actual results definable at the child level) is a good investment. terms of reductions in infant mortality, for han in, say, the health sector, where outcomes the health sector, than in, say, in areexample, to describe a commonly used donor’s efforts.It seems reasonable to expect traditional projects that emphasize inputs like textbook distribution to actu- teacher training or improvementsally contribute to measurable in learning within three to five years. An important donor hypothesis, thus, is that is not necessarily impatient agency leadership but is, with approaches aimed at sustainability, impatient with deliveryindeed, and reasonably, projects do not deliver measurable out- that comes. This creates the impression that donor with any- agency leadership would be impatient r thing that takes a long time to deliver even reform approacheswork. This may that not be the case. After all, donor agencies engage with projects in governance issues, affectwhich take a long time to demonstrably mortali-“people-level” indicators such as infant same token, though, activities such By the ty. in termsas ERS ought to have goals definable of the reforms themselves—goals similar to those used in governance projects—so they a r can deliver something measurable within sonable planning horizon. Justifying and explaining reform support activities, then, r following: • • 44 Education Reform Support Today Education Reform Support Today 45 eexisting tion to the cost of the supply-side analytical s opor vention can take place within the context Policy developments in most countries take Policy developments in most countries ferings. Being ready with a very proficient policy decision climax, is a good way to have particular topic (the introduction of free activity, if the paper and policy dialogue sessions activity, organized around it are constructive in spirit, extremely well argued, and use good marketing technique. This kind of effort is not expensive, but it can enable entrée into further policy debate. It requires constant watchfulness and timely intervention as well as some pr of be offeredanalysis and position paper that can to a government in the middle of within weeks, a impact way out of pr connection and access to data. This kind of inter of a more traditional project, with a small policy reform add-on. resource or poor and unequal results, inequality policy reformsand can underpin oriented at dialogue impact can Policy quality and equity. probably had for as little as US$100,000 be using these sorts of techniques. 2. to do with place on a calendar that has nothing At certaindonors’ analytical or dialogue plans. points in the policy process, there will be a sort aroundof climax in the debate, and discussion a secondary in Uganda at present, education for These sortsexample) will become super-heated. of climaxes in the policy process can take place in in the lead-up to a new piece of legislation, days of a an election campaign, or in the early new government. An intervention at those points can be leveraged many more times (and hence more cost effectively terms in policy of impact) than a constant barrage of analyses and forums that obey the donor’s planned cycles or a policy unit’ did s e—for six eform e education system today s unequal than South Africa’ vention. Following ar e inter t serious and well-thought-out r project can inject fresh data, gathered ventions in operational or bureaucratic e A om section 4) into policy dialogue sessions before the end of apartheid. Such dramatic comparisons and illustrations can be useful. Simple data exercises (whether with fresh empirical data or powerful analysis of existing data) can be used to focus attention on appears mor particularly promising possibilities: 1. suppor quality (see the on schooling inexpensively, discussion of reading in Peru in example 1 fr that foster dramatic awareness of the poor policy quality of schooling. For example, most makers have seldom heard a poor or rural child read and have little idea of how poor the quality of schooling is, in terms of simple metrics such compared to the as children’s reading ability, quality of schooling their own, middle- or upper- middle-class children receive. They also have little idea how unequal their systems ar example, Angola’ Support Now?) Can Be Done (What Section 4 provides examples of activities that reformcan make up an education support project; 5 explains that there section are certain circumstancesapproach in which an ERS might or might need importantnot be a good idea, section 6 suggests ways to adaptations; and justify and explain the importance of such inter though, terms. As a matter of practicality, smaller reform support interventions can be within the confines of an carried out quickly, existing project or when smaller amounts of funding are available for quick-start activities. These typically require less complex planning quick and less justification and can yield for a impact or lay experimental foundations mor 7. Jump-Starting ReformEducation 46 Education Reform Support Today that ar and demand-ledbasis,trainingtocountries 5. applied mor soitsactivitiescanbe scale environment cating itsactivities,butbyalteringthelarger- impact,notbyrepli- activity canhavebroader those emerging from conflictoradisaster. from In those emerging the challengeofworkingin fragilestatesor A firmly. ideas ontheagendamore place somereform economy aspects,mightbeagoodwayto emphasisonthepolitical withmore perhaps level,and atacountry offered course, perhaps Collaboration withtheWorld Bankonthis inreform. interest the courseandgrowing subscribed, whichatteststoboththequalityof tohighdemand)isnowover- 2006 inresponse mally of (nor- courseoneducationreform Bank’s core necessar andadvocatefor space, mobilizesupporters, communicationanddialoguetoclear require have policyorinstitutionalimplicationsthatwill lessons. Theseconditionsforsuccessoften eachother’s joint planningand/ortoobserve a teacher training,bymanagingtheschooldayin school leveltomaximizetheimpactof,say, tions forsuccessneedtobechangedatthe thatshowhowthecondi- Data canbegathered experience. itson-the-ground aboutfrom learns someofthepolicyissuesthatit address sue data,analysis,andcommunicationthat 4. seem towork. ifthesmalleractivities equity ofpolicyreform, thatfocusprimarilyonqualityand projects riences thatcouldbetakentoscaleinlater example insection4above)candevelopexpe- cation qualityandequityindicators(seeNigeria onsimpleedu- knowledgeandpressure roots grass- tocreate impact. Usingexistingprojects forfuture can beusedtolaythegroundwork matic inputintopolicymaking,existingprojects 3. way thatmakesitpossibleforteacherstodo sixth possibility worth considering concerns sixth possibilityworth Projects canalsosupply,Projects onanopportunistic An existing school-level project canalsopur- An existingschool-levelproject Even ifonecannothaveimmediateanddra- e fer serious aboutr r y ed onceayear efor e widely. ms. Inthismannerapilot efor , but of m. TheWorld fer ed twicein r ministerial entitiesshouldornotbe andlocal needed andhowcentral,regional, actually are whichsystemsupports rethink cation, andfacilitateddialoguecouldhelp education sector, well-timedanalysis,communi- imageofan thestandard recreating reflexively aneducationsystem.Insteadof how torebuild nationaldialogueabout foundation ofabroad the canform taken withanERSapproach, if of conflictorinitsimmediateaftermath, upduringtheperiod ties thatmayhavegrown educationactivi- nity-based orNGO-supported thecommu- from orinvestinginlearning areas, themselvesandthriveinstrife-torn reestablish neededtohelpschools are which supports schooling.Documenting assuring effective thefundamentalchallengeof can bestsupport howtheeducationsystem tunity tohelprethink however, asanoppor- couldactuallybetreated So muchattentionfocusedonbasicinputs, etc. needstoberedefined, curriculum hired, sive numbersofteachersneedtobefoundand mas- Leone.Schoolsneedtoberebuilt, Sierra Sudan,Afghanistan,or system, asinsouthern acompletelycollapsededucation ing torebuild fundingfocusesonhelp- these cases,external eestablished. Education Reform Support Today 47 - 7 of educa- e countries that demonstrate t y.asp)—and this is surely on the outside range of y.asp)—and ownership of and commitment to edu- y ease in donor engagement in supporting tions of budgets in some countries, due to the shar oviding a number of cases that exemplify how oviding a number of cases that exemplify is predicated fostering on the notion that while just on greater funding agency engagement and country—the individuals and institutions that incr least partly—a and craft matter of technique and learned.codified, practiced, This document, pr It opor But this impression is created by the large donor role in countries that . g/scripts/cde/DoQuer With lives countr 6 ound US$400 billion per year (estimated from the World Bank’s EdStats service).ound US$400 billion per year (estimated from the World If s ar e equiring est countries, where donor input can, indeed, make a material and direct difference, at the between 100 percent and 200 percent of current levels (current levels being about US$8 bil- e poor This has been right to criticize is earned by engagement. y eplicable. . ficult art, r dif y in turn, affect people’ , to increase somewher poor and “donor darlings.” If one extends the analysis to all developing countries (i.e., all low- and middle-income coun poor and “donor darlings.” If one extends the analysis to all developing countries (i.e., all low- and middle-income changes in the ver y e e ent spending on education is somewher r estimated from DAC online data at http://www1.oecd.or , ovement is a ver ove the scalability of innovations the coun-ove the scalability of innovations the sound governance indicate an encouraging simultaneously ver gin, if well managed, sustained, and r eign assistance wer e eat deal. The pictur The authors acknowledge George Taylor, Chief of Party, CBE Project, Cambodia, who coined this phrase. The authors acknowledge George Taylor, Given commonly accepted perceptions of donor dependence and large pr more than setting conditions on loans, provid-ing technical advice, or “donor harmonization. policy skill, but even more on increased The ERS approach provides a way for donors to engagement of a variety of actors within a bridge the gap between pilot projectspolicy and ultimately will determine whether policies gen- change, and to work with counterparts within uinely reflect local will, and whether they can host countries to bring about policy change. be implemented and, indeed, translated into tangible improvements in education. only indirectly. Furthermore,only indirectly. fostering policyimpr cation reforms. ERS is founded not However, mar optimism—the assistance would cover about 5 percent of total education spending. Thus, what countries do with their own money matters a gr impr tries introduce as pilot projects. But this policy-level work may tion coming from donor support, this may seem a strange thing to say lion per year tries), total cur for such meager resources, and if resources werework with, only a trivial dent all donors had to and craft, can be largely that, like all technique the developing world’s educa-could be made in step in the right direction,tional backlogs. One codify some like the earlier ERS series, tries to away from the thought that simple resource and attempts to inspire of this knowledge by transfers will make much of a difference, is topromote improvements via demonstration proj- others have approachedects and the transfer of technical innovations. the problem and have solved it. The requirements are varied having a But if these projects enter sterile policy environ- pilot proj-ments, then the receptivity is poor, toolbox, deploying the tools in a harmonious being nimble and sensitive to and logical way, ects remain at the pilot stage, and little isscaled up or sustained. Parallel implementa- the policy environment,adapt and being able to tion processes are set up that do not doenough to build up capacity point to remember (which perhaps to conditions. And, in all of this, the foremost best sum- marizes the whole ERS approach) is that the 7 6 noted again and again, even with the most noted again and again, even with the promising technologies, such as interactiveradio instruction, or certain teaching tech-niques. Donors thus seek to improve the poli- The recent trends towardcy environment, as a way of both ensuring that greater coordination strategies and plans for achieving the sive and to helpcountries use their own funds well, of external assistance, articulated comprehen- Millennium Development Goals, and pooled funding to suppor ven if the developed countries wereEven if the developed to commit to foreignas much of their budgets aid as even among us darethe most idealistic hope, aid is difficult, policy change simply a it is not of countries’ totalwill be at best a fraction own education sectors. spending on their a sort matter of political intuition, luck, of or arcane mysterious wisdom, art. It is—at 8. Conclusions ar 48 Education Reform Support Today Education Reform Support Today 49 geted ning-driven, client orientation, tar , described in the remaining volumes. The e new type of education project that embodies “modernization” or “reformist” agenda basis for the procedures and strategies that volume concludes that, at least in regard to donors’ responsibilities, the aim should be to 1) enhance system-wide reform, and 2) develop a a (accountability funding financing, competitive access to public for education provision, etc.) An annex reviews some issues surrounding conditionality as a mechanism for effecting policy change. Three provides an operational perspective Volume on how to support reform activities. This volume Reformis a practical guide to making Education Support happen. In particular, it describes a range of implementable, fundable activities to establish the structures, mechanisms, and mind-sets needed to facilitate lear ongoing development of an education system. Four discusses in depth the analytical Volume and communication tools and techniques that can be used to initiate and motivate reform, and places these tools and techniques in the context of past and ongoing donor activities. This volume provides considerable space to two key concepts—systematization and policy communication. Systematization is described as a multifaceted strategy that works on several aspects of ERS in combination and overview includes 1) background justifica- and context of current ERS within the tion to place 2) a definition of ERS; 3) development thinking; 4) available “tools and how to make it happen; 5) how to define fundable techniques”; and become ERS projects.activities that could Each of the areas covered in the overview is taken up in greater detail in the remaining volumes. Two introduces the problem and Volume and basis for the establishes the justification approach in terms of past donor activities in and it critiques from both “left” and the sector, lays out “right” perspectives. This volume also some of the main lessons learned to establish a ar oject Design Support Happen Pr eness, and political “salesmanship” (using eness, and political “salesmanship” oving the policy-making process so that it manent “reform support infrastructure.” ocess for maneuvering strategically within Volume Six:Volume Evaluating Education Reform policy ERS aims to integrate traditional public analysis (using information and analytical advocacy, techniques) with public policy dialogue, awar to communication techniques). ERS seeks of invoke these mechanisms as a means impr is 1) much richer in the use of information and analysis; 2) more competitive, transparent, and accountable; and 3) more open to broad stakeholder participation. The ERS approach consists of 1) an operational framework for getting things done and a pr that framework; 2) a set of analytical and policy- dialectical tools that are the substance of that maneuvering; and 3) a set of suggestions for designing (typically) donor-funded ERS activities. The ultimate aim is to build the national institutional capacity to apply this approach, helping to establish and nurture a per One of the series provides an overviewVolume of the entire series, an extensive bibliography, and an explanation of some of the jargon that is used to explain the ERS approach. The Volume Four:Volume and Techniques Tools Five:Volume Strategy Development and ANNEX A ANNEX Agency for the United States In 1997, International the series, Development published Education Reform Support (ERS). The six-volume series presents an integrated approach to up and sustaining the challenge of scaling education reform in developing countries, with a particular emphasis on Africa. It includes: One:Volume Two: OverviewVolume and Bibliography Three: Volume Foundations of the Approach A Framework for Making It 50 Education Reform Support Today and promote indigenous demand for reform. indigenousdemandforreform. and promote of thebasicintentions way thatdoesnotsubvert impact ofpolicyr per aframeworkthat howtoconstruct explores Thisvolume and evaluateanERSprocess. Volume ideasforhowtomonitor Sixpresents assistants. and pressure; 3)analyzinginterest-group problems; 2)assessingstakeholderinstitutional port, sup- policyreform forparticipatory readiness country for1)determining include instruments isgoing.Annexes monitoring howtheprocess basedon andredesign, ”restrategizing” ofERSisconstant successful process The volumeconcludesthattheessenceofa volumes. activities discussedinprevious outalloftheoperationalandtechnical to carry development of(typicallydonor-funded)projects Thisvolumeconcentratesonthe process. toanERS launching amajorlevelofsupport Volume Fivelaysoutthespecificstepsfor marketing, tonegotiation,advocacy. dialogue,topolicymarketing,mass from range ofcommunicationsettingsandtechniques, systematically. Policycommunicationcoversthe ERS efforts tobuildlocalinstitutionalcapacity ERS efforts mits objectively verifiable measures ofthe mits objectivelyverifiablemeasures 4) identifying qualified long-term technical 4) identifyingqualifiedlong-term efor m suppor t activities ina Education Reform Support Today 51 Paris: (4), 3–5. (1). Prospects, Charting Chicago school (2), 98–119. (1). ADEA Newsletter, 14 ADEA Newsletter, Challenges and potential of a collaborative Boulder, CO: Westview Press. CO: Westview Boulder, Country Education Reform Studies, and Ghana: CARE International. to the Minister: Review of the financing, resourcing and t Educational Studies, 40 Paris: UNESCO. (1). Washington, DC: Education Section, Human Development (1). Washington, Journal11 of School Leadership, Education Reform Support. Five: Strategy development Volume Santa Monica, CA: Rand Corporation. Education after the WDR 2004: An inventory of accessible Reaching underserved populations with basic education in deprived , 32(6), 3–12. Unpublished draft. ashington, DC: Office Bureau of Sustainable Development, for Africa, The Education Reform and Management Publication Series, 2 W cher The long walk to school: International education goals in historical perspective. (2), 137–156. M. (2000). Community partnerships variations and implications. in education: Dimensions, om planning to action: Government initiatives for improving school-level practice. orking Paper #37. Washington, DC: Center for Global Development. DC: Center for orking Paper #37. Washington, , USAID. and project design. implementation ideas. costs of education in public schools. UNESCO, International Institute for Educational Planning. institutional blocks. Management Publication Series, 2 Department, Bank. World Fr Case studies in large-scale education reform. Bank. 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USAID Patrick Collins CTO/EGAT/ED USAID Washington 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington, DC 20532 Tel: 202-712-4151 This paper was made possible by Email: [email protected] the generous support of the American people through the United States AED Agency for International Development John Gillies (USAID) under Cooperative Agreement No. GDG-A-00-03-00008-00. The EQUIP2 Project Director contents are the responsibility of the 1825 Connecticut Ave., NW Academy for Educational Development Washington, DC 20009 (AED) through the Educational Quality Tel: 202-884-8000 Improvement Program 2 (EQUIP2) and Email: [email protected] do not necessarily reflect the views of Web: www.equip123.net USAID or the United States Government.