USAID Learn to Read Year 2, Quarter 2 Report

(January 1– March 31, 2020)

April 30, 2020 This report was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development. It was prepared by Save the Children.

USAID Learn to Read

Quarterly Program Report Year 2 Quarter 2 Report (January 1 – March 31, 2020)

Cooperative Agreement Number: 72048618CA00002 Activity Start Date and End Date: August 15, 2018 to August 14, 2023

Submitted by: Save the Children Country Office Rue Nerhu, Unit 25, Ban Phonexay, Xaysetha District, P.O. Box 7475, Capital, Lao PDR

This report was made possible by the support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents of this report are the sole responsibility of Save the Children Federation, Inc. and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Table of Contents ...... i

Acronyms ...... ii

Project Summary Information ...... 1

1. Executive Summary ...... 1

2. Program activities and highlights ...... 4

Result 1 ...... 4 Result 2 ...... 10 Result 3 ...... 20 Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning ...... 25 Management and Administration ...... 26 3. Key Accomplishments ...... 33

4. Contributions of the Activity to the RDMA development screens ...... 34

Science and Technology ...... 34 Partnership ...... 34 Gender Equality and Female Empowerment ...... 35 5. Challenges Encountered ...... 39

6. Future Directions and Upcoming Activities ...... 41

7. Updated MEAL data ...... 43

Annex A: Success Story ...... i

Annex B: Initial Telework Plan ...... iii

i ACRONYMS

AOR Agreement Officer’s Representative AWP Annual Work Plan BEQUAL Basic Education Quality and Access in Lao PDR program CACIM Committee for the Approval of Curriculum and Instructional Materials COP Chief of Party CLA Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting DCOP Deputy Chief of Party DDG Deputy Director General DESB District Education and Sports Bureau DFAT Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade DG Director General DoP Department of Planning DPO Disabled People’s Organization DTE Department of Teacher Education ECE Early Childhood Education EMIS Education Management Information System ESDP Education Sector Development Plan ESWG Education Sector Working Group ETS Education Technical Specialist EU European Union FG Focal Group (under the ESWG) G1 Grade 1 G2 Grade 2 GE Department of General Education GESI Gender, Equality and Social Inclusion GIDAP Gender and Inclusive Development Action Plan GM Global Manager GoL Government of Lao PDR GPE II Global Partnership for Education 2 HI Humanity & Inclusion IE Inclusive Education IEC Inclusive Education Center IE-TWG Inclusive Education Technical Working Group IR Intermediate Result Lao PDR ’s Democratic Republic MD Materials Development MEL Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning MEAL Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning MGIDA Mission Gender and Inclusive Development Advisor MICAT Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism MoES Ministry of Education and Sports MOU Memorandum of Understanding OLA Oral Language Assessment PA Pedagogical Advisor

ii PESS Provincial Education and Sports Services PO Project Officer PP Pre-Primary R Result REL Research Evaluation and Learning RIES Research Institute for Educational Sciences RM Regional Manager RR Reading readiness RtR Room to Read SC Save the Children SCHK Save the Children Hong Kong SEAMEO Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization SMT Senior Management Team SoD Scheme of Delegation STIP Science, Technology, Innovation, and Partnership STTA Short Term Technical Assistance TLM Teaching and Learning Materials ToT Training of Trainers TPR Total Physical Response TT Teacher Training TTC Teacher Training College UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNICEF United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund USDA United States Department of Agriculture UXO Unexploded Ordnance VEDC Village Education Development Committee WB World Bank XKH Xiengkhouang Province

iii PROJECT SUMMARY INFORMATION

Program Name: USAID Learn to Read

Activity Start Date and End Date: August 15, 2018 to August 14, 2023 Name of Prime Implementing Save the Children Partner: Cooperative Agreement Number: 72048618CA00002 Name of Subcontractors/Sub- Humanity & Inclusion awardees: Room to Read Major Counterpart Organizations: Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR): , Geographic Coverage (regions): Champasak, Xiengkhouang and Vientiane Provinces Reporting Period: January 1 – March 31, 2020

Introduction: USAID Learn to Read (the Activity) is a five-year project beginning in 2018 and ending in 2023 focused on improving the reading skills of children in pre-primary, grade 1 and grade 2 classes in Lao PDR, with particular attention to non-Lao-speaking children and children with disabilities. The Activity works closely with the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) and development partners to strengthen the Lao education system with evidence-based approaches, building capacity to scale up and maintain the interventions in the future. The Activity is implemented by a consortium led by Save the Children (SC) that includes Room to Read (RtR) and Humanity & Inclusion (HI). School and community-level activities will take place in 16 districts in four provinces of Lao PDR, reaching an estimated minimum of 65,313 children over the life of the project. The Activity has a Strategic Opportunities Fund (SOF) available to provide flexibility in responding to unanticipated gaps, needs, and opportunities such as expanding into new languages, new locations, or alternative media such as community radio. Goal and Approach: The overarching goal of the Activity is to improve reading skills for all children in pre-primary, grade 1, and grade 2, with a focus on the inclusion of non-Lao-speaking children and children with disabilities. The Activity will develop and distribute teaching and learning materials, train and support teachers, and engage school communities to help children learn to read on time. The Activity has a flexible, system-strengthening approach to addressing key gaps that limit reading-skill acquisition. The Activity emphasizes MoES ownership and reinforces government and non-government national, provincial, and local-level systems through co-design and co- implementation. The Activity is being implemented in close coordination and partnership with the MoES and with leading donor-funded education initiatives to ensure that the systems-strengthening, school improvement, and community mobilization efforts are complementary and mutually reinforcing. Pre-primary Reading Readiness (PP-RR): The Activity has partnered with Global Partnership for Education (GPE II) to support the MoES Research Institute for Educational Sciences (RIES) to develop a Reading Readiness (RR) and instructional materials package for pre-primary (PP-RR). In Year 1, GPE II, RIES, and the Activity are working to jointly develop one program for reading readiness in collaboration with other development partners through the newly established RR Task Team. The Activity is working closely with UNICEF and the MoES Early Childhood Education (ECE) department to ensure alignment of the PP-RR package with the Pre-Primary curriculum during the 2019 revision.

1 Primary Reading Improvement (RI): The Activity is collaborating with MoES-RIES to develop a Reading Improvement (RI) package for students in Grades 1 and 2. The RI package will complement the national curriculum which was revised with the support of the Basic Education Quality and Access in Lao PDR (BEQUAL) program. The revision aims to better address the diverse needs of learners, including those from ethnic communities or with disabilities. In Year 1, the Activity is working to develop the Grade 1 Reading Improvement (G1-RI) package with RIES. The Grade 2 RI package will be developed in Year 2. The Activity is targeting districts where BEQUAL will not provide intensive coaching support to teachers, enabling the Activity to reinforce the impact of the BEQUAL-supported MoES training. Teacher Professional Development: The Activity is collaborating with MoES to design and deliver a teacher professional development package that includes teacher training, classroom support, and capacity building for school principals and Pedagogical Advisors (PAs). Once the professional development materials are finalized, the Activity will focus on training teachers and supporting them in their efforts to apply learner-centered and inclusive classroom teaching and learning methods using flexible, context-based models and peer support. The Activity will coordinate teacher training and coaching approaches for the pre-primary level with the GPE II Reading Readiness program, RIES, the Department of Teacher Education (DTE) and UNICEF. For primary teachers, the Activity will coordinate with BEQUAL, RIES, DTE and General Education (GE). The Activity will also work with school principals and PAs to improve their educational leadership and coaching. Community Engagement: Once community-level implementation begins, the Activity will engage community members, including adults who can and cannot read, to support early grade reading. Applying an evidence-based approach, the Activity will work closely with MoES, the Ministry of Information, Culture, and Tourism (MICAT), and local and international NGOs to improve community support for reading by providing materials, extracurricular activities, and social behavior change communication (SBCC). Geography: Local-level implementation will take place in the following provinces and districts:

Xiengkhouang Vientiane Champasak Attapeu Khoun Phonhong Bachiangchaleunsouk Sanamxai Phoukout Fuang Mounlapamok Sanxai Pek Mun Pathoumphon Samakhixay Kham Thoulakhom Soukkhouma Vangvieng

2 USAID Learn to Read Results

Result 3: Strengthened community Result 1: Improved Lao reading ability of Result 2: Improved classroom engagement to create a conducive pre-primary and first- and second-grade instruction through enhanced teacher learning environment for improved students with a special focus on non-Lao competencies to meet needs of target reading skills, particularly for non-Lao- speakers and vulnerable students children speaking and vulnerable communities

U U IR1.1: Evidence-based approaches and programs developed that improve oral IR2.1: Strengthened capacity of IR2.1: Strengthened capacity of language and pre-reading and writing teachers (pre-primary and first and teachers (pre-primary and first and skills for pre-primary students, second grades) to apply effective second grades) to apply effective particularly those from disadvantaged classroom teaching and learning classroom teaching and learning populations activities activities IR1.2: Lao-language-literacy IR2.2: Strengthened capacity of school IR2.2: Strengthened capacity of school pedagogical approaches and programs directors and Pedagogical Advisors directors and Pedagogical Advisors developed that address gaps in the new (PAs) to provide ongoing support to (PAs) to provide ongoing support to first-to-second-grade curriculum for non- teachers teachers Lao speakers and students with mild disabilities IR2.3: Strengthened capacity of PAs, IR2.3: Strengthened capacity of PAs, school directors, TDC/TTC, Master school directors, TDC/TTC, Master IR1.3: Increased availability of children’s Trainers (MT), and MoES personnel at Trainers (MT), and MoES personnel at books and teaching and learning all levels to support scale-up of the all levels to support scale-up of the materials appropriate for non-Lao- Activity in new schools and districts Activity in new schools and districts speaking children and children with disabilities

3 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Learn to Read (“the Activity”) made very significant progress during 2Q2020 with regard to: Result 1- Materials Development; Result 2-Teacher Training; Result 3-Community Engagement; MEAL; GESI; and, operations. Overall, in January and February 2020 the Activity was operating at full speed, finding its feet and gaining momentum in implementation. March, however, was increasingly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with focus shifting from working in schools and participating in official meetings with MoES at the start of the month, to modifying plans in response to increased precautions, and ultimately to working from home by the last week of the month.

Result 1 highlights include the development of the first set of ten Grade 1 storybooks, which will be made available in Grade 1 Reading Corners beginning in September 2020. The technical team performed a final internal review and quality check of these storybooks in March 2020. The Activity team had planned to meet with MoES RIES officials in late March to submit the storybooks for final approval; however, the RIES office was unavailable to meet with external parties at this time due to COVID-19. As a result, the Activity team rescheduled with RIES officials to meet after the Lao New Year in 3Q2020 to submit the storybooks. After receiving government approval, the Activity team will prepare for the printing and distribution of these storybooks to Grade 1 classrooms, assuming that the required funding is made available in time. The Activity also made successful plans for the development of the second set of ten Grade 1 storybooks, despite significant complications related to COVID-19. To keep the development of these storybooks moving forward despite COVID-19 travel restrictions, in 3Q2020 RtR will facilitate a remote writers’ workshop with the Activity team to develop draft manuscripts for these storybooks. On March 20, the Activity technical team also met with MoES and the GPE II Reading Readiness Program (RRP) and reached an agreement to continue collaboration on the revision of the RRP materials during 3Q2020.

The Activity’s most important area of focus during 2Q2020 was Result 2, teacher support programming, including Grade 1 (G1) teacher training workshops and the rollout of Teacher Learning Circles (TLCs) for Pre-Primary and Grade 1. The Activity team worked in close partnership with the MoES to successfully complete two G1 Training of Trainer (ToT) workshops and 19 corresponding G1 teacher and principal workshops across 16 districts. The 2Q2020 teacher and principal training workshops focused on providing support for teachers and students in using the new MoES G1 curriculum, which was rolled out in schools beginning in September 2019. This revised curriculum uses more active pedagogy and a greater variety of learning activities and materials, including letter cards, storybooks, and decodable readers. Consequently, teachers require additional support to implement this major change in their classrooms. Following the G1 teacher training workshop, the Activity and DESB staff provided all school principals with initial training on how to facilitate TLCs to improve teaching and learning, as well as conducting G1 classroom coaching visits. After the successful completion of the G1 trainings, Project Officers (POs) continued to collaborate with PESS, DESB, and school principals to provide ongoing support to both Grade 1 and Pre-primary teachers until schools closed on March 19. In the , , the DESB Pedagogical Advisor and school principals also received ongoing coaching to support teachers in Inclusive Education in 2Q2020. As a result of these efforts, the Activity was able to provide critical professional development and coaching support to G1 teachers as they implement the new national G1 Lao language curriculum.

The Activity’s community engagement work during 2Q2020 focused on monitoring and support for the piloting of Caregiver Engagement sessions, which continued implementation in 36 communities across three provinces. The Activity is applying the lessons of the pilot to inform the revision of the Caregiver Engagement sessions for further use in Group 2 schools in the 2020-21 school year. While the Activity had planned to conduct materials review workshops with Pre-primary teachers starting in the last week of March, these workshops have been cancelled due to the COVID-19

1 travel restrictions. Therefore, the technical team has planned alternate methods to collect feedback remotely, to allow the materials revision process to continue as planned during 3Q2020.

The Activity made steady progress on MEAL by reporting on indicators in the 1Q2020 report, restarting the procurement of the evaluation, and training POs to enter classroom observation data online. In discussions with the American Institutes for Research (AIR) about the third party evaluation, the Activity team requested that AIR prepare a revised proposal based on the following design: baseline survey in September 2020, Rapid Cycle Evaluation in March or April 2021, midline removed, and endline survey in March or April 2023. Completing a Rapid Cycle Evaluation after one school year of implementation will help to address some key questions in the Activity Learning Plan, particularly related to caregiver engagement and inclusive education. In an adaptation recommended by AIR, the third party evaluation will focus on schools in implementation Groups 2 and 3, plus a separate comparison group. Group 1 schools have been removed from the evaluation due to these schools having already received components of the intervention, and the comparison group will include schools with similar characteristics from additional districts in the same four target provinces. The interrupted procurement of the third party evaluation, the recent departure of the MEAL Coordinator and the lack of funds available for a Senior MEAL Specialist or for tablets for POs have been challenging for MEAL. However, the Activity team is making progress and, with new funds and human resources, will build its MEAL capacities so that they become a strength.

During 2Q2020, the Activity’s GESI team applied the Inclusion Checklist for USAID Learn to Read to the ten new G1 storybooks, to ensure that inclusion guidelines are followed in all teaching and learning materials developed. In order to ensure that the Grade 1 ToT and teacher trainings support inclusive education, the Activity’s GESI staff (Senior GESI Specialist, GESI Specialist and two GESI Coordinators – North and South) were part of the training team.

Operations highlights include securing SCHK as a cost share partner by finalizing a grant for complementary programming, securing approval of the Year 2 Annual Work Plan, and restarting the procurement of the third party evaluation. The Procurement Committee reinitiated technical designed and budgetary negotiations for the third-party evaluation with AIR, the organization that had submitted the top scoring technical and cost application and had also benefited from strong performance on previous education evaluations in Laos and has an established track record of strong performance on SC education projects including doing excellent recent work for SC in Sri Lanka. During 2Q2020, the Activity also completed successful quarterly MoU meetings with DESB staff in all 16 districts, which is an important part of ensuring strong government relations in Lao PDR. The MOU meetings were attended by government counterparts at the district level including the DESB, DOFA, PAs and Project Staff. The Activity team met with government officials to review project implementation, identify successes and challenges and to discuss how to overcome the challenges and barriers to action that were identified.

Representatives from the MOES and the Activity team discussed key issues and lesson learnt including that the district government should be more involved in community events for quality assurance purposes. The district officials also recommended that community meetings should be conducted before or after working hours in some schools and villages because parents or caregivers may not have time to participate due to work responsibilities. Participants at the meetings also emphasized that community leaders need to be more aware of Learn to Read and to understand it better so that they can support it more fully.

As a result of these meetings, the DESB stated that it had an increased understanding of the relationships and shared responsibilities between Learn to Read staff and the government officials as they relate to project implementation and monitoring. DESB will follow up with issues raised at the meeting by reporting back to the technical division for further follow-up. The PESS will take the lead in coordinating and monitoring MOU reports and will encourage INGO partners to include all relevant issues in the quarterly meetings.

2 During 2Q2020, the Activity continued to develop its relationship with USAID by actively participating in the Annual IP Meeting and by hosting two field visits. At the annual IP meeting on February 3 at the Crowne Plaza, the Activity team gave a presentation in which they provided a description of the project to other IPs in line with the theme of “Promoting Adaptive Learning and Enhancing Collaboration.” In the February 4 individualized assistance workshops in MEAL and DQA, contracting, and finance at the American Center at That Dam were discussed. The Activity also hosted two USAID field visits during 2Q2020. On January 12 and 13, the Activity team supported the visit of the Assistant Administrator for Legislative and Public Affairs, the Congressional Liaison, the USAID Laos Country Office Director, and Deputy Chief of Mission at the American Embassy Vientiane to Xiengkhouang Province. The Activity team also organized a field visit for the Agreement Officer and the AOR that included a meeting in Vientiane Capital with RIES and then meetings at the Vientiane provincial level with education authorities and two school visits.

3 2. PROGRAM ACTIVITIES AND HIGHLIGHTS

During 2Q2020, the Activity successfully extended teacher training and coaching support to Grade 1 students during semester 2, in collaboration with MoES technical staff. The Activity also continued support for Pre-primary students. Starting in January 2020, the Activity technical team and Project Officers (POs) rolled out two days of teacher training to support the use of the new Grade 1 Lao language national curriculum. School principals also received a further day of training on how to establish Teacher Learning Circles. Through classroom visits, POs continued to work with staff from the District Education and Sports Bureau (DESB) to support teachers in Pre-primary (PP) and Grade 1.

The Activity also made good progress in the development of supplementary reading materials during 2Q2020. In addition, the Activity began the revision of all Pre-primary materials in preparation for the 2020-21 school year. Caregiver Engagement sessions for families of PP students were completed in some communities and while ongoing in many more. The Activity team began a review of these materials in March 2020.

All planned tasks were able to continue as usual until March 19, 2020 on which date the MoES closed schools to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 disease in Lao PDR. Activity staff began working from home on March 23, 2020, and the government of Lao PDR (GoL) announced a partial lockdown from April 1, 2020 to April 19, 2020. This was later extended to May 3, 2020. The Activity team has successfully transitioned to working remotely during this time, continuing tasks related to materials review and development, data entry, online staff training, and reporting during this period.

Result 1

Result 1: Improved Lao reading ability of pre-primary and first- and second-grade students with a special focus on non-Lao speakers and vulnerable students

In 2Q2020, the Activity technical team began to collect feedback from teachers using the Pre- primary Reading Readiness (PP-RR) materials package, in order to be able to adjust and improve the PP-RR interventions in the next school year. At the same time, the Activity technical team made significant progress in developing the Activity Grade 1 teaching and learning materials (TLMs) which will be used in the 2020-21 school year. The Intermediate Result (IR) sections below detail the key activities and progress made on the development of these TLMs in 2Q2020.

IR 1.1 Evidence-based approaches and programs developed that improve oral language and pre-reading and writing skills for pre-primary students, particularly those from disadvantaged populations

The Activity’s Pre-primary reading readiness materials have been in use since October 2019. During 2Q2020, the Activity technical team began to collect and consolidate feedback from teachers, POs and DESB PAs and technical staff. The TLMs related to Pre-primary, which were implemented in 91 schools, include the Reading Readiness Program (RRP) manuals developed jointly with the Second Global Partnership for Education (GPE II) program (teacher’s manual, teacher implementation notes, pupil progress checklist, and coaching guidelines). In addition, PP materials include the Reading Corner guidelines and the 16 storybooks developed by the Activity for piloting in 36 schools. The Activity continued to engage actively with MoES and other development partners in the Early Childhood Education (ECE) sector to ensure the quality and coherence of interventions for Pre- primary students.

4 Task 1.1.1: Strengthen Early Childhood Education Focal Group (ECE-FG) to promote collaboration between MoES and development partners

In 2Q2020, the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) began the development of the national Education and Sports Sector Development Plan (ESSDP) for 2021-2025. As co-chairs of the Early Childhood Education Focal Group (ECE-FG), Save the Children (SC) and UNICEF met with the Department of ECE at MoES on March 3, 2020 to prepare for the first meeting of the ECE-FG. The focus of the meeting, which took place on March 5, was the ESSDP sub-sector plan for ECE. The active involvement of Activity technical staff in both the preparation meeting and the FG meeting meant that certain important recommendations were included in the ESSDP ECE sub-sector plan. These include to focus on the needs of non-Lao-speaking ethnic students and children with disabilities, as well as the inclusion of relevant ECE interventions such as the GPE II RRP and the Activity’s Caregiver Engagement package. The final version of the ESSDP will be completed by MoES during April 2020.

Task 1.1.6: Revise and finalize Pre-Primary Reading Readiness (PP-RR) supplementary materials for classrooms, along with guidelines for use.

In January 2020, the Early Childhood Education (ECE) Specialist began to collect feedback from Activity Project Officers and from teachers about their experiences using the Pre-Primary Reading Readiness materials since October 2019. Overall, PP teachers reported that they appreciate that the Reading Readiness Program (RRP) lessons plans are simple to follow and that their young students enjoy listening to storybooks read aloud. However, teachers have found the accompanying RRP manuals such as the Pupil Progress Checklist and the teacher’s implementation notes are more difficult to use. On February 18, 2020, the Senior Education Technical Specialist (Senior ETS) shared some technical feedback in written form about the RRP materials with the MoES GPE II program and the World Bank (WB), in order to provide a foundation for future revisions of the materials. This document was also shared with the Activity AOR.

On February 20, the Senior ETS, Senior GESI Specialist and Community Engagement (CE) Specialist, along with the AOR, participated in a meeting at the WB office about the Reading Readiness Program, in relation to planning for the GPE III beginning in 2021. The outcome was positive, as the materials developed and piloted with the Activity under GPE II will be revised for further use in the 2020-21 school year and beyond. The Activity consortium partners remain part of the Reading Readiness Task Team formed under MoES in December 2018, and will continue to play a key role in this initiative. The Activity strongly recommended that WB support MoES in its efforts to recruit a new consultant for the GPE II project as soon as possible, so that work on the revision of RRP materials could begin.

On March 18, 2020, members of the Activity technical team met informally with the new consultant recruited for the GPE II RRP program, in order to share an overview of the RRP materials as he began his new role. On March 20, the Activity technical team met with MoES staff from the Research Institute for Educational Sciences (RIES), GPE II and WB, and agreed to work together to revise the RRP materials for use in 2020-21 school year. The next meeting was set for after the Lao New Year (13-16 April 2020); however, due to the extension of the COVID-19 lockdown, this will now take place after May 3, 2020. During late March and April 2020, the Activity technical team continued to communicate with the GPE II consultant and the WB coordinator remotely, to move the revision process forward as much as possible.

Task 1.1.10: Workshop to review implementation experience and upgrade the PP Reading Readiness training package with MoES, PESS, DESB and teachers.

The ECE Specialist worked with the Community Engagement (CE) Specialist to plan review workshops with teachers and DESB staff related to the Pre-primary materials during the second semester of the 2019-20 school year. This was originally scheduled for the end of March in northern

5 provinces and the end of April for the southern provinces, but these plans were postponed due to the COVID-19 partial lockdown, currently extended to May 3, 2020. Even so, upon review of the material already obtained, the Activity technical team decided we have collected a sufficient level of feedback from the field to allow materials revision to proceed on schedule.

Task 1.1.12 - Adapt vision and hearing screening tools for use by teachers at Pre-Primary and Primary levels, from the existing tools of HI and SC.

The Senior GESI Specialist will lead the revision of the vision and hearing screening tools during Quarter three, as described in the Activity’s Year two Workplan. The process will include a number of discussions between the Activity technical team and other technical specialists at HI and SCUS, in order to finalize the tools for initial vision and hearing screening tests to be utilized by teachers. In addition, the Activity will take into account any research undertaken by USAID or other researchers on the efficacy of teachers conducting this initial screening for visual or hearing impairments. The first discussion has been arranged for 4th June between SCI US lead on Inclusive Education, HI’s Global lead on Inclusive Education, Learn to Read’s Senior Education Specialist and Learn to Read’s Senior GESI Specialist. The preparation included checking with USAID colleagues on any policy developments in screening and hearing tests. The information received is that there are no policy updates and the report written by USAID All Children Reading in was shared with the Senior GESI Specialist. The discussions on 4th of June will include learning from the findings of this report.

IR 1.2 Lao-language-literacy pedagogical approaches and programs developed that address gaps in the new first-to-second-grade curriculum for non-Lao-speakers and students with mild disabilities

During 2Q2020 the Activity technical team continued to make progress on the development of supplementary Grade 1 teaching and learning materials, in close collaboration with RIES. Task 1.2.5 describes key Q2 activities related to the development of the Grade 1 storybooks for Reading Corners and the Grade 1 supplementary Teacher Guide, which will be printed for use in the 2020- 21 school year. Task 1.2.8 describes the training materials developed in support of the Grade 1 Lao language curriculum, which were used in the second semester of the 2019-20 school year.

Task 1.2.5: Develop supplementary teaching and learning materials for G1-RI package, including teacher’s guides

The supplementary materials detailed in this task will be used for Grade 1 programing in the 2020-21 school year, as delayed funding meant that no supplementary reading materials could be provided for the second semester of 2019-20 as originally envisaged. The Grade 1 Reading Improvement (G1-R1) package for 2020-21 will include 20 storybooks which will be used for Reading Corner activities and borrowing, as well as a supplementary Teacher’s Guide with guidelines for Reading Corner and Reading Buddy activities.

First Set of Grade 1 Storybooks (for Reading Corners in 2020-21):

Building on the progress made in 1Q2020, the Activity technical team continued to develop the first set of ten Grade 1 storybooks, which will be printed for use in Reading Corners from the start of the 2020-21 school year. On January 9, 2020, the RtR Quality Reading Materials (QRM) Program Officer (PO) and the RtR Classroom Curriculum Global Manager (GM) met remotely to review the progress on the storybooks and to develop a list of key feedback for illustrators on the updated (full color) versions, in order to improve the quality of the illustrations. Following this meeting, the RtR QRM PO coordinated with illustrators throughout January and February to provide additional feedback on the storybook illustrations. He also worked with the external designer to begin formatting the storybook manuscripts and illustrations. On January 27, 2020, the Materials

6 Development (MD) Specialist, Senior ETS, and RtR Classroom Curriculum GM met to check in on the status of the ten storybooks and to outline a plan to finalize the storybooks by the end of 2Q2020.

The MD Specialist submitted the completed storybooks for final review by the team on March 14. The Senior ETS and RtR Classroom Curriculum GM reviewed the storybooks and provided final minor comments to the MD Specialist to incorporate into the storybooks. At the same time, the Senior GESI Specialist worked with the GESI team and the Material Development Technical Officer (MDTO). Utilizing the Activity’s GESI Inclusion Checklist, they ensured that the storybooks satisfy key GESI criteria before going to print. Each of the ten storybooks was evaluated against this Inclusion Checklist, to check whether the writers and illustrators have succeeded in ensuring the storybooks are inclusive and reflect good child safeguarding principles. Two of the storybooks have characters from ethnic communities and there is equal gender representation across the ten storybooks. One storybook has a girl with a disability as the main character, whereas the Inclusion Checklist suggests that at least 15% of the storybooks should have characters with disabilities. This has been noted in order to ensure that in developing the next set of ten storybooks there be a minimum of three storybooks which have main or supporting character roles for girls and boys who have a disability. The learning from the use of the Inclusion Checklist by an increased number of Activity staff will have a positive impact on the development of the next set of G1 and G2 storybooks: they should be more inclusive of gender, disability and ethnicity, while ensuring that child safeguarding is addressed well.

The Activity had planned to meet with the Deputy Director General of the MoES Research Institute for Educational Sciences (RIES) to submit the final version of the ten G1 storybooks for approval in late March. However, the RIES office was unavailable to meet with external parties at this time due to closures related to COVID-19. As a result, the MD Specialist has rescheduled with RIES officials to meet in 3Q2020 after the end of the partial lockdown (May 3) to submit the storybooks. This minor delay will not have any significant impact on the planned printing and distribution dates for these storybooks, as long as the next installment of funding is received by June 2020.

Second Set of Grade 1 Storybooks (for Reading Corners beginning semester 2 in 2020-21):

The Activity technical team met with the RIES Deputy Director General in January 2020 to move forward with planning the development of the second set of ten Grade 1 storybooks, also for use in Reading Corners during the 2020-2021 school year. As a result of this meeting, the Activity technical team and the RIES officials reconfirmed plans and timelines for the development of these storybooks. Per RIES’s guidance, the Activity team agreed to ensure that the storybooks align to the national Grade 1 curriculum and incorporate key GESI content.

As a result of these agreements with RIES, the Activity technical team, with support from the RtR Storybook Development Regional Manager (RM) and the RtR Classroom Curriculum GM, began to prepare for a storybook writer’s workshop (to be held in 2Q2020) to develop manuscripts for the second set of ten storybooks. The Activity technical team had originally planned to perform this writers’ workshop with external MoES partners and writers. However, due to funding delays, this plan was revised to be completed with internal Activity participants, as articulated in the revised Year 2 workplan. Due to the operational difficulties presented by COVID-19 social distancing requirements, the Activity technical team further revised its plans to facilitate the writers’ workshop with internal participants remotely in 3Q2020. In preparation for this new plan, the Activity team met regularly throughout March 2020 to develop this remote learning platform. The remote writers’ workshop was facilitated by RtR’s Literacy Associate Director (Sri Lanka) from March 31 to April 3, 2020, and outcomes will be described in the Q3 report.

Grade 1 supplementary Teacher Guide (for 2020-21):

7 In 2Q2020, the Activity technical team moved forward with preparations to develop the G1-RI Teacher Guide. This supplementary Teacher Guide will contain guidance for teachers on reading storybooks aloud, using Reading Corners, and using inclusive pedagogy to improve student reading. In addition, the Activity team plans to develop additional oral language support content for G1 students who are learning to understand and speak the Lao language, including scripted Total Physical Response (TPR) activities for use in the first semester of teaching. On January 27, 2020, the Senior ETS, RtR Classroom Curriculum GM, and the MD Specialist met remotely to develop a timeline and discuss next steps for the development of the Grade 1 Supplementary Teacher Guide and TPR content. As a result of this meeting, the Activity technical team agreed to prepare the draft Teacher Guide and TPR activities in 3Q2020, and be ready to print and distribute to teachers at the start of the 2020-2021 school year.

On March 17, the Senior ETS, GESI Specialist, and the RtR Classroom Curriculum GM met remotely to discuss additional technical details relating to the design of the G1 Teacher Guide and TPR activities. During this meeting, and in alignment with RIES guidelines, the team agreed to develop TPR content aligned to the national Grade 1 reading curriculum. The RtR Classroom Curriculum GM and MD Specialist also met in early April to move forward with developing the TPR content.

Task 1.2.8: Develop Grade 1 Reading Improvement Training package (Trainer's Manual) for teachers, principals and PESS/DESB

In January 2020, the Activity technical team made final adjustments to the Grade 1 teacher training materials developed in November 2019 and piloted at the first Training of Trainers (ToT) in Xiengkhouang Province in December 2019. The two-day training agenda focused on the use of the new Grade 1 Lao language curriculum, and focused on four key issues: teaching Lao language to non- Lao-speaking ethnic students, inclusive pedagogies for all students, using decodable readers during semester 2, and teaching students in a multi-grade class.

During the ToT in Vientiane Province and the ToT in for Champasak and Attapeu Provinces, the team finalized the Trainer’s Manual to be used by PESS, DESB and POs to lead the teacher trainings. The pack also included sample answers to the group work exercises, such as sample multi- grade lesson plans, in order to equip the teams to deliver training confidently at the district level. The teacher and principal-level training was conducted using these materials in January-March 2020 (see 2.1.4a below).

The Activity technical team is currently in the process of reviewing the Grade 1 training materials which will be used in the 2020-21 school year, based on the experience and feedback of the first implementation. The next G1 teacher training will last for five days, rather than two, allowing a more in-depth look at some of the same topics, and will also introduce Activity-specific interventions such as Reading Corners and learning spoken Lao through TPR. The Activity technical and field teams noticed during 2Q2020 that teachers need considerable support to adapt to the active pedagogy and the variety of materials in the new Lao language curriculum; thus, the Activity teacher training will continue to address key aspects of teaching reading using the new Lao language textbook and materials.

Task 1.2.12: Conduct national seminars and dialogue session jointly with MOES, BEQUAL and others (including GESI-related issues)

In 1Q2019, the Activity began discussions with the SC Head of Education about the potential of joining together with the USDA-funded LEAPS II project (led by Catholic Relief Services or CRS, with SC as a consortium partner) for a National Literacy Advocacy event in 2020. Due to budget restrictions in Year 2, the Activity would play a minor role in the organization of the event, and would invite only one representative from each Provincial Education and Sports Services (PESS) office in our target area. The key topics on the agenda are school feeding programs, the Literacy Boost approach implemented in Savannakhet, and addressing the needs of students learning Lao as a

8 second language. The Senior ETS helped to coordinate with the BEQUAL team to arrange that MoES-RIES would share about the Spoken Lao Language pilot being conducted for Grade 1 during the 2019-20 school year.

The National Literacy Advocacy event was scheduled for March 12, 2020; however, due to the advice from the GoL to postpone any large meetings due to the COVID-19 situation, this has been provisionally rescheduled for August 10, 2020.

Task 1.2.14: Strengthen the capacity of Inclusive Education Center (IEC) within MoES, including the running of the Inclusive Education Technical Working Group (IE-TWG), to promote sharing of evidence-based good practice, research and learning between MoES and development partners.

Strengthening the technical capacity of the IEC:

During 2Q2020, the Activity continued to work towards the co-location of the Senior GESI Specialist and the GESI Specialist with the MoES Inclusive Education Centre (IEC). However, this co- location is currently on hold due to issues raised by the IEC that are discussed below. On February 4, 2020, the Acting Director of the IEC sent an official response to SC’s letter requesting co- location, sent on September 3, 2019. The response was a result of IEC’s consultation with the Department of External Relations, and the reasons outlined for not accepting co-location of the two GESI Specialists were as follows: 1. The MoES is in the process of another organizational re-structure which may affect the IEC; 2. The MoUs signed for the Learn to Read project say that an international Senior Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Specialist will be based at Save the Children’s office (not at the IEC), and there is no mention in the MoU of a Lao GESI Specialist; 3. The IEC does not have a sector for Gender Equality and Social Inclusion, as this was moved to the MoES Department for the Advancement of Women and Children in 2018. The IEC’s roles and responsibilities do not include the area of gender equality and social inclusion. If in future the Activity’s technical areas align with the IEC’s work, then the IEC would be pleased to cooperate and exchange technical knowledge in the areas of inclusive education, special education and ethnic education.

The letter also stated that if in future the Activity’s technical areas aligned with the IEC’s work, then the IEC would be pleased to cooperate and exchange technical knowledge in the areas of inclusive education, special education and education for learners from ethnic communities.

The Deputy Chief of Party (DCOP) and two GESI team members met with the Acting Head of the IEC on March 5, 2020 to discuss this letter. It was a positive meeting and the outcome of the discussions allowed the Activity to continue to move forward with its implementation plan. During this meeting, it became apparent that there was some confusion over the USAID terminology of “Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI)” as used by the Activity, and its interpretation by the Acting Director of IEC. The Senior GESI Specialist explained that the National Inclusive Education (IE) Policy and the National IE Action Plan clearly address issues of gender, ethnicity and disability. The Activity is likewise working to improve reading for all students, regardless of gender, ethnicity and disability. Our approach has included completing a GESI Analysis, which addresses issues of gender, ethnicity, and disability, and developing a Gender Inclusive Development Action Plan (GIDAP). The implementation of the GIDAP is led by the Senior GESI Specialist and the GESI team. The Acting Director agreed that this clarified the issue for her and with this understanding, the IEC will collaborate with the Activity in the implementation of the GIDAP.

As a result of this meeting, the co-location with the IEC has been postponed rather than stopped, until SC and MoES can reach an agreement on how to make it possible. In the meantime, the GESI

9 team continues to work with the IEC on a regular basis regarding the Inclusive Education Technical Working Group (IE-TWG), as well as supporting the IEC’s response and input to the ESSDP for 2021-2025.

Inclusive Education Technical Working Group (IE-TWG):

In February 2020, the Regional Director of Humanity & Inclusion (HI) sent a formal letter to the IEC, proposing that they should select a new date for organizing the IE-TWG with a long lead-in time from March 9 to 31, 2020. The GESI team and the DCOP also discussed the IE-TWG when they met with the Acting Director of the IEC. As a result, the IEC agreed to organize the next IE-TWG on March 31, 2020. However, this has been postponed until further notice because of the GoL’s response to COVID-19, with an initial restriction on the number of people who can join a meeting, followed by a partial lockdown. While in theory the IE-TWG meeting could be conducted as a virtual online meeting, in practice this is not feasible because MoES is not able to provide all its personnel with internet access to work from home.

IR 1.3 Increase availability of children’s books and teaching and learning materials appropriate for non-Lao-speaking children and children with disabilities

During 2Q2020, no new supplementary reading materials were printed or distributed for use in classrooms, due to the adjustments to the Grade 1 programing made necessary by budget constraints. This has meant that in the 2019-20 school year the Grade 1 interventions for the Group 1 intervention group focused on support for the revised curriculum only, with no supplementary materials provided. Subject to the release of the next funding obligation, the Grade 1 storybooks and other materials which were intended for use by 261 Group 1 schools during the second semester of 2019-20 will be printed for use in both Group 1 and Group 2 schools in the 2020-21 school year.

Result 2

Result 2: Improved classroom instruction through enhanced teacher competencies to meet needs of target children

In 2Q2020, the Activity team, in partnership with the MoES, successfully completed two Grade 1 Training of Trainer (ToT) workshops and 19 corresponding Grade 1 teacher and principal workshops across 16 districts. In addition, the Activity team and DESB technical staff continued to provide ongoing coaching support to Pre-primary and Grade 1 teachers across schools in the first implementation group. The IR sections below detail the Activity team’s progress in providing training and coaching support to schools.  IR 2.1: ToT workshops and Teacher & Principal Trainings, focused on supporting students to learn to read using the revised Grade 1 Lao language curriculum  IR 2.2 Teacher support for Pre-primary and Grade 1 classes, through classroom coaching visits and teacher learning circles

IR 2.1 Strengthened capacity of teachers (pre-primary and first and second grades) to apply effective classroom teaching and learning activities

Building on the teacher training workshops completed for Pre-Primary teachers during 1Q2020, from January 2020 the Activity’s training workshops focused on providing support for teachers and students using the new Grade 1 Lao language curriculum, which was rolled out in schools in September 2019. This revised curriculum uses more active pedagogy and a greater variety of

10 learning activities and materials (including letter cards, storybooks, and decodable readers), so teachers need additional support to implement this major change in their classrooms.

Task 2.1.3: Training of Trainers on teacher support for Grade 1 Lao Language curriculum: Activity Central team and MoES train PESS, DESB-PAs and Activity POs.

In December 2019, the first Training of Trainers (ToT) workshop on Grade 1 Lao language curriculum support was conducted in Xiengkhouang Province1. In January 2020, the Activity successfully conducted two further workshops for MoES staff and Activity field staff. This took place in Vangvieng on January 7-10 for Vientiane Province, and in Pakse on January 14-17 for Champasak and Attapeu Provinces. The key content of the training was as follows: - Day 0: Understanding the national Grade 1 Lao language curriculum (introduction for Activity technical Coordinators and Project Officers only) - Day 1: Reflection on using the new Lao language curriculum; supporting ethnic students learning the Lao language with the curriculum; using decodable readers during semester 2 - Day 2: Teaching in a multi-grade classroom, supporting students with learning difficulties - Day 3: Providing ongoing support to teachers and schools through on-going coaching visits and Teacher Learning Circles (full details in Task 2.2.2a below)

The Senior ETS, Senior GESI Specialist, GESI Specialist and MD Specialist were the key trainers for these workshops, supporting the coordinators to co-facilitate sessions where appropriate. The workshop was designed to involve as many group work activities as possible, despite the limited number of days available. The Activity AOR was able to visit the ToT in Vangvieng, Vientiane Province.

The Activity team requested that participants from MoES should be Master Trainers or Provincial Trainers under the system set up by BEQUAL to support the rollout of the national primary curriculum in 2019 - 2023. However, many of the technical staff assigned to work with the Activity from PESS and DESB were not Provincial Trainers, and some had not attended the G1 training as they were not Pedagogical Advisors (PAs), so they lacked a clear understanding of the revised Grade 1 Teacher’s Guide and textbook. While participants’ understanding and confidence increased by the end of the training workshop, the Activity technical team also planned for the Specialists to travel to support as many of the teacher trainings as possible, in order to support the implementation. Districts where PESS and DESB staff had less training or experience on the new G1 Lao language curriculum were prioritized for this support. MoES staff from central level were not able to travel to support the teacher trainings, due to other work commitments.

Table 1. Number of education officials who completed three-day Grade 1 ToT or Teacher Training, January – March 20202

Level Participant Category or Department Female Male Total

1 As noted in previous reports, Xiengkhouang Province started the 2019-20 school year 7 weeks ahead of the rest of the country, in order to close schools for 6 weeks in February-March 2020 to host the National Sports Games. The Activity has adjusted Year 2 programing where possible in order to support teachers and students. 2 Note: Data for 2Q2020 was often reported over the phone during the telework period. Verification based on original documents was not always possible. The Activity team will review reported data and back-up documentation upon return to the office.

11 MoES Department of General Education3 0 2 2 MoES Inclusive Education Center 0 1 1 MoES Research Institute for Educational Sciences 0 1 1 PESS Trainer of Pedagogical Advisors 0 1 1 PESS General Education, Technical staff 3 1 4 PESS Head of Library 1 0 1 DESB Pedagogical Advisors 1 6 7 DESB Head of Pedagogical Center 0 1 1 DESB Primary Education Unit, Head 0 2 2 DESB Primary Education Unit, Deputy Head 1 2 3 DESB Primary Education Unit, Technical staff 0 1 1 DESB General Education, Technical staff 3 7 10 TOTAL 9 25 34

Task 2.1.4a: Training for Grade 1 Teachers and Principals at district level to provide support for Grade 1 Lao Language curriculum by the DESB, PESS, and POs

Following the completion of the province-level ToT, the ToT participants in turn facilitated three- day district-level Grade 1 teacher and principal trainings on the national Grade 1 reading curriculum. The trainings took place in late January 2020 in three provinces, with Xiengkhouang Province continuing the training during February and March 2020 (once schools closed for the National Games). These trainings focused on the same key topics listed in the previous section. Teachers joined for two training days focused on support to use the national curriculum, while principals joined with the teachers and also stayed for a third day which was focused on coaching teachers and Teacher Learning Circles.

Overall, the Activity collaborated with MoES technical staff to successfully facilitate a total of 19 separate district-level training workshops across 16 districts in January – March 2020: five trainings for four districts in , three trainings for three districts in , and five trainings for five districts in Vientiane Province were completed by the end of January 2020. Six trainings for four districts in Xiengkhouang Province were completed by March 11, 2020. The Activity COP and AOR traveled to join one of the teacher training workshops in Attapeu Province.

During the feedback session on the first day of training, the most common challenge that teachers shared is that the new G1 Lao language teacher guide is very difficult to use, due to the layout and length. Teachers reported that they are struggling to cover all the content, and that the level of some learning activities is too high for their students. Teachers also noted that they need guidance on how to use the assessment criteria to give students marks, and how to write lesson plans based on the G1 Lao teacher guide. Teachers and principals clearly felt the need for further support in using the new curriculum to help students learn to read; they showed high levels of interest and participation throughout all the sessions. As a result of these teacher trainings, the G1 teachers reported that they felt more confident and prepared to continue utilizing the national G1 Lao reading curriculum. Many of the training activities allowed teachers to practice understanding the textbook and teacher’s guide in small groups, which greatly helped to increase their skills in using the national curriculum.

3 One MoES official from General Education did not join the Grade 1 ToT, but rather joined the G1 teacher training in Khoun district, Xiengkhouang Province.

12 For future trainings, the Activity plans to allow additional time for teachers to practice using key learning activities related to reading in the curriculum, as well as introducing the supplemental Reading Corner activities supported by the Activity. None of the teachers were aware before the Activity’s training about how to use the decodable readers during semester two, and it seems likely that the story reading activities promoted in the curriculum are not being carried out consistently or in an interesting way. The Activity will also offer more practice on supporting non-Lao-speaking students and students with other learning difficulties. While lesson plans are not a key priority for the Activity, teachers clearly feel they are necessary since they relate to their professional promotion, so we will continue to provide sample lesson plans in order to support teacher morale and development.

The commitment and preparation levels of the DESB and PESS trainers varied from district to district, as did the capacity of particular individuals to lead effective training for teachers. The Activity team will continue to plan for how ToTs can be made increasingly effective and how to build capacity and commitment with our MoES partners in every district. Tying the Activity’s reading improvement interventions closely to the MoES Lao language curriculum provides a strong incentive for their staff to participate, and is a valuable part of systems strengthening for long term impact.

A total of 302 Grade 1 teachers (208 women, 94 men) and 233 school principals (76 women, 157 men) from 259 schools benefited from a two-day training during 2Q20204. Logistically, this is the biggest group of cascade trainings supported by the Activity so far, so it was a valuable experience in how to fine tune processes before beginning work in the next implementation group in 2020-21.

Table 2. Number of Grade 1 teachers and school principals who received training in 2Q2020 G1 G1 G1 Principals Principals Princ. Province District Teachers Teachers Teachers (F) (M) Total (F) (M) Total XKH Khoun 9 8 17 7 10 17 XKH Phoukout 16 5 21 3 12 15 XKH Paek* 24 5 29 1 14 15 XKH Kham* 16 11 27 4 18 22 Sub-total 65 29 94 15 54 69 XKH VTE Phonhong 16 2 18 4 8 12 VTE Fuang 7 10 17 7 4 11 VTE Meun 4 7 11 2 5 7 VTE Thoulakhom 12 5 17 4 8 12 VTE Vangvieng 17 5 22 3 11 14 Sub-total 56 29 85 20 36 56 VTE CPS Bachiang…. 11 7 18 7 12 19 CPS Mounlapamok 10 5 15 3 11 14 CPS Pathoumphon* 21 5 26 13 13 26 CPS Soukkhouma 9 10 19 6 10 16

4 Number of principals is less than number of schools because some smaller “incomplete” primary schools do not have their own school principal, but share with a larger “complete” school. Some school principals are also Grade 1 teachers - in this case, they are counted under the Activity indicators as teachers, rather than principals, in order to avoid double-counting of beneficiaries.

13 G1 G1 G1 Principals Principals Princ. Province District Teachers Teachers Teachers (F) (M) Total (F) (M) Total Subtotal 51 27 78 29 46 75 CPS ATP Samakhixay 16 0 16 7 2 9 ATP Sanamxai 13 4 17 5 8 13 ATP Sanxai 7 5 12 0 11 11 Subtotal 36 9 45 12 21 33 ATP Total 208 94 302 76 157 233

Note: Districts marked with an asterisk (*) conducted 2 teacher training workshops

Task 2.1.6b Inclusive education pilot training including support to children with difficulties in learning and positive discipline.

The Activity’s GESI team successfully conducted the Inclusive Education (IE) pilot training in 1Q2020 from December 4-6, 2019, in Thoulakhom district in Vientiane Province, followed by the first round of coaching visits from December 18-20, 2019. In 2Q2020, further support and coaching visits took place in February and March 2020 in Thoulakhom district in Vientiane Province. These are detailed under IR 2.2 in Task 2.2.6 below, as this section focuses on classroom coaching visits.

Task 2.1.6c Train teachers or health task teams in the 14 pilot schools in Thoulakhom District, Vientiane Province for initial screening on functional limitations using the Washington Group Child Functioning Module and use of simple tests to identify vision or hearing difficulties.

According to the Year 2 Workplan, this IE training is scheduled for September 2020, at the start of the 2020-21 school year. While this pilot was earlier proposed for Thoulakhom district in Vientiane Province, the Activity technical team now proposes that the training should take place in Bachiengchaleunsouk district in Champasak Province. The reason for this is to promote collaboration and learning with a new inclusive education project which will be starting in Champasak Province, implemented by HI with funding from the European Union. The Activity working in the same province as another inclusive education project will allow for greater collaboration with Disabled People’s Organizations (DPOs) and partnership in establishing referral networks.

IR 2.2: Strengthened capacity of school directors and Pedagogical Advisors (PAs) to provide ongoing support to teachers

The Activity has included school principals in all teacher training activities during the 2019-20 school year, as well as providing additional training and support to school principals and DESB officials on how to conduct classroom coaching visits for Pre-primary and Grade 1 teachers. During 2Q2020, DESB officials for the primary level and all school principals also received initial training on how to facilitate Teacher Learning Circles (TLCs) to improve teaching and learning through improved teacher support. In Thoulakhom district, Vientiane Province, the DESB Pedagogical Advisor and school principals also received ongoing coaching to support teachers in Inclusive Education in 2Q2020.

Task 2.2.2a: Training of Trainers on Teacher Learning Circles: Activity Central team trains PESS, DESB-PAs and Activity POs.

14 As noted under Task 2.1.3a above, the Activity team successfully completed a ToT workshop for Project Officers, PESS and DESB staff supporting the Activity in 16 districts in four provinces. The final day of the ToT covered how to use classroom observation visits to coach G1 teachers in the Lao language, as well as how to facilitate Teacher Learning Circles (TLCs) to support teacher’s development. The observation form which the Activity has trained PESS, DESB and Project Officers to use is the revised MoES form which was developed under the BEQUAL project for rollout alongside the new primary curriculum, as well as through UNICEF’s training program for Pedagogical Advisors. The observation form contains a checklist of 16 items, many of which ask the observer to consider the inclusion of all students in the classroom. The Senior GESI Specialist had been able to give input to this form at a meeting with development partners in April 2019. Therefore, the form is well-suited to the Activity’s focus on helping all children learn to read.

The Activity team also decided to use the same Teacher Learning Circle guidelines which were shared by the BEQUAL program as part of the national primary curriculum training rollout in July- August 2019. While the 32 BEQUAL priority districts may receive funding to implement these activities, the 16 districts where the Activity works reported that they had not yet tried to implement TLCs. The concept of a community of practice is not yet well understood within the MoES system, as the usual cluster-based meetings are longer and more formal. Therefore, the Activity technical team plans to refine the TLC guidelines and process, based on our observations and the feedback of the field team and DESB during the second semester.

Task 2.2.2b: Train Principals (and Pedagogical Advisors) to establish Teacher Learning Circles in their school clusters.

As noted under Task 2.1.4a above, the Activity team successfully completed trainings for school principals to establish and support Teacher Learning Circles in their school clusters in 16 districts. Principals received a day of training on coaching teachers and establishing Teacher Learning Circles, at the end of which each district divided into cluster groups and made a schedule to begin TLCs for G1 teachers. Key points about TLCs are as follows: • Number of teachers participating should be 4-12 people; • Principal will be the facilitator, with support from PA or PO. The facilitator does not need to know all the answers, but rather should encourage all participants to share; • TLC meeting should last around 90 minutes, and no longer than 2 hours; • Four discussion steps are: (1) Evaluation of past experience, (2) Reflection on key topic, (3) Learning together, and (4) Planning.

While PAs and DESB technical staff for Pre-primary did not receive training on TLCs in January 2020, due to limited time and budget, the POs from each district worked with them to explain the process and to make a schedule for Pre-primary TLCs. Pre-primary PAs and DESB staff will receive full training on TLCs before the start of the 2020-21 school year, along with school principals from the second implementation group.

Task 2.2.3: Teacher Learning Circles (TLCs) are monitored and supported by POs and PAs during school visits.

Following the ToT for DESB staff and Project Officers, the Activity began to implement TLCs during the second semester of the 2019-20 school year. Separate TLC groupings are needed for Pre- primary and Grade 1 teachers, as the content and issues for students and teachers in these two grades are quite different. 77 PP teachers trained and 273 G1 teachers were able to participate in a Learning Circle event in their area between January 1 and March 18, 2020, at which time schools were obliged to close.

15 The TLC format is more informal, more focused and shorter than the usual cluster-level meetings which teachers, school principals and DESB staff may have experienced in the past. The meeting facilitator does not need to be an expert or know all the answers, but should draw out the knowledge and experience of the participants. The Activity therefore anticipated that it would take several rounds of TLC meetings to adjust expectations and practices. Overall, the Activity team has observed that teachers participated enthusiastically in sharing their challenges, experience, and ideas. At the same time, the principal or PA/PO acting as group facilitator often found it difficult to help the group focus on a particular topic, meaning that the discussion overran and not all issues raised were clearly addressed. The Activity technical team will therefore plan how to focus on improving facilitation skills and time management skills for TLCs in the 2020-21 school year. Some more detailed observations on the experience of TLCs for Pre-Primary and Grade 1 teachers in 2Q2020 are outlined below.

TLCs for Pre-primary teachers:

The Activity conducted the first round of PP TLCs during February-March 2020, with the participation of a total of 77 Pre-Primary teachers from 11 of 15 districts across four provinces, who had received training on reading readiness during 2019. The TLCs were usually led by principals, and occasionally by a PO or PA, providing the opportunity to teachers to share their own experiences of teaching and learn new ideas and teaching techniques from their peers. The TLCs for PP teachers focused on the use of the RRP and Reading Corner materials, and each group started by using questions: What has gone well and why? What has not gone well and why? In general TLCs were conducted as planned, although four districts were unable to complete the meetings before schools were closed on March 19, three weeks in advance of the usual school break for the Lao New Year.

POs reported that during the TLC meetings the teachers actively participated, raised their concerns shared their teaching experiences with their peers, and discussed ways to address the issues raised. However, in some TLCs, the teachers with more teaching experience dominated the meeting, excluding the ideas of the younger teachers. Some of the points raised by experienced teachers were too general, without a clear summary or specific solution, which caused confusion for some teachers. Another challenge in some TLCs is that the discussion was overloaded with too many problems, without focusing on key points and clear solutions, meaning that the plans made were not specific enough. Therefore, for the next round of TLCs in the 2020-21 school year, the Activity will emphasize that TLCs have to prioritize the issues to address with a specific and clear action plan. In addition, the training on TLCs will provide more opportunities for school principals to practice facilitation skills, such as encouraging all group participants to speak.

TLCs for Grade 1 teachers:

The Activity successfully organized a round of G1 TLCs in all but one district during February and March 2020, with the participation of a total of 273 Grade 1 teachers from 15 of 16 districts across four provinces. Kham district in Xiengkhouang Province was unable to organize TLCs before schools closed in February for National Games preparation. POs reported that the TLCs provided helpful support to G1 teachers, and that participants were very engaged throughout the TLC meetings. Teachers were very eager and willing to share their successes and challenges in relation to teaching the G1 Lao language curriculum, and they were also able to spend time discussing effective solutions for common challenges. The Activity field team noted that in some TLC cluster meetings there were too many items selected for discussion among the groups, which in turn prevented detailed discussion on some important topics. Several TLC meetings were not able to stick to the recommended time limit of two hours. To improve learning outcomes going forward, the Activity team will support POs and school principals on managing time and prioritizing discussion topics during Teacher Learning Circle sessions.

The learning outcomes of TLCs can be improved with coaching support, as is illustrated by an example from the visit of the Senior GESI Specialist to Thoulakhom district on February 26. Two

16 different TLC G1 clusters met on this day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The TLC in the morning was less useful for teachers, as too many principals had joined due to a misunderstanding. The facilitator did not follow the four steps for discussion, and was not able to prevent the principals from dominating the discussion. The Senior GESI Specialist and GESI Coordinator met with the PO and PA before the afternoon TLC meeting and reviewed the purpose and steps for the discussion. This second TLC was facilitated by the PA and was more focused. Teachers described some challenges they were facing, voted to prioritize three topics to address, and then helped to suggest possible solutions. The three challenges selected by teachers along with their solutions were: • Student not interested in writing: ask student to write one word or sentence at a time; meet the parents to find out more about the student; ask VEDC to support parent meeting; show appreciation for any efforts the student makes in writing (regardless of quality); • Teacher not confident to teach Lesson 20 (vowels with a final -n): review the lesson plan; use the student book to teach consonant and vowel combinations; read the teacher’s guide for the lesson including the methodology; • Classroom management for multi-grade class: follow the Activity’s guidance on multi-grade teaching; appoint a prefect in each grade; start with a short joint activity for both grades, then set initial task for G2, return to teach G1, set a task for G1, teach G2.

This TLC session produced a good discussion, and the G1 teachers came up with applicable solutions.

Table 3. Number of teachers who participated in a Teacher Learning Circle during Jan-March 2020 PP PP PP G1 G1 G1 Province District (F) (M) Total (F) (M) Total XKH Khoun 8 0 8 10 9 19 XKH Phoukout 7 0 7 16 5 21 XKH Pek 10 0 10 24 5 29 XKH Kham 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total XKH 25 0 25 50 19 69 VTE Phonhong 5 0 5 16 2 18 VTE Fuang 0 0 0 7 11 18 VTE Meun 0 0 0 4 7 11 VTE Thoulakhom n/a n/a n/a 17 5 22 VTE Vangvieng 0 0 0 12 5 17 Total VTE 5 0 5 56 30 86 CPS Bachiang… 11 1 12 11 8 19 CPS Mounlapamok 3 0 3 10 5 15 CPS Pathoumphon 10 2 12 13 13 26 CPS Soukkhouma 5 0 5 6 9 15 Total CPS 29 3 32 43 32 75 ATP Samakhixay 5 0 5 15 0 15 ATP Sanamxai 6 0 6 13 4 17 ATP Sanxai 4 0 4 5 6 11 Total ATP 15 0 15 33 10 43 Total All Provinces 74 3 77 179 94 273

17 Task 2.2.6: PAs and POs support Principals in coaching Pre-Primary and Grade 1 teachers through classroom visits.

During 2Q2020, the Activity team and DESB staff continued to support Pre-primary teachers in reading readiness activities in 15 districts through classroom coaching visits. Following the G1 training, the team also began classroom visits to support Grade 1 teachers in the Lao language through classroom coaching visits in 16 districts. The GESI team also continued to provide focused support on Inclusive Education in 14 G1 classes in Thoulakhom district, Vientiane Province.

Classroom visits to support Pre-primary Reading Readiness Program (RRP) and Reading Corners:

From January to March 2020, the Activity POs and DESB PAs continued conducting school visits to support teachers in 15 districts, visiting 87 of the 95 trained PP teachers during this quarter. PAs and POs together conducted classroom observation on the RRP story reading and Reading Corner activities, followed by a feedback session with teachers. The discussion covers what teachers have done well and what areas they need to adjust to further improve student learning. During semester 2, the coaches found that most PP teachers were able to follow the RRP teacher guide more closely and improved their skills in reading storybooks aloud. Teachers are doing especially well on the lessons related to Print & Writing, and Words & Narrative, and students are interested and enjoy listening to their teacher reading the story. However, most teachers have challenges teaching the RRP Sound Game activities, as teaching phonics in the Lao language is new for teachers.

Some teachers reported that in a few RRP lessons the activities do not match the stated objectives, due to oversights in the proofreading of the teacher’s manual, which confused them. PAs and POs also observed that some teachers remain unsure of how to use the RRP teacher implementation notebook and the Pupil Progress Checklist, so they took the opportunity to clarify and answer teacher’s questions on using the RRP materials. The Activity technical team has also gathered feedback from the PP classroom visits to form the basis of the revision of the RRP materials with GPE II and MoES.

Although the Activity trained all school principals to support PP teachers through lesson observations and coaching visits, POs have found that most school principals do not have time to observe and coach their teachers. The reason given is that school principals are busy with their operational and administrative duties, and some principals are also full-time teachers. This means that coaching visits from POs and DESB staff remain a key support for teachers. The Activity will also review the effectiveness and efficacy of continuing to invite school principals to full teacher training events in the 2020-21 school year.

Classroom visits to support Grade 1 Lao language curriculum:

From January 2020 in Xiengkhouang Province and from February 2020 in Attapeu, Champasak and Vientiane Provinces, the Activity POs and DESB staff performed successful coaching visits to Grade 1 classrooms. 234 G1 teachers received at least one coaching visit during 2Q2020, and some classes received two visits before schools closed on March 19. The POs reported that while many teachers appeared to have sufficient teaching skills and good classroom management, there was still room for improvement, especially in regard to supporting teachers in using the national G1 Lao language teacher guide during their lessons. Many teachers continued to note that they found the national G1 Lao language teacher guide to be overly detailed and confusing to use. In response, POs and PAs provided actionable guidance to teachers on how to use the teacher guide. The Activity team will continue to monitor teachers’ challenges with the revised G1 national curriculum.

Teachers also reported that they had found the G1 teacher training helpful, and they felt more confident communicating with non-Lao-speaking students and supporting their learning. However, this continues to be a particular challenge in classrooms where the teacher does not speak the local

18 ethnic language, and so needs to rely on older students or other teachers to communicate with the class. The Activity team has also noted that in some areas, students under the age of six are allowed to join the G1 class, leaving the teacher struggling to teach younger children. The POs and DESB staff provided advice and recommendations during the visits, and the Activity will consider how these issues can be further addressed through future trainings, TLCs and coaching.

The Activity Professional Development (PD) Coordinators for North and South, along with the GESI Coordinators, continued to play an important role in supporting POs and DESB staff to coach teachers. These technical Coordinators also play a key role in ensuring the wider Activity technical team receive regular updates on what further support may be needed in particular districts or schools, and making recommendations on how to improve our support to teachers.

Classroom visits to support Inclusive Education (IE) in Grade 1:

Following the first round of IE support and coaching visits to six schools in December 2019, the Activity’s GESI team led a second round of IE coaching visits to eight schools February 24-28, 2020, in Thoulakhom district, Vientiane Province. The Senior GESI Specialist and North GESI Coordinator supported two DESB staff and a PO as they provided coaching and advice to teachers after observing a G1 Lao language lesson, based on the specific difficulties that some students had in the classroom. A third round of visits had been planned for March 23-27, but this was postponed when schools were closed early due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

During the classroom observations, the GESI team was pleased to note that, in a number of schools, the teachers had applied their learning from the IE training in December 2019. Several teachers used the group work technique and had arranged the classroom in a “U” or a semi-circle format, so that the teacher had easy access to support all the students. In one primary school, the teacher had applied cooperative learning pedagogy (peer-to-peer support) to support a student who had difficulties in reading. However, in another school the teacher did not implement the positive discipline methods demonstrated at the IE training, when during class some students misbehaved and one student slept. The teacher had not collaborated with her students to develop classroom rules, and she dealt with the child who was sleeping by telling them to stand in front of the class, without explanation or expectations. At the end of the lesson, the GESI team reminded the teacher of the IE training sessions about the use of positive discipline in the classroom. The teacher said she would review the handouts from the session on positive discipline and apply it in the classroom. The PA and PO committed to: follow up on this action during their next classroom visit; support the teacher; and answer any further questions.

The Activity GESI team found that there were students in three primary schools who had specific difficulties in reading and writing. The teachers did not report having any students with visual or hearing difficulties in any of the six schools. The Senior GESI Specialist was able to provide practical advice to teachers on how to support the students with difficulties in reading and writing. In one class, three students had difficulty in copying from the board and the teacher did not know how to help them. One student was supported by his peer, who explained to him where he should begin writing on the page, which was good. The other two students were sitting next to each other and had not even started writing in their books. The Senior GESI Specialist brought the words and phrases that the teacher had stuck to the board to their desks and asked them to copy. One student copied really well but with tiny handwriting, which can be a sign of difficulty with fine motor coordination. The other student was reluctant to attempt to write, so it was decided not to pressure him during this visit. The Senior GESI Specialist recommended that the teacher should find simple, single-lined notebooks for these students, rather than the standard notebooks with many lines which can be visually confusing. The GESI team also agreed to send the teacher some written information on how to support these students to improve their writing skills and develop their fine motor skills.

19 Taking into consideration these observations about the challenges teachers face in the classroom, the Senior GESI Specialist advised the Activity’s technical team and Senior Management Team (SMT) that she would make changes to the teacher training curriculum for the next IE pilot training in 2020-21. The IE training in Bachiengchaleunsouk district, Champasak Province will include additional sessions on how teachers can support students with difficulties in reading and writing. This idea was supported by the SMT, and the Senior GESI Specialist and the Senior ETS will work together to integrate some content on supporting students with learning disabilities in the G1 reading improvement teacher training agenda.

Table 4. Number of teachers who received at least one classroom support visit during Jan-March 2020 PP PP PP G1 G1 G1 Province District (F) (M) Total (F) (M) Total XKH Khoun 8 0 8 10 9 19 XKH Phoukout 7 0 7 16 5 21 XKH Pek 10 0 10 24 5 29 XKH Kham 7 0 7 16 11 27 Total XKH Province 32 0 32 66 30 96 VTE Phonhong 5 0 5 15 2 17 VTE Fuang 5 0 5 7 11 18 VTE Meun 2 0 2 4 7 11 VTE Thoulakhom n/a n/a n/a 17 5 22 VTE Vangvieng 4 0 4 12 5 17 TOTAL VTE Province 16 0 16 55 30 85 CPS Bachiang… 9 0 9 6 5 11 CPS Mounlapamok 3 0 3 1 1 2 CPS Pathoumphon 6 0 6 3 0 3 CPS Soukkhouma 5 0 5 8 6 14 TOTAL CPS Province 23 0 23 18 12 30 ATP Samakhixay 6 0 6 4 0 4 ATP Sanamxai 6 0 6 7 3 10 ATP Sanxai 4 0 4 5 4 9 TOTAL ATP Province 16 0 16 16 7 23 TOTAL All Provinces 87 0 87 155 79 234

Result 3

The Activity’s community engagement work during 2Q2020 focused on monitoring and support for the piloting of caregiver engagement sessions, which continued implementation in 36 communities across three provinces. A detailed account of the lessons learned can be found under IR 3.2 below, which will also inform the revision of the Caregiver Engagement sessions for further use in Group 2 schools in the 2020-21 school year.

Under IR 3.1, the Community Engagement (CE) Specialist worked with the CE Coordinators from the North and South teams to develop an overview and guidelines for the Activity’s CE interventions in the 2020-21 school year, once full funding is restored. An exciting development is that additional funding from SCHK will allow the Activity to recruit up to 22 Youth Literacy

20 Champions from local villages in our target districts, who will complete a one-year internship with the aim of improving family and community support for children’s reading. This builds on the idea of community Literacy Champions as explained in the Activity’s Cooperative Agreement, offering young people the opportunity to gain work experience while promoting a love of reading in their local area. More details will follow in the 3Q2020 report, as planning details are clarified with local community leaders and education offices.

IR 3.1 Improved home literacy environments to support children's language and pre- literacy skills development

Task 3.1.1 Identify VEDC representatives and give them orientation on Reading Corners and Caregiver Engagement sessions, to support community mobilization and ownership.

During 2Q2020, the Activity team continued to work with representatives of Village Education Development Committees (VEDCs) in 36 communities, to support the participation of parents of Pre-primary students in Caregiver Engagement sessions and the use of Reading Corners. During 1Q2020, these VEDC members had received an orientation to the caregiver sessions and Reading Corner storybooks, which can be borrowed by PP students and their families. While the Activity had originally planned to extend Reading Corners to all G1 classrooms by January 2020, this was postponed to September 2020 due to budget limitations, as articulated in the revised Year 2 workplan.

VEDC members were involved in supporting all Caregiver Engagement sessions during 2Q2020 by promoting community attendance at the meetings, and by encouraging caregivers to try using the games, songs, and activities at home to support their children’s learning. A total of 174 VEDC members (57 women, 117 men) from 36 communities have participated in the Caregiver Engagement sessions from when they began in December 2019 to the time when activities were suspended on March 19, 2020, due to school closures.

Task 3.1.2 Develop outreach strategy and guidelines for parent-teacher meetings and community reading festivals.

During March 2020, the CE Specialist worked with the CE Coordinators from the North and South teams to develop an overview and guidelines for the Activity’s CE interventions in the 2020-21 school year. This will include sessions on community engagement during the teacher training for PP and G1, parent-teacher meetings in each semester, the promotion of Reading Corners for families of students in PP and G1, and continued engagement with VEDCs through events such as Reading Festivals. The main purpose of Reading Festivals is to encourage students, parents, teachers, and community leaders to join together and participate in activities related to reading, such as games, songs, story reading, and writing.

Some communities will also be prioritized to receive additional support such as Caregiver Engagement sessions for parents of Pre-primary students (see also IR3.2). This decision will be made in consultation with Activity field staff and DESB officials, and details will be finalized in advance of the teacher training for the 2020-21 school year.

Task 3.1.3 Organize parent-teacher meetings for caregivers of Pre-Primary to exchange information about student learning.

The Activity had tried to maintain the parent-teacher meeting events in the workplan for March 2020, despite the reduced budget available. However, the Senior ETS later realized that some level of funding would be needed for a further short ToT for POs and PAs and teacher and principal training in January 2020, which was not available at the time. While the technical team had hoped to find a solution to implement the meetings during 3Q2020, the disruption to the school year brought

21 about by COVID-19 has made this impossible. Therefore, the technical team will incorporate parent-teacher meetings in the ToTs and trainings for PP and G1 teachers and school principals at the start of the 2020-21 school year, including all schools in implementation groups 1 and 2.

IR 3.2: Additional extracurricular interventions developed and tested to address the needs of children from disadvantaged populations During 2Q2020, the CE team continued to work closely with POs and DESB to support the 36 schools piloting the Caregiver Engagement sessions for parents of PP students, in nine districts across four provinces. In this IR section, Task 3.2.8c (Monitoring of Caregiver Engagement sessions) has been reported ahead of Task 3.2.6 (Revision of Caregiver Engagement materials), to make the narrative easier to follow.

Task 3.2.8c: Monitoring and support for implementation of Caregiver Engagement sessions

From January to March 2020, the POs and CE Coordinators continued monitoring the Caregiver Engagement sessions and Reading Corner activities in 36 communities/schools: 12 villages in four districts in Vientiane Province, eight villages in two districts in Champasak Province and 16 villages in three districts in Attapeu Province. As explained in previous reports, Xiengkhouang Province was not included in this pilot due to the timing difficulties caused by the planned National Sports Games events. During these monitoring visits, the Activity POs, DESB staff and CE Coordinators supported Pre-primary teachers and school principals by giving advice and helping them to solve challenges.

In Vientiane Province, POs, DESB and the North CE Coordinator supported the successful implementation of all five Caregiver Engagement sessions in 12 villages, with one school requesting to conduct the sessions for a second group of caregivers during 2Q2020 because of the large number of PP students. In Champasak Province, the majority of the eight schools only completed three of five sessions before schools closed on March 19. One cause of the delay was due to government district meetings which took place in February 2020, during which time the Activity was advised not to implement the sessions. In Attapeu Province, seven of 16 schools completed all five CE sessions by March 19, with the majority completing only the first three sessions. All the remaining schools had planned to finish the CE sessions before the end of the school year in May 2020; however, implementation is now postponed due to school closures.

Table 5. Number of schools which have implemented caregiver engagement sessions by March 19, 2020

District/ # PP schools % of

Province implementing schools caregiver Session Session Session Session completing Session 5 engagement 1 2 3 4 5 sessions Phonhong 3 3 3 3 3 3 100% Vangvieng 4 4 4 4 4 4 100% Fueang 3 3 3 3 3 3 100% Muen 2 2 2 2 2 2 100% Vientiane 12 12 12 12 12 12 100% Soukhoumma 5 5 5 5 2 2 40% Mounlapamok 3 3 3 3 2 0 0% Champasak 8 8 8 8 2 2 25% Samakkhixay 6 6 6 5 3 2 33% Sanamxay 6 6 6 5 3 2 33% Sanxay 4 4 4 4 3 3 75% Attapeu 16 16 16 14 9 7 44% TOTAL 36 36 36 34 23 21 58%

22

During school visits, the Activity team also collected feedback on the experience of teachers, principals and communities in implementing the CE sessions, in order to inform adjustments for the next school year. Overall, the feedback on the contents of the caregiver engagement sessions has been favorable, with parents finding the three learning activities introduced each session are simple to play with their children. Some of the main challenges relating to caregiver attendance in the sessions are as follows: • Gathering enough caregivers to participate in the sessions was not easy in some communities, and overall attendance was higher for sessions 1 and 2 than for sessions 3-5. • Caregivers who live in urban areas may have fixed work or business hours, meaning they are not able to join meetings during school hours when PP teachers are available to facilitate the sessions. • In the southern provinces, earning extra income by working for coffee companies as daily laborers is more crucial to families than joining events organized by the Activity.

These challenges will not be easy to overcome, but if some of the Caregiver Engagement activities are led by Youth Literacy Champions next year, this will offer more flexibility in choosing the day and time for the meetings. Furthermore, it is noticeable that because the North CE Coordinator is based in Vientiane Capital and was supporting 12 villages in Vientiane Province, she was able to follow up closely with each community. The South CE Coordinator is based in Pakse, Champasak Province, but was supporting 24 villages in both Champasak and Attapeu Provinces, making it difficult to follow up as closely. Community engagement activities in Lao PDR will require more intensive support to succeed, especially when trying to encourage behavior change related to reading and literacy. Therefore, the Activity will carefully target the communities in most need of regular support from Youth Literacy Champions, such as in Attapeu Province, and will increase monitoring visits by senior staff to districts which report more challenges in implementation.

Despite some delays, it is good to note that 367 caregivers completed session 5 of the caregiver engagement sessions, including 240 women and 127 men. While these figures show that women are still more likely than men to attend the CE sessions, which is often true about activities related to child care for young children, it is encouraging to note than more than a third of the participants were men. The Activity will continue to seek ways to encourage both women and men to engage with their children’s learning and reading.

Table 6. Number of caregivers who completed caregiver engagement sessions in 36 communities across nine districts, disaggregated by gender, and Session (S)

District/ S1 S1 S2 S2 S3 S3 S4 S4 S5 S5 Province (F) (M) (F) (M) (F) (M) (F) (M) (F) (M)

Phonhong 39 4 28 6 22 1 33 1 29 2 Vangvieng 49 16 44 10 38 11 55 8 44 19 Fueang 71 14 69 7 61 9 64 14 80 13 Muen 16 9 17 3 11 6 11 3 14 6 Vientiane 175 43 158 26 132 27 163 26 167 40 Soukhoumma 53 77 44 51 26 35 25 27 23 26 Mounlapamok 27 50 17 40 22 26 16 17 0 0 Champasak 80 127 61 91 48 61 41 44 23 26 Samakkhixay 53 69 55 61 23 27 24 25 15 16 Sanamxay 76 88 55 60 41 45 46 49 20 21 Sanxay 26 33 26 32 15 25 17 23 15 24

23 Attapeu 155 190 136 153 79 97 87 97 50 61 TOTAL 410 360 355 270 259 185 291 167 240 127

Other key feedback gathered by the Activity team related to the piloting of the Caregiver Engagement sessions during 2Q2020 was as follows: • Some Pre-primary teachers lack confidence in implementing the caregiver engagement sessions with community members. This is especially true in communities where caregivers do not speak Lao fluently, and even more so if the teacher does not speak the language of the local community. • In some communities the location agreed for the Caregiver meetings was not conducive to supporting participation and interaction, such as a classroom crowded with desks and chairs. • In the SCHK-funded Ready to School project, which is piloting the Activity’s five Caregiver Engagement sessions in Luang Prabang Province, the field staff reported that caregivers in some communities find it embarrassing to practice the learning games in front of other adults (particularly if men and women are in the same group). Field staff claim that this behavior is taking place because it is very unusual in local culture for parents, especially fathers, to play with their children. This cultural attitude is a very important factor in considering how to promote long-term behavior change to improve children’s reading readiness.

During 3Q2020, the Activity technical team will review the content and guidelines for the Caregiver Engagement sessions based on this feedback, to remove as many barriers as possible to facilitating families’ support for their children’s learning. Recruiting local Youth Literacy Champions (YLCs) who know the language and culture of the communities to support the sessions would be a great advantage. The Activity team is also considering changing the format of the materials to include less text and less detailed description, so that the teachers or YLCs facilitating the sessions do not feel overwhelmed by the length of the session plan.

Task 3.2.6: Review Caregiver Engagement Training manual, Facilitation handbook and illustrated Caregiver handouts.

During 2Q2020, the Activity CE and field teams continued to note feedback from teachers and communities on the content and format of the Caregiver Engagement sessions and Reading Corner activities, which have been implemented since December 2019. The CE Specialist had prepared to conduct a materials review workshop with teachers, DESB and PESS in Vientiane Province at the end of March, and in Champasak and Attapeu Provinces at the end of April. Unfortunately, these workshops were postponed in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, and following the extension of the partial lockdown to May 3, the Activity team decided to cancel the workshops.

Instead of holding workshops, during 3Q2020 the technical team will review the manuals and materials within the team, starting remotely during April 2020, based on the feedback already obtained from field staff. The ECCD Technical Advisor will also provide remote support for this task during May 2020, rather than travelling to Lao PDR as initially planned.

IR 3.3 An improved culture of support for literacy for all children

Task 3.3.1 Conduct research on audience survey to identify media with greatest existing reach in target areas, to develop media engagement strategy in collaboration with relevant GoL and UN agencies.

This research on media will be conducted during the Activity baseline survey, as part of the student and caregiver background questionnaires. The baseline survey is currently planned for September 2020, working on the assumption that schools will be able to open on September 1 as usual.

24 When school closures were announced with little notice during the third week of March, the Activity team was in frequent communication with the SC Head of Education about what type of measures could be taken remotely to reduce loss of learning during the three weeks up to the Lao New Year break in April. SC and UNICEF are leading on supporting the MoES response to COVID- 19, and the COP has monitored the situation for potential ways in which the Activity could support student learning in our target districts. However, both SC and UNICEF recognize that in many areas outside of Vientiane Capital and larger provincial capitals, students and their families do not have reliable access to the Internet, television or radio. The most common media available to all communities are the village loudspeakers, which are usually used for announcements.

Task 3.3.5 Pilot community reading events at local libraries.

The research for this task is planned for 3Q2020. Starting in May, the Activity will ask Project Officers to consult with DESB and PESS to map and assess the location, resources and capacity of public libraries in 16 target districts. This will enable the Activity to assess the viability of library- based reading promotion activities in the future, or to explore alternative locations for district-level reading festival events. Due to the COVID-19 situation, any such events are more likely to be scheduled for Year 3.

Task 3.3.8 Annual GESI Awareness-Raising Workshop in VTE Capital.

The GESI Awareness-Raising Workshop was scheduled to take place in 2Q2020, but has now been postponed until 3Q2020 or until such time as the GoL permits larger meetings to take place. The Activity was not able to schedule a meeting with the IEC to discuss this workshop until mid-March, by which time GoL was already advising that any large gatherings should be suspended as part of the COVID-19 response. As a result, these discussions on organizing the GESI Awareness Raising workshop will need to be resumed once the partial lockdown is over.

Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning

MEAL activities moved forward during 2Q2020 including the re-initiation of the procurement of the evaluation, reporting on indicators, and training POs to enter classroom observation data. The interrupted procurement of the third party evaluation, the loss of the MEAL Coordinator and the lack of funds available for a Senior MEAL Specialist or for tablets for POs have been challenging for MEAL. Despite these challenges, the Activity team is making progress and, with new funds and human resources, the Activity will build strong MEAL systems for data driven decision-making. The revised AMELP will be submitted upon approval of the second revision of the Year 2 Annual Work Plan, which is scheduled for 3Q2020.

Task M2c. Activity baseline evaluation

Activity senior management spoke with RDMA MEAL during the annual IP meeting in February 2020 and was advised that with the approval of the Year 2 Annual Work Plan imminent, the Activity should move forward with the procurement of the third party evaluation. The Activity then restarted the procurement process that had been suspended in 2019 due to the fact that funding issues made both the available budget for the third party evaluation unclear and created uncertainty about the technical design of the project that needed to be resolved before the technical design of the evaluation could proceed. The COP informed the AOR in writing about this decision in February and, after receiving acknowledgement, re-initiated the procurement process by taking steps including securing final procurement committee approval to move forward with discussions with AIR. AIR led the consortium that submitted the proposal that received the highest overall score and was determined to be of the highest quality by the procurement committee. The Activity informed AIR of requested technical changes to the evaluation on February 20. On February 28, the Activity

25 contacted AIR to confirm their availability, to state that it had restarted the procurement process, and to request revisions to their evaluation proposal. The Activity team and SCUS held a call with AIR on March 12 to discuss technical changes to the project and the evaluation as a result of the funding difficulties during FY2020. In discussions with AIR about the third party evaluation, the Activity team requested that AIR prepare a revised proposal based on the following design: Baseline in September 2020, Rapid Cycle Evaluation in March or April 2021, Midline removed, and Endline in March or April 2023. In an adaptation recommended by AIR, the third party evaluation will focus on Groups 2 and 3 plus a separate comparison group. Group 1 schools will be removed from the evaluation due to components of the Activity having already been implemented in these schools, biasing the baseline estimates. The comparison group will include schools with similar characteristics as those included in the Activity from the same provinces, but different districts. AIR is currently using this information to develop a revised evaluation proposal and is coordinating with Learn to Read senior management and with SCUS as revisions continue. AIR is expected to submit a revised technical and cost proposal in early 3Q2020.

Task M10. Quarterly indicator data collection

During January 2020, the Senior ETS worked with the MEAL Coordinator (who has now left the Activity) in order to update the MEL indicators for 1Q2020. During 2Q2020, the MEAL Officers worked to set up a KoBO data entry system for Project Officers to enter data related to field-level monitoring activities. This will make it possible for the Activity to report reliably on a greater number of indicators in 3Q2020, once the indicators in the AMELP have been revised and approved.

Task M21. Adaptation of tools to assess, analyze, document and share changes in teacher capacity

The Activity currently has classroom observation forms for Pre-Primary lessons (two separate forms for RRP and Reading Corners), Grade 1 lessons (standard MoES/BEQUAL form, as used by PAs), and Inclusive Education (used only in the one district implementing IE pilot). These forms were used by Project Officers and DESB staff during 1Q and 2Q2020. During 3Q2020, the Senior ETS will work with the SCUS MEAL TA to agree how these instruments will be used to report against the revised indicators related to teacher capacity and pedagogy. The Pre-primary forms will be revised for the next school year, in collaboration with the GPE II and MoES, while the Grade 1 form will remain the same.

While the Activity had initially planned to use pre- and post-test instruments to measure teacher learning during trainings, following use at several trainings, the technical team has concluded that these tools are not well-suited to our purpose in the Lao context. The Activity is trying to change teaching culture and practices in Lao PDR, moving away from the “one correct answer/approach” which is ingrained in the system, to a focus on “what do students need to learn, and what can you do to help them learn.” Starting and ending every training by asking teachers to complete a 20- minute written test does not facilitate this change in the focus of teaching and learning – if anything, it reinforces the opposite message. The Activity technical team therefore recommends the use of alternative tools to improve the quality of our trainings, such as teacher feedback/reflection forms, and the use of classroom observation tools to assess changes in teacher capacity and practices. This change will be reflected in the revised version of the AMELP.

Management and Administration

The Management and Administration priorities shifted considerably during 2Q2020 as a result of the pandemic. During January, the main focus of the project team was to successfully implement the teacher training. In February, the focus for Management and Administration shifted to finalizing the Year 2 Annual Work Plan, completing the grant process for the SCHK award and starting the SCHK programming. By March, Management and Administration efforts became increasingly focused on continuing the project implementation despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Early in March, this

26 involved increasingly intensive coordination, dissemination of recommendations to staff, and ultimately transitioning the team to telework.

Learn to Read consortium partner HI underwent a regionalization process during 2Q2020. HI Lao PDR, is now part of the Region with the country programs of Cambodia, Vietnam and Lao PDR merged into one regional structure with the regional office based in Vientiane Capital. The Country Director of HI Lao PDR is now the Regional Director for the Mekong region. Under the new structure, the Senior GESI Specialist will be line managed by the Regional Technical Unit Manager instead of the Country Director.

Project Planning

In 2Q2020, the Activity focused on implementing Year 2 programming while managing amid a very restricted budget due to TIPS and an increasingly complex operating environment due to the pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, the National games made implementation in Xiengkhuang Province more difficult and, as a result, the Activity SMT determined that it was not worthwhile to rent a vehicle for Xiengkhuang Province. Result 1 materials development proceeded well despite delays due to lack of government availability. At the end of 2Q2020, a successful online materials development workshop demonstrated the potential of virtual support to reduce the need for expensive STTA visits. The Activity team was impressed to see Grade 1 teacher training and TLC support go well across all 16 districts. Lack of funds for a MEAL database and for tablets, combined with turnover in the MEAL team has made data-driven planning more difficult5. At the end of 2Q2020, the Activity was anticipating an increase in its obligated funds, which combined with an end to the shelter in place order, could allow for an acceleration of programming and a catch-up process.

Government Engagement

The Activity worked closely with the MoES on the development and rollout of Pre-Primary Caregiver Engagement materials during 1Q2020, and in 2Q2020 it received official approval from RIES on February 4, 2020 under document No.106/ສວສ. The approval allowed the Activity to use the Caregiver Engagement materials at the school level as a pilot in 36 schools during the 2019 to 2020 school year. RIES was aware that the Activity had been using these materials since October 2019. The Activity originally planned to conduct workshops in three locations for the final revision of the caregiver materials with MoES partners including the DESB, PESS, teachers and VEDC at the end of March and April 2019; however, these workshops have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 situation. The Activity technical team is planning to work with RIES during 3Q2020 to make final adjustments to these materials and to seek final approval from RIES, once public meetings are allowed.

SC and the Activity technical team gave input to ECE-FG in February and March 2020. The first meeting of the ECE-FG was successfully completed on March 5, 2020. (Meeting completed – see 1.1.1)

Quarterly Activity Review Meetings: The Activity successfully conducted 16 Quarterly Activity Review Meetings at the district level with government counterparts across four provinces in Xiengkhouang Province (Khoun, Kham, Pek and Phoukout districts), Vientiane Province (Phonhong, Mun, Fuang, Thoulakhom and Vangvieng districts), Champasak Province (Bachiengchaleunsouk,

5 Data-driven planning is using MEAL data to inform program planning at the strategic level (i.e. where to shift resources in the Annual Work Plan) and at the technical level (i.e. what skills do the teacher trainings and TLCs need to emphasize).

27 Soukhouma, Mounlapamok and Pathoumphone districts) and Attapeu Province (Sanamxay, Sanxay and Samakhixay districts). SC co-hosted the meeting with the DESB in the northern provinces, with RtR co-hosting with the DESB in the southern provinces. SC and RtR hosted these district-level meetings to discuss activity implementation and collaboration with members of the MoU Implementation Management Committee (IMC). The meetings were held at the district level with approximately ten participants attending each meeting, including the DESB staff, Pedagogical Advisors, and the Activity team. An important goal of this meeting was to build greater coordination between local DESB technical staff and the Activity team, especially the POs. These meetings ensure we have regular partnership updates and discussions, ensuring transparency and sustainability with local MoES partners. Learn to Read staff members reviewed the project work plan with the relevant authorities including PESS and DESB partners. The Activity team was impressed that local authorities, particularly the DESB, understand how the planned activities support teachers, students, and parents and other caregivers, and how the project works to improve reading and reading readiness for the entire school community. Local PA appear to be getting more proactive in their school monitoring and increasing the rate of school coaching visits as a result of project support.

Co-location with Inclusive Education Center: Please refer to section 1.2.14 for details. of the delays with the co-location.

The RtR Southern Region Project Manager conducted the quarterly meetings with all District Education Sports Bureaus (DESBs) in all seven districts of Attapeu and Champasak Provinces in February and March 2020. These meetings discussed project accomplishments, challenges, lessons learned, and planning for the next quarter’s activities.

Personnel and Recruitment

Staff recruitment and onboarding continues for Learn to Read due to the need to replace staff who have departed and also the scale up of the SCHK cost share funding for Learn to Read. During 2Q2020, the MEAL Coordinator resigned on January 29, 2020 requiring recruitment for this position. The Activity team filled the following positions in 2Q2020:

• MEAL Officer for the Northern Region joined on February 3, 2020 and is based in the SC Laos Country Office in Vientiane Capital.

• SCHK Project Officers (four in total) hired: - one Project Officer based in Bachiengchaleunsouk District, CPS Province hired on February 3, 2020. - one Project Officer based in Muen District, VTE Province hired on February 3, 2020. - one Project Officer based in Kham District, XKH Province hired on March 2n 2020. - one Project Officer based in Pathoumphone District, CPS Province hired and joined on April 1, 2020 immediately after the end of 2Q2020.

Ongoing recruitment is as follows: • MEAL Coordinator: The MEAL Coordinator submitted their resignation on January 29, 2020 and left the project on March 13, 2020. Recruitment for this position began in February and, by the end of 2Q2020 promising candidates had been identified. Learn to Read and the SC Laos MEAL team will conduct a skills test on the three top candidates in early 3Q2020 to determine the best fit for the role. • Senior MEAL Specialist (Key Position): Recruitment will begin after the Pi Mai holiday in 3Q2020.

28 • Provincial Coordinator – Champasak Province: The RtR team interviewed the finalist candidate on February 12. Subsequently, reference and background checks were initiated. Due to the COVID-19 situation, RtR will delay on-boarding until 22 April 2020 or later.

Report and Deliverables Development The Activity provided a COVID-19 program change update to USAID on March 18. More generally, the Activity made steady progress on report and deliverables development during 2Q2020 with the following highlights:

• GIDAP: Immediately after the end of 2Q2020, on April 2, the AOR wrote that the GIDAP is now approved.

• 1Q2020 Quarterly report: Submitted on-time on January 30 and revised and resubmitted March 27 in response to USAID feedback received on March 18.

• Year 2 Communications and Outreach Plan: On March 6, the Activity submitted a revised Communications and Outreach Plan (a component of the Year 2 Annual Work Plan) in response to feedback from the USAID Communications Officer.

• Lao Summary of the Year 2 Annual Work Plan: On March 3, the Activity submitted the Lao Summary of the Year 2 Annual Work Plan.

• Lao Summary of the Year 1 Annual Report: On February 20, the Activity submitted the Lao Summary of the Year 1 Annual Report.

• Revised Year 2 Annual Work Plan: On February 7, the Activity submitted the revised Year 2 Annual Work Plan and received AOR approval on February 15.

• Year 1 Annual Report: On January 17, the Activity submitted the revised Year 1 Annual Report incorporating USAID feedback.

Procurement and Logistics

The Activity procurement plan for FY2020 was officially approved for FY2020 on February 15 in combination with the Year 2 Annual Work Plan. The priorities for procurement, logistics, and supply chain for the Activity in 2Q2020 included:

• Third Party Evaluation Procurement: After consultation with the RDMA MEAL team and with approval of the Year 2 Annual Work Plan imminent, the COP informed the AOR on February 12 that the Activity would move forward with the procurement of the Third Party Evaluation. The Activity then restarted the procurement process that had been suspended in 2019 due to technical concerns and funding issues, and finalized procurement committee documentation. The procurement of the Third Party Evaluation is supported by Supply Chain and operations leadership in SC Laos and at the SC Asia Regional Office and by evaluation and MEAL technical advisors at SCUS.

• Teacher Training Support: Procuring and distributing teacher training materials in coordination with the technical team, the Northern and Southern Managers, the Provincial Coordinators, and the Program Officers.

• Long Term Vehicle Lease: The Activity received a blanket vehicle waiver in late 1Q2020 on December 12, 2019. As a result, the Activity entered into a four-month vehicle lease on

29 February 15 for a vehicle for the Vientiane provincial team from February 15 to May 31 2020. The Activity did not lease vehicles for Xiengkhuang Province because the National Games have interfered with the school schedule. Due to school and office closures, the Activity cancelled the vehicle lease in March to avoid unnecessary costs.

• Supply Chain During Work From Home: To ensure that team members could telework from home when the office was closed due to the pandemic, the Learn to Read Supply Chain team provided pocket wifi equipment to 17 staff members who indicated that they have difficulty accessing the internet at home. During the office closure period, the Supply Chain team worked with the provincial and district-based staff to verify the location and safekeeping of laptops and motorbikes assigned to the field-based staff.

• SC Online Fleet Management Course: SC Laos as a consortium lead on the USAID Learn to Read project had provided an online capacity building workshop on SC Fleet Management for both project staff of SC and INGOs partners.

Financial Management The finance team actively supported the Activity in 2Q2020 through financial management for teacher training, integrating the approved Year 2 Annual Work Plan budget with the SC financial management tools such as Agresso, the Detailed Implementation Plan (DIP), and the monthly BVA system, finalizing the SCHK budget in an effort to secure cost share, and subaward financial management. In line with the SC annual planning cycle, the finance codes, financial forecast and DIP for Learn to Read were uploaded onto Agresso. The SCHK award has an official start date of January 1. SCHK issued a pre-award letter (PAL) on January 14 and fully approved the award on February 29 with an obligated amount of $2,500,000 Hong Kong Dollars or approximately $322,000 USD. The SCHK Learn to Read award provides additional funding for support to teachers, community engagement, and inclusive education. The Activity team worked closely with the Awards team to amend the subaward agreements and to add the Year 2 committed amounts. Transfer to Consortium Partners: RtR submitted invoice to SC requesting an advance of $275,476 for 2Q2020. SC requested additional general ledger (GL) details in the 4Q2019 Financial Report to provide all the expenditure transactions related to Learn to Read. Additional details were also requested for Quarter 1, 2 and 3 of Year 1. RtR submitted a follow-up question regarding what exchange rate the project approves for use in financial reporting. This question is pending a response, and RtR will submit the requested reports with this guidance. HI invoiced SC for $45,558 to reimburse expenditures incurred in 1Q2020. With the subaward amendments currently underway for both RtR and HI, these invoices will be paid in early 3Q2020. Cost Reporting and DEEP Cost Capture: The USAID Learn to Read finance team worked closely with the Country Office finance team in reviewing the financial reports from the consortium partners to ensure that the new cost reporting templates were used and the transactions were categorized into USAID standardized categories. RtR continued to monitor the transition to the new CRC (Cost Reporting Categories) and new sub-coding mechanism. The transition was smooth and is well accepted and understood by the project team. Learn to Read will work closely with USAID to ensure that Cost Reporting and DEEP Cost Capture complies with USAID recommendations and meets USAID needs expressed during the Limited Financial Review. RtR Single Audit: During 2Q2020, the Activity team learned that the RtR Learn to Read project will undergo a Single Audit as part of the Global Audit for the 2019 fiscal year. Additional approval messages and clarifications may be submitted to SC to ensure compliance with contract requirements, as needed, during this audit period.

Security Management

30 The COVID-19 pandemic had very serious security and safety consequences for the Activity team during 2Q2020. The Activity team and SC Laos were aware that COVID-19 was affecting China and could be contagious from the beginning 2Q2020 and members of the SC Laos SMT were coordinating with regional SC officials to develop a response throughout 2Q2020. However, the situation became more serious in March and SC Laos and the Learn to Read team began to take more direct action. Events escalated quickly. On March 11, SC Laos held an SMT meeting that included guidance that international travel was strongly discouraged, staff were not obligated to participate in field visits or other activities if they did not feel safe, and that staff in the office had to maintain precautions such as frequent handwashing. The Chief of Party began leading the Activity team to prepare to work from home including organizing a workshop in XKQ on March 18 to train POs how to do data entry from home. RtR followed a similar approach as the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated urgent adjustments to security management in the Southern Region. Effective March 2, RtR notified all staff members to take necessary precautions to maintain their safety and security in response to the pandemic. These precautions included mandating social distancing measures, encouraging sick employees to remain home, and liberal authorization of remote work authorizations.

On March 16, the AOR and the Chief of Party participated in an Education Cluster meeting about the COVID-19 situation. During this meeting, posters and school-based hygiene were discussed as a potential response to COVID-19. However, Pre-Primary school was officially closed on March 16 and on March 17 the MOES announced that primary would be temporarily closed. On March 17, SCUS offered voluntary repatriation to seconded expats and the Chief of Party and Senior Technical Specialist both declined the offer and chose to stay in Lao PDR. On March 20, the SC Lao SMT met and determined that March 20 would be the last day of working in the office until after the Pi Mai holidays and that SC would move to telework status immediately. Beginning March 24, RtR implemented telework policies for all staff members. RtR continued to monitor the public health emergency and extended the office closures through April 24 at the time of this report. On March 27, the Chief of Party participated in a USAID meeting for implementing partners about the COVID- 19 situation that included a discussion of evacuation protocol and discussion of an upcoming chartered flight. SC Laos is currently following the instructions of the GoL and will continue telework until the GoL allows a return to the office after May 3.

Table 8. Short Term Technical Assistance (STTA) & International Travel during 2Q2020 and expected in 3Q2020

2Q2020

STTA Name and Title Months Assignment

• Technical support on Pre-Primary March SCUS Education Advisor reading readiness (CANCELLED due to (cancelled) COVID-19)

• Conduct Internal Learn to Read Writers’ Workshop for Grade 1 RtR Storybook Development March Regional Manager (cancelled) Storybooks (CANCELLED due to COVID-19).

31

Expected 3Q2020

STTA Name and Title Months Assignment

• Remote support to conduct Internal RtR Storybook Development Writers’ Workshop for Grade 1 April 2020 Regional Manager Storybooks, and to further develop manuscripts (will NOT travel to Lao PDR)

• Remote support for the revision of Pre- Senior Specialist in Early May 2020 primary Caregiver Engagement materials Childhood Development, SCUS (will NOT travel to Lao PDR)

32 3. KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS

During 2Q2020, key accomplishments for the Activity team included:

Result 1: Materials Development

• Significant progress on the development of the first set of ten Grade 1 storybooks, including manuscripts, illustrations, and GESI checklist. Only step remaining is final approval from RIES; • Confirmed plans with RIES officials to develop the second set of ten Grade 1 storybooks and prepared for a remote writers’ workshop to develop manuscripts in 3Q2020; • Met with World Bank, GPE II and RIES and agreed on plans to revise the RRP materials during 3Q2020 for use in 2020-21 school year.

Result 2: Teacher Training and Support • Successful completion of two further three-day ToTs for Activity POs and MoES staff, focused on how to support teachers and students using the revised G1 Lao language curriculum; • Rollout of 19 two-day training workshops for Grade 1 teachers and school principals in 16 districts in four provinces, plus a further one-day training for school principals on how to facilitate Teacher Learning Circles; • Provision of ongoing coaching visits to Grade 1 teachers in 16 districts and support for TLCs in 15 districts, including support for inclusive education in the Thoulakhom district; • Continued coaching visits to Pre-primary teachers in 15 districts and TLCs in 11 districts. Result 3: Community Engagement • Completion of all five Caregiver Engagement sessions by 367 caregivers in 21 communities, including 240 women and 127 men. Another 15 communities will continue to meet in 3Q2020.

Project Management • Agreement with SCHK to provide cost share and supplemental funding. • Quarterly Meetings in all provinces. • Quick adjustment of Activity staff to working from home, adaptation of process of materials development and revision to be accomplished remotely as necessary.

33 4. CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE ACTIVITY TO THE RDMA DEVELOPMENT SCREENS

Science and Technology

The Activity worked hard to make greater use of the Kobo Toolbox, a web-based data aggregation tool during 2Q2020. POs are now entering data from the paper-based classroom observation forms into the Kobo Toolbox system. Use of the Kobo Toolbox will allow the Vientiane-based team to track progress remotely. When new funding from USAID becomes available, the Learn to Read team will switch from paper Classroom Observation forms to Kobo-enabled tablets that will allow for more efficient data entry and data capture. The DCOP and other team members attended the USAID RDMA TraiNet training in in 1Q2020 and received guidance on managing and reporting information in the online USAID system. As a result, during 2Q2020, the Activity MEAL team worked to ensure that its data capture instruments met TrainNet requirements. The Activity team is eager to begin recording data on TrainNet during 3Q2020.

Partnership

The Activity collaborated closely with the MoES during 2Q2020, working towards the sustainability of reading improvement interventions in Lao PDR through strengthened systems. The Activity team focused its efforts on working particularly with the following departments and sections of MoES:

• Research Institute for Educational Sciences: RIES is our key partner for curriculum and materials development, and in February 2020 the MD Specialist met with the DDG to agree on the plans for G1 storybooks. A member of RIES who is also a Master Trainer for BEQUAL joined the G1 ToTs in January 2020. The Activity team also met with RIES on March 20, to make plans for the revision of the RRP materials under GPE II. • Inclusive Education Center: In January 2020, a member of IEC who is a Master Trainer for BEQUAL, participated in the G1 ToTs. In February, the Activity continued to engage with IEC about the organization of the next IE-TWG meeting, and on March 5, the DCOP and GESI team met with the IEC Acting Director to discuss co-location and future collaboration. • Department of Early Childhood Education: On March 3, the Senior ETS and ECE Specialist met with the ECE Deputy Director General to prepare for the first ECE Focal Group meeting. At the ECE-FG meeting on March 5, co-chaired by SC, the Activity ensured key input was given to the ECE sub-sector plan for the ESSDP 2021-2025. • Department of General Education: In January 2020, a member of DGE who is a Master Trainer for BEQUAL, participated in the G1 ToTs. • Provincial Education and Sports Services: Technical staff from PESS in three provinces participated in the Grade 1 ToT in January 2020, and PESS staff from all four provinces supported G1 teacher and principal training from January – March 2020. • District Education and Sports Bureau: Technical staff from DESB in 12 districts participated in the Grade 1 ToT in January 2020, and DESB staff from all 16 districts supported G1 Teacher and Principal training from January – March 2020. DESB technical staff, including Pedagogical Advisors, continued to partner with Project Officers to complete coaching visits and support TLCs for PP and G1 teachers, as well as to follow up on Caregiver Engagement sessions in nine districts. • Department of Planning: The DoP is the MoES lead for the GPE II and the upcoming GPE III program, including the Reading Readiness Program component. The Activity shared technical

34 feedback on the RRP in both Lao and English with the GPE department in February 2020, and met with GPE staff at the RRP planning meeting at RIES on March 20. Following the partial lockdown, the technical team continued communicating with the GPE II consultant hired by DoP by phone and email, regarding the RRP materials revision.

The Activity also continued to collaborate closely with development partners working the education sector in Lao PDR during January – March 2020, as follows: • BEQUAL Program (supported by DFAT): The Activity continued to consult informally with BEQUAL on matters related to the Grade 1 Lao language curriculum. In February 2020, the Senior ETS shared written feedback with the BEQUAL team about key issues related to the implementation of the revised curriculum, based on information shared by teachers, DESB and PESS staff during the Activity’s teacher trainings in January 2020. The Senior ETS also invited the BEQUAL Lao language team and RIES to share about the G1 Spoken Lao language pilot at the upcoming National Literacy Advocacy event. • World Bank: As a key partner in the GPE II RRP, the Activity shared written feedback regarding the RRP materials with the WB team as well as DoP in February 2020. Members of the Activity technical team joined two GPE III consultation meetings about ECE and RRP on February 17 and 20 at the WB offices. Regarding the RRP, the Activity met with WB at RIES on March 20, and continued to follow up planning by phone and email. • UNICEF: As UNICEF and SC are co-chairs for the Focal Groups on ECE and General Education, the Activity technical team met with UNICEF during the ECE-FG meetings. The Senior ETS and Senior GESI Specialist also participated in a meeting at UNICEF in February 2020 to contribute to the joint development partners’ recommendations on the draft ESSDP for 2021-25, to be shared with MoES. • CRS: As CRS are implementing a large USDA-funded school feeding and literacy program in with SC as an implementing partner, the Activity arranged to collaborate on the organization of a National Literacy Advocacy conference in March 2020. This meeting has now been postponed until August 2020.

Gender Equality and Female Empowerment

The Activity’s coordinated closely with USAID and the MOES to implement the GIDAP during 2Q2020. Once this approval was received, the Senior GESI Specialist presented an update to the Activity’s SMT on March 4, 2020, regarding the implementation of the GIDAP. The details of this update are shared in the table below.

USAID Learn to Read update on implementation of GIDAP

Finding 1: Inclusive Education Center (IEC) of the Ministry of Education and Sports (MOES) needs support to effectively fulfill its mandate. Action: Strengthen the capacity of the IEC and partner with the IEC to carry out inclusive education programming.)

Action/Non-Action Justification Update March 2020 Co-location of Activity staff within the IEC Co-location delayed – need further meetings with IEC. However, we can carry out the work without co-location if IEC agrees to the collaboration without co- location.

35 Action/Non-Action Justification Update March 2020 Work with IEC to support ChildFund pilot of Pilot was completed in Huaphan Province Washington Group survey in December 2019. Finalize adaptation of vision and hearing screening Vision and hearing screening tools will be tools for uptake by IEC developed in 3Q2020 as planned. However, the training will need to wait until funds are sourced to develop a referral system and provide assistive devices. The Activity’s SMT agree that screening should not be implemented until aides and adaptations and assistive devices can be provided in response to student’s needs. Map referral and donation pathways for assistive This will be done for the IE pilot in technology Bachieng district, Champasak Province, where HI have another education project which includes developing referral pathways. Action research on tracking progress of learners This will be done after the baseline with difficulties evaluations for the 25% lower quintile of learner performance. Raise awareness through technical working groups This will be ongoing through the Inclusive and education focal groups to provide more holistic Education Technical Working Group (IE- support to children with disabilities TWG), which is co-chaired by HI.

Finding 2: Lack of widespread understanding of GESI-related inequalities. Action: Raise awareness of GESI inequalities at Structural and Community level.

Action/Non-Action Justification Update March 2020 Orientation sessions with MoES officials Orientation sessions can begin once IEC is on board. Development of community engagement and As the Community Engagement strategy is mobilization strategy fully developed during 3Q2020, the GESI Specialists will ensure it is inclusive. Extra-curricular activities that respond to diverse The Caregiver Engagement sessions learning needs developed for piloting in 2019-20 had input on inclusion from the GESI team. This will continue in the next year. GESI-awareness raising sessions with MoES These awareness raising sessions depend on IEC approval and willingness to take a lead, in collaboration with the Activity GESI team. Develop IEC materials for SBCC campaigns on IE materials will be included in the SBCC GESI campaigns GESI and CE Specialists work together on this.

Finding 3: Inclusive teaching and learning materials not readily available in classrooms. Action: Develop inclusive teaching and learning materials for supplementary reading activities.

36

Action/Non-Action Justification Update March 2020 Develop oral language bridge for children who do This is ongoing and will be until the end of not speak Lao the Activity. Develop classroom materials that build on best This is ongoing and will be until the end of practices for inclusion the Activity.

Finding 4: Education staff unprepared to address diverse learning needs in their classrooms. Action: Support teachers to develop skills in inclusive pedagogy.

Action/Non-Action Justification Update March 2020 Develop teacher training and coaching curriculum Scaffolding techniques need to be that includes scaffolding techniques for diverse incorporated into GPE3 and Learn to learners Read’s supplemental curriculum for G1. Develop classroom monitoring tool that is IE classroom monitoring tool was inclusive, and forms the foundation of teacher developed by the GESI team and is being coaching used during support and coaching visits in Thoulakhom district. Ensure that teacher coaches apply a GESI lens when Teacher coaches in one IE pilot district, providing support to teachers Thoulakhom, are applying the GESI lens. The Bachieng IE pilot will also include this training for coaches.

Finding 5: Gaps in data on GESI-related inequities. Action: Collection and Analysis of Activity Data from a GESI perspective.

Action/Non-Action Justification Update March 2020 Disaggregate data by sex, location, language This needs to be done in collaboration with (ethnicity), and UXO the Senior MEAL Specialist, which post is vacant presently. Analyze performance of the lowest-performing This needs to be done in collaboration with quintile through project evaluations the Senior MEAL Specialist, which post is vacant presently.

As a result of the Activity SMT meeting on March 4, the following action plan was developed to further the GIDAP implementation:

1. Co-location of GESI Specialists with IEC: The SMT agreed to the Senior GESI Specialist’s suggestion that a meeting should be arranged with the Acting Director of IEC to discuss future collaborations with the Activity. In this way, the GESI Specialists could continue to work with IEC, even if co-location was not immediately possible. Update: The DCOP, Senior GESI Specialist and Northern GESI Coordinator successfully met with the Acting Director of the IEC on March 5. The meeting was a success in that there was a spirit of collaboration and helpful suggestions as to how we could achieve the co-location.

2. Include visual and hearing screening in the IE pilot for the 2020-21 school year, in Bachiengchaleunsouk district, Champasak Province:

37 This will be linked to HI’s EU project on Inclusive Education – called Sowing the Seeds of Inclusive Education (SOS-IE). In this way, the Activity can benefit from the SOS-IE project in mapping a referral pathway. There was also a discussion around sourcing a budget for assistive devices, starting with the IE pilot district in 2020-21, if possible.

Action: Both SC and HI will continue to seek further grants to provide assistive devices. Action: Arrange a meeting with the RtR Country Office to discuss locating the IE pilot in Bachieng district, under their MoU agreement. Update: The meeting with RtR was held on March 10, and RtR welcomed the idea of holding the next IE pilot in Champasak Province.

3. GESI Awareness raising sessions: This will begin with a presentation on the Activity GESI Analysis and GIDAP at the IE-TWG, which was scheduled for March 31, 2020. Once an agreement is signed with IEC on their collaboration with the Activity on GESI, one of the issues to be raised is setting up a national GESI Awareness seminar with Government partners and Development partners. The date for this seminar needs to be moved to May 2020.

Update: The IE-TWG meeting was postponed due to COVID-19, and the discussion with IEC will be taken up again when the partial lockdown is over.

4. GESI criteria applied to all Activity storybooks Action: The GESI team will work with the Materials Development team to ensure that the Inclusion Checklist has been signed off and kept on file for all storybooks developed up to this point. The Inclusion Checklist will also continue to be used in the development of new materials in 3Q2020.

5. Disaggregated data collection and Analysis. Action: COP will ensure that the revised version of the AMELP includes this, and put the Senior GESI Specialist in touch with the SCUS MEAL colleague providing support while the Senior MEAL Specialist position is vacant.

6. USAID E-learning courses on GESI-related issues: The Senior GESI Specialist raised her concerns about whether all staff will be able to complete and understand the content of the online training due to challenges with the English language. Action: The GESI team will complete the online training during 3Q2020 to learn from it and see how this training can be made more participatory for the wider Activity team. The COP suggested Friday afternoon “movie” sessions of training for staff based at the Vientiane office, which will be arranged once the GESI team have completed the training. The Activity GESI team will continue to reflect on how provincial and district staff can learn from this online training.

7. Training on the use of the Washington Group Set of Questions: The COP requested this training for Activity staff.

Action: The Senior GESI Specialist will plan to organize this in the coming months.

38 5. CHALLENGES ENCOUNTERED

COVID-19 outbreak: Following the MoES announcement to close all the schools in the country from March 19 to mid-April 2020, all school-based coaching and support was postponed or cancelled. The full timeline of this pandemic response is unknown and will impact the next quarter. All Activity staff were required to work from home from March 23, and to maintain social distancing practices. As a result, the staff cannot implement some of the activities planned for March, as well as in the coming quarter. Specific activities negatively impacted include the following: • Project Officers and DESB staff were not able to complete all the classroom support visits and TLCs which had been planned up to the Lao New Year, as they lost three weeks of the school term. However, until the partial lockdown is lifted, field staff have had additional time to complete the entry of classroom monitoring data into KoBO. • Due to COVID-19, in 2Q2020, the Activity postponed plans to meet with RIES officials to obtain final approval of the first set of ten Grade 1 storybooks. As a solution, the Activity team rescheduled with RIES officials to meet after the Lao New Year in 3Q2020. This delay should not influence the Activity’s ability to print and distribute these storybooks to Grade 1 classrooms as originally planned. • The COVID-19 situation made it impossible to conduct an in-person writers’ workshop to develop manuscripts for the second set of ten Grade 1 storybooks, originally planned for late March. The RtR Storybook Development RM had to cancel his planned trip to Lao PDR due to travel complications related to COVID-19. As a solution, the RtR team pivoted their approach and began to prepare to conduct a remote writers’ workshop in early April, so as to keep the development of these storybooks moving forward as originally planned. • Face to face meetings to revise the GPE II RRP materials have been postponed, with as much consultation as possible continuing remotely. Some key decisions cannot be made without a face to face meeting with MoES, so this will slow down the revision process in 3Q2020. • Feedback workshops on Pre-primary and Caregiver Engagement materials with teachers and DESB, which were scheduled to begin in Vientiane Province in the last week of March, have been cancelled due to the lockdown. The Activity technical team has been able to find other ways of getting adequate feedback from field staff, in order to continue the revision process.

Co-location with IEC: The two GESI Specialists were expected to work at the IEC, as part of their ongoing activities. According to written communication received during 2Q2020, this will not be possible at least until 4Q2020. One concern raised by the IEC is that the Activity MOU does not indicate anywhere that there will be co-location of the GESI Specialists with the IEC as well as there being no mention of the GESI Specialist in the MOU. This was discussed at high levels of the MoES prior to finalizing the MOU and not viewed as a barrier at that time. An additional issue making co- location difficult is that the IEC is undergoing yet another organizational re-structure, the IEC is not yet fully functioning under General Education and there are plans to restructure and to move the IEC to another department. This impending reorganization has unsettled the IEC team and made them less likely to approve co-location. The Activity team continues to work with the IEC on the co-location issue. In the meantime, the work with IEC goes ahead through regular meetings. Funding for Assistive Devices: Finding sufficient financial resources for aides and adaptations continues to be an ongoing challenge because not many donors are willing to provide funds for aides and adaptations. Until we have sufficient resources, it would unethical to train teachers in initial screening for hearing and visual difficulties since the Activity would be seen to be supportive with initial screening but then would not help resolve the issues. There can be no further interventions since without partnership with the Ministry of Health, there can be no development and implementation of a referral pathway; nor can there be any provision of aides and adaptations or assistive devices. Providing initial screening raises the hopes of students and parents that the

39 students having difficulties in vision or hearing will be supported and sets expectations that will not be fulfilled, consequently, undermining trust. At the same time, the weakness and compartmentalized nature of the current system makes it difficult to develop a credible referral pathway and requires a partnership with the MoH that the Activity currently does not have. As a result, although both SC and HI are seeking funding for assistive devices for children with disabilities, the opportunities have not yet been identified. Xiengkhouang Province: As noted in previous reports, Xiengkhouang Province started the 2019- 20 school year seven weeks ahead of the rest of the country, in order to close schools for six weeks in February and March to host the National Sports Games. The Activity has attempted to adjust Year 2 programing wherever possible to support teachers and students, such as by bringing the G1 ToT workshop forward to December 2019. Schools in the province closed according to plan on February 21, 2020, even though the National Games were unfortunately postponed due to COVID- 19. As the sporting event could potentially be rescheduled for the 2020-21 school year, this would cause further disruption to the school year and to the Activity’s support for teachers and students.

MEAL staffing: The position of Senior MEAL Specialist has remained vacant since August 2019, as the delay in the Year 2 funding obligation meant that the Activity was not in a position to recruit the preferred candidate identified in September 2019. While members of the Activity team have been covering parts of the role as possible, the long-term lack of a MEAL team-lead has delayed work in this area. Furthermore, the MEAL Coordinator left for a new job at the start of March 2020. While the Activity had been preparing to re-launch recruitment for the Senior MEAL Specialist under a local SC contract, the COVID-19 situation will make that recruitment more difficult. Learn to Read is now seeking to recruit a consultant on a short-term contract to address some of these gaps.

40 6. FUTURE DIRECTIONS AND UPCOMING ACTIVITIES

During 3Q2020, the Activity technical team will focus on the review and development of all TLMs and training materials for the 2020-21 school year. If USAID releases the next funding obligation, the procurement process could begin in June 2020. The Activity field staff will focus on entering all monitoring data from 2Q2020 into the online KoBO system. If schools do not re-open in May then field teams will also complete online training activities in preparation for the next school year.

Table 9. Major Activities Planned April 1 – June 30, 2020 (3Q2020) Intermediate Activity Time frame Result 1.1.1 Strengthen Early Childhood Education Focal Group May - June 2020

(ECE-FG) to promote collaboration between MoES and IR1.1 development partners. IR1.1 1.1.6 Revise and finalize Pre-Primary Reading Readiness April - June 2020 (PP-RR) supplementary materials for classrooms. Review of RRP materials with GPE will continue remotely in April. Meetings with MoES will resume after partial lockdown. IR1.1 1.1.10 Workshop to review PP-RRP materials with April – June 2020 teachers. Workshops with teachers cancelled due to COVID- 19, but review will continue through remote consultation between technical and field teams. IR1.2 1.2.5 G1 Semester 1 storybooks (launch initial manuscript April – May 2020 development). Internal writers’ workshop to be conducted online in April, rather than TA travel to Lao PDR. IR1.2 1.2.5 Launch G1 teacher guide development May 2020 IR1.2 1.2.12 Conduct national seminar and dialogue session August 10th 2020 jointly with MoES, LEAPS II and others (postponed from February) IR1.2 1.2.14 Strengthen capacity of IEC, including next meeting April – June 2020 of IE-TWG 3.2.6 Workshop to review Caregiver Engagement April – June 2020 materials with teachers IR 3.2 Workshops with teachers cancelled due to COVID-19, but review will continue through remote consultation. ECCD TA will not travel to Lao PDR but will provide remote support 3.3.8 Annual GESI Awareness-Raising Workshop in VTE June 2020, or IR 3.3 Workshop will be organized following agreement with IEC, 4Q2020 once GoL lifts restrictions on large gatherings. MEAL M2. Preparation for Baseline Assessment April – June 2020 MEAL M3. Onboarding and orientation of Project Officers (by Ongoing phase) on MEL protocols, tools, system, and responsibilities

41 Intermediate Activity Time frame Result MEAL M10. Quarterly Indicator Data Collection April 2020

Project Quarterly staff performance review for all SC staff April 2020 planning and monitoring Government Monthly meeting with DESB and Learn to Read staff. April – June 2020 Engagement Professional Development Specialist recruited and will 1 June 2020 Personnel and start work on June 1. Possible for this position to work Recruitment effectively from home during 3Q2020 if needed.

42 7. UPDATED MEAL DATA

During 2Q2020, the Activity collected data for the following indicators6:

ES.1-3: Number of learners in primary schools or equivalent non-school based settings reached with USG education assistance. Based on number of Grade 1 students reached during 2019-20 school year.

Province District Female Male Total XKH Khoun 160 165 325 XKH Phoukout 116 163 280 XKH Pek 264 301 565 XKH Kham 247 254 501 Total XKH Province 787 883 1,671 VTE Phonhong 190 240 430 VTE Fuang 292 303 595 VTE Meun 125 170 295 VTE Thoulakhom 152 140 292 VTE Vangvieng 220 238 458 Total VTE Province 979 1,091 2,070 CPS Bachiangchaleunsouk 146 209 355 CPS Mounlapamok 225 212 437 CPS Pathoumphon 201 207 393 CPS Soukkhouma 195 230 425 Total CPS Province 767 858 1,610 ATP Samakhixay 214 171 385 ATP Sanamxai 201 243 444 ATP Sanxai 157 182 339 Total ATP Province 572 596 1,168 Total All provinces 3,105 3,428 6,519

6 Note: Data for 2Q2020 was often reported over the phone during the telework period. Verification based on original documents was not always possible. The Activity team will review reported data and back-up documentation upon return to the office.

43

ES.1-53: Number of learners in pre-primary schools or equivalent non-school based settings reached with USG education assistance. Based on number of Pre-Primary students reached during 2019-20 school year.

Province District Female Male Total XKH Khoun 51 61 112 XKH Phoukout 51 54 105 XKH Pek 57 80 135 XKH Kham 37 61 98 TOTAL XKH 196 256 450 Province VTE Phonhong 40 53 93 VTE Fuang 51 55 106 VTE Meun 21 21 42 VTE Thoulakhom 0 0 0 VTE Vangvieng 36 37 73 TOTAL VTE 148 166 314 Province CPS Bachiangchaleunsouk 142 145 287 CPS Mounlapamok 29 23 52 CPS Pathoumphon 106 81 187 CPS Soukkhouma 51 58 109 TOTAL CPS 328 307 635 Province ATP Samakhixay 62 57 119 ATP Sanamxai 68 64 132 ATP Sanxai 20 23 43 TOTAL ATP 150 144 294 Province TOTAL for all 822 873 1,693 Provinces

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ES. 1-50: Number of public and private schools receiving USG assistance. Number of Primary Schools receiving assistance in 2019-20 school year.

Number of Primary Schools Province District receiving assistance in the 2019- 20 school year XKH Khoun 17 XKH Phoukout 21 XKH Paek 19 XKH Kham 22 TOTAL XKH 80 Province VTE Phonhong 13 VTE Fuang 11 VTE Meun 7 VTE Thoulakhom 14 VTE Vangvieng 18 TOTAL VTE 63 Province CPS Bachiangchaleunsouk 19 CPS Mounlapamok 14 CPS Pathoumphon 26 CPS Soukkhouma 19 TOTAL CPS 78 Province ATP Samakhixay 11 ATP Sanamxai 15 ATP Sanxai 13 TOTAL ATP 39 Province TOTAL for all 259 provinces

ES. 1-49: – Number of primary or secondary textbooks and other teaching and learning materials (TLM) that are inclusively representative provided with USG assistance.

Number of supplementary storybooks developed for Grade 1, which meet 10 storybooks inclusive checklist standards

TOTAL 10 new materials

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ES.1-6: Number of educators who complete professional development activities with USG assistance. Based on number of Grade 1 teachers who completed two days of teacher training, January to March 2020.

Province District Female Male Total XKH Khoun 9 8 17 XKH Phoukout 16 5 21 XKH Paek* 24 5 29 XKH Kham* 16 11 27 TOTAL XKH Province 65 29 94 VTE Phonhong 16 2 18 VTE Fuang 7 10 17 VTE Meun 4 7 11 VTE Thoulakhom 12 5 17 VTE Vangvieng 17 5 22 TOTAL VTE Province 56 29 85 CPS Bachiangchaleunsouk 11 7 18 CPS Mounlapamok 10 5 15 CPS Pathoumphon* 21 5 26 CPS Soukkhouma 9 10 19 TOTAL CPS Province 51 27 78 ATP Samakhixay 16 0 16 ATP Sanamxai 13 4 17 ATP Sanxai 7 5 12 TOTAL ATP Province 36 9 45 TOTAL all provinces 208 94 302

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ES.1-12: Number of education administrators and officials who complete professional development activities with USG assistance. Based on number of MoES officials completing G1 ToT or teacher training (2Q2020).

Level Participant Category or Department Female Male Total MoES Department of General Education7 0 2 2 MoES Inclusive Education Center 0 1 1 MoES Research Institute for Educational Sciences 0 1 1 PESS Trainer of Pedagogical Advisors 0 1 1 PESS General Education, Technical staff 3 1 4 PESS Head of Library 1 0 1 DESB Pedagogical Advisors 1 6 7 DESB Head of Pedagogical Center 0 1 1 DESB Primary Education Unit, Head 0 2 2 DESB Primary Education Unit, Deputy Head 1 2 3 DESB Primary Education Unit, Technical staff 0 1 1 DESB General Education, Technical staff 3 7 10 Schools School principals/directors 76 157 233 TOTAL 85 182 267

7 One MoES official from General Education did not join the Grade 1 ToT, but joined the G1 teacher training in Khoun district, Xiengkhouang Province.

47 ANNEX A: SUCCESS STORY

USAID Learn to Read Success Story for Quarter 2 of 2020

Headline

Engaging families to support children’s reading

Subheading

Pre-primary students benefit from Learn to Read’s caregiver training

Photograph's Caption

A grandmother reads a storybook to her 5-year old granddaughter during a Caregiver Engagement session in Viengkeo village, .

Pullout Quote

The role of families is crucial in ensuring that children have the opportunity to develop reading skills from an early age.

Body

How do you build a culture of reading that can support all young children to learn to read and enjoy books? Learn to Read is a five-year project funded by USAID in Lao PDR, which aims to improve reading skills for children in pre-primary and primary grades 1 and 2 by answering this very question. Since September 2019, Learn to Read has been partnering with teachers and principals in primary schools across 16 districts in four provinces, providing supplementary training and reading materials to complement teaching and learning activities. For pre-primary students like the one in the picture, this means her school has received an additional set of storybooks, a book display and seating mat to set up a reading corner in their classroom. Every day students hear a storybook read aloud by their teacher, they can look at the illustrated storybooks during free play time, and they can borrow these same books to take home. But will anybody read that story to the children at home?

Save the Children, Room to Read and Humanity & Inclusion, which organizations are implementing the Learn to Read project, firmly believe that school should not be the only place where children have access to learning, books and reading. The role of families is crucial in ensuring that children have the opportunity to develop reading skills from an early age. For this reason, Learn to Read has developed a series of Caregiver Engagement sessions for parents of five-year-old children, in close collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Sports. Each session introduces three simple learning activities which parents, grandparents and older siblings can play with pre-primary children. In November 2019, teachers and principals from an initial 36 schools received training on how to lead these sessions with caregivers of their pre-primary students.

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This classroom was one of the first to start running these Caregiver Engagement meetings at her school in Viengkeo village, Vangvieng district, Vientiane Province. Once or twice a month, parents and other caregivers of pre-primary students are invited to come to the school and join the children in playing three new learning activities. Each time, the children and caregivers are encouraged to borrow a storybook from the book box to take home and read again.

“Today, I had the opportunity to join my granddaughter at her school. She is a student in the pre-primary class and she really enjoyed it when I read a storybook with her.”

In the next few years, students from pre-primary, grade one and grade two at over 860 primary schools in Lao PDR will benefit from the Learn to Read project, through reading materials, teacher training, and community engagement activities. The goal is that all children will receive a strong foundation in a supportive environment, which will help them learn to read with enjoyment.

Photo caption: A grandmother reads a storybook to her five-year-old granddaughter during a Caregiver Engagement session in Viengkeo village, Vangvieng district.

Photo Credit: Save the Children International

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ANNEX B: INITIAL TELEWORK PLAN

USAID Learn to Read Telework Plan for 2Q2020 March 23, 2020 to March 31, 2020

Summary March 2020 Telework Plan

Learn to Read Unit Telework Priorities

• Telework Management Support to Learn to Read team and Chief of Party coordination with SCI, SCUS and USAID

• Management of operations team and close coordination of Northern and Southern teams in partnership with Northern Project Manager. Email approval deemed Deputy Chief of Party and Operations team acceptable and physical signatures are not required during telework period, allowing procurement to continue as needed. • Continues coordination with the MOES and Result 1, Result 2, and Result 3 teams. Closely engaged on materials Senior Education Technical Specialist development, planning teacher training, development of the community engagement strategy, and reporting. Priorities: • Materials review and development (Pre-Primary and Grade 1) will continue as planned to the greatest extent possible. MoES staff have reduced time to work with Learn to Read and GPE because of the COVID-19 situation. Tasks Postponed: Result 1: Materials Development • 1.1.6 and I.I.10: Workshop to review Pre-Primary materials with teachers (24 March in VTE, April 28-29 in ATP and CPS). VTE province already postponed – will consult with PESS/DESB after Pi Mai if they will allow to happen. • 1.2.12: National Literacy Advocacy Event (planned for March 12). Priorities: • Planning for teacher training for 2020-2021 school year will continue despite uncertainty about the school calendar. Result 2: Teacher Training and Support Coordination with GPE II and BEQUAL will continue as much as possible. Tasks Postponed:

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Learn to Read Unit Telework Priorities • 2.2.3: Support to Teacher Learning Circles for Pre-Primary and Grade 1 teachers in 16 districts (suspended on March 18) • 2.2.6: Classroom support visits for Pre-Primary and Grade 1 teachers in 16 districts (suspended on March 18), including Inclusive Education in Thoulakhom district. Priorities: • Community Engagement will focus on review of Caregiver Engagement materials and planning for 2020-2021. • Revision and development of Community Engagement strategy. Result Three: Community Tasks Postponed: Engagement • 3.2.6: Workshop to review Caregiver Engagement materials with teachers (March 25 in VTE, April 30 – May 1 in ATP and CPS). • 3.2.8: Support to Caregiver Engagement sessions in 37 communities (Suspended on March 18). Priorities: • Continue IEC support for ESSDP development, and materials development for 2020-2021 implementation. Senior GESI Specialist and GESI Team: Tasks Postponed: • 3.3.8 Annual GESI Awareness-Raising Workshop in VTE – planned for March 2020, postponed until 3Q2020. • Project Officers transitioned from teacher support and classroom observation visits in schools and TLCS to data Project Officers: entry of completed, paper-based classroom observation forms. • Focus on recruitment of MEAL Coordinator in partnership with SCI Laos MEAL Team. MEAL: • Data entry of MEAL Forms will continue as planned so that all unentered forms are complete. • SCUS Education Advisor: Technical support on Pre-Primary reading readiness (CANCELLED due to COVID-19) • RtR Storybook Development Regional Manager: Conduct STTA and Technical Support Internal Learn to Read Writers’ Workshop for Grade 1 Storybooks (CANCELLED due to COVID-19). Transitioned to online workshop. • Continued remote evaluation technical support from SCUS.

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