USAID Vamos Ler! / Let’s Read! FY 19 ANNUAL REPORT OCTOBER 2018 - SEPTEMBER 2019 Contract Number AID-656-TO-000003 OCTOBER 2019 This report was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development. It was prepared by Creative Associates International, Inc. 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 Creative Associates International and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACRONYMS ............................................................................................................... 3 SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS ............................................................................. 5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................... 6 RESUMO EXECUTIVO ............................................................................................. 8 1. PROGRAM OVERVIEW ............................................................................... 10 Program Description ................................................................................... 10 2. PROGRESS TO DATE................................................................................... 11 FY19 Progress towards the Program Goal ............................................... 11 Overview of Activities by Intermediate Result (IR) ................................. 15 3. MONITORING EVALUATION, & COMMUNICATIONS ................... 51 Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) and Research ......................................... 51 Status of Contract Deliverables ................................................................. 52 Key Meetings with USAID and Partners ................................................... 53 4. MANAGEMENT & OPERATIONS ............................................................. 61 Staff Actions ................................................................................................. 61 Security ......................................................................................................... 62 Staff and Consultant International Travel ...................................................... 62 PLANNED ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS FOR NEXT QUARTER ................. 64 5. APPENDICES................................................................................................... 65 ACRONYMS ABE LEARN Assistance to Basic Education Learn to Read Now ADPP Development Assistance from People to People (NGO) AIR American Institutes for Research APAL Aprender a Ler (Learn to Read) AWP Annual Work Plan BTG Blue Tree Group CAI Creative Associates International CIDA Canadian International Development Agency COP Chief of Party CPD Continuous Professional Development CSO Civil Society Organization CV Curriculum Vitae DCOP Deputy Chief of Party DINEP National Directorate of Primary Education DNAT National Directorate of Transversal Issues DNEA National Directorate of Adult Education DNFP National Directorate of Teachers’ Training DNGGQ National Directorate of Management and Quality DPEDH Provincial Directorate of Education and Human Development EGR Early Grade Reading EGRA Early Grade Reading Assessment EL Education Leadership ELT Education Leadership Trainer EMIS Education Management Information System G1/G2/G3 Grade One / Grade Two / Grade Three GRM Government of the Republic of Mozambique HCN Host Country Nationals HQ Headquarters IDIQ Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity IFP Teacher Training Institutes (Insitutos de Formação de Professores) INDE National Institute for the Development of Education INGO International Non-Governmental Organization INSET In-Service Teacher Training IVR Interactive Voice Response IR Intermediate Result KAP Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices L1/L2 Language One (local language)/ Language Two (Portuguese) M&E Monitoring and Evaluation MEPT Network of NGOs Education for All MINEDH Ministry of Education and Human Development MLT Master Literacy Trainer NGO Non-Governmental Organization OSC Overseas Strategic Consulting PIRS Performance Indicators Reference Sheets FY 19 ANNUAL REPORT 3 | Page PMEP Project Monitoring and Evaluation Plan PMP Performance Management Plan RSA Rapid School Assessment SBCC Social Behavior Change Communication SC School Council SD School Director SDEJT District Education Offices (Servico de Educação, Juventude e Tecnologia) SM School Management STTA Short-term Technical Assistance TOT Training of Trainers TOR Terms of Reference TPD Teacher Professional Development TWG Technical Working Group UEM Universidade Eduardo Mondlane UP Pedagogical University (Universidade Pedagogica) USAID United States Agency for International Development WEI World Education, Inc. ZIP School clusters (Zona de influencia pedagocica) FY 19 ANNUAL REPORT 4 | Page SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS USAID Award A Contract No. AID-OAA-I-14-00052 Number B USAID Objective Title Investing in People (IIP) Contract Number AID-656-TO-000003 C USAID Project Title Under Assistance to Basic Education - All Children Reading (ABE- ACR) IDIQ: SOL-OAA-12-000068 USAID Program Area Education (program area 3.2) D and Program Element Basic Education (program element 3.2.1) E Descriptive Title FY 19 Annual Report: October 2018 - September 2019 Project Director Chief of Party F Author Name(s) Deputy Chief of Party for Technical Management Senior M&E Specialist Creative Associates International 5301 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Suite 700 G Contractor name Washington, DC 20015 Telephone: 202 966 5804 Fax: 202 363 4771 CO H USAID CO, COR COR I Date of Publication October 2019 Language of English, Executive Summary also in Portuguese J Document FY 19 ANNUAL REPORT 5 | Page EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Vamos Ler! is a five-year program, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), with the goal to strengthen the Mozambican government’s ability to ensure that students in the target provinces of Nampula and Zambézia can achieve grade-level fluency and comprehension in the local language in the first cycle of primary education (Grades 1-3). To this end, Vamos Ler! provides evidence-based technical and material assistance to improve early grade literacy instruction in three local languages, Emakhuwa, Elomwe, and Echuwabo, along with second or new language acquisition and literacy support to prepare children for transition to Portuguese. Through a three-fold results-based approach Vamos Ler! supports the Ministry of Education and Human Development (MINEDH) to strengthen classroom and systems support to lay the foundation for sustaining and expanding bilingual early grade literacy throughout the country. In FY19, the third year of implementation, the program has achieved significant progress in all three key areas of intervention, summarized below: 1) Early grade READING classroom instruction improved: Vamos Ler! teams successfully concluded the processes of revision, production, and coordination of printing and distribution of more than four million copies of Teaching and Learning Materials (TLMs) for Grades One and Two and L1 and L2. The materials printed and distributed include student books, teacher manuals, writing exercise books, supplementary reading materials, posters, alphabet charts, and scripted lesson plans. In addition, the program also produced continuous evaluation forms for Grades One and Two reading instruction, school level and ZIP-level coaching manuals and monitoring forms1, and an updated school management toolkit. Vamos Ler! provided training on bilingual reading and writing instruction and management of early grade reading programs for 6736 teachers, and 1,608 school directors in FY192. The trainings were very well attended and feedback from participants and MINEDH on the content and organization was positive. The trainings for teachers included opportunities for teachers to practice their skills by developing and delivering lessons to groups of children invited from surrounding communities. Coaches and trainers observed the lessons and gave on the spot feedback to teachers on how to improve their approach to delivering the lessons, to ensure that students are following along and all children had opportunities to participate. 1 Vamos Ler! received a letter from MINEDH approving the distribution and use of 3900 coaching manuals, 3900 monitoring forms, 3900 toolkits, and 387 ZIP level coaching manuals. 2 Number of G1 and G2 teachers who received at least one training in FY19. This included 4961 male teachers and 1775 female teachers and 1401 male school directors and 207 female school directors. The program conducted ToTs for Master Trainers at the provincial level in January (three days), May (three days), and August (three days) for total of nine days of training. In partnership with MINEDH, Vamos Ler! conducted teacher training in January, May, and August. Grade One teachers in Cohort 1 received a total of twelve days of training2 while Grade Two teachers received three days of training in January. Cohort 2 Grade One teachers received twelve days of training. FY 19 ANNUAL REPORT 6 | Page A significant accomplishment for IR1 was the conclusion of Grade Three materials3 development in Q4 FY19. Particularly notable was the leading role played by MINEDH in this process for the first time, in terms of laying out the timeline and allocation of roles and responsibilities for the materials design and development process. The materials