final rePort of the Somali interactive radio instruction Program Place pull quote here damwf lkars hifas lacsdef acs dfleas dfl sayd f askdef pasdfy hifas lacsdef acs dfleas dfl sayd f askdef pasdfy Final RePoRt of the Somali interactive radio inStruction Program i Contents Chapter 1. executive summary ................................................................................................. 1 Chapter 2. introduction .......................................................................................................... 4 Chapter 3.achievements of the somali interactive Radio instruction Program ..........................8 3.1 Tangible results: siRiP helped somali children learn more. .....................................8 3.1.1 enrollment numbers .............................................................................................................. 8 3.1.2 learning gains: 2007 student assessment ........................................................................ 9 3.1.3 learning gains: 2010-2011 student assessment................................................................10 3.2 Expanding opportunity: siRiP provided access to learning and educational resources where there were none. .............................................. 12 3.2.1 enrollment of out-of-school, idP, and marginalized learners ...................................... 13 3.2.2 enrollment in SiriP-supported Quranic schools ............................................................ 13 3.2.3 addressing gender equity .................................................................................................. 13 3.2.4 Shadow audiences ..............................................................................................................14 3.2.5 a new home for learning: SiriP community construction project ..............................14 3.2.6 audio-visual technologies and materials distributed ................................................... 15 3.2.7 Book development and distribution ...............................................................................17 3.3 Preparing the future: siRiP built capacity and laid a foundation for lasting change in somali education. .............................................. 18 3.3.1 teacher and school leader professional development ...................................................18 3.3.2 capacity building among CECs, assessment specialists and university administrators .................................................................................21 3.3.3 collaborating with and building the capacity of ministries of education ................. 22 3.3.4 collaborating with international and local ngos ....................................................... 22 3.3.5 research studies ..................................................................................................................23 3.4 A rallying point: siRiP motivated communities to advance education. ................... 23 3.4.1 global campaign for education .......................................................................................24 3.4.2 SiriP in the public sphere .................................................................................................24 3.4.3 Promoting a culture of reading through the middle school writing contest .............25 3.4.4 community mobilization through the reading campaign............................................25 3.4.5 community support for SiriP .......................................................................................... 26 Chapter 4. Challenges and objectives not Met .......................................................................29 4.1 Insecurity ............................................................................................................29 4.2 Difficulty with radio reception in some areas ........................................................29 4.2.1 limitations of shortwave radio and radio infrastructure ............................................. 29 4.2.2 addressing broadcast delivery limitations .................................................................... 30 4.3 Government dysfunction ......................................................................................30 4.4 Clan tensions .......................................................................................................30 4.5 Construction sustainability ...................................................................................31 Chapter 5. lessons learned .................................................................................................... 33 5.1 The value of adaptive program development......................................................... 33 5.2 The continued need for access to education .......................................................... 33 5.3 Successfully navigating the social structure where government is weak.................34 Chapter 6 the Way Forward ...................................................................................................36 6.1 Continuation of siRiP activities ............................................................................36 6.2 Collaboration of diverse actors to support education going forward ......................36 table 1. Number of learners reached .............................................................................................................. 8 table 2. 2007 Student test results: Pretest and posttest means for iri learners, by subtest .......................................................... 9 table 3. 2007 Student test results: Posttest means for iri and non-iri (control) learners, by subtest 10 table 4. Student test results 2010: 1st grade mathematics...................................................................................................................11 table 5. Student test results 2010: 3rd grade literacy ..................................................................................12 table 6. Schools built or rehabilitated by SiriP-community partnerships .................................................................................................. 15 appendix a Grade 1 evaluation 2006/2007 .............................................................................38 appendix B Hargeisa somaliland Report on the 2010 study ................................................... 77 appendix C Functioning iri learning Centers across somalia ..................................................96 appendix D edc/siRiP survey Results on teacher Quality .......................................................98 ca h Pter 1 e xecutive Summary CHaPteR 1. e xecutive summary Somalia has experienced conflict and had almost no functioning national government since 1991. In this context, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) – funded Somali Interactive Radio Instruction Project (SIRIP) was begun in order to improve reading, math, and life skills for Somali children by ensuring equitable access to quality basic education. The project, implemented by Education Development Center in collaboration with Somali authorities and Somali and international non- governmental organizations (NGOs), used Interactive Radio Instruction (IRI) accompanied by capacity building, partnerships with communities and governments, and the provision of educational resources to create sound, sustainable education services. Begun in 2006, SIRIP originally focused on improving quality in existing Begun in 2006, siRiP schools, later shifting its emphasis to providing access to quality education for out-of- originally focused on school, displaced, and otherwise marginalized children and youth. improving quality in existing schools, later By using IRI and an extensive network of local training and monitoring partners, shifting its emphasis SIRIP reached 330,000 children and youth over five years, 40,000 of whom were out- to providing access of-school, displaced, or marginalized. Two studies of student learning achievement to quality education demonstrate that participating in SIRIP programming significantly improved learning for out-of-school, gains. In contexts where little or no educational system existed, it was often the only displaced, and source of education available to children. In a 2007 assessment, first-graders in schools otherwise marginalized supported by SIRIP earned higher post-test scores in Somali literacy and mathematics children and youth. than first-graders who did not take part in the program, with statistically significant results. A 2010 study concluded that out-of-school children attending grade 1 through 3 lessons in SIRIP learning centers achieved equal or greater learning gains compared to children in formal schools. SIRIP increased access to education in a country with some of the world’s lowest enrollment figures. The program reached many of the 40,000 out-of-school, displaced, and marginalized learners by opening learning centers in camps of internally displaced persons (IDPs). Others were reached by helping rural communities build schools or rehabilitate crumbling ones, or by helping Quranic schools which previously only offered religious studies to include Somali literacy, math, and life skills in their curriculum. In a context where there were few educational materials and those that existed were nearly universally of poor quality, SIRIP provided five grade levels of IRI lessons, produced and distributed tens of thousands of age-appropriate and culturally appropriate books in Somali