School Health and Reading Program Final Report May 21, 2012–October 31, 2019 Submission Date: October 31, 2019 Agreement Number: AID-617-12-00002 Activity Start Date and End Date: May 21, 2012 to October 31, 2019 AOR Name: Kay Leherr Submitted by: Stephen Backman, Chief of Party RTI International 3040 Cornwallis Road Post Office Box 12194 Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2194 Tel: +256 200930146 Email: [email protected] Copied to: [email protected] This document was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development Uganda Mission (USAID/Uganda). TABLE OF CONTENTS ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ...........................................................................IV EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................ 1 1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 5 1.1 Overview ............................................................................................................. 5 1.2 Program Key Achievements ................................................................................ 9 2. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION ...................................................................................... 9 2.1 R1: Improved EGR and Transition to English ...................................................... 9 IR 1.1: National Policies to Support Literacy Developed .................................... 10 IR 1.2: Materials Developed to Support EGR..................................................... 16 IR 1.3: Teachers’ Ability to Teach Reading Improved ........................................ 19 IR 1.4: Advocacy and Support for Reading Increased ....................................... 24 IR 1.5: Reading Programs and Policies Informed by Data and Research .......... 26 2.2 R2: Improved HIV/AIDS KAP ............................................................................. 31 IR 2.1: Improved Planning of the MoES HIV Prevention Response ................... 32 IR 2.2: School-level Impact of HIV/AIDS and Health Education Improved ......... 33 IR 2.3: HIV/AIDS Education Programs and Policies Informed by Data and Research ........................................................................................................... 34 3. LEARNING AND ADAPTATION ............................................................................. 36 4. CONTEXTUAL CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES ........................................ 39 4.1 FAs: Supporting Ugandan Youth to Support Reading ........................................ 41 4.2 Use of Tablets by CCTs: An Information Communication Technology Innovation ...................................................................................... 43 5. FINANCIAL REPORT ............................................................................................... 46 ANNEX 1: PERFORMANCE INDICATOR TABLE ....................................................... 47 ANNEX 2: PROGRAM SCHOOLS BY DISTRICT ........................................................ 55 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Learners’ Reaching Reading Benchmark Program vs. Control ................... 2 Figure 2. Ugandan Districts Receiving Early Grade Reading Support ....................... 5 Figure 3. USAID/Uganda SHRP Results Framework ................................................. 8 Figure 4. Materials Development Chain................................................................... 18 ii USAID/Uganda School Health and Reading Program Final Report, May 2012–October 2019 Figure 5. The FAS Approach ................................................................................... 22 Figure 6. Example Advocacy Posters ...................................................................... 25 Figure 7. Percentages of P4 Learners Reading 40–59 and 60+ cwpm in English in Program vs. Control Schools Across C1 (2016), C2 (2017), and C3 (2018) ...... 27 Figure 8. Gains in English cwpm from P1 to P4 by LL ............................................. 28 Figure 9. Per-Teacher Costs for Residential vs. Non-Residential Training .............. 30 Figure 10. Technology-enhanced Coaching by CCTs ............................................. 44 Figure 11. Quality of Support Provided to Teachers Before and After the Google Grant Tablet Program .................................................................................................. 45 LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Ugandan Districts Receiving Early Grade Reading Support ........................ 6 Table 2. Rollout of the Reading Intervention, R1 ..................................................... 10 USAID/Uganda School Health and Reading Program Final Report, May 2012–October 2019 iii ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ADC Africa Development Corps ASER Annual Status of Education Report BE Basic Education (Department) BFA Books for Africa C cluster CC coordinating center CCT coordinating center tutor CDCS Country Development Cooperation Strategy CLA collaborating, learning, and adapting CPD continuous professional development CSR Center for Social Research cwpm correct words per minute DEO District Education Officer DES Directorate of Education Standards DREAMS Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored, and Safe EGR early grade reading EGRA early grade reading assessment EMIS education management information system ESS Education and Sports Sector FA field assistant FAS Focused, Actionable and Simple GPE Global Partnership for Education GPS Global Positioning System IBB International Book Bank ILEAP Improving the Learning and Educational Attainment in Primary IR Intermediate Result IT information technology KAP knowledge, attitudes, and practices LARA Literacy Achievement and Retention Activity LL local language LLB Local Language Board M&E monitoring and evaluation MDD music, dance, and drama iv USAID/Uganda School Health and Reading Program Final Report, May 2012–October 2019 MLA monitoring of learning achievement MoES Ministry of Education and Sports MSS monitoring and support supervision NAPE National Assessment of Progress in Education NCDC National Curriculum Development Centre NORC National Opinion Research Center P Primary (grade) PEPFAR U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief PIASCY President’s Initiative on AIDS Strategy for Communication to Youth PTA parent–teacher association PTC primary teacher college PTE primary teacher education R Result RADO Rural Action Development Organisation SESIL Strengthening Education Systems for Improved Learning SFI School Family Initiative SHRP School Health and Reading Program SIL LEAD SIL Language Education and Development SMC school management committee SNE Special Needs Education (Department) SRGBV school-related gender-based violence TDMS Teacher Development Management System TIET Teacher Instructor Education and Training (Department) UNEB Uganda National Examinations Board USAID United States Agency for International Development UTSEP Uganda Teacher and School Effectiveness Project VSO Voluntary Service Overseas WEI World Education, Inc. USAID/Uganda School Health and Reading Program Final Report, May 2012–October 2019 v This page intentionally left blank USAID/UGANDA SCHOOL HEALTH AND READING PROGRAM EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The School Health and Reading Program (SHRP) was a United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded initiative designed to support the Uganda Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) to achieve improved reading abilities for young children and improved HIV/AIDS knowledge and health-seeking behaviors among adolescents. Initially a five-year program, SHRP was extended for 27 months due to promising results and MoES support, in 2016, running from 2012–2019. SHRP was implemented by RTI International in collaboration with World Education, Inc. (WEI), SIL Language Education and Development (SIL LEAD), the Center for Social Research (CSR) Uganda, Perkins International, and Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO); RTI also collaborated with Peace Corps. Other sub-recipients who supported the program were Africa Development Corps (ADC), International Book Bank (IBB), and Books for Africa (BFA). SHRP by the numbers During the life of the program, approximately ♦ 3.2 million learners reached with better 36,000 teachers and head teachers were trained reading materials and instruction on effective reading instruction, 13,407 were ♦ 600,000 adolescents empowered with trained on HIV/AIDS prevention education, and HIV/AIDS information and life skills 8,000 were trained on special needs education ♦ 35,984 teachers trained to teach reading (SNE). More than 3.2 million learners at 4,097 ♦ 4 million pupil books and teachers’ guides distributed to 4,097 government primary schools were reached with reading interventions, schools and over 600,000 adolescents were provided with HIV/AIDS knowledge and support for health- seeking behaviors. Instructional materials—104 separate titles in total—were developed in 12 local Ugandan languages and English, with more than 4 million books printed and distributed to program schools, along with an additional 833,500 supplementary reading books donated to school libraries. More than 65,000 girls received targeted, layered support on HIV/AIDS and school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV) prevention through the Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored, and Safe (DREAMS) program. Major findings from program results include the following: • By the end of Primary (P)4 (the final grade of SHRP support for