@article{piper_scaling_2018, title = {Scaling up successfully: {Lessons} from {Kenya}’s {Tusome} national literacy program}, volume = {19}, issn = {1389-2843, 1573-1812}, shorttitle = {Scaling up successfully}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-018-9325-4}, doi = {10.1007/s10833-018-9325-4}, abstract = {Many successful piloted programs fail when scaled up to a national level. In Kenya, which has a long history of particularly ineffective implementation after successful pilot programs, the Tusome national literacy program—which receives funding from the United States Agency for International Development—is a national-level scale-up of previous literacy and numeracy programs. We applied a scaling framework (Crouch and DeStefano in Doing reform differently: combining rigor and practicality in implementation and evaluation of system reforms. International development group working paper no. 2017-01, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC, 2017. https://www.rti.org/publication/doing-reform-differently-combining-rigor-and-practicality-implementation-and-evaluation) to examine whether Tusome’s implementation was rolled out in ways that would enable government structures and officers to respond effectively to the new program. We found that Tusome was able to clarify expectations for implementation and outcomes nationally using benchmarks for Kiswahili and English learning outcomes, and that these expectations were communicated all the way down to the school level. We noted that the essential program inputs were provided fairly consistently, across the nation. In addition, our analyses showed that Kenya developed functional, if simple, accountability and feedback mechanisms to track performance against benchmark expectations. We also established that the Tusome feedback data were utilized to encourage greater levels of instructional support within Kenya’s county level structures for education quality support. The results indicated that several of the key elements for successful scale-up were therefore put in place. However, we also discovered that Tusome failed to fully exploit the available classroom observational data to better target instructional support. In the context of this scaling framework, the Tusome literacy program’s external evaluation results showed program impacts of 0.6–1.0 standard deviations on English and Kiswahili learning outcomes. The program implemented a functional classroom observational feedback system through existing government systems, although usage of those systems varied widely across Kenya. Classroom visits, even if still falling short of the desired rate, were far more frequent, were focused on instructional quality, and included basic feedback and advice to teachers. These findings are promising with respect to the ability of countries facing quality problems to implement a coherent instructional reform through government systems at scale.}, language = {en}, number = {3}, urldate = {2020-04-02}, journal = {Journal of Educational Change}, author = {Piper, Benjamin and Destefano, Joseph and Kinyanjui, Esther M. and Ong’ele, Salome}, month = aug, year = {2018}, note = {shortDOI: 10/gf6298 KerkoCite.ItemAlsoKnownAs: 10.1007/s10833-018-9325-4 10/gf6298 2339240:HUMPM4BM 2339240:LT7INWTK 2339240:PM36I7JC 2339240:S7I52VEN 2339240:YTWJW5GH 2405685:2YJ8XQDL 2405685:NC6R6NWC 2405685:TFDLRYCG 2405685:UXBBCZIX 2405685:VERKPHLS 2405685:X7T5JCV4}, keywords = {\_\_\_working\_potential\_duplicate}, pages = {293--321}, } @article{piper_scaling_2018, title = {Scaling up successfully: {Lessons} from {Kenya}’s {Tusome} national literacy program}, volume = {19}, issn = {1573-1812}, shorttitle = {Scaling up successfully}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-018-9325-4}, doi = {10.1007/s10833-018-9325-4}, abstract = {Many successful piloted programs fail when scaled up to a national level. In Kenya, which has a long history of particularly ineffective implementation after successful pilot programs, the Tusome national literacy program—which receives funding from the United States Agency for International Development—is a national-level scale-up of previous literacy and numeracy programs. We applied a scaling framework (Crouch and DeStefano in Doing reform differently: combining rigor and practicality in implementation and evaluation of system reforms. International development group working paper no. 2017-01, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC, 2017. https://www.rti.org/publication/doing-reform-differently-combining-rigor-and-practicality-implementation-and-evaluation) to examine whether Tusome’s implementation was rolled out in ways that would enable government structures and officers to respond effectively to the new program. We found that Tusome was able to clarify expectations for implementation and outcomes nationally using benchmarks for Kiswahili and English learning outcomes, and that these expectations were communicated all the way down to the school level. We noted that the essential program inputs were provided fairly consistently, across the nation. In addition, our analyses showed that Kenya developed functional, if simple, accountability and feedback mechanisms to track performance against benchmark expectations. We also established that the Tusome feedback data were utilized to encourage greater levels of instructional support within Kenya’s county level structures for education quality support. The results indicated that several of the key elements for successful scale-up were therefore put in place. However, we also discovered that Tusome failed to fully exploit the available classroom observational data to better target instructional support. In the context of this scaling framework, the Tusome literacy program’s external evaluation results showed program impacts of 0.6–1.0 standard deviations on English and Kiswahili learning outcomes. The program implemented a functional classroom observational feedback system through existing government systems, although usage of those systems varied widely across Kenya. Classroom visits, even if still falling short of the desired rate, were far more frequent, were focused on instructional quality, and included basic feedback and advice to teachers. These findings are promising with respect to the ability of countries facing quality problems to implement a coherent instructional reform through government systems at scale.}, language = {en}, number = {3}, urldate = {2021-05-17}, journal = {Journal of Educational Change}, author = {Piper, Benjamin and Destefano, Joseph and Kinyanjui, Esther M. and Ong’ele, Salome}, month = aug, year = {2018}, note = {KerkoCite.ItemAlsoKnownAs: 10.1007/s10833-018-9325-4 10/gf6298 2339240:3W37ZTWQ 2405685:ME5VHAM9}, keywords = {\_\_\_working\_potential\_duplicate}, pages = {293--321}, } @article{piper_scaling_2018, title = {Scaling up successfully: {Lessons} from {Kenya}’s {Tusome} national literacy program}, volume = {19}, issn = {1573-1812}, shorttitle = {Scaling up successfully}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-018-9325-4}, doi = {10.1007/s10833-018-9325-4}, abstract = {Many successful piloted programs fail when scaled up to a national level. In Kenya, which has a long history of particularly ineffective implementation after successful pilot programs, the Tusome national literacy program—which receives funding from the United States Agency for International Development—is a national-level scale-up of previous literacy and numeracy programs. We applied a scaling framework (Crouch and DeStefano in Doing reform differently: combining rigor and practicality in implementation and evaluation of system reforms. International development group working paper no. 2017-01, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC, 2017. https://www.rti.org/publication/doing-reform-differently-combining-rigor-and-practicality-implementation-and-evaluation) to examine whether Tusome’s implementation was rolled out in ways that would enable government structures and officers to respond effectively to the new program. We found that Tusome was able to clarify expectations for implementation and outcomes nationally using benchmarks for Kiswahili and English learning outcomes, and that these expectations were communicated all the way down to the school level. We noted that the essential program inputs were provided fairly consistently, across the nation. In addition, our analyses showed that Kenya developed functional, if simple, accountability and feedback mechanisms to track performance against benchmark expectations. We also established that the Tusome feedback data were utilized to encourage greater levels of instructional support within Kenya’s county level structures for education quality support. The results indicated that several of the key elements for successful scale-up were therefore put in place. However, we also discovered that Tusome failed to fully exploit the available classroom observational data to better target instructional support. In the context of this scaling framework, the Tusome literacy program’s external evaluation results showed program impacts of 0.6–1.0 standard deviations on English and Kiswahili learning outcomes. The program implemented a functional classroom observational feedback system through existing government systems, although usage of those systems varied widely across Kenya. Classroom visits, even if still falling short of the desired rate, were far more frequent, were focused on instructional quality, and included basic feedback and advice to teachers. These findings are promising with respect to the ability of countries facing quality problems to implement a coherent instructional reform through government systems at scale.}, language = {en}, number = {3}, urldate = {2022-12-07}, journal = {Journal of Educational Change}, author = {Piper, Benjamin and Destefano, Joseph and Kinyanjui, Esther M. and Ong’ele, Salome}, month = aug, year = {2018}, note = {KerkoCite.ItemAlsoKnownAs: 10.1007/s10833-018-9325-4 2339240:X8L2E7PR 2405685:TQU6RKR4}, keywords = {Evaluation, Implementation, Literacy, National, Reading, Reform, Systems}, pages = {293--321}, } @article{destefano_meeting_2006, title = {Meeting {EFA}: {Reaching} the underserved through complementary models of effective schooling}, shorttitle = {Meeting {EFA}}, journal = {Academy for Educational Development (AED)}, author = {DeStefano, Joseph and Hartwell, A. and Schuh-Moore, A. and Balwanz, D.}, year = {2006}, note = {KerkoCite.ItemAlsoKnownAs: 2339240:VNT7QNLH 2405685:KLXN3KCY}, keywords = {⛔ No DOI found}, } @article{angrist_building_2021, title = {Building back better to avert a learning catastrophe: {Estimating} learning loss from {COVID}-19 school shutdowns in {Africa} and facilitating short-term and long-term learning recovery}, volume = {84}, issn = {0738-0593}, shorttitle = {Building back better to avert a learning catastrophe}, url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S073805932100050X}, doi = {10.1016/j.ijedudev.2021.102397}, abstract = {We model learning losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the potential for cost-effective strategies to build back better. Data from Early Grade Reading Assessments in Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Tanzania, and Uganda suggest half to over a year’s worth of learning loss. In modeling losses over time, we found that learning deficits for a child in grade 3 could lead to 2.8 years of lost learning by grade 10. While COVID-19 has stymied learning, bold, learning-focused reform consistent with the literature reviewed in this paper—specifically reform on targeted instruction and structured pedagogy—could improve learning even beyond pre-COVID-19 levels.}, language = {en}, urldate = {2022-08-25}, journal = {International Journal of Educational Development}, author = {Angrist, Noam and de Barros, Andreas and Bhula, Radhika and Chakera, Shiraz and Cummiskey, Chris and DeStefano, Joseph and Floretta, John and Kaffenberger, Michelle and Piper, Benjamin and Stern, Jonathan}, month = jul, year = {2021}, note = {KerkoCite.ItemAlsoKnownAs: 10.1016/j.ijedudev.2021.102397 2339240:6FG39EY3 2339240:LB3VWRGN 2405685:7MUIIRXU}, keywords = {COVID-19, Education, Foundational skills, Learning loss, Recovery}, pages = {102397}, }