August 9, 2023

USAID READ Program: A Novel Approach Boosts Literacy in Dominican Schools

• Education
• Factsheet

Literacy skills are essential building blocks for success in primary education and advancement to secondary schooling. Yet schools in the Dominican Republic still struggle to impart basic literacy skills to their students, despite institutional and policy reforms. To address this issue, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Read Program created an approach for primary students in the Dominican Republic’s public schools, successfully combining teacher training and mentoring with tailored practice materials designed to meet children at their individual reading levels. Not only did students’ reading precursor skills improve within two years, but a subsequent national evaluation of sixth graders showed that students with the highest reading comprehension levels were more likely to have participated in the USAID Read Program.   This factsheet, available in English and Spanish, shares the approach and success of the literacy intervention and provides recommendations to take the program’s success nationwide in the Dominican…...read more

December 20, 2021

Early Childhood Care and Education Quality Assurance Systems in Africa

• Education
• Report

Research has consistently demonstrated the value of investing in quality Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) for improved later learning outcomes of students. While countries throughout Africa have made significant progress in building their ECCE systems, there remains much room for improvement to ensuring quality of all ECCE facilities....read more

February 19, 2021

USAID Engagement with HBCUs

• Education
• Report

This study analyzes the landscape of engagement between USAID and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and provides recommendations that can enhance the participation of HBCUs on international development efforts. This study was carried out by Dr. Pearline Tyson of the University of Maryland Baltimore County and Ph.D candidate, Shanelle Haile of Brown University, with support from the MayaTech Corporation....read more

November 3, 2020

RTAC: Menu of Services

• Education
• Presentation

RTAC can support USAID Missions, Bureaus, and Independent Offices in a variety of ways, including: Conducting research on cutting-edge development topics. Packaging evidence generated by USAID-funded researchers in compelling, user-friendly communications products for a range of audiences. Developing R2A plans to promote the use of evidence. Designing and delivering specialized training for USAID staff, researchers, and implementing partners. Organizing and hosting high-level expert panels and convenings for U.S. Government decision makers, implementing partners, researchers, and development funders. Consulting on the design of USAID programs and research. Serving as special advisors to the Agency on key development issues. Supporting other short-term, research-based and strategic technical assistance needs....read more

September 14, 2020

Webinar Materials: Digital Strategies in Education

By RTAC

• Education
• Presentation

• Applying Novel Digital Strategies in Development: Education and Engaging Offline Communities
• RTAC Webinar Offers Timely Insights and Lessons Learned in Digital Education
• Digital Strategies in Education – Evidence From the Field

This page features webinar materials from two public webinars that focus on Digital Strategies in development as part of USAID’s “Digi-Know” series. Led by the Research Technical Assistance Center (RTAC) partner Arizona State University......read more

June 4, 2020

Research and Innovation Fellowship Program

• Education
• Report

This page features a review of the USAID Research and Innovation Fellowship Program conducted by John Duffy from the University of Alaska, Anchorage in collaboration with RTAC. The report provides an overview of the program and its achievements....read more

March 31, 2020

UKRI/USAID Annual Workshop on Research Impact

• Education
• Desk Research, Report

By Gabriela Alcaraz, Research Director—NORC at the University of Chicago for USAID Research Technical Assistance Center (RTAC) This page features resources developed by researchers at NORC under the framework of the 2nd UKRI/USAID Annual Workshop on Research Impact: Research Translation. Research translation is a process by which evidence generated by research is appropriately used to guide the work of policymakers and practitioners, as well as the future work of researchers. The following documents are available: Opportunities and Challenges for Research Translation in South and Southeast Asia Desk Research that aims to understand the pathway between research production and use to inform program and policy development in South and Southeast Asia 2nd Annual Workshop on Research Impact: Research Translation Report describing the general workshop contents and related discussions. This report provides additional information to the workshop blog post Insights from the UKRI-USAID-UNESCAP 2nd Annual Workshop on Increasing Research Impact....read more