DRAFT AGENDA: 2015 USAID Global Education Summit

(Subject to change—a final agenda will go online prior to the event)

DAY 1: November 2, 2015

8:30am - 10:00am

Plenary Session: What We’ve learned: Accomplishments, Challenges and Lessons Learned

All plenary sessions will be held in the Cypress Ballroom, 4th floor

Opening Remarks

Ambassador Alfonso E. Lenhardt –Acting Administrator, United States Agency for International Development

Keynote Speakers

The Honorable Dina Joana Ocampo - Undersecretary of Education, Republic of the Philippines

High-level Panel

Moderator

Patrick Collins - Senior Education Advisor, Office of Education, Bureau for Economic Growth,  Education and the Environment, United States Agency for International Development

Panelists

Alice P. Albright - Chief Executive Officer, Global Partnership for Education
Aaron Benavot - Director, Global Education Monitoring Report, UNESCO
His Excellency Valentino Achak Deng - Minister of Education, South Sudan; Executive Director and Co-Founder, The Valentino Achak Deng Foundation
Natasha de Marcken - Director, Education Office, United States Agency for International Development, Pakistan

Closing Remarks

His Excellency Maker Famba Mwangu, Minister of Education, Democratic Republic of the Congo

10:15am - 11:15am

Quality Education as a Pathway out of Poverty

Cypress Ballroom

Education quality is pivotal in breaking the cycle of poverty and social exclusion experienced by many worldwide. Participants will learn how quality-learning outcomes result in greater sharing in the benefits of growing prosperity.

Where Do Jobs Come From?

Magnolia Ballroom

Training young people for jobs that don’t exist results in a dissatisfied youth. Examining three economic growth paradigms, what chain of events can effectively produce jobs? In most economies, employment is often found in private enterprises, while in the developing countries where we work, the bulk of employment is found “off the books.” So who really creates jobs, and how?

Fundamentals in Increasing Equitable Access to Education in Crisis and Conflict

Elm

Essential for anyone working in a crisis or conflict affected context, this session presents foundational concepts for designing, implementing and assessing education programs under USAID Education Goal 3. Panelists from USAID and Implementing Partners unpack a revised Goal 3 Strategic Framework and discuss its implications for programming.

11:30am - 12:30pm - Lunch & Networking

Hands-On ICT4E Petting Zoo & Lightning Talks

Persimmon

Participants will benefit from first-hand exploration of innovative technology for education being developed and used in a variety of settings around the world. Leading exhibitors from a variety of non-governmental, donor, academic and public/private sector organizations will display their technology in education projects particularly in low-resource, developing countries.

“Most Likely to Succeed”

Cypress Ballroom

For most of the last century, entry-level jobs were plentiful, and college was an affordable path to a fulfilling career. That world no longer exists. The feature-length documentary Most Likely to Succeed examines the history of education, revealing the growing shortcomings of our school model in todayʼs innovative world. Directed by acclaimed documentarian Greg Whiteley, the film has been named “among the best edu-documentaries ever produced” by Education Week, and called a “smart and engaging look at education in the 21st century” by The Hollywood Reporter.

Presentation by His Excellency Valentino Achak Deng – Minister of Education, South Sudan; Executive Director and Co-Founder, The Valentino Achak Deng Foundation

Magnolia Ballroom

Valentino was born in southern Sudan (now South Sudan), in the village of Marial Bai. He fled in the late 1980s during the second Sudanese civil war, when his village was destroyed by militia. Deng spent nine years in Ethiopian and Kenyan refugee camps, where he worked for the UNHCR as a social advocate and reproductive health educator. In 2001, he resettled to Atlanta, GA. As a leader in the South Sudanese diaspora, Deng advocates for the universal right to education. After the publication of What is the What, a novel that tells a fictionalized account of Valentino's life, he and author Dave Eggers established the VAD Foundation to help rebuild South Sudanese communities.

Valentino will speak as a Minister of Education of South Sudan, where he oversees more than 800 state run schools, in addition to how the VAD Foundation's Marial Bai Secondary School has become a flagship model for holistic education in the region. 

12:30-1:30 - Marketplace

Hands-On ICT4E Petting Zoo & Lightning Talks

Persimmon

Participants will benefit from first-hand exploration of innovative technology for education being developed and used in a variety of settings around the world. Leading exhibitors from a variety of non-governmental, donor, academic and public/private sector organizations will display their technology in education projects particularly in low-resource, developing countries.

Monitoring Progress Towards Goals

Elm

How is USAID measuring progress towards the Goal One and Goal Three targets? What does the Office of Education need from you in order to facilitate this? Two structured presentations will be followed by an extended period for discussion and Q&A.

MOE Engagement: Building a Strong National Reading Agenda

Cedar

Ministry representatives and USAID staff from Nepal, Cambodia, Philippines, and Haiti will share lessons learned and practical advice for making early grade reading a ministry priority.

5 Ways to Build Your Communications Toolbox

Maple

In a digital, media-saturated world, messages can be lost, misinterpreted, or even worse- not heard. Drop by and learn practical tactics through short, TED Talk-style presentations that will build your communications toolbox: how to brief your Congressperson, how to deliver a TED Talk, how to leverage social media, how to communicate through visual content, and how to train college students - all in 7 minutes or less!

Tips and Tools for Participant Training Management Efficiencies

Walnut

This session will provide tips and tools to increase training management efficiencies. Presentations will examine ways to streamline key actions in the chain of training implementation events, including: a) Five things to remember when entering training data; b) Six actions that minimize training and capacity development vulnerabilities; c) Six points to consider when preparing Scopes of Work for training and capacity development implementation; d) Five ways to evaluate training results; e) Two ways to link training and capacity development to broader Mission / Sponsoring Unit objectives.

1:45pm - 3:00pm

Building Blocks of Successful Reading Programs: All T's are not equal

Cypress Ballroom

USAID staff will share recent experience designing reading programs reinforcing the importance of incorporating all 5T’s. They will also discuss design decisions on how to balance the focus among the T’s based on gaps in existing reading programs.

Higher Education and Training: What Have We Learned, Where Do We Want to Go

Cedar

Goal 2 of the Education Strategy calls for workforce relevant skills from both higher education and workforce development. Through the lens of past projects, the session will examine how seemingly disparate projects unite through a focus on common outcomes for youth.

Reflective Practice: Lessons in Collaborative Learning

Elm

Share recent insights related to the collaborative learning approach to professional development in Goal 3 settings. Familiarize participants with two agency approaches around shared, collaborative learning—USAID’s Collaborate, Learn, Adapt approach and ECCN field workshops

Sustainability through Host Country Ownership –Lessons Learned

Maple

This session will discuss the opportunities and challenges of designing, implementing and sustaining a government- to-government education program. The session will discuss the lessons learned from the experiences from Ghana, Nepal and Ethiopia.

Let Girls Learn

Magnolia Ballroom

This session intends to present and clarify the Let Girls Learn initiative's goals and strategies, provide a platform for integration and reporting into education programming and share the latest research findings on education of adolescent populations along with the approaches adopted by other donors.

Telling Goal 3's Story: Current Achievements and Future Directions

Willow

What is the current progress towards achieving Goal 3, and how can we better document and share the results of these efforts? This panel will engage participants in a discussion on how the impact of Goal 3 programs is being measured, as well as future directions for improving monitoring and evaluation efforts.

3:15pm - 4:30pm

Feed and Read: Improving Access to School Meals and Quality Education Around the World

Cedar

USAID Office of Education and USDA McGovern-Dole International Food for Education will lead a discussion on improved interagency collaboration and school feeding programs that seek to further the achievements in access to quality education and improved literacy, food security, and nutrition – especially for girls. The panel will raise the perspectives of researchers, policymakers, and subject-matter experts on school feeding and literacy.

Disability Inclusion in Education & Workforce Development

Magnolia Ballroom

What do we know about what works for including people with disabilities in mainstream education and workforce development programs? What is the global state of knowledge in this area? Join us for this dynamic panel with USAID and leading experts to learn global trends and data in disability inclusion, promising practices for integrating people with disabilities in our education programs, and specific strategies for including Autistic people and Deaf/Hard of Hearing individuals. Ample Q&A time will be given

All Children Reading Grand Challenge for Development – Partnering for Impact and Scale

Walnut

The All Children Reading Grand Challenge for Development (ACR GCD) partners will provide an overview of current grant and prizes. A number of ACR GCD grantees and prize recipients will be on hand to demonstrate their innovations. ACR GCD is a collaborative partnership between USAID, World Vision, and the Australian government, among other stakeholders, to seek technology-enabled innovations for advancing early grade reading

Skills and Skill Frameworks, Past to Present

Elm

This session will start by covering skill frameworks more familiar to education experts, move through to newer models for skill frameworks, and culminate in a rethinking of skills frameworks based on firm (business process) needs. Following the frameworks the session will work in a facilitated way towards an understating of how new approaches to skills align with participant’s programming needs.

Beyond the Oslo Summit & INEE Global Consultation

Cypress Ballroom

Join the dialogue on critical funding and policy issues in Education in Emergencies! Panel presenters will share findings from the ODI paper: Education in Emergencies and Protracted Crisis: Towards a Strengthened Response, the INEE Consultation on Education in Emergencies, and review the current architecture for humanitarian intervention, coordination and political will for education in emergencies.

USAID Strategic Impact Evaluations: “LAC Reads” and E3:Ed’s “Reading and Access”

Willow

This session will delve into USAID’s centrally-managed impact evaluations for Goal 1 programming. Review of the research agendas driving the evaluation designs will be coupled with a discussion about the key evaluation design decisions and their implications for project implementation, evidence-building and policy uptake. Lessons learned about coordination and collaboration will also be discussed

4:30pm - 5:30pm

Increasing Impact of Our Work with Parents and Communities

Willow

USAID has invested heavily in parent and community engagement during over the last five years. Learn about mission programming and new research to improve effectiveness.

Introduction to the Education in Crisis and Conflict Network

Cedar

No researcher, institution or initiative can address these gaps single-handedly; broad coordination and collaboration are essential. To this end, USAID has funded the USAID Education and Conflict Network (USAID ECCN)—a community of practice composed of USAID staff, implementing partners and other stakeholders working to improve equitable access to education in the world’s crisis and conflict affected environments.


DAY 2: November 3, 2015

8:30am - 10:00am

Plenary Session: The State of the Field: How Evidence Drives Impact

Cypress Ballroom

Opening Remarks

Charles North - Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator: Bureau for Economic Growth, Education and Environment (E3), United States Agency for International Development

Keynote Speaker

Her Excellency Khadar Bashir Ali - Minister of Education, Federal Republic of Somalia

High-level Panel

Moderator

Christine Beggs – Evidence Team Lead, Office of Education, United States Agency for International Development

Panelists

Dr. Dave Evans - Senior Economist, World Bank Africa Region, Africa, The World Bank
Dr. Rachel Glennerster - Director, Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL)
Dr. Caine Rolleston - Lead Education Researcher, Young Lives

10:15am - 11:15am

Reading Lesson Design: Trends and Debates

Magnolia Ballroom

Panelists and participants will discuss effective lesson design for high performing early grade reading programs. The session will open with a review of research supporting explicit instruction and will continue with discussion of  theoretical and practical reasons for differences in lesson design across countries and partners.

Systems Thinking for Workforce Development

Elm

Successful workforce development happens when all the WfD system’s pieces are functional and working together towards an aligned purpose. Projects are embedded within this WfD system, while WfD itself is a system embedded within larger national, regional, and global systems. This session will define the challenge, review traditional models, and conclude with an exploration of new models of systems thinking and their application to WfD programming.

Education in Crisis and Conflict: Orientation and Advice from the Field

Cypress Ballroom

Education staff must work differently in conflict and crisis environments. Listen to an overview of conflict sensitivity as a crucial basis for adapting education programs to high risk contexts, and hear how seasoned education field staff have designed and managed conflict sensitive education programs in conflict and crisis environments.

Elevating Teacher Preparation and Coaching

Cedar

In a facilitated roundtable discussion, we will explore theoretical models proven effective for teacher inservice training in EGR, with an emphasis on understanding where teachers are, and adapting accordingly to change behavior. We will also discuss how to introduce teacher coaching in countries where it is not common practice

MOOCs and Employment Outcomes

Willow

Through this session, the panelists will review how MOOCs are integrated into larger systems approaches, and how demand from stakeholders influences these investments. Private sector collaboration, employability, inclusion of gender and peoples with disabilities through distance learning will also be incorporated. We will also discuss how MOOCs are helping learners to prepare and gain entry to the 21st century labor market

11:30am - 12:30pm - Lunch & Networking

Hands-On ICT4E Petting Zoo & Lightning Talks

Persimmon

Participants will benefit from first-hand exploration of innovative technology for education being developed and used in a variety of settings around the world. Leading exhibitors from a variety of non-governmental, donor, academic and public/private sector organizations will display their technology in education projects particularly in low-resource, developing countries

Practitioner Poster Session IDIQ Implementing Partners

Implementing partners will share answers to these questions: (1) What are we doing better now than we have ever done before? (2) What types of interventions have we changed because they were ineffective; and (3) What has this transformation taught us about how Goal One can address the future?

“Most Likely to Succeed”

Cypress Ballroom

For most of the last century, entry-level jobs were plentiful, and college was an affordable path to a fulfilling career. That world no longer exists. The feature-length documentary Most Likely to Succeed examines the history of education, revealing the growing shortcomings of our school model in todayʼs innovative world. Directed by acclaimed documentarian Greg Whiteley, the film has been named “among the best edu-documentaries ever produced” by Education Week, and called a “smart and engaging look at education in the 21st century” by The Hollywood Reporter

12:30pm - 1:30pm - Marketplace

Enabling Writers Bloom Software Demonstration

Magnolia Ballroom

Learn how Bloom software, using tested early grade reading instruction methodology, enables writers to easily create or adapt simple books (both fiction and nonfiction) in major or local languages on a Windows computer.

Hands-On ICT4E Petting Zoo & Lightning Talks

Persimmon

Participants will benefit from first-hand exploration of innovative technology for education being developed and used in a variety of settings around the world. Leading exhibitors from a variety of non-governmental, donor, academic and public/private sector organizations will display their technology in education projects particularly in low-resource, developing countries.

LAC Reads Capacity Program: Leveraging Data Science to Improve Systematic Reviews of Early-Grade Reading

Maple

This session will discuss the innovative use of data science in processing a large amount of literature on early-grade reading in multiple languages in and on the LAC region.

Monitoring Progress Towards Goals

Elm

How is USAID measuring progress towards the Goal One and Goal Three targets? What does the Office of Education need from you in order to facilitate this? Two structured presentations will be followed by an extended period for discussion and Q&A.

Tips and Tools for Participant Training Management Efficiencies

Walnut

This session will provide tips and tools to increase training management efficiencies. Presentations will examine ways to streamline key actions in the chain of training implementation events, including: a) Five things to remember when entering training data; b) Six actions that minimize training and capacity development vulnerabilities; c) Six points to consider when preparing Scopes of Work for training and capacity development implementation; d) Five ways to evaluate training results; e) Two ways to link training and capacity development to broader Mission / Sponsoring Unit objectives.

1:45pm - 3:00pm

Changing the Debate: Successful Approaches to Language Instruction

Cypress Ballroom

Practitioners and experts (including MOE officials) will share experiences implementing reading programs in local languages. Using case studies, panelists will outline a set of steps and tools that participants will be able to adapt to their own programming to increase the speed at which parents, governments, and teachers embrace local language in early grade reading instruction

A Focus on Core Indicators and Employment Outcomes

Willow

Traditional skill development programs have been dominated by output measures often quantified by the number of young people who access, participate in, and/or complete training programs and certifications. Understanding if we are reducing unemployment necessitates a coherent strategy to measure whether young people, get and/or keep employment, in whatever form that may take.

Theories of Change: Mapping Inputs to Outcomes

Walnut

This panel will present the concept of emergent social change theory and its applicability to education projects in areas of conflict and crisis. After an introduction, we will examine both DfID and USAID’s application of theories of change in their project designs and solicitations; Next, we will examine the application of an emergent theory of change through two cases: social-emotional learning and in the design and implementation of Accelerated Education programs. The session will end with Q&A on the application of emergent theories of change for Goal 3 projects and programs.

Assessment and Beyond

Maple

Presenters will explain new and emerging resources designed to improve the quality and availability of Goal 1 learning assessment data. Topics include Goal 1 program briefs, harmonized microdata files, the USAID SART data systems, and the new EGRA Toolkit. Varying views on outcomes based assessments will also be explored.

Applying principles of Positive Youth Development to Improve Outcomes in Education

Magnolia Ballroom

This session will discuss the underpinnings of the positive youth development (PYD), an assets-based approach to youth development, and review examples of how USAID and other donors have introduced PYD in the education sector

Lessons Learned – Opportunities and Challenges of Scaling Up Education Programs

Cedar

This session will discuss the scaling up opportunities and challenges of education programs. The session will discuss the overall promising practices of scaling up from Brookings Institution Millions Learning Initiative. The session will also dive into two country case examples in different phases of the scaling up education programs in Senegal and Kenya

3:15pm - 4:30pm

Supporting the Transition from School to Work

Cedar

This session will highlight some of the most promising practices for students to finance higher education in the United States and elsewhere and ease the transition from school to work. APLU will pull together a panel of US and foreign universities to talk about initial successes and the challenges of implementing new ways of supporting their graduates at the start of their careers

Separating Hope from Hype: Impact of Technology in Education (Workshop)

Walnut

The USAID Office of Education, in collaboration with the Mobiles for Education Alliance, has been exploring opportunities to generate increased funding for and awareness regarding rigorous evaluations of ICT4E interventions, particularly for showing evidence of ICT4E’s impact on learning outcomes in low resource environments. This workshop is designed for participants to appreciate what current evidence and gaps in knowledge exist for evaluating the impact of ICT4E interventions on learning outcomes

Costing and Cost Effectiveness – Opportunities and Challenges

Cypress

This session will discuss the importance of collecting and analyzing costing information for policymakers. The challenges and solutions of collecting cost in the USAID context will be discussed. Recent cost effectiveness study from Mozambique will be shared

Evaluating USAID Education Programs: Improving our Work Together

Elm

Jointly developed by USAID E3/ED, the Basic Education Coalition, the Alliance for International Youth Development and a group of USAID evaluation partners, this session aims to address the key challenges of evaluating USAID education programs, from the perspective of implementing partners, evaluation contractors and USAID. This session launches a sector-wide collaborative process to improve evaluation quality, coordination and collaboration - and ultimately, the quality of evidence in the education sector.

Girls’ Education? Seriously?? How about Gender-transformative Education?

Magnolia Ballroom

This session takes a hard look at what we have done to integrate gender into education programming. It will rely on actual representation of issues and opportunities related to promoting gender equality and reducing gender-based violence through the three goals of our education strategy. Be prepared to act and move.

Keep Learning Safe: Exploring Evidence and Opportunities for Future Research

Willow

Increasing access to education requires keeping learning environments safe for students and teachers alike. This panel will focus on current evidence of what works, as well as future directions for research to inform SLE efforts. Participants will be invited to provide recommendations to inform USAID ECCN’s SLE Research Agenda.

4:30pm - 5:30pm

Creative Commons Licensing: What is it and Why it Matters?

Willow

Creative Commons provides a simple, standardized way to give public permission to share and use creative works. Presenters will provide information about USAID-wide initiatives in open licensing and details about CC BY licenses. Creative Commons, USAID, and practitioners will answer questions about CC BY.

Workforce Connections and the Community of Practice

Cedar

Workforce Connections promotes evidence-based learning and peer-to-peer knowledge exchange in international workforce development. It brings together thinking across relevant disciplines including education, economic growth, and positive youth development. Funded by the USAID Office of Education and managed by FHI 360, Workforce Connections works to create an open space for stakeholders, develop a technically sound and accessible body of knowledge, and build the capacity of practitioners. The work is embedded in a community of practice composed of implementing partners, USAID staff, and other stakeholders working to improve employment outcomes for youth worldwide.


DAY 3: November 4, 2015

8:30am - 10:00am

Plenary Session: A Look at the Future: Education's Role in Achieving the Global Goals

Cypress Ballroom

Opening Remarks

Evelyn Rodriguez-Perez, Director, Office of Education, United States Agency for International Development

Christie Vilsack - Senior Advisor for International Education, United States Agency for International Development

Keynote Speaker

Linda Darling-Hammond - Faculty Director, Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education, Stanford University

High-level Panel

Moderator

Christine Veverka - Education Policy and Planning Team Lead, Bureau for Economic Growth, Education and Environment, United States Agency for International Development

Panelists

Dr. Amit Dar, Director, Education Global Practice, World Bank Group
Anna French, Education Policy Team Leader, Department for International Development
Evelyn Rodriguez-Perez, Director, Office of Education, United States Agency for International Development

10:15am - 11:15am

Next Generation Reading Programs Using Neuroscience

Cypress Ballroom

Neuroscience has started building bridges between the basic science of cognitive processes and application of those findings to reading acquisition. In this session neuroscientists will present findings to demonstrate that by understanding cognitive processes supporting the acquisition of knowledge and skills, we can develop effective techniques for improving reading outcomes

Understanding the System: Labor Market Assessments

Magnolia Ballroom

The labor market assessment (LMA) framework starts with a series of questions that need answers, forming the basis for an assessment. The questions fall into one of five buckets. These help guide you to tools to answer your questions, indicate parts of the WFD system that you should be looking at, and comprise the foundational pieces of a labor market assessment framework. The six are: 1. Systems; 2. Policy; 3. Economic Context; 4. Supply of Skills 5. Demand for Skills; 6. Alignment.

Peacebuilding in Education

Cedar

2015 has been a critical year in shaping the future of global governance. This session highlights key reforms, reviews and frameworks such as the Sustainable Development Goals, Landmark Peace Building reviews, COP, FfD, and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the direct implications for the education in crisis and conflict sector

Working with GPE

Willow

This is a practical, nuts and bolts session on how to work with GPE for USAID Ed staff. It responds to a need expressed in the survey and it will help staff understand and comment on the numerous significant changes currently being discussed and developed.

Accelerated Education: Reaching EFA for Countries in Crisis and Conflict

Elm

While accelerated education programs (AEP) are rapidly becoming a valid and structured response for countries in crisis and conflict, there remains little rigorous research on the relative benefits of AEPs compared to other education options. This panel discussion will highlight lessons learned from recent reviews of AEPs and propose minimum guidelines for effective AEPs.

11:30am - 12:30pm - Lunch
 

12:30pm - 1:30pm - Marketplace

Beyond 2015: What’s Next for USAID Education Investments (Q&A)

Cypress Ballroom

This session will present feedback on the education strategy review process, series of consultations, and convey USAID’s continued focus on the three goals of the Education Strategy into the 2016 timeframe.

Hands-On ICT4E Petting Zoo & Lightning Talks

Persimmon

Participants will benefit from first-hand exploration of innovative technology for education being developed and used in a variety of settings around the world. Leading exhibitors from a variety of non-governmental, donor, academic and public/private sector organizations will display their technology in education projects particularly in low-resource, developing countries.

1:45pm - 3:00pm

Comprehension: The Key to Reading to Learn

Cypress Ballroom

Experts will discuss successes and challenges faced in moving a child from basic reading to reading with comprehension. In a roundtable discussion, we will review evidence on student performance on comprehension, obstacles to comprehension instruction and approaches to increase comprehension.

Outcomes for Youth, Where Do We Want to Go

Cedar

This session will provide a forum for community of practice members to explore a multitude of approaches across the implementation field. These approaches will be connected to learning with a focus on future directions for USAID investment.

Risky Business: Lessons and Approaches in Multi-Risk and Education Analysis

Maple

In this panel, led by James Rogan from ECCN, learn about emerging lessons and approaches to multirisk (conflict, disaster, violence, etc.) and education analysis. Panelists will discuss designing and implementing multi-risk and education analysis, and will overview USAID’s new Rapid Education and Risk Analysis tool.

EGR Research: Policy, Landscape, and Data

Elm

Presenters will discuss the direction of early grade reading research, its potential impact on program design, and its influence on the next iteration of the education strategy

Innovative Education Financing Modalities

Willow

This session will present recent innovative financing trends in education, while exploring the importance of domestic resource mobilization and what can be done in the education sector. Strengths and weaknesses of impact bonds and leveraging private sector investments, particularly in the affordable private school sector, will also be discussed.

Working with Youth At Risk Youth in Central America: Lessons Learned

Magnolia Ballroom

Drawing on crises and conflict in education examples from several Central American countries, including El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and the U.S. we will discuss first strategies for recruiting, selecting, and targeting youth at risk and the ways education programming is both affected by and can be part of the solution to violence, particularly gang violence

3:15pm - 4:30pm

The Global Book Fund: Transforming the "Book Chain"

Cypress Ballroom

The Global Book Fund is a coordinated set of activities that aims to transform book development, procurement, and distribution to improve reading outcomes for all children. Panelists will discuss the Fund’s plan to use innovative financing strategies to support the book chain, lower costs, and increase quality

New Models for Education and Training

Maple

This session will include brief overviews of several new models of developing skill and learning, including: project based learning, experiential learning, lab-based work, simulated workplaces, among others.

Myths, Realities and Countering Violent Extremism through Education

Magnolia Ballroom

This session will debunk the myths and perceptions related to the drivers of violent extremism; present the strategies used in countering MS 13 and Al Shabab; share the current USG policy framework that supports education and CVE approaches; focus on integration of CVE into education programming.

Institutionalizing Workforce Programs

Willow

Presenters will discuss specific strategies that were used to institutionalize their workforce programs including government and private sector partnerships, inclusion of youth, capacity building and policy reform and analyze how these components correspond with (or refute) current best practices in systems approaches to development. Presenters will represent perspectives of EDC field staff, government training institutions and USAID.

Early Signs of Success in Higher Education Partnerships

Elm

U.S. universities and community colleges are at the forefront of international development; world-class faculty conduct groundbreaking research, train students for a competitive workforce, and connect their institutions to the rest of the world. This panel will highlight three partnerships in post-secondary education that have succeeded beyond expectations and ask them to review the early signs of and contributors to their success.

Leveraging Goal One Data: New Opportunities and Resources

Cedar

Learn about and provide input into new and emerging resources designed to improve the quality and public availability of Goal One learning assessment data. Topics include Goal One Program Results Briefs, harmonized microdata files, the USAID SART data system, and the New EGRA Toolkit

4:30pm - 5:30pm

Vision for the Global Reading Network Secretariat

Cedar

Understand the GRN’s core mission and learn of its progress to date and future direction. Determine how you can participate and leverage GRN expertise to improve your reading program.