TheQualityEducationinDevelopingCountriesInitiative.pdfVIP

The Quality Education in Developing Countries Initiative Grantmaking Strategy June 2008 Quality Education in Developing Countries Grantmaking Strategy 1. INTRODUCTION The Hewlett Foundation’s Global Development Program strategy includes the Quality Education in Developing Countries (QEDC) Initiative as one of its components. That strategy identifies the conditions, drivers, and areas of emphasis for the QEDC initiative financed by both the Hewlett and the Gates Foundations. This paper describes a more detailed grantmaking strategy in three areas of investment: more attention to and accountability for learning, proven instructional models, and sufficient resources used effectively. By 2010, the QEDC initiative aims to have a portfolio of funded activities that, together, will improve student learning and drive education reform efforts in East and West Africa and India. Students in project areas will be learning more; governments, civil society, and donors will be able to measure whether students are learning and will pay more attention to learning outcomes; and policymakers will use information about what improves learning outcomes to decide how funds for education are allocated. In what follows, we first describe the importance of this work. Next we specify the goals for our grantmaking. We then define the factors necessary for achieving our goals and identify the particular strategies that we pursue. To do so, we outline the barriers our grantmaking strategies are intended to address. Finally, we describe our underlying theory of change as to how the quality of education in developing countries can be improved. 2. THE IMPORTANCE OF IMPROVING QUALITY 2.1. Quality Matters Education has long been acknowledged as one of the linchpins to improve the li