Reading for Ethiopia's Achievement Developed (READ) Monitoring and Evaluation Project

Date: December 30, 2014 Subject: Award Notice for READ M&E Project Request for Proposal SOL-663-13-000024 USAID/Ethiopia announced the award of a contract in response to The Reading for Ethiopia's Achievement Developed Monitoring and Evaluation (READ M&E) Program RFP, Sol-663-13-000024. The following information is provided herein: 1) Contract Award Dollar Amount: $9,997,279.00 2) Contract Award Number: AID-663-C-15-00001 3) Contract Award Date: December 22, 2014 4) Contractor:American Institutes for Research (AIR) 1000 THOMAS JEFFERSON ST NW WASHINGTON DC 20007-3835 5) Description: The Reading for Ethiopia's Achievement Developed Monitoring and Evaluation (READ M&E) project will focus on the monitoring and evaluation of early grade reading fluency and comprehension, including the M&E needs of the overall USAID READ program. The project will undertake six major activities. As described in further detail below, the project will: a) Assess student learning progress by analyzing and synthesizing nationally representative early grade reading assessment (EGRA) data already collected for seven local languages as well as collect additional EGRA data annually to show reading skill gains for seven local languages and English, including collecting nationally representative EGRA baseline data for English; b) Undertake national learning assessments (NLA) at grades 4 and 8 for reading, comprehension, and writing aligned to the new national reading curriculum developed through the READ program; c) Support continuous assessment in schools; d) Monitor the performance of USAID's Reading for Ethiopia's Achievement Developed (READ) projects as well as other key projects related to the READ program, and conduct mid-term and final evaluations of the three READ projects including other projects that may take over or add to any of the major functions of the three READ projects; e) Conduct impact evaluations on technical issues aligned to USAID's global as well as Mission level learning agenda that relate to the evolving needs of the READ program and related key projects; f) Build the capacity of the National Agency for Educational Assessment and Examinations (NAEAE) of the Ministry of Education (MOE); provide technical assistance to the MOE, regional state education bureaus (RSEBs), and other development partners determined key partners by USAID; collaborate and coordinate with key partners including other donors and NGO partners as well as projects in other sectors that relate to READ; and adapt to the evolving M&E needs and priorities of the READ program. 6) Place of Contract Performance: Ethiopia /ss/ James Gultry Contracting Officer Office of Acquisition and Assistance