who was who at usaid global education summit - relevance top open education 1/10 - 260SmithWatt 70Neumann 50F.Abed , AI20s.com Fei-Fei Li, Zbee2024-03-29T07:02:54Zhttp://normanmacrae.ning.com/forum/topics/who-was-who-at-usaid-global-education-summit-relevance-top-open?commentId=6339278%3AComment%3A15717&x=1&feed=yes&xn_auth=nospan style="line-height: 1.71…tag:normanmacrae.ning.com,2013-08-19:6339278:Comment:157172013-08-19T18:03:06.310Zchris macraehttp://normanmacrae.ning.com/profile/s0neqm9lsoui
<p>span style="line-height: 1.7142; font-size: 1rem;">9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Plenary 2 – Visions for 2015 and Beyond: Perspectives on a Global Learning Moderator: Christie Vilsack, USAID Senior Advisor for International Anjimile Mtila-Oponyo, Principal Secretary, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Malawi Rebecca Winthrop, The Brookings Institution (…</p>
<p>span style="line-height: 1.7142; font-size: 1rem;">9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Plenary 2 – Visions for 2015 and Beyond: Perspectives on a Global Learning Moderator: Christie Vilsack, USAID Senior Advisor for International Anjimile Mtila-Oponyo, Principal Secretary, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Malawi Rebecca Winthrop, The Brookings Institution (<a href="http://www.usaided2013.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Rebecca-Winthrop-The-Importance-of-Learning-Outcomes-August-6_pb.pdf">Download the Presentation – PDF</a>) Sara Ruto, Uwezo (<a href="http://www.usaided2013.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Sara-Ruto-Delivering-on-the-Promise-Uwezo-Presentation-073113.pdf">Download the Presentation – PDF</a>)</p>
<p>This plenary session focused on the importance of Goal 1 and how it ties in to the overall education priorities of USAID. Christine Vilsack, USAID Senior Advisor for International Education, moderated a panel discussion with Anjimile Mtila-Oponyo of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology in Malawi, Rebecca Winthrop of The Brookings Institution, and Sara Ruto of Uwezo. The speakers highlighted victories that the international education community has achieved in the fields of access and learning, but stressed that this agenda remains unfinished, with millions of children in school but not learning. They remarked that learning is not happening within school walls because of weak educational systems, lack of community engagement, and poor teaching by untrained teachers. Additional obstacles to achieving quality learning are the huge educational equality issues (e.g., gender, geographic location) that continue to affect learning within countries and between countries. The presenters further discussed the need for the international education agenda to focus on measuring outcomes, rather than inputs, with better tools and standards, such as those being developed by the Learning Metrics and Tools Task Force. The speakers elaborated a point made by Secretary Duncan about effectively taking children from “cradle to career” by strengthening management and administration of education systems starting children’s education early, examining the effectiveness of investing in early childhood education, developing a “culture of reading” and a “sustained demand for quality.” Speakers also highlighted opportunities presented by technology and evidence-based approaches that involve parents and communities as ways to realize real and sustainable change.</p>
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<p><a name="Concurrent 1"></a> <strong>11:00 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Concurrent Sessions</strong></p>
<p><strong>Session 1: From Strategy to Implementation: What Have We Learned Since 2011?</strong> Moderator: Penelope Bender, Office of Education, USAID Lisa Slifer-Mbacke, MSI Benjamin Piper, RTI International Annie Duflo, Innovations for Poverty Action</p>
<p>This session, moderated by Penelope Bender of USAID/Washington, covered lessons learned on improving the impact, scale, and sustainability of reading outcomes. The speakers focused on the areas of baseline assessments, instructional change, and evaluation. Lisa Slifer-Mbacke from MSI spoke of the challenges of conducting baseline reading assessments and shared lessons learned from her experience conducting an EGRA assessment in Pakistan. In particular, she discussed understanding the context, establishing the evaluators’ credibility, controlling quality, selecting local partners and staff, and interacting with local officials. Benjamin Piper of RTI International spoke of teaching and the process through which teachers change their classroom practices, students’ outcomes improve, and teachers sustain those improvements in their instruction. He noted that training programs designed to effect change among educators are missing from implementation. Dr. Piper’s model for potentially bringing about change includes using adult learning strategies, giving instructional feedback, simplifying the materials provided to teachers, allowing for peer discussion; including community demand, changing the teachers guides and textbooks used by teachers, and embedding change into a teacher’s career. Annie Duflo from Innovations for Poverty Action discussed lessons learned from conducting impact evaluations. She explained that they should be understood as a learning tool and be future oriented. Dr. Duflo pointed out that the evaluation method, tools used for measurement, and the data collection process matter. Key questions that need to be asked when interpreting results include the effect size, for whom, the effect of what, in what context, in what implementation conditions, and at what cost. Evaluation objectives should include testing a concept or a theory of change, refining the concept and its applications, and evaluating the program’s impact at scale. It is essential that an evaluator understand the theory of change and the desired goals of a project.</p>
<p><strong>Session 2: Approaches to Community and Parent Involvement and Social Marketing to Increase the Impact of Goal 1 Projects Moderator: John Comings Elizabeth Spier, AIR/3ie Dina Borzekowski, Johns Hopkins University</strong></p>
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<p><strong>This session, moderated by Suezan Lee of USAID/Washington, explored the recent experiences of three Missions with use of G2G modalities to implement reading programs. USAID education officers from Ethiopia (Befekadu Gebretsadik), Egypt (Hala El Sarafy), and Ghana (Adma Jehanfo) presented overviews of their Missions’ G2G experiences in order to illustrate the use of government systems to improve national reading efforts. Several factors served as the basis of consideration in the use of G2G programming: a strong and long-time relationship of USAID with the host government, a favorable policy environment, the recognition of the problem of children not able to read, and willingness of stakeholders to jointly address this problem. G2G activities in these countries support service delivery to improve reading through a focus on professional development of teachers, training for school principals and supervisors, development of faculty and reading departments for pre-service, student assessment, and the use of appropriate technology. Presenters touched on similar challenges to G2G implementation, including the amount of time needed to build understanding and capacity among host governments and the need to balance USAID and government goals. Solutions put forth by presenters included identifying clear milestones and means of verification and having a plan in place to improve Ministry of Education delivery systems and strengthen management, During the question and answer period, issues were raised with regard to the identification of appropriate mother-tongue language for classroom instruction and the need to consider the effects of decentralization and government capacity when deciding where to focus G2G.</strong></p>
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<p><strong><strong><a name="Concurrent 2"></a> <strong>1:15</strong> p.m.</strong> – 2:30 p.m. Concurrent Sessions</strong></p>
<p><strong><strong>Session 1: Which Book Do Children Need to Learn to Read? Developing Effective Content</strong> Moderator: Marcia Davidson, Cambridge Education Cory Heyman, Room to Read Norbert Rennert, SIL International John Hatton, SIL International Kirsten Gallison, FHI 360 Said Yasin, Education Development Center Mariella Ruiz-Rodriguez, USAID/Uganda Fabiola Lopez-Minatchy, USAID/Haiti This session, moderated by Marcia Davidson of Cambridge Education, dealt with early reading and literacy initiatives, as well as innovative solutions to reading material development when there is a lack of existing materials in languages still being spoken by many (e.g., Papua New Guinea). When developing decodable and leveled texts, multiple issues need to be considered, including but not limited to font, spacing, use of color, illustrations, and number of words per sentence. Room to Read shared these insights from experiences developing instructional materials, and conducting gap analyses in countries - based on types of materials available for different reading levels. Representatives from USAID/Haiti, USAID/Uganda, and FHI 360 discussed development and implementation of early reading and literacy initiatives on the ground, emphasizing the importance of taking country context, local culture, and language characteristics into consideration when developing reading materials. Although all of these components are important to address for effective reading material development that is appropriate for the targeted group, low-cost, low-tech, and innovative solutions were also shared, minimizing the need for outside expert contributions. Specifically, community members can be engaged to develop technically sound decodable readers (e.g., Timawarenga! project, implemented by FHI 360). Aspects such as layout, font, and illustrations can be streamlined and automated so that community members can become book and curriculum developers themselves (see bloomlibrary.org).</strong></p>
<p><strong><strong>Session 2: Scale and Sustainability of Reading Programs: Key Considerations</strong> Moderator: Suezan Lee, USAID/Washington Kate Fehlenberg, MSI Lisa Slifer-Mbacke, MSI</strong></p>
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<p><strong><strong>Session 3: Using Knowledge of Cultural Beliefs and Practices to Enhance Early Grade Reading Programs</strong> Sara Harkness, USAID/Washington <="" parents’="" effects="" washington="" usaid="" harkness="" sara="" session,="" this="">beliefs and practices on their children and provided a framework for analyzing children’s culturally constructed learning environments as well as examples of the framework being used to promote early grade reading. Dr. Harkness formulated the developmental niche, or the theoretical framework fused to understand how culture affects child development, and identified three interrelated subsystems: (1) the settings in which a child is raised, (2) community customs and practices in childrearing, and (3) the psychology of caretakers (e.g., parental beliefs about when a child should pass through valued/prioritized stages of development). ,Parents in Nigeria expect a child to speak clearly close to age 3 while parents in Massachusetts expect a child to not use “baby talk” close to age 5. Also, kenyan mothers take much longer to “know” a child’s personality than do US women and girls in Kenya are expected to take care of siblings while girls in the Netherlands actively participate in school. Dr. Harkness She noted that common elements in successful parent, community and school programs for early grade reading are strong community support, parents’ cultural beliefs are addressed, careful ethnographic observation of the child’s developmental niche, and the use of local practices as a base for innovation.</strong></p>
<p><strong><strong>Session 4: The All Children Reading Grand Challenge (ACR-GC)</strong> Moderators: Rina Dhalla, USAID/Washington and Rebecca Leege, World Vision </strong></p>
<p><strong>Rina Dhalla from USAID and Rebecca Leege from World Vision facilitated a session that involved the demonstration of innovative approaches to teach reading. Through the ACR-GC Model, USAID and its partners are using new tools and networks to find, select and accelerate innovative projects and ideas that have the potential to achieve large-scale development impact. In the first round, 32 winners were selected from 450 applications; 50 percent of the funding went to local organizations. Grants managers provide oversight of the $300,000 grants, which have two-year performance management plans. A new round will be announced in the fall. Four projects were presented and discussed during this session: Pratham’s learning camps and combined activities for learning in India, World Education’s Total Reading Approach for Children (TRAC) program in Cambodia, the Lubuto Library Project in Zambia, and Planet Read in India. Each of the projects presented its approach, progress, and challenges. Each is preparing for and dealing with scaling in different ways–through expanding content, adding new TV programs, entering into partnerships with states, adding new technologies (e.g. cell phones or non-proprietary laptops, new hardware/software combinations), or working with other NGOs. Technology offers unique opportunities to reach remote students, creates new ways to engage students and parents, and provides a more inclusive environment.</strong></p>
<p><strong><strong>Session 5: Improving Reading Outcomes: A Comparison of Instructional Approaches</strong> Moderator: Betty Sturtevant, George Mason University Cecilia Ochoa, Save the Children Diane Prouty, Creative Associates International Rachel Christina, Education Development Center</strong></p>
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<p><strong><strong>Session 6: Program Design: Language and Reading</strong> Moderator: John Comings, USAID/Washington Catherine Young, SIL International Barbara Trudell, SIL International Joy Peyton, Center for Applied Linguistics </strong></p>
<p><strong>In this session, presenters focused on research related to the use of primary languages as the language of instruction in the classroom. Catherine Young of SIL International opened the session, noting that many children do not speak the language used to teach and are unable to engage actively in the classroom. Engaging in rote learning, they more frequently perform poorly on tests and are more likely to drop out of school or be removed by disillusioned parents. International research supporting mother-tongue instruction was highlighted and recommendations for program design (e.g. development of effective instructional approaches, development of appropriate materials to support reading and skill development, equipping teachers with pedagogical strategies to teach reading and support transition to additional languages; recognizing the need for an enabling policy environment) discussed. Barbara Trudell, SIL International, further discussed how mother tongue reading programs require more than providing materials and training teachers. Elements that successfully build mother tongue-medium learning (e.g. standardization of written language; development of dictionaries and texts in local language beyond those of the classroom; support of local language advocates; awareness of discrepancies between policies at the national and local level) were outlined and challenges to building local language instruction (e.g. politics, scaling) were highlighted. Joy Peyton of Center for Applied Linguistics closed the session with a discussion of a rigorous U.S. Study on the role of native language in reading success. Reflecting on the study’s findings, Dr. Peyton discussed important elements of high quality learning (e.g. curriculum based on thematic units; a comprehensive approach to reading; students working in pairs and small groups; formal or informal support; appropriate materials for instruction, tutoring, family activities, etc.) and a positive context for instruction (e.g. whole school engagement, buy in, positive messaging, professional development, assessment done regularly, tutoring available, etc.).</strong></p>
<p><strong><strong>Session 7: Building Consensus on Measuring Learning: Recommendations from the Learning Metrics Task Force</strong> Moderator: Allison Anderson, The Brookings Institution Luis Crouch, RTI International Dzingai Mutumbuka, Association for the Development of Education in Africa </strong></p>
<p><strong>Moderated by Allison Anderson from the Center for Universal Education at The Brookings Institution, this session featured two speakers, Luis Crouch from RTI International, and Dzingai Mutumbuka, Association for the Development of Education in Africa, who presented on the Learning Metrics Task Force (LMTF). Initiated by UNESCO and The Brookings Institution, the LMTF was convened to focus attention on the alignment of efforts to measure and improve learning outcomes. A highly consultative, consensus-building exercise, the LMTF represents one part of a process aimed at achieving Education for All’s Goal Six on education quality. Presenters laid out the areas in which the task force aims to build consensus across three phases of consultation: (1) standards–what learning is important for all children and youth, (2) measures and methods–how learning outcomes should be measured, and (3) implementation–how measurement of learning can improve education quality. Phase One resulted in a broad definition of learning that includes seven domains, subdomains and competencies (limited to early childhood through lower secondary). That served as the framework for the identification of six areas of measurement during Phase Two. They include access to and completion of learning opportunities through enrollment and completion indicators and early childhood experiences that result in readiness for primary school, through a school readiness indicator. Next steps for Phase Three were then laid out along with the challenges inherent in trying to measure common indicators globally. During the discussion period, the audience explored the need for a global measure or set of measures for global citizenship, and the applicability of such metrics to the ground level.</strong></p>
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<p><strong><a name="Concurrent 3"></a> <strong>3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Concurrent Sessions</strong></strong></p>
<p><strong><strong>Session 1: Reading in the Arabic Language: Considerations for Programs in North Africa and the Middle East</strong> Moderators: Karen Tietjan, Creative Associates International & Gracy Lang, USAID/Morocco Aarnout Brombacher, RTI International Samir Habib, RTI International Fathi el-Ashry, Creative Associates International Joy du Plessis, Creative Associates International Mariam Britel Swift, USAID/Morocco Hala el-Serafy, USAID/Egypt Abdulhamid Alajami, USAID/Yemen</strong></p>
<p><strong><span style="line-height: 1.7142; font-size: 1rem;">A panel of speakers from RTI International, Creative Associates and USAID representatives from Morocco, Egypt and Yemen discussed the particular challenges and approaches of Arabic language teaching. Panelists discussed: (1) the context in which reading programs and assessments take place in Arab language speaking countries, (2) special issues that occur when developing reading programs and assessments in Arab language, and (3) several approaches to reading programs with a focus on Yemen and Egypt. Reading programs in Arab language countries are faced with a range of special issues: low levels of reading; a diglossic environment (i.e. children growing up in households where colloquial Arabic is spoken while schools teach in classical Arabic, which is similar to learning a foreign language for these children); the different presentation of short and long vowels in writing; and the more active engagement of the left side of the brain than for other languages means that it takes longer to automate the reading process than for languages such as English. The speakers presented three approaches – two in Egypt and one in Yemen. Each of the reading programs and assessments leveraged standard approaches, but tailored them to the special needs of teaching and testing Arabic as well as to the special requirements of working with the respective ministries of education in post Arab Spring environments. During the discussion, the panelists explained how they involved the local governments at different stages in the assessments and program implementation. While early ministerial involvement did not guarantee complete buy-in in every case, it was successful in most programs discussed.</span></strong></p>
<p><strong><strong>Session 2: Measuring Impact: The Use of Data Collection and Analysis to Track Improvements in Reading</strong> Moderator: Garth Willis, USAID/Washington Optimal Solutions Representative <span style="line-height: 1.7142; font-size: 1rem;">Mark Turner and Yvette Clinton of Optimal Solutions presented on the USAID-funded Secondary Analysis for Results Tracking (SART) project, which aims to show progress in reading efforts by collecting, analyzing, and reporting on data by country and for the Agency as a whole. Presenters gave a ‘short course’ on the use of data collection and analysis to illustrate the impacts of a focus on improved reading. Key analysis terms: benchmark, threshold, baseline, and endline to set a common understanding of the parameters of data use as a way to measure progress. Using data from a USAID/Malawi reading program, the audience saw a country report and data analysis. Data not only for data’s sake, but also to show accountability for inputs. Data analysis is the basic foundation for further progress in reading/learning. Q&A issues surfaced concerned the existence of quality data standards to enable comparison among data sets, the need to embed sound data collection and analysis methodologies into ministries of education so they can effectively track their own progress in improving reading, the ability to compare reading data sets across countries, and the need for information dissemination guidelines. The presenters asked implementers and Missions to send in reading data so the Agency can get a greater picture of reading progress.</span></strong></p>
<p><strong><strong>Session 3: Printing and Publishing Books that Children Can Read</strong> Moderator: Marcia Davidson, Cambridge Education Carol Sakoian, Scholastic, Inc. Maggie de Jongh, blueTree Group Luis Crouch, RTI International <span style="line-height: 1.7142; font-size: 1rem;">Moderated by Marcia Dawson of Cambridge Education brought together book experts from Scholastic, Inc., Blue Tree Group, and RTI International to discuss to explain the complex processes involved in publishing, printing and procuring sufficient, appropriate, cost efficient and high quality books for all children in low-income countries. They discussed working with local printers, difficulties getting books to the right places, challenges with convincing teachers to use new materials, and children’s inability to read in early years owing to factors such as a scarcity of books and little or no supplementary materials in mother tongues. Luis Crouch of RTI proposed a new approach—creating a books fund modeled on health commodity funds. This approach would fund the creation of titles and delivery to schools, increase demand, and improve the supply chain. Such funds would need to purchase materials at a high volume, develop a recommended book set, keep costs low but pedagogical effectiveness high, work with publishers to address production costs, and model an effective supply chain. Audience discussed challenges: providing materials to children who will be the first readers in their families, making sure books are at an appropriate reading level, and teachers knowing how to integrate books into the instructional process.</span></strong></p>
<p><strong><strong>Session 4: Scale and Sustainability for Reading Programs: Cost Considerations</strong> Moderator: Suezan Lee, USAID/Washington Connor Brannen, J-PAL Benjamin Piper, RTI International <span style="line-height: 1.7142; font-size: 1rem;">The effectiveness of programs is the key component to success; but programmers must also be able to </span>answer the question, “At what cost?” Presenter Connor Brannen of JPAL discussed the concepts behind cost effectiveness analysis (CEA), especially with respect to scaling up pilot interventions. CEA summarizes a complex program in terms of a simple ratio of costs to impacts. She noted that impact assessment should take into account the context of the pilot and its specific implementation, while a calculation of cost is best achieved by means of an “ingredients” analysis, tracking the various components with thought to how such costs might change when going to scale. CEA provides an overall indication of the order of magnitude of a program’s cost effectiveness, but does not predict the cost of a program at scale. Dr. Benjamin Piper of RTI International presented the results of the Primary Reading and Math Project (PRIMR) in Kenya and the associated cost analysis which is providing USAID with findings on the actual cost of student learning results. The PRIMR project is able to demonstrate specific reading gains by pupil and track specific costs per project component (e.g. improved text books, targeted teacher training). The project gets children to reading proficiency for about half the cost of what the government expects to spend. Q&A focused on the applicability of this model for scaling up, the issue of governments wanting to use only some elements of the PRIMR approach without supporting others, and some of the potential political impediments to moving forward (such as a book publishing industry that will resist changes to textbooks that may lower their profits.</strong></p>
<p><strong><strong>Session 5: Changing Teacher Practice: Effective Training and Coaching</strong> Moderator: John Comings, USAID/Washington Nancy Clark-Chiarelli, Education Development Center Rita Bean, University of Pittsburgh</strong></p>
<p><strong><span style="line-height: 1.7142; font-size: 1rem;">John Comings from USAID/Washington moderated a session focused on what works in teacher coaching in the U.S. and in developing countries. Nancy Clark from the Education Development Center shared information on a teacher coaching program currently operating in Sudan and Rita Bean from the University of Pittsburgh discussed findings from the research. Key takeaways from the session were that teacher coaching in the US has been shown to improve teacher satisfaction and child learning outcomes and that both individual and group coaching are effective. Presenters also discussed the use of technology as a new resource to help with training coaches. Building trust in the coach/teacher relationship is extremely important, as well as differentiating between a coaching role and a monitoring role in the classroom. Since coaching should be seen as a supportive, it should not be combined with collecting information for accountability or evaluation purposes.</span></strong></p>
<p><strong><strong>Session 6: What Do We Need to Know about Children’s Cognitive Development to Optimize Early</strong> Moderator: Sara Harkness, USAID/Washington Nathan Fox, University of Maryland Charles M. Super, University of Connecticut Dan Stoner, Save the Children Robin Horn, Children’s Investment Fund Foundation</strong></p>
<p><strong><span style="line-height: 1.7142; font-size: 1rem;">This panel discussed children’s cognitive development in relation to schooling. Nathan Fox of the </span>University of Maryland discussed brain development and executive functioning, which is conscious, goal directed control of attention and behavior. This functioning grows rapidly between age 3 and 7 and helps children control their attention in ways such as following multi-step instructions, avoiding distractions, and persisting at problem solving. Charles M. Super of the University of Connecticut and Dan Stoner spoke on factors that affect the development of the brain and children cognitive development. Dr. Super discussed the intersection of culture and developmental transformations and their impact on children’s learning. Dr. Stoner described how brain development is affected on the molecular level by trauma, disease, malnutrition, malaria and other diseases brought on by parasites. Robin Horn of the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation described their work and delved into a discussion on which the policies and interventions matter. It is essential to provide an enabling environment for brain and cognitive development. Audience stressed the need to effectively translate scientific evidence to policy in order to convince politicians about the returns that will come from investing in education, and coordination between education and health is essential to address challenges that inhibit cognitive development.</strong></p>
<p><strong><strong>Session 7: Technology and Reading: Learning from the Field</strong> Moderator: Anthony Bloome, USAID/Washington Meredith Fox, USAID/Washington David Rurangirwa, USAID/Rwanda Chris Pagen, USAID/Kenya</strong></p>
<p><strong><span style="line-height: 1.7142; font-size: 1rem;">Speakers from USAID Missions in South Africa and Kenya and a USAID-grantee in Senegal gathered to </span>discuss and provide examples of the use of technology in support of early grade reading efforts. Colleagues and partners in the field talked about their experience in scalability, data collection, and privacy and confidentiality issues in the use of technology to gather information for education assessments from educators and students. Moderated by Tony Bloome, exhibitors were introduced to participants in an interview format, and discussions centered around best practices in the use of technology to support early grade reading efforts.</strong></p>
<p><strong><a name="Plenary 3"></a> <strong><strong><a href="http://www.usaided2013.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Untitled.png"><img width="300" height="5" alt="Untitled" src="http://www.usaided2013.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Untitled-300x5.png"/></a></strong> Plenary 3: Advancing Reading Through Collaboration: Building a Strong Community of Practice</strong> Moderator: Penelope Bender, USAID/Washington Allison Anderson, The Brookings Institution Eric Eversmann, Save the Children Amber Gove, RTI International Karen LeBan, CORE Group Karen Tietjen, Creative Associates International</strong></p>
<p><strong><span style="line-height: 1.7142; font-size: 1rem;">Penelope Bender from USAID/Washington moderated this plenary, which focused on Communities of </span>Practice (CoP). Presenters focused on lessons learned as well as the opportunities and challenges of participating in CoPs. Karen LeBan from CORE Group spoke about the history and development of her organization, and noted a number of lessons learned which can be applied to developing a successful CoP. These include building relationships, providing multiple levels and methods of engagement to suit the needs of members, contributing to the evidence base, measuring results and using common indicators, and maintaining a supportive donor environment. Allison Anderson from The Brookings Institution discussed her involvement in the Interagency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE). She explained that INEE was established as a mechanism for sharing information and among the lessons learned cited that form follows function. She also discussed how the consultative process built the framework for her organization and offered an opportunity to build trust. Karen Tiejen of Creative Associates explained that participation in a CoP offers opportunities to keep informed about events in the development community, to pool resources, and to participate in a forum in which different and divergent voices can be heard. Amber Gove of RTI International added that contributing to a CoP facilitates identification of approaches and solutions, solidifies existing networks, allows for the identification of new actors and partners, increases cost efficiency and effective use of tax payer funds, and provides opportunities to advance scholarship. Eric Eversmann from Save the Children cited agreement with the previous presenters and noted that his organization includes partnering through opportunities such as a CoP in their theory of change. He recommended as best practices a clear vision with feasible objectives, output driven work streams, a commitment to institutionalization, strong leadership and processes, and inclusive and open membership.</strong></p>