DEGRA 

Djibouti Early Grade Reading Activity

The Djibouti Early Grade Reading Activity (DEGRA) aimed to strengthen children’s reading skills in the early grades by addressing the full education ecosystem—classrooms, communities, and national policy. Led by the Ministry of National Education and Professional Training (MENFOP) with support from USAID, the project worked to improve teaching and learning materials, strengthen teacher training, and increase the ability of families and community groups to support children’s reading. At the policy level, DEGRA focused on helping MENFOP use reliable, up-to-date data to track reading performance and make informed decisions that could improve learning outcomes nationwide.

As a key partner on DEGRA, STS supported MENFOP in building practical, long-lasting capacity to measure and improve early grade reading. STS worked closely with MENFOP’s evaluation and research department through a series of hands-on remote trainings focused on learning assessments and data use. These webinars strengthened staff skills in analyzing and interpreting assessment results, cleaning and managing data, and presenting findings in clear tables and graphs. By grounding the training in real Djibouti data and emphasizing applied practice, STS helped MENFOP move from collecting data to confidently using it to guide decisions about reading instruction and policy.

STS also played a central role in developing high-quality, locally relevant reading assessments. In collaboration with MENFOP and partners, STS led an in-country workshop to adapt Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) tools for Grade 2 and Grade 5 students in Djibouti. Education officials, teacher trainers, and classroom teachers worked together to ensure the assessments reflected Djibouti’s language, curriculum, and student learning levels. STS then supported pilot testing and guided the transition from tool development to national data collection, ensuring the assessments were both technically sound and usable by the Ministry.

To support sustainable implementation, STS focused on strengthening MENFOP’s ability to lead assessment activities independently. STS facilitated Training of Trainers sessions and supported enumerator trainings, gradually transferring responsibility to MENFOP staff. The team also remotely monitored early rounds of data collection, helping ensure data quality and documenting school-level realities that informed analysis and reporting. By the later stages of the project, MENFOP was leading trainings, monitoring data collection, and conducting quality assurance with minimal external support—demonstrating DEGRA’s success in building national capacity. STS further supported MENFOP by co-facilitating a policy workshop to establish Grade 2 reading benchmarks, linking assessment data directly to policy decisions and reinforcing a culture of evidence-based planning for early grade reading in Djibouti.

Dates: 2019 – 2022