MEL for ACR GCD

Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, & Learning for All Children Reading: A Grand Challenge for Development

All Children Reading: A Grand Challenge for Development (ACR GCD), established in 2011 as a partnership between the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), World Vision and the Australian Government, advances EdTech innovation and research to improve reading outcomes for marginalized children in low-resource contexts. ACR GCD is an ongoing series of competitions that leverages science and technology to source, test, and disseminate scalable solutions to improve literacy skills of early grade learners in developing countries. The global initiative focuses on sourcing new solutions, testing new ideas, accelerating, and scaling what works.

STS provided Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning services that ensure ACR GCD advances EdTech innovation and research by:

• Enhancing literacy learning for children with disabilities
• Driving the development and use of accessible books in underserved languages
• Strengthening foundations for literacy to improve early childhood learning

STS provided monitoring and capacity building support; designed and implemented project evaluations, as well as other studies and assessments; designed a framework for acceleration and provided scale-up support to innovators; developed collaborating, learning, and adapting initiatives; and strengthened the partnership’s ability to demonstrate its unique impact. These efforts facilitated informed management decisions, shaped the potential for innovations’ appropriate replication and scaling, and informed the strategic direction of projects and decision-making.

Dates: 2020 – 2023