Reading for Success

Morocco’s National Program for Reading

The National Program for Reading (NPR) project’s goal was to help “students in target regions read fluently and with comprehension by the end of the second school year.” It aimed to implement change by focusing on three components linked to the intermediate results outlined in the activity framework:

• Improved reading and writing materials used in primary school
• Improved reading and writing instruction in primary schools
• Learning and assessment system improved

STS was contracted to design and conduct a non-experimental, mixed-methods performance evaluation that collected data for two purposes. The first purpose was to evaluate the extent to which NPR achieved its activity targets and outcomes, and the second was to build on the findings from the previous whole-of-project Reading for Success (RFS) evaluation conducted in 2019 that were related to project implementation, sustainability, and the role of the Ministry of National Education, Preschool, and Sports.

STS’s evaluators utilized a mixed-methods research approach, including both qualitative analysis and secondary quantitative analysis. The evaluation team conducted qualitative fieldwork for approximately four weeks across six regions and 12 provinces, collaborating with local contracted data collectors. Data were gathered from a range of NPR stakeholder respondent groups to understand multiple perspectives and experiences across national, regional, provincial, and school/community levels, and to enable triangulation of data and findings. The qualitative data collection methods included semi-structured key informant interviews (KIIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs). In addition, the team gathered existing NPR project data, where possible, including EGRA results, to conduct a secondary analysis. Triangulation employed qualitative and quantitative methods to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of NPR and mitigate potential bias in data analysis.

Data were analyzed from December 2022 to March 2023, culminating in a Data Validation Workshop with key stakeholders in Rabat and a remote Final Results Presentation. The results, conclusions, and recommendations of this evaluation were disseminated through a final report, which was submitted to USAID and published on the DEC.

Dates: 2022 – 2023