Amazonía Lee Long-Term Impact Evaluation: Influence of an Early Grade Reading Program on Regional Policy

While there has been remarkable progress in achieving Sustainable Development Goal #4 of inclusive and equitable quality education, important deficits in learning and access to education remain for disadvantaged and marginalized populations in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) countries. Low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) often lack sufficient resources to support schools, train teachers, and conduct data collection and management. Common barriers in under-resourced school systems include large class sizes, suboptimal pre-service and in-service teacher training, low salaries, and in many places, high rates of teacher and student absenteeism. Over the last decade, stakeholders in LMICs, donors, and nongovernmental organizations increasingly have paid attention to reading achievement and instruction in primary grades, but while important programmatic efforts have been implemented with domestic and international donor funding, there is little evidence on the long-term impact of those investments, the sustainability of reading programs, or the way such programs contribute to local or national shifts in education policy. This brief focuses on a USAID-commissioned impact evaluation, conducted by Mathematica, of a program focused on reading outcomes in grades 1-3 in Ucayali and San Martín, Peru.