Mid-Term Evaluation 2014 PDI-B0L Institutional Development Project 10585

Background:
The PDI-BOL project proposes promoting quality in education with principles through innovation in teaching, based on participation by the education community. PDI-BOL currently supports children’s education through the participation of teachers, parents, principals and local authorities. In the second phase of implementation, it was necessary to evaluate project implementation according to its six components or variables in the five target regions from January of 2012 to May of 2014.

Purpose/objective:
Learning about the process of implementing the six variables of "developing schools" and identifying improvements, changes, lessons learned, commitments, risks and bases for sustainability in local participants and in PDI-BOL intervention strategies to make timely adjustments, if necessary, to achieve the general objective.

Methodology:
The evaluation comprised the quantitative and qualitative assessment of project effects from January of 2012 to May of 2014 in Bolivia’s five regions.
Representatives from all stakeholder groups involved in the project from all five regions of Bolivia were taken into consideration: local authorities from municipalities and district management, principals and teachers, primary and secondary school students, administrative staff, parents and school board representatives, institutions and PDI-BOL staff. The following parameters were established for the evaluation:
a) The intervention’s effectiveness, efficiency, social and economic impact, technical and financial feasibility and sustainability
b) Analysis of the incorporation of horizontal priorities: operating principles, alignment, ownership and results-based management

Key findings:
The evaluation identified the following outcomes all target regions:
1. Sustainability: Municipal authorities have made an important political and financial commitment to pursue PDI-BOL objectives for the benefit of education. Findings score this indicator at 18.43% out of 20%.
2. All target regions evidenced good grounds for sustainability in local participants, directors of education units and teachers. These education actors are predisposed and committed to continue the project, since it greatly helps to their education community.
3. Achievement of outcomes: Generally, PDI-BOL implementation of the six variables is acceptable, scored at 81.48% out of 100%.
4. Communication to the education community about PDI-BOL’s implementation process should be improved.
5. With regard to milestones in relation to the "baseline" is important to establish the baseline.
6. The PDI-BOL project is advancing at a good pace, but adjustments must be made to build awareness of the reformulated strategy and to guarantee constant tutoring for students most of need of support in language and math.
Findings from the evaluated sample of education units were acceptable with regard to the six variables of the developing school, which affirms the hypothesis.
An education unit is developing when local authorities and the unit’s own authorities and staff (intermediate beneficiaries) progressively assume the management of variables, where students are motivated to study and where parents or guardians are satisfied (final beneficiaries).

Recommendations:
Reference to Authorities
PDI-BOL project folders should be presented to authorities, including progress made, targets for objectives and the schedule of activities for the 2014 project cycle, as well as budgets from 2014 to 2016.
PDI-BOL should work in coordination with authorities to receive more project support. To this end, the project should invite authorities to work lunches organized by region, where project members can ask authorities for suggestions and opinions and, thus, make them feel part of the project.
Investment folders from all education units should also be presented to the municipality when the transfer is made, together with letters of commitment for the exclusive use of those units that invested their local contribution in the project.
Furthermore, signing an addendum with authorities will allow PDI-BOL to anticipate the sustainability of the intervention, organized around the six variables.   Under the component of teacher training, the interactive PowerPoint workshop must be accredited by district directors as part of their collaboration with the project and cooperation in achieving PDI-BOL objectives.  
Communication
Education units in all regions should present an informative sign with PDI-BOL’s logo and the schedule of project activities. This sign should also serve to publicize the PDI-BOL project together with the banner, which is also important.
The project should organize knowledge or commercial technological expositions by region. This will allow us to position the PDI-BOL project.
Each project activity or event should be filmed and photographed. Also, a backup of the data should be kept in all regions, so that at the end of the year, material can be compiled of each region’s best activities and then edited and presented in a five-to-seven-minute video. This video can be disseminated to publicize the project and to evidence the PDI-BOL project’s work to authorities.
Virtual Platform  
Building a network of the education units, starting where there is internet, will make it possible for the units to communicate at any time through a virtual office. Then, the virtual platform could be used to reinforce support for teacher training and, in turn, the impact of training. This could be done first with local networks and subsequently with all five regions and/or an exchange of experiences could be organized by the project and monitored by regional coordinators.   The project should strengthen partnerships with all social actors for sustainability, e.g. the Ministry of Education and state universities, institutions with Christian values, Entel, other NGOs in education and others.
Training by PDI
Teacher training should be accelerated, and teachers should be trained immediately. Means of verification still apply.
Support of underperforming students in strategic subject areas (language and math) should be verified and measured. This could be done using a simple form containing four or five measurable and verifiable outcomes.
Measurement of students in the target group should be scheduled for late 2014. Furthermore, a retroactive baseline should be established for the 2012 project cycle, based on the assessment of a representative sample, to begin preparations for the 2015 and 2016/final project evaluations.
Teachers are better prepared with accreditation and approval for training. These same teachers should train their colleagues, so that they, too, can become accredited. Achieving this objective will motivate teachers, as well as offer them certification for their support. The goal is to ensure that absolutely all teaching staff is trained.
The project should monitor and control all activities by using indicators, increase people’s commitment by including them in activities and implement processes for managing internal and external project communications, informing all participants, new and old, about the project’s raison d’être (objectives) and outcomes.
Equitable Implementation of Budget Resources
PDI-BOL should prioritize the poorest education units, such as Gonzalo Moreno, Luz en el Camino, San José, Filadelfia and Orcoma, investing more in them and thus seeking to strike a more meaningful need-considerate balance. For units to be supported in this way, there must be commitment and capacity for local contributions. Units with more equipment should prioritize teacher training, support of students in strategic subject areas and the school for parents.
Distribution to Beneficiaries
Sixty-five percent of the investment should reach beneficiaries, while 35% should be dedicated to operating expenses. This division is advisable, considering the project’s distribution. It is also a requirement that at least 65% of the investment reach beneficiaries. A way must be found to conform to the budget allocation percentages recommended by World Vision.
To improve this distribution in the real cost of investment, a percentage of operating staff’s wages and salaries, including coordinators’, must be recorded in the 2014 project cycle as a direct investment, since staff contributions to training and monitoring constitute direct action for beneficiaries.

Comments from the organisation, if any: - from the project:
About the PROCESS, the evaluation has had extensive involvement of all local actors and thus reflects the judgment and opinion of everyone involved in the project.
About the RESULTS, the evaluation shows very encouraging results on the acceptance and commitment of those involved at both authorities’ level and members of the educational communities. These conclusions respond to the work and dedication of the team. However, the identification of weaknesses and observations are somewhat limited, which does not possess the necessary tips to improve working strategy. [Pym: The staff expressed that they had wished for a more substantial chapter on recommendations.]
About RECOMMENDATIONS, The recommendations are focused on prioritizing educational units for investment in equipment, which have been taken into account given the disadvantage relative to others. Another recommendation is the communication strategy at all levels, which will be reformulated in the plan for 2015. Finally, on the distribution of the budget between direct investment and administration percentage, we consider the characteristics of the project particular both geographically and by population and is therefore not automatically comparable with other projects.
About SUSTAINABILITY, from the initiation the project stresses the participation and commitment of local authorities, and considers decidedly to enable continuity in a differentially manner among the target group, ie prioritizing investment in schools to the neediest and newest schools and secondly allowing the old schools to continue prioritizing their local counterparts.