The Education team in the USAID Bureau for Latin America’s Office of Sustainable Development (LAC/RSD) received expert support services from SSG Advisors to strengthen the design, evaluation, and evaluation of education programs in the region. These services enabled the Education team to support USAID/LAC Missions in planning, designing, and evaluating new programs, as well as monitoring and evaluating the performance of existing regional and Mission education programs. The team also supported organizational learning and knowledge management through training of USAID officers in the field and biennial regional education officer technical workshops.
SSG Advisors provided technical assistance to the USAID/Honduras Education team to improve citizen security and reduce extreme poverty. The team engaged a consultant to provide recommendations to the Mission on new program design. The consultant performed a desk review and in-country data collection and analysis, and submitted a draft design to the Mission for approval.
In Nicaragua, SSG Advisors conducted research for a youth assessment and evaluation, including a survey to evaluate the effectiveness of the FADCANIC at-risk youth model. The team submitted final drafts of the assessment and evaluation to USAID/Nicaragua, who provided extensive feedback. After revisions, USAID approved the final versions, which SSG submitted to the Development Experience Clearinghouse.
SSG Advisors also provided technical support to the USAID/Haiti Education team and implementing partners to improve program coordination, monitoring, and evaluation. The team managed requests for three consultants, including a Revision Advisor, an Evaluation Advisor, and an Early Grade Reading and Writing Advisor. The team will continue to work with the Mission to meet the changing consultancy and technical assistance needs.
In addition, SSG Advisors created a concise document on education systems and assessments used in eight countries that receive educational technical support from LAC/RSD. The team also organized two five-day technical workshops for the LAC Regional Bureau, which were held in Miami. The team provided quotes for various venue options and discussed the needs of the events with LAC/RSD.
SSG Advisors also supported a skills development event with Inter-American Dialogue and Mathematices hosted by the LAC Regional Bureau. The team received instructions for the activity and planned to complete it as requested. During the 2016 fiscal year, SSG utilized the in-house resources of Senior Manager Katherine Daniels, Mid-Level Subject Matter Experts, and Junior Logistics and Program Specialists on project management and project management as well as other tasks.
The contract between SSG Advisors and USAID is for three years, from September 30, 2014, to September 30, 2017, with two remaining option years. The report describes major activities in the second year of the project, from October 1, 2015, to September 30, 2016, and concludes by noting future activities expected in the next year, from October 1, 2016, to September 30, 2017.