Activity

Dear colleagues,

We hope this email finds you well! We are reaching out to share plans for an exciting year ahead for the Scaling Up Community of Practice Education Working Group.

Webinar Schedule and Themes

The following topics will be collectively explored during 2021, building on the interests expressed by working group members, including from the survey administered during the working group meeting last October. We welcome any additional feedback or suggestions related to these or other proposed themes.

Translating scaling research into practice (March 2021): This webinar will focus on sharing a soon-to-be-launched scalability checklist and user guide based on an existing resource developed by MSI and adapted to education through a process led by Belgian NGO VVOB. VVOB will provide an overview of contents of the new tool and discuss how it can be used to guide and plan for scaling. Additionally, key take-aways will be shared on the process of adapting a generic scaling tool to the education sector and how this might be relevant for contextualizing other resources. We will also have an opportunity during this workshop to hear from others developing scaling-related guidance and resources.
Lessons learned from adaptations as a result of COVID-19 (June 2021): Building on the Education WG April 2020 webinar where we discussed specific needs witnessed in low- and middle-income countries in response to COVID and what the education sector can learn from other crises, this session will re-visit adaptations made in response to the global pandemic, lessons learned, and what recommendations to take forward in addressing the current and future disruptions to education systems.
Edtech solutions and their scaling implications, particularly in reaching the “last mile” (September 2021) This session will focus on the promise and perils of education technology for improving education for all sustainably and at scale. It will include a discussion of strategies for the effective use of education technology for scaling impact, supported by evidence, as well as identify where critical knowledge gaps remain.
Exploring how costing data can inform scaling decisions (timing TBD): This session will focus on the importance of cost data to inform scaling decisions, and more specifically, how to move from a focus on project resources to larger-scale and more sustainable sources of financing, such as national education budgets. While this session is still under development based on members’ interests, it could include a presentation on demystifying cost data collection, analysis and use, including sharing existing costing tools or discussing opportunities and strategies for engaging with national budget cycles. We welcome your input in particular on what elements would make this session most useful and engaging for your own work.
A Different Way to Engage

Additionally, please reach out to participate in any of these sessions. We will be structuring participation a bit differently this year, in order to encourage more active engagement and continued dialogue between our virtual meetings. We welcome your engagement in further building out sessions, facilitating discussions, presenting your relevant work, and/or suggesting a presenter. After each webinar, we will be asking a member to author/co-author a reflection piece synthesizing the discussion to post on the CoP website. Please contact Jenny Perlman Robinson (JPerlman@brookings.edu) or Molly Curtiss Wyss (MCurtiss@brookings.edu) if interested in any of these or other opportunities to engage.

Expanding Membership in the Education Work Group

Please share this information with your networks and invite interested colleagues to join the Education Working Group by emailing Natalie Colangelo (Natalie.Colangelo@msi-inc.com).

All the best,

Nitika & Jenny (Co-Chairs of the Education Working Group)