SapereDevelopmentSolutions
Developing Research for Developing Countries
Sapere has been involved in Cambodia since 2003. Our first project was an evaluation of the EQIP school grants program, which was undertaken on a pilot basis in three provinces (Kampot, Kandal and Takeo). The project was financed by the World Bank. EQIP collected data during their 1999-2003 project period on school grant expenditures as well as outcomes such as student achievement. These data were augmented with ministry data on student repetition and dropout rates. Since the EQIP schools were phased in by district over time it was possible to assess the impact of the program on various student outcomes. The data files (listed below) are still being prepared. Two papers can be downloaded, one is the full report prepared for the Cambodian government, and the second is a more condensed article intended for an academic journal:
Marshall, Jeffery H. (2004). EQIP school grants program evaluation: Final report. MoEYS: Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
We have also been working with the Cambodian government as part of the CESSP (Cambodia Education Sector Support Project) intiative, specifically in the area of national assessment. The CESSP is funded by the World Bank and the Cambodian government, and is focused on improving quality, access and technical capacity in education. The national assessment function focuses on the creation, application and analysis of standardized tests. We began with grade three in 2006, and then worked with grade six in 2007. Data files, syntax files and reports are available on a temporary page that will (hopefully) be worked into the CESSP or MoEYS internet sites at some point.
Sapere has also participated in on-going research activities funded by the World Bank and the Cambodian government. The so-called "baseline survey" of lower secondary school quality uses a nationally representative sample of 150 LSS. During the course of the five year CESSP period these same data will be collected on three occasions in order to monitor the impact of CESSP. A similar activity has been undertaken, using the same data collection instruments, in the Lao Democratic Republic (LDR). These data have been used for a series of reports and papers, although the report for the LDR is not available here.