USAID Tajikistan | Learn Together Activity (LTA)

October 2020 – October 2025

The goal of the USAID Learn Together Activity (LTA) is to improve primary students’ learning skills (Grades 1-4), with a particular focus on improving reading comprehension, critical thinking skills, and mathematics. Through this program, USAID intends to support the Tajikistan Ministry of Education and Science’s capacity to take on greater responsibility for improving literacy and numeracy skills to impact the overall primary students’ learning outcomes. Intended coverage is nationwide (at least 80 percent of primary schools) with attention to focus on regions with historically lower learning outcomes.

The activity purpose will be achieved through the following components: improved instruction and availability of supplemental reading materials, improved instruction and availability of supplemental math materials, and increased government capacity to develop and implement cohesive primary education policies and programs.

In collaboration with Chemonics International, EdIntersect leads the implementation of the baseline, midline, and endline Early Grade Reading and Math Assessments (EGRA and EGMA) in Grades 2 and 4. EdIntersect works with the LTA team and the Assessment Working Group in Tajikistan, comprised of representatives of the affiliates of Tajikistan’s Ministry of Education and Science, throughout the process, as well as the National Testing Center to build their capacity to continue conducting assessments after the project ends.

For reading and math assessments, EdIntersect will review and adapt EGRA tools in Tajik and Russian and Snapshot of School Management Effectiveness (SSME) tools, working closely with the Tajikistan government counterparts involved in assessment and testing. EdIntersect will also review and adapt the classroom observation tool to ensure the tool yields an analysis of teacher and student attendance, teaching practices, quality, and accessibility of books and supplementary materials.

As a new facet in Tajikistan, EdIntersect will develop EGMA tools aligned with existing grade-level competency-based standards in math and LTA’s expected training interventions. Assessment efforts will also include designing an appropriate study design for LTA, developing a sampling plan, and training data collectors. As part of administering the baseline, midline, and endline EGRAs and EGMAs, including the SSME and classroom observation, EdIntersect will collect and clean all data, and analyze the results to suggest findings on factors affecting student attainment.

All of these technical tasks will be integrated as well with a capacity development approach with key stakeholders over the life of the project. Additionally, EdIntersect supports gender and inclusion analysis by providing expert input to the design and methodology of the analysis, and review of its findings and conclusions.