Educate! rigorously measures impact and is proven to impact lives.

Educate! is committed to doing what works. We continuously capture data, process it quickly, and integrate lessons learned into our model to optimize the quality of our program as we scale.

Educate! rigorously measures our impact to ensure that every dollar we spend maximizes life outcomes for youth. Our best-in-class monitoring system ensures program quality and progress towards our targets by tracking 20+ key performance indicators (KPIs) on a regular basis and feeding data back into a dashboard in real time. Our evaluation philosophy employs rigorous studies to understand our impact on a longer-term basis, including an external randomized controlled trial and quasi-experimental evaluation.

Monitoring and Learning Tools

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Build-Measure-Learn Loops

Educate! prioritizes ongoing innovation and learning in our core program model. One of our key learning mechanisms is Build-Measure-Learn (BML) loops, a type of feedback loop in which we Build a new or different element into program design, Measure its impact, and Learn from the results. BML loops enable Educate! to test programmatic and operational components of our model and to make rapid adjustments based on the results of each loop. For example, we used a BML loop to determine that using visual aids was more effective in the classroom than writing on the chalkboard. After analyzing the results of the BML, we were able to quickly integrate this lesson and get visual aids into all of the classrooms we work in.

SMS and Smartphone Monitoring

Educate! uses SMS (text messaging) and smartphone surveys as key components of our M&E system. With the goals of rapid turnaround and robust program management, in 2014 we launched a sophisticated mobile money and telecommunications system allowing for rapid turnaround, robust program management, and cost-effective data collection via SMS text messaging and smartphones. These technologies allow Educate! to gather regular information from remote parts of the country in a very cost-effective manner. The metrics that field staff provide through this system populate a web-based dashboard that updates in real time and allows Educate! to monitor our performance at scale. For example, we can track student businesses started on a trimesterly basis, and optimize quality as necessary if our scale performance is lower than targeted.

Cross-Cutting Designs

Educate! uses experiments to inform and improve program design and implementation. A cross-cutting design is a mini-randomized controlled trial that allows us to rigorously test the impact of new program design components. For example, in 2014 we ran a cross-cutting design to test the effectiveness of group mentorship sessions, providing some of our Scholars with lessons only and others with additional group mentorship. Our M&E team analyzed the data and reported to the Programs and Design & Training teams, who used the data to determine how group mentoring sessions would be implemented in the future.

Recent Evaluations

Follow-on Randomized Controlled Trial

Educate!, in partnership with researchers from the University of California-Berkeley, the World Bank, and Innovations for Poverty Action, conducted a follow-on Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) to measure the impact of our program on students 3.5 years after graduating from secondary school and 4 years after finishing Educate!. Overall, the skills, gender, and educational outcomes suggest that participating in the Educate! Experience allows students to develop the competencies that put them on a higher trajectory correlated with improved long-term life outcomes. See our RCT 4-Year Follow-On Interpretation Memo for more.

Quasi-Experimental Evaluation

One of our biggest questions of 2017 was: Have we maintained our impact as we’ve scaled the Educate! Experience across Uganda? This external evaluation demonstrated that even as we've dramatically increased the number of youth we reach, we continue to achieve similar impact for participants of our program. See the End of Course Report for more information.

Randomized Controlled Trial

In parallel to our internal M&E program, we are conducting a Randomized Control Trial (RCT) to help us understand our impact and to create a benchmark against which we can measure impact during expansion. An RCT is the absolute gold standard in evaluating impact, and going through one has greatly improved the rigor of our internal annual impact evaluation process. See RCT results or full RCT report.

Learn More About Our Evaluation Results