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Quality assurance systems have been implemented or are under development in a number of low- and middle-income countries in an effort to observe the quality of education and deploy targeted measures to improve quality. This paper shares lessons learned on the potential ability of quality assurance systems to observe quality and inform action, drawing on data from a pre-primary quality assurance system in the Arab Republic of Egypt. A nationally representative study of kindergarten classrooms was conducted, using a detailed diagnostic research tool administered by independent enumerators from a data collection firm. A subsample of these kindergarten classrooms was randomly assigned to also be observed through a short quality assurance system tool, half of them by independent enumerators, and the other half by the existing cadre of government kindergarten supervisors. The quality assurance system tool was developed for scale and financial sustainability; thus, it could be administered in roughly one-third of the time of the diagnostic tool, at one-third of the cost. Overall, the results illustrate that at the national level, the quality assurance system tool can identify important areas for improvement, and thus inform broad policy actions. Further, the results are consistent whether an independent data collection firm or a government kindergarten supervisor acted as enumerator, suggesting that quality assurance system data collection efforts can be embedded within ministries of education and implemented in a regular and sustainable manner. At the school and teacher level, however, there were several areas where the quality assurance system data were inconsistent with the diagnostic data. This underscores how quality assurance systems are best used as a formative system, a starting point for quality enhancement, and not as a summative system that directly targets, punishes, or rewards specific schools.

Curriculum change.

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By the time children in low- and middle-income countries start primary school, large socioeconomic disparities are evident in children's learning and development. Both pre-primary and home environments can play important roles in influencing school readiness and can contribute to disparities in early childhood development, but there is limited evidence on their relative roles in low- and middle-income countries. This paper examines how pre-primary quality, stimulation at home, and early childhood development vary by socioeconomic status for pre-primary students in the Arab Republic of Egypt. The results demonstrate substantial socioeconomic inequality in stimulation at home, more so than in pre-primary quality and inputs, although there is variation in the degree of inequality across different dimensions of pre-primary quality. "Double inequality" is observed, where students with less stimulating home environments experience slightly lower quality pre-primary inputs. There are particularly large pre-primary inequities in structural quality (physical environment) and less inequity in process quality (pedagogy). These results suggest that targeted investments in pre-primary education in Egypt are necessary to reduce inequality in school readiness but are likely insufficient to close the socioeconomic status gap in children's development. Investing in interventions to improve vulnerable children's home learning environments, as well as investing in quality pre-primary, is critical to address disparities in children's development.

Education, Preschool. --- Child development.

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The Egyptian economy has faced tough challenges since the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings. This book examines the plight of Egypt's most vulnerable groups by focusing on the intersection of gender and economic vulnerability in the labor market, exploring issues such as job access, wage inequality, food security, health status, and many others.

E-books

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Forced displacement has disrupted Syrian refugees' lives and exposed them to new communities and norms. This paper assesses how gender norms shape the lives of Syrian refugee adolescent girls in Jordan, using nationally representative data. Factor analysis is used to summarize a variety of beliefs and behavioral aspects of norms: gender role attitudes, justification of domestic violence, decision making, and mobility. The paper compares these outcomes by sex, nationality, and for adolescents versus adults. It complements the data on individual beliefs and behaviors with family and community beliefs and behaviors as proxies for others' expectations and behaviors. The paper then examines how own, family, and community gender norms relate to two key adolescent outcomes: domestic work and enrollment in school. The findings show that while gender role attitudes are similar across generations and nationalities, Syrian adolescent girls are particularly restricted in their mobility. Nonetheless, they have similar educational outcomes as boys and, after accounting for differences in socioeconomic status, as Jordanian girls. While gender inequality in domestic work is substantial, higher levels of own and mother's decision making predict lower domestic workloads, illustrating the linkages between different dimensions of gender norms and social and economic outcomes.

Adolescent Girls --- Care Work --- Forced Displacement --- Gender --- Gender and Development --- Gender and Economics --- Gender and Education --- Gender and Poverty --- Gender Norms --- Refugee --- Social Cohesion --- Social Development

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Early childhood development is a critical, but often neglected, phase of human development. Shortfalls in early childhood development have historically been a challenge in Morocco, with children facing unequal opportunities to develop because of the circumstances of their birth. This paper examines the roots of inequality in human and economic development in Morocco by focusing on the state of early childhood development, inequality in early childhood development, and trends over time, using several surveys conducted between 2003 and 2012. Large disparities exist in children's chances of healthy early childhood development based on the circumstances of their birth. There have not been consistent improvements in the levels of early childhood development or decreases in inequality over time. This study discusses critical directions for future policy on early childhood development to address the deficits and disparities identified.

Early Child and Children's Health --- Early Childhood Development --- Education --- Health --- Health Monitoring & Evaluation --- Health, Nutrition and Population --- Inequality --- Nutrition --- Population Policies --- Pre-Primary --- Primary Education