Next week, a few thousand education enthusiasts will gather in Atlanta for the annual conference of the Comparative and International Education Society. The theme this year is “Problematizing (In)Equality: The Promise of Comparative and International Education”.

As is the case every year, GPE will present research it has conducted or commissioned at the conference and will also host panel discussions. Below is the list of GPE-related events at this year’s conference.

SUNDAY, MARCH 5

Workshop: Education in fragile and post-conflict situations: creating conflict-sensitive and peace-promoting education materials for Early Grade Reading and beyond
11.45 am – 6:00 pm. Georgia 5 (South Tower)

The workshop will address how education systems can support peace and reconciliation in fragile settings where there is ethnic and religious diversity. For GPE, Alexandra Solano Rocha will present ongoing early grade reading projects in South Sudan, Uganda, Eritrea and Zimbabwe.

MONDAY, MARCH 6

The Global Partnership for Education 15 years on: a multi-stakeholder approach to driving the Sustainable Development Agenda
8:00 – 9:30 am - Grand ballroom A (South tower)

GPE Chief Technical Officer Karen Mundy will lead a panel discussion that will look at the evolution of GPE from 2002 to 2017. She will describe key financial, operational, and technical developments that make GPE a recognized global player central to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Agenda. Three presentations by GPE Secretariat technical leads will expand some of these developments and highlight particular features of the partnership’s strategy, GPE 2020. Talia de Chaisemartin will present on GPE 2020 goal 1: improved and more equitable learning outcomes and Raphaelle Martinez will present on goal 3: effective and efficient education systems.

The impact of strong foundations: A cross-section of early learning programs and their impact on vulnerable populations
9:45 - 11:15 am, Georgia 11 (South Tower)

GPE’s Alexandra Solano Rocha will moderate a panel on early childhood education. A 2016 Lancet series reported that in low- and middle-income countries, nearly half of 3- and 4- year olds were not fully developing their physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional potential partly because of a lack of adequate cognitive stimulation. The panel will highlight evaluations of programs that support the development of foundational skills for vulnerable children across different contexts. Panelists will be from Save the Children, the Aga Khan Foundation and the World Bank. GPE has invested more than US$150 million in the early childhood education and care sector planning and policy implementation in developing countries, including those affected by fragility and conflict. 

USAID quality reading project in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan: local perspectives on a large scale intervention
11:30 am - 1:00 pm - Georgia 5 (South Tower)

USAID’s Quality Reading Project, launched in 2013, aimed to improve reading achievement in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. With this support, both countries have taken steps to improve teacher preparation through intensive in-service training, to develop and improve standards, materials, and resources, and to promote public awareness of the importance of early reading. This work has been used as the basis for GPE’s support to Tajikistan.

Measuring the un-measurable in Global Learning Metrics
1:15 - 2:45pm - Grand Ballroom D&E (South Tower)

At the inaugural CIES symposium on Global Learning Metrics in November 2016, 150 researchers and professionals from 30 countries explored the twinned questions of whether global learning metrics are feasible and desirable. GLMs remain among the most urgent and controversial contemporary educational topics, involving an increasing number of countries, teachers, and students. Karen Mundy, along with other former presidents of the Comparative and International Education Society, will discuss the learning metrics challenge and GPE’s support for learning assessment systems.

TUESDAY, MARCH 7

Results-based financing: Silver bullet or scattershot?
8:00 - 9:30 am – Grand Ballroom A (South tower)

This panel will have a frank discussion about the benefits and challenges of results-based financing (RBF) in education. Panelists will present evidence from their research and personal experiences on: what is RBF? Does the money matter? Can RBF reduce inequality? Should RBF be used to reduce inequality? Can financial risk be transferred? From whom to whom? What are unintended consequences (good and bad) of RBF? For GPE Wenna Price will present, with Alec Gershberg, an early stocktaking of GPE’s RBF approach.

Book Launch: Comparative and international education: Issues for teachers
2:45 - 4:15 pm, Capitol Center (North Tower)

Karen Mundy will present her chapter in this launch of the second edition of Comparative and International Education: Issues for teachers. This comprehensive text touches on themes including history and philosophy of comparative education, the right to education, teacher formation, alternative pedagogies, testing, multiculturalism, gender, conflict resolution, and global citizenship. 
 

Leaving no one behind: planning education for the inclusion of displaced populations
4:30 - 6:00 pm, Georgia 2 (South Tower)

This session will examine how educational planning can address the needs of displaced populations, in order to ensure that the rights to education of refugee and displaced children and youth are met. Panelists will present challenges and strategies for integrating displaced populations into national education sector planning processes, informed by the outcomes of an e-Forum that took place in October 2016.  Wenna Price will present on education management, and the role that working with data and leveraging an active partnership can play in increasing access to a quality education for displaced children.

Are we on track to fulfill the promise of preschool for every child by 2030? Challenges and opportunities in scaling up quality early childhood education for all
5:00 - 6:30pm - Georgia 4 (South tower)

The inclusion of early childhood education in the SDGs marks a pivotal moment to galvanize national and global efforts to improve funding, knowledge and political will to improve equitable access and bring high quality early learning programs to scale. There is now sufficient global knowledge about “why” the need to focus on early childhood education. The question we are facing now is “how do we ensure equitable access” or “what would it take to fulfill the promise of preschool for every child by 2030?” Four panelists will present their research. For GPE, Alexandra Solano Rocha will present a paper titled “Supporting Early Learning through Stronger Education Systems: Global Partnership for Education’s Approach”