Project Title:
Baseline and Impact Evaluation (two separate consultancies over two years) for remedial classes initiative funded by UNICEF and implemented in 11 public schools across 5 governorates targeting students (both Jordanian citizens and Syrian refugees.

Client:
Madrasati Initiative

Location:
Jordan (Amman, Zarqa, Irbid, Ma’an, Karak, and Jerash)

Background:
Aiming to contribute to providing a safer, brighter and more interactive atmosphere that is attractive to students who are at risk of dropping out of school or getting involved in criminal or other delinquent activities, Madrasati Initiative provided the following programs funded by the UNICEF:

• Masahati (my space in Arabic): student clubs aiming to engage students in after-school enriching activities to encourage tolerance and promote a peace making and social cohesion discourse through activities around civic participation, heritage and crafts, life skills through sports, music, programming.
• The Remedial Classes: targeting out of school children wishing to go back to school as well as children at risk of dropping out, in grades 1 to 7. The classes focused on helping target students cope academically in Arabic, English, Science and Math.
• Proud to be a Teacher program: build the teachers’ personal capacities and improve their working environments to enhance their job satisfaction, sense of accomplishment, and confidence.

Istidama’s engagement was twofold (separate consultancies) over two years:

1. Baseline study 
2. Impact evaluation

Research Approach

In order to facilitate measuring the impact of the project upon completion, Istidama’s team had designed a quasi-experimental design research, where a control group was identified to be studied in addition to the treatment group (target beneficiaries) – Counterfactual Impact Evaluation.

The research methods used in the baseline included:

1. Survey targeting schools’ students 
2. Semi-structured interviews 
3. Focus Groups Discussions targeting students’ parents
4. Field observation in target schools

The research methods used in the impact evaluations included:

1. Students’ survey targeting student beneficiaries of Masahati.
2. Teachers’ survey targeting Proud to be a Teacher beneficiaries.
3. Academic Exams targeting student beneficiaries Remedial Classes (4 subjects x 2 levels) completely designed and evaluated by Istidama’s consultants. 
4. Focus Group Discussions targeting community members within the catchment of target schools to measure the overall impact of project interventions, and highlight any positive or negative, intended or unintended impacts of the project.