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* Atleast Project Title is Required.
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Project No. |
HRD 07 2022
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Project Title |
APEC Education Officials Dialogue: Schools as Community Hubs
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Project Status |
Completed Project
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Publication (if any) |
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Fund Account |
General Project Account
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Sub-fund |
None
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Project Year |
2022
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Project Session |
Session 2
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APEC Funding |
35,200
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Co-funding Amount |
40,600
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Total Project Value |
75,800
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Sponsoring Forum |
Human Resource Development Working Group (HRDWG)
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Topics |
Human Resources Development
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Committee |
SOM Steering Committee on Economic and Technical Cooperation (SCE)
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Other Fora Involved |
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Other Non-APEC Stakeholders Involved |
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Proposing Economy(ies) |
United States
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Co-Sponsoring Economies |
Chile; Indonesia; Japan; Malaysia; New Zealand; Papua New Guinea; Philippines; Singapore; Chinese Taipei; Thailand
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Expected Start Date |
01/01/2023
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Expected Completion Date |
31/12/2023
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Project Proponent Name 1 |
Savannah Wallace
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Job Title 1 |
International Affairs Specialist
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Organization 1 |
US Department of Education
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Postal Address 1 |
Not Applicable
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Telephone 1 |
(1-703) 3648471
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Fax 1 |
Not Applicable
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Email 1 |
savannah.wallace@ed.gov
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Project Proponent Name 2 |
Not Applicable
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Job Title 2 |
Not Applicable
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Organization 2 |
Not Applicable
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Postal Address 2 |
Not Applicable
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Telephone 2 |
Not Applicable
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Fax 2 |
Not Applicable
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Email 2 |
Not Applicable
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Declaration |
Savannah Wallace
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Project Summary |
As part of its host year, the United States will welcome education officials from APEC economies in-person to discuss community-driven strategies that support student learning and development. As economies continue to address the pandemic’s detrimental impacts on education, while also looking to reimagine education, community-based organizations and agencies can assist schools in providing wraparound supports, resources, and services. Schools with community partners become “hubs” that are responsive to the unique needs of the students and families they serve. Dialogue participants will share their approaches to community partnerships, learn about other partnership strategies from experts, and further develop their strategies. The project will produce a dialogue event that will occur before the EDNET annual meetings during SOM 2 and a project summary report compiling best practices and resources.
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Relevance |
Issues: The pandemic brought about significant challenges in education that, despite economies’ education systems’ ongoing recovery efforts, may have long-lasting impacts on students’ learning and development. Many of these challenges created or exacerbated inequities related to access, learning losses, and wellbeing. An April 2022 McKinsey report noted that students globally are eight months behind in their learning because of the pandemic, with the impact of delays varying widely depending on income groups. Intra-economy inequities emerged between urban and rural areas, ethnic and/or racial groups, and male and female students. There have also been demonstrated increases in diagnoses of mental illnesses, violence against children, teenage pregnancy, chronic absenteeism, and school dropouts globally since the pandemic began. These impacts are wide-ranging and influenced by education system and school-specific conditions, so developing broad strategies that address these issues while meeting a wide variety of needs can be difficult. Education agencies have also begun to reimagine the role of schools in communities as discussions around education policy turn transformational. Factors beyond the pandemic are influencing this shift. Many students and their families primarily connect to their wider community through their schools, which may be the only public institutions they regularly visit. And according to a 2022 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and Education International report on student wellbeing, feeling a sense of belonging at school is a necessary precondition for learning. Incorporating wraparound supports and services from community-based organizations and agencies into schools can help ensure that students’ needs are supported holistically and promote healthier and more vibrant neighborhoods. This project will benefit all economies in the Asia-Pacific as it advances information sharing about how to empower local administrators and decision-makers to create effective policy and how to empower students by engagement with family and community members, recognizing that their knowledge of their community’s needs is valuable. Although the extent of community involvement in schools may vary depending on the structure of economies’ education systems, project participants can learn how they can promote community-focused interventions in their economies and consider support and investment from third-party organizations as schools look toward future challenges. The dialogue will also build upon recent discussions occurring in multilateral organizations around community engagement strategies. Eligibility and Fund Priorities: The project aligns with 2022 GPA funding priorities, including economic and trade policies that strengthen recovery and the promotion of inclusive and sustainable growth. Capacity Building: The dialogue will be open to all APEC member economies. Economies can utilize the resources shared by others during the dialogue and in the project summary report to plan their community engagement strategies. The project aims to meet APEC’s goals for capacity building, specifically to attain sustainable growth and equitable development in the Asia-Pacific region, to improve the economic and social well-being of the people, and to deepen the spirit of community in the Asia Pacific.Also, it will aim to meet both of APEC’s objectives for capacity building, especially to build APEC member economies’ capacity in the areas relevant to achieve the long-term capacity building goals. |
Objectives |
The objective of this project is to implement a dialogue event with education officials from APEC member-economies to discuss community-driven strategies that help schools build the capacity to address local problems; provide resources to help ensure students receive an equitable and quality education; position schools to better meet the needs of the whole child; and make plans for additional community engagement.
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Alignment |
Alignment to APEC: The project aligns with the APEC mission, including building a dynamic and harmonious Asia-Pacific community and encouraging economic and technical cooperation. The project also aligns with the Putrajaya Vision 2040 goals to “foster quality growth that brings palpable benefits and greater health and wellbeing to all, including MSMEs, women and others with untapped economic potential” and “intensify inclusive human resource development as well as economic and technical cooperation to better equip our people with the skills and knowledge for the future.” It further aligns with the Aotearoa Plan of Action, including to, “Strengthen economic and technical cooperation to intensify capacity building in inclusive human resource development,” and to, “Cooperate on the development of skills and literacy for all to accelerate the digital transformation of the region’s economy, including by implementing APEC’s Education Strategy and the APEC Framework on Human Resources Development in the Digital Age.” By focusing on the promotion of educational equity through community partnership and outreach, the project also aligns with the goals of the La Serena Roadmap for Women and Inclusive Growth. Alignment to Forum: The project aligns with HRDWG priorities, including the objectives of developing 21st century knowledge and skills for all and addressing the social dimensions of globalization. It builds on two activities from the Plan: gathering and strengthening internal capacity and resources of HRD to work for Inclusive and Quality Education and providing people in the Asia-Pacific region with 21st Century knowledge, competencies, and skills, including soft skills. This project also aligns with the APEC Education Strategy, including the objectives of: (1) enhancing and aligning competencies to the needs of individuals, societies, and industries, and (2) accelerating innovation. |
TILF/ASF Justification |
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Beneficiaries and Outputs |
Outputs: There are two planned project outputs: 1. Dialogue Event (Hybrid): With the assistance of stakeholders, including the dialogue steering group and co-sponsoring economies, the project team will develop an agenda that builds on ongoing conversations around reimagining education to help meet the needs of the whole child. The dialogue will be structured to be inclusive of all economies, help facilitate information sharing, and allow for productive participation. The agenda will include several keynote addresses from leading policymakers and thought leaders, topical panels featuring subject matter experts from APEC member economies, and interactive, small group sessions in which participants will discuss topics in further detail. Each day of the dialogue will conclude with a reflection session during which participants will discuss applying learnings in their respective economies and fields. The agenda will be sent to all EDNET members as part of General Information Circular (GIC) at least eight weeks prior to the event with nomination forms for participants. A participants list will be shared that reflects all the relevant sectors that may benefit from attending and will be used to tailor dialogues and event proceedings to attendees. In addition, dialogue briefing materials on general community engagement strategies in the region, best practices on how to establish partnerships, and speaker biographies will be circulated before the meeting so participants can be prepared for an informed dialogue. All economies will be consulted to contribute material to include in the briefing materials. The dialogue event is planned to be held on the margins of SOM II in 2023. 2. Summary Report: Following the dialogue event, the project team will compile a report that includes background information as produced through the project planning, steering committee work, and collaboration with partnering economies; general information about the dialogue event along with key highlights and insights shared by the respective speakers, experts, and participants; best practices provided by partnering economies to be shared with stakeholders across the region; and a conclusion with suggested next steps for stakeholders in the region based on dialogue learnings.. The report will provide economies with materials to move forward in their community engagement strategies and will seek to be inclusive of all economies and reflect project participants’ contributions. The report is planned to be 12-15 pages and published in August 2023. Outcomes: The project aims to have the following outcomes: 1) Increased resources for education officials to promote and initiate relationships with community partners. 2) Increased resources for schools to develop community partnerships so that they can better meet the specific needs of their students by providing targeted supports. 3) Increased participant knowledge of community engagement strategies from around the region so that they can better determine what may work best in their local context. Beneficiaries: All education officials from governmental bodies in APEC member economies can attend this event. Officials are encouraged to nominate community leaders from the public (non-education ministry), nonprofit, and private sectors to participate. Community leaders must submit a short application form with information about their organization and rationale for attending the dialogue for review by the project team. Government and education sector officials at the economy, state/provincial, and local levels will develop community engagement strategies while government officials in other sectors and nonprofit professionals will provide insight on wraparound supports to schools. The dialogue will be held in-person and member economies are encouraged to nominate senior officials to attend to facilitate substantial discussions among participants. All participants must register for the dialogue event. |
Dissemination |
Project outputs will be disseminated through the APEC website and through APEC communication channels, including the HRDWG and EDNET contact lists. The summary report will be an electronic APEC publication that is intended to benefit project participants, fellow APEC delegates, and policymakers and practitioners in government, nonprofit, and private sectors in all economies who seek to develop community hub models in their schools based on promising practices from the field. There is no intention to sell outputs from this project. |
Gender |
The project team will seek to ensure that at least half of the project participants are women to ensure a gender balance and will specifically ask participating economies to nominate female experts when possible. Women have been especially impacted by disruptions to education and labor caused by COVID-19, and the project objectives and outcomes will focus on policies and best practices that allow women and girls to benefit from wraparound services and supports. The summary report will highlight the effects of these initiatives on women and girls where possible.. The project team will collect gender-disaggregated data for all speakers and participants (not only those funded by APEC) at all project events and report it in the Completion Report to the Secretariat upon completion of the project. | Targets | | Female Participants (%) | At least 50% | | Female Speakers/Experts (%) | At least 50% | Referring to the Guide on Gender Criteria for APEC Project Proposals in the Guidebook on APEC Projects, please tick the pillar or pillars that this project supports, in promoting women’s economic empowerment: | | 5 Pillars (you may tick more than one) | | 1 | Access to Capital and Assets | | | 2 | Access to Markets | | | 3 | Skills, Capacity Building, and Health | X | | 4 | Leadership, Voice and Agency | X | | 5 | Innovation and Technology | X | |
Work Plan |
| Time | Tasks | Outputs | | Jan 2023 | Commence project | | | Jan 2023 | Assemble steering group (composed of interested representatives from APEC economies and experts on community-driven strategies) | | | Jan 2023 | Identify venue and logistical arrangements | | | Feb 2023 | Identify speakers/experts | | | Feb 2023 | Draft General Information Circular (GIC) | | | Mar 2023 | Invite nominations for speakers/experts | | | Mar 2023 | Disseminate community leaders application form | | | Mar 2023 | Disseminate GIC | | | Apr 2023 | Submit APEC Project Monitoring Report | APEC Project Monitoring Report | | Apr 2023 | Disseminate draft dialogue agenda | Draft dialogue agenda | | Apr 2023 | Invite nominations for participants | | | May 2023 (SOM II) | Conduct pre-event survey of dialogue participants | Workshop participant survey | | May 2023 (SOM II) | Host Dialogue Event | Final Dialogue agenda Dialogue participants list Dialogue briefing materials | | May 2023 (SOM II) | Conduct post-event survey of dialogue participants | Workshop participant survey | | May 2023 (SOM II) | Collect resources discussed during dialogue from participants | | | Jun-Jul 2023 | Draft Project Summary Report | Draft Project Summary Report | | Aug 2023 | Submit Project Summary Report to Secretariat for approval and dissemination to HRDWG for endorsement | Endorsed Final Project Summary Report | | Dec 2023 | Publication of Project Summary Report as APEC Publication | Project Summary Report published | | Feb 2024 | Complete and submit APEC Project Completion Report and supporting documents to the Secretariat | APEC Project Completion Report | | Jun 2024 | Conduct follow-up survey of project participants (potential) | Follow-up survey | | Dec 2024 | Participate in the Longer-Term Evaluation of APEC Projects (LTEAP) survey conducted by the Secretariat |
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Risks |
Challenges securing dialogue participants: The project aims to recruit diverse participants from all economies, with the underlying goal for 50 percent to constitute women while ensuring that all economies are represented by high level officials in a position to develop and implement community hubs. In order to mitigate these challenges and help ensure that the goals are met, the project team will work with travel-eligible economies to secure APEC travel funding. Challenges holding an in-person event: The project team looks forward to a vibrant in-person dialogue event, though will be prepared to accommodate virtual involvement for speakers and participants. |
Monitoring and Evaluation |
| | Evaluation Focus | Indicators | Target Goals | Evaluation Method | Reporting Method | | Outputs | Dialogue Event | No. of participants (excl. speakers/experts) | 25 | Event Attendance List | Completion Report | | % of participating men/women (excl. speakers/experts) | 50/50 | Event Attendance List | Completion Report | | No. of speakers/experts engaged | 10 | Event Attendance List | Completion Report | | % of speakers/experts (men/women) | 50/50 | Event Attendance List | Completion Report | | No. of participating economies | 21 | Event Attendance List | Completion Report | | No. of travel eligible economies | 11 | Event Attendance List | Completion Report | | Summary Report | No. of pages | 12-15 | Certification by PO | Email to the Secretariat | | Submission to the Secretariat | August 2023 | Submission to the Secretariat | Email to the Secretariat | | Outcomes | Increased resources for education officials to promote and initiate relationships with community partners. | Resources, case studies, and/or promising practices highlights including in the summary report | 5 | Summary report | Email to the Secretariat | | Increased resources for schools to develop community partnerships so that they can better meet the specific needs of their students by providing targeted supports. | Resources, case studies, and/or promising practices highlights including in the summary report | 5 | Summary report | Email to the Secretariat | | Increased participant knowledge of community engagement strategies from around the region so that they can better determine what may work best in their local context. | Satisfaction reporting by project participants | 90% of survey respondents indicating they gained knowledge | Pre- and post-event surveys | Completion report | Evaluation indicators may include the number of participants and percent of participating men/women, number of participating economies and percent of travel-eligible economies represented, and number of responses to pre- and post-dialogue surveys and percent of responding men/women. Pre- and post-dialogue surveys will aim to measure whether participants learned more about strategies and whether they will increase their outreach in the future. Outputs will be measured during the project through analysis of survey responses as well as continual outreach with project participants and fellow APEC delegates, and post-project follow up may be planned to gauge longer term effectiveness beyond the project end date. |
Linkages |
This project will link with the other HRDWG networks’ goals of equitable growth and development, and more broadly within APEC, it aligns with the important work being done in the Policy Partnership on Women and the Economy. Beyond APEC, experts from multilateral organizations like UNESCO, OECD, the World Economic Forum, and the G20 will be consulted during the planning phases and encouraged to present during the dialogue. The project team will work with economy delegates to identify individuals who further community engagement strategies to broaden the network of community-focused professionals in the region. Unlike other projects that promote schools’ community engagement strategies, this project focuses on promoting these strategies more broadly in the Asia-Pacific region. It will build upon other projects by showcasing examples of successful community hub schools in the region. It will also provide a platform to highlight the ways in which community engagement strategies help schools meet their post-pandemic needs. APEC is the best source of funds for the project to further transformational education reform throughout the Asia-Pacific region and to support overall equitable development of education systems regardless of economy income level. |
Sustainability |
The success of this project is directly tied to the quality of conversations. Through discussions, participants will be able to broaden their professional networks and will gain access to the contact information of other participants at the dialogue event and resources on community engagement strategies permanently published on the APEC website. Outcomes will be measured by the number of resources made available to APEC economies through the dialogue event and summary report, and the project team will continue communications with participants following the project end date to track outcomes as possible. Participants will be encouraged to check on others’ progress post-event and to promote project outputs through their networks. |
Project Overseers |
Savannah Wallace is an International Affairs Specialist and 2021 Presidential Management Fellow at the U.S. Department of Education. She is the lead for the Asia-Pacific portfolio in the International Affairs Office and the primary U.S. focal point in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum’s Education Network. Before coming to the Department of Education, Wallace helped establish the Effecting Change Taskforce, a diversity initiative in the Division of Global Health Protection at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Between 2016 and 2019, she worked in the language school at the U.S. Department of State’s Foreign Service Institute, helping to evaluate the effectiveness of diplomatic language programs. She has worked at the Parliament of the World’s Religions, the International Religious Freedom Office at the Department of State, and the Executive Office for the Governor of New York. Wallace holds a Master of Arts in International Studies from the University of Denver and a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies from American University (Washington, D.C.). In support of Ms. Wallace will be Mr. Aaron Neumann, with many years of experience managing federal contracts for the U.S. Department of Education, including corporate responsibility for staff, budgets, and project implementation across high-profile projects in small business consulting firms. He currently serves as the incumbent project director on a multi-year contract through the Office of International Affairs to provide support for United States participation in HRDWG and EDNET projects and meetings. During his time on the project, he has contributed to multiple United States-sponsored projects and provided high-level logistical and technical support to United States delegates attending APEC meetings. Mr. Neumann previously served as Project Overseer of the Global Competencies and Economic Integration project (HRD 02 2015) and as project manager of the Digital Workforce Development project (HRD 06 2017A) and the Life-Long Learning and Skilling Project (HRD 02 2021A). |
Cost Efficiency |
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Drawdown Timetable |
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Direct Labour |
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Waivers |
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Are there any supporting document attached? |
No
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Attachments
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