World Bank Group Education Global Practice  righter Futures Smarter Education Systems for B SABER Education Resilience Approaches 2016 It is widely recognized that countries need strong education systems that promote learning, life skills, and social cohesion. However, systems struggle to deliver education services in adverse contexts such as natural disasters, political crises, health epidemics, pervasive violence, and armed conflict. Paradoxically, education can also help mitigate the risks of such adversity and help children and youth to succeed despite severe challenges. This is one dimension of the kind of resilience people, communities, and the institutions that serve them must develop to recover, succeed, and experience positive change in the face of adversity. The World Bank Group’s Education Resilience Approaches (ERA) program is a special set of tools designed to provide contextual analysis of resilience processes in education systems based on local data on adversity, assets, school-community relations, and education policies and services in adverse contexts. This complements the World Bank Group’s Systems Approach for Better Education Results (SABER) platform that countries have been using to benchmark and analyze various aspects of their education systems.  Why do countries invest and transitory situations, community), and institutional in resilient education conflict-affected settings, factors (relevant policies, social exclusion, and other programs and resources for systems? overwhelming risks. Although access with safety, learning with Violence, conflict, and other the social and economic socioemotional well-being, contexts of adversity present environment of a learner is an and productive and social significant challenges as important predictor of academic transformation skills). countries try to deliver learning results, additional success for all. However, research and factors strongly correlate What challenges exist? practice in these situations have with positive school and life also highlighted how education outcomes of children and youth Adverse situations, and can protect vulnerable children living in adverse contexts. especially conflict and violence, and youth by providing These include individual factors affect children and youth them with an appropriate (e.g., hope, purpose, social cognitively, emotionally, and environment within which to competence, problem solving, behaviorally across all stages nurture their learning and and autonomy), environmental of their development. Contexts psychosocial well-being. Many factors (e.g., care, support, high of adversity deter learning. students succeed academically expectations and opportunities Cognitive and emotional in spite of adverse economic for meaningful participation functions are deeply affected by conditions, homelessness in school, family, and the traumatic experience, including worldbank.org/education | saber.worldbank.org | @wbg_education mental executive functions the private sector and school What drives effective which are crucial for higher- autonomy and accountability), education resilience? level learning and attention. information sources Regarding adolescents and (education management Similar to SABER, the ERA youth, adversity affects their information systems and program has a systemic sense of identity; of capacity, student assessment), and framework that is divided into performance and future purpose; complementary inputs and four components, and their and of group belonging. cross-cutting themes (equity corresponding associated Adolescents and youth also seek and inclusion, information and policy goals. The framework answers to ethical, social and communication technologies, also includes Resilience Levers existential questions regarding and resilience). SABER aims under each goal to guide data the adversities they experience. to give all parties with a stake collection and to share lessons If these questions remain in educational results—from across countries: unanswered and misunderstood, students, administrators, there could be a negative impact teachers, and parents to Manage and minimize on cognitive, emotional, and policymakers and business adversity in education social capacities and skills, as well people—an accessible, as an increase in maladaptive and Resilience component: detailed, objective snapshot of violent behavior. Education in adversity how well the policies of their country’s education system are ■■ Identification of adversities What is the Education oriented toward ensuring that faced by students Resilience Approaches all children and youth learn. ■■ Identification of current program? responses to risks in schools Using new diagnostic tools and To complement SABER, Use and protect positive detailed policy information, the ERA program is used to engagement and assets in the World Bank Group’s conduct situational analysis in education systems facing education communities SABER platform collects and analyzes comparative data adversities. In addition to Resilience component: Assets and knowledge on education assessing risks, it identifies and engagement systems around the world and the assets and level of interest ■■ Resilience through control, highlights the policies and among communities to design competence and being institutions that matter most to relevant and more effective accountable promote learning for all children education responses towards the safety, socioemotional ■■ Resilience through and youth. SABER’s detailed well-being, and school success socioemotional well-being, data-gathering and analysis are organized by “domains,” or of learners. ERA, in contrast engagement with others and areas of education policymaking to other SABER tools, does identity formation within an education system. not benchmark or compare These currently include levels countries with a quantitative Foster relevant school and of education (early childhood rubric, instead offering a community support development, primary process for contextualized Resilience component: and secondary, workforce education resilience studies. It Relevant school and community development, and tertiary), collects and analyzes qualitative support types of quality resources and quantitative data on adversities, assets, school- ■■ Relevant approaches to and supports (school finance, school health and school community relations, and access and permanence feeding, and teachers), areas education policies and services ■■ Relevant approaches to of governance (engaging in each context. learning and teaching 2 EDUCATION GLOBAL PRACTICE ■■ Relevant approaches to ■■ Resilience Research combined to support Mali’s school management, school Training program using study of the impact of the 2012 climate and community mixed-methods approaches security crisis on the social relations (qualitative and quantitative) sectors. Local researchers were to guide local researchers trained in the ERA methodology Align education system in contexts of adversity and the rapid assessment was services to the resilience to conduct their own used to conduct a situational assets resilience-based studies and analysis of the risks and evaluations. assets present in displaced Resilience component: Aligned education system support Both instruments are designed communities from the north and to contribute resilience-based host communities in the south, ■■ Meaningful and relevant evidence for assessments, after the crisis. The ERA-based strategic direction for planning, and program design. situational analysis is helping education in contexts of This evidence can also support guide policy discussions in adversity policy dialogue in education Mali, as well as develop a more ■■ Innovative education integrated approach across systems seeking to provide programs for learning, education, health, and social more relevant education socioemotional well-being protection. services in the midst of and protection acute and chronic crises. The South Asia. Research training ■■ Available and equitable program’s focus on protection on ERA was the basis for the human, material and financial of risks and promotion of assets November 2013 Resilience resources within communities helps to Research and Mixed-Methods bridge education systems’ workshop held in Delhi and How is the Education response to crisis within their Kathmandu, and was attended Resilience Approaches longer-term development by twenty researchers from program helping to and planning activities. Such five countries (Afghanistan, improve education combined assessments can Nepal, India, Bhutan, and systems? contribute to preparedness Syria). Participants included and prevention activities in the ERA provides a range of Ministry of Education staff, education sector. technical support options to University academics, United collect valuable resilience ERA has also developed a Nations agencies’ staff, NGOs, evidence, either as part of a range of policy guidance and and consulting firms. Over situational analysis for program documents the lessons learned the course of four days, they design or a more general from its various applications learned and discussed resilience research endeavor. Two support through a Field Notes series.  theory and its application to instruments are available at education settings, as well as the value of mixed-methods this time: How are countries, research design to inform ■■ Resilience Rapid Assessment regions, and partner education policies and practice instrument to conduct organizations using the aimed at improving the lives situational analysis on existing Education Resilience of vulnerable populations. risks, existing individual, Approaches program Their own resilience studies school and community assets to improve system are published on the SABER that can protect students and effectiveness? website. promote their educational goals, and relevant education Mali. In 2014, both ERA tools West Bank and Gaza. The policies and programs in (Resilience Rapid Assessment Resilience Rapid Assessment adverse contexts. and Research Training) were was used as one of the data EDUCATION RESILIENCE APPROACHES 3 collection and analysis tools risks and assets of UNRWA as well as from the multi-donor in the preparation of the students. Rapid Social Response (RSR) study Learning in the Face program, which is supported by of Adversity: the UNRWA Who has Education the Russian Federation, Norway, Education Program for Palestine the U.K., Australia, and Sweden. Resilience Approaches Refugees (Abdul-Hamid et al. The Australian Government’s 2016). This research showed partnered with? Department of Foreign Affairs the usefulness of combining ERA has received support and Trade (DFAT) is also a ERA with other econometric, from the U.K. Department for strong supporter of SABER and classroom observation, and International Development education systems research and evaluation approaches. (DFID) through the DFID-World has done much work to support ERA guided the qualitative Bank Group Partnership for the application of SABER component documenting the Education Development (PFED), globally. worldbank.org/education | saber.worldbank.org | @wbg_education