Thinking outside the classroom: Theories of change and measures to support the design, monitoring, and evaluation of distance learning programs

This report is intended to be a living framework for thinking and talking about distance education interventions, beginning in low- and middle-income (LMIC) and humanitarian contexts and expanding over time to include distance education interventions designed for high-income contexts. Distance education has been used as a strategy to provide educational opportunities for children without easy access to physical educational institutions, including girls; children in rural areas; ethnic, racial, and religious minority children; and children displaced by conflict and crisis. But in 2020, over 1 billion children worldwide no longer had easy access to educational opportunities due to the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing school closures. The massive loss of in-person educational opportunities poses a risk for long-term, negative outcomes in domains such as student achievement, student and family well-being, and future enrollment.

To reduce the chance of these negative outcomes for these vulnerable students, this report provides three theories of change that are commonly implemented as part of distance education interventions. It also identifies a set of measures for practitioners, policymakers, and researchers that may be a useful starting point for assessing key near-term and long-term outputs and outcomes within the theories of change to improve distance education.

Access the interactive pdf here.