What we do

A new partnership model, centered around outcomes

The EOF model is a new way to bring together donors, investors, education organizations, and government to work towards a common set of outcomes

EOF model overview

Outcomes funders

Come together to deepen their impact by paying for long-term, sustainable outcomes, after they are achieved –transferring delivery risk to the private sector, and improving overall program performance and value for money.

 

Investors

Provide upfront working capital investments where required, and support the education organizations to build capacity and deliver better results.  They achieve a measurable impact, as well as an uncorrelated financial return.

 

Education organizations 

Work with a new rigor to deliver to outcomes (rather than inputs) – with the flexibility and support to innovate and adapt based on what is working on the ground, in collaboration with other providers.

 

Government

Will be a key partner in every project, ensuring funding and programs are aligned with their policy priorities.  They will co-fund outcomes, support the enabling environment, and with our support build capacity to commission for outcomes.

What we want to achieve using this model

Achieve better learning and employment outcomes

​

...for millions of children and youth, in support of Sustainable Development Goal 4

1

Build capacity of education systems and related institutions

 

 ...by helping to grow capabilities of teaching institutions as well as the governments, policy makers, and service providers that support them

2

Develop outcomes funds and impact bonds as development tools

 

...to be effective, efficient, scalable, and able to play a major role in achieving the SDGs in education and beyond

3

Working towards Sustainable Development Goal 4

EOF’s objectives are aligned to and directly in support of SDG4, with an emphasis on early childhood development, improving the quality of free basic education, developing skills for work, and supporting those that are left behind.

EOF’s development objectives

Get children back into school, and learning

Support accelerated learning programs and ‘last mile’ delivery for out-of-school children, getting them back into school at the right level, and ensuring they stay on track once there.

 

Relevant SDG target 4.1 (access)

Strengthen public school systems

Build the capacity of public systems at the level of the school and the community, drawing on the best innovations from non-state actors both locally and from around the world, that can help improve learning outcomes for children in public schools

 

Relevant SDG target 4.1 (quality)

Expand early childhood education

Expand access and quality of early childhood education, a critically important period in a child’s development where returns on investment in education are often highest

 

Relevant SDG target 4.2

Promote the 21st Century skills needed for work

Support the development of technical and 21st Century skills that reflect the needs of the labor market in each country in which we work, both helping young people prepare for work, as well as promoting the right skills earlier in the education system

 

Relevant SDG target 4.3, 4.4

Support those that are being left behind

Provide focused support for girls, refugees, rural children, children with disabilities, and other underserved populations to ensure a quality education for all

 

Relevant SDG target 4.5 (equity)

Help partner governments improve outcomes across the whole national education system

Support governments to work with and regulate the whole national education system, including informal and private operators, to ensure government is always at the table and able to help ensure quality education for all children

 

Relevant SDG target 4.1 to 4.5  (role of private providers)

Paying for what matters  

and only when it works

We will use results-based finance to intelligently commission for outcomes in a way that rewards the things that matter in a child’s education – and avoids the potential pitfalls

Key elements of how we will pay for outcomes

Promote equity

We will use ‘cohort pricing’ to pay more for outcomes from more marginalized populations, in order to recognize that it costs more to get them learning and we need stronger incentives to ensure we leave no child behind.

 

Reward learning gains

We will typically use a ‘distance travelled’ approach to ensure that all learning gains are rewarded – lifting those at the bottom and the top of the class. We also plan to use ‘Learning Adjusted Years of Schooling’ (LAYS), developed by the World Bank to differentiate schooling from learning and allow standardized cross-country comparisons.

 

Measure what matters

We will aim to capture the breadth of education, going beyond core academic skills like literacy and numeracy to also incentivize improvements in social-emotional skills, ICT skills, citizenship skills, and other competencies needed for the jobs and citizens of the 21st Century.

 

Mitigate the risk

We will only pay for outcomes that are achieved, with the private sector typically taking the risk that programs don’t deliver results. We will also mitigate the risk for children and youth with diligent provider screening and selection, and ensuring rigorous and consistent safeguarding practices.

 

Improve value for money

We will systematically shift funds towards those programs that deliver the best results and the best value for money, driving down transaction costs on all our contracts.

Operational structure and process for EOF in each country

1.  Set learning objectives and commit outcomes funding

Governments lead objective setting, in partnership with EOF & local stakeholders, and commit a portion of funds. Donors with aligned priorities make additional pledges to be paid upon achievement of these objectives.

 

2.  Define payment metrics and commission providers

EOF and government set metrics in line with these objectives and establish a price for each targeted outcome. Typically, education organizations bid for contracts and are selected based on a range of factors including price.

 

3.  Invest and support

Impact investors will typically support education organizations with upfront working capital at risk and work with them to deliver results through an ‘impact bond’.

 

4.  Deliver services and achieve outcomes

Education organizations scale their programs to achieve learning and/or employment outcomes for beneficiaries, with the flexibility to adapt and innovate.

 

5.  Evaluate results

Independent evaluators measure learning and/or employment results achieved against pre-agreed metrics (or validate administrative data).

 

6.  Pay for the outcomes achieved

EOF pays education organizations and impact investors their principal plus a modest return, based on the outcomes achieved.

 

7.  Build government and system capacity

Actively build government capacity to commission outcomes as well as delivery organization capacity to deliver to outcomes, and share best practices and policy lessons.