World Bank Document

160 Sarah Klaus

And, by 2005, the Open Society Institute provided only 19 percent
of the funding for national Step by Step programs, while other sources
provided 81 percent of the funds (figure 1).

Evaluation: Research Directions and Challenges

National studies of the Step by Step programs are conducted as stipu-
lated by the Ministry of Education in each country. In addition, se-
lected international research studies have been undertaken to assess
various aspects of the programs. The major studies (Brady and others
1998; Mclean 2000; Proactive 2003; Rona and others 2001) include:

• An impact study of Step by Step’s preschool projects in four
  countries—funded by USAID in 1998.


• The Roma Special Schools Initiative—implemented by the Open
  Society Institute between 1999 and 2003. This experimental in-
  tervention was backed by an international evaluation, which
  demonstrated that the majority of Roma children assigned to
  special classrooms and schools in four countries were capable of
  reaching the mainstream curriculum if they were provided with

Financial support (percent)

1994 1995 1996 2000

OSI

Other sources

2004 2005

Year of program

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0 0 0

30

70

58

42

32

19

81

68

100

Figure 1. Sources of Funding for the Step by Step Program, Open Society Institute (OSI)

and Other Sources, 1994–2005