The EOF Model
Working to outcomes in the education sector is revolutionary. It changes the way donors, governments, impact investors, and education organizations can achieve positive impact through a new model of funding and evaluating programs.
No longer do funders pay for a set of activities and rigid programming, with limited evaluation of their impact. Instead, they define what outcomes they want to see and only pay for the measurable social change that the interventions deliver.
EOF model overview
Government
Are a key partner in every project, ensuring funding and programs are aligned with their national priorities. They co-fund outcomes, support the enabling environment, and, with our support, build capacity to commission for outcomes.
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.
Impact 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.
Our goals
1
Achieve better learning and employment outcomes for millions of children and youth, in support of Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4).
2
Build capacity in education systems and related institutions, helping to grow the delivery capabilities of teaching institutions as well as the governments, policymakers, and the educational organizations that support them.
3
Develop outcomes funds and impact bonds as effective, efficient, scalable development tools that can play a major role in achieving the SDGs in education and beyond.
Paying for what matters
and only when it works
We 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.
Promote equity
We will use ‘cohort pricing’ to pay more for outcomes for more marginalized populations, in order to recognize that it costs more to get them learning and that we need stronger incentives to ensure we leave no child behind.
Reward learning gains
We will typically use a ‘distance traveled’ 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.