Pencils of Promise (PoP) is a for-purpose organization founded in 2008 with the goal of increasing access to quality education by creating schools, programs, and global communities around the common goal of education for all. In just 6 years, PoP has built over 300 schools and impacted more than 31,000 students throughout Ghana, Guatemala, Laos, and Nicaragua. PoP is an organization led by passionate young individuals who want to change the world for the better. Beyond building schools, we offer sustainable programming, progression scholarships, and teacher training support. With our dynamic approach to ensuring quality education through our programs, PoP is going to reshape the landscape of education in the developing world. 

We know that it’s not just the physical structure of a new school that indicates success or sustainability. For that reason, we have Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) teams on the ground in each country to extensively test and track the progress of our students. We consistently evaluate our methodologies to ensure students achieve the best possible results and make changes to our programming if we don’t see progress. We rely on measurable data to qualify our success and remain willing to change our goals or in-classroom methods to establish the long-term effectiveness of our schools. 
  
PoP utilized Tangerine’s electronic data collection software in Guatemala for the first time in February 2015 in the regions of Quiché and Altiplano. Our M&E team went through 2 days of training on how to use the Google Nexus 7 tablets and the Tangerine software. We then implemented over 1500 exams – without a single technical glitch – in the field over 6 weeks. The team performed EGRA and EGMA testing in 24 different schools and collected information on the literacy and numeracy performance of Primary school students across grades 1-6, providing PoP with valuable data that we will use to assess the impact of our programs. 

Visit Pencils of Promise to learn more.