USAID POVERTY ASSESSMENT TOOLS
IMPLEMENTATION TRAINING
“A Training of Trainers”
Washington, DC
Academy for Education Development
April 6-9, 2010
Sponsor: This training is funded by USAID as part of the FIELD-LWA project, and provided by
The IRIS Center – University of Maryland, USA.
Facilitators: Brian Beard, Btissam El Hassar, Margaret Richards, Don Sillers (USAID)
Participant organizations: Participants should have experience in training, quantitative survey
implementation, and/or impact or poverty assessment. It is preferable that each participant in
attendance also has experience with sampling and statistical analysis.
Computer Access: Each of the participating organizations should bring a laptop if possible.
Having a laptop is especially important on Days 2-4, when participants will be practicing sampling
strategies, learning the EPI statistical program, and creating a sample implementation plan.
Workshop Goals
By the end of the course, participants will:
1. Achieve a basic understanding of the legislative mandates for the Poverty Assessment Tools
(PATs), USAID’s goals for developing the tools and the requirements for reporting.
Understand the conceptual framework and process for developing indicator-based tools that
are being used to assess the poverty level of clients.
2. Be familiar with the features of, and know how to use properly, the quantitative poverty
assessment tools.
3. Be familiar with the implications of the gender of the respondent and the interviewer being
the same or different, the gender-impacted nature of intra-household transfers, expenses and
income, and learn other sensitivities to gender issues to be included in the process of data
collection.
4. Know the steps to be taken to develop a sampling frame for implementing a PAT.
5. Develop a basic knowledge of how to input data, combine files, and generate basic results in
the EPI Info program.
6. Learn how to create a realistic implementation plan to fully understand the PAT
implementation process and be able to teach this process to others. The goal of refining the
sample design and creating an overall plan is given strong emphasis in this workshop. The
expectation is that participants can return to their organizations with a clear plan on paper
that includes all the steps to be taken, the types of personnel and resources needed,
preliminary dates, and all the elements required to teach others how to carry out the
assessment.
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7. Understand what responsibilities and skills will be required of the persons filling each job
assignment. Determine the time that will be required to train the people in each position in
order to teach others to develop a draft training agenda.
8. Become familiar with additional resources to assist both trainers and implementers of the
PAT. Know how to use and where to find the Manual, USB drive, PAT Help Desk, Poverty
Tools web page, and online PAT training.
Notes on the Agenda
1. A Manual will be furnished to provide additional materials and be used as a reference guide
during the implementation process. Participants should plan time each evening to read
sections that will be needed during the training the following day.
2. Most training blocks last about one and a half hours. The fifth block at the end of each day is
for review and orientation to the training materials to be read in the evening.
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Workshop Agenda
Day One: Tuesday
Introduction to USAID Reporting Requirements, the Poverty Assessment Tools and
the Implementation Process
Block 1: 9:00-10:45am – Introduction to Week of Training and Content
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Welcome and introductions activity
Discussion of workshop goals and overview of agenda, expectations and resource materials
Introduction to Content of Workshop:
 What is poverty? What is poverty as defined by the legislation?
 Goals of US Congressional Legislation and USAID Mandate
 Reporting requirements and procedures
Break: 10:45-11:00 am
Block 2: 11:00-12:30pm – Development of the USAID Tools and Tool Implementation Process
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Overview of the development of the USAID tools
Review definition of “very poor”
Discuss definition of “household”
Overview of the implementation process and requirements
Lunch: 12:30-1:30 pm
Block 3: 1:30-3:00 pm – Review of Tools
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Overview of PAT questionnaire
Question by Question - work in groups to carefully inspect a PAT questionnaire
Break: 3:00-3:15 pm
Block 4: 3:15-4:45 pm - Job Descriptions for the Different Types of Personnel
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Review the standard job descriptions for implementation team
Activity: developing job descriptions
Small-group role play involving team member roles
Return to group and discuss lessons learned
Block 5: 4:45-5:00pm – Review Training Session of Day 1
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Review of key lessons from the day
Assign material to read for the following day
Participant feedback / questions
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Day Two: Wednesday
Sampling & Interviewing
Please bring your laptop.
Block 1: 9:00-10:45am – Quantitative Sampling
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Volunteer reviews activities of previous day
Instruction and practice in sampling
Break: 10:45-11:00 am
Block 2: 11:00-12:30 pm - Continue working on Sampling
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Example Sampling Plan
Continue sampling presentation
Lunch: 12:30-1:30 pm
Block 3: 1:30-3:15 pm– Introduction to Interviewing
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Volunteers participate in interviewing role play
Discuss interviewing techniques
Discuss how gender differences can affect the interview process
Discuss techniques for training interviewers
Break: 3:15-3:30 pm
Block 4: 3:30-4:45 pm – Practice and Discussion of Interviewing
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Practice using a tool in groups of three (Client, Interviewer, and Observer)
Return to group and discuss lessons learned
Discuss importance of Focus Group Discussions during interviewer training
Block 5: 4:45-5:00 pm – Ending Session Day 2
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Review of key lessons from the day
Assign material to read for the following day
Participant feedback / questions
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Day Three: Thursday
Quality Control, EPI Info and Implementation
Please bring your laptop.
Block 1: 9:00-10:45 am - Quality Control & Designing and Implementation Plan
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Volunteer reviews activities of previous day
Levels of quality control and ways to implement it
Creating a Quality Control system
Examples of formats and contents of implementation plan
Break: 10:45-11:00 am
Block 2: 11:00-12:30pm – Introduction to EPI Info
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Basic orientation to the program and its commands
How to input data
How to clean the data
How to combine files
How to prepare the basic analysis required by USAID
Lunch: 12:30-1:30 pm
Block 3: 1:30-3:15 pm – Continue EPI Info
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Continue with Epi Info instructions
Break-out groups to continue working on sampling, Epi Info, and/or implementation
planning
Break: 3:15-3:30 pm
Block 4: 3:30-4:45pm – Continue EPI exercises / implementation plans
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Participants given option to work on Implementation plan or Epi Info exercises
Block 5: 4:45-5:00pm – Ending Session Day 3
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Review of key lessons from the day
Assign material to read for the following day
Participant feedback / questions
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Day Four: Friday
Please bring your laptop.
Block 1: 9:00-10:15 am – Continue working on Epi / Sampling / Implementation Plans,
Presentations of Implementation Plans
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Volunteer reviews activities of previous day
Individual help
Group / individual presentations
Break: 10:15-10:30 am
Block 2: 10:30-12:30 pm – Final Review and Wrap-Up
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JeoPATy
Review of available resources
Course evaluation
Concluding remarks / final questions
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