Established in 2008, Russia Education Aid for Development (READ) program aims to strengthen countries’ capacity to assess student learning and to use the information from those assessments to improve teaching and learning outcomes. 

Overall, READ program places particular emphasis on analytical and operational assistance to help countries:

• Strengthen the capacity of key stakeholders to use assessment data to improve teaching and learning;
• Strengthen or reform high-stakes examinations programs that make decisions about student promotion, graduation, or admission to the next level of the education system in order to ensure that they are technically solid and fair; and 
• Strengthen existing programs or pilot new programs for training and professional development of teachers in the use of classroom assessment practices to support teaching and learning.

Under the guidance of the READ Council, a group comprised of key Russian and World Bank officials, the READ Trust Fund supports work at both the global and country levels. At the global level, the focus is on generating and sharing knowledge and good practices in the form of tools, analytical reports, case studies, technical advice/guidance on various World Bank initiatives. At the country level, World Bank teams and country stakeholders work together to implement a set of READ Trust Fund–supported activities that address gaps in the country’s existing learning assessment system.