BRIEFDecember 12, 2023

Education and Technology Readiness Index (ETRI)

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What is ETRI?

As a result of a close collaboration between the World Bank’s Education Global Practice and Imaginable Futures, the Education and Technology Readiness Index (ETRI) - a multi-dimensional easy to use and free of cost global instrument- was designed and has been tested simultaneously in three different continents to support countries in assessing where they stand on education technologies. Although it is not a full diagnostic tool, ETRI identifies and measures the different enabling factors that are required for EdTech to be effective (e.g., mindset, buy-in, budget, technical infrastructure, and human and technical capacity), which can help governments pinpoint where there is room for improvement, and signal to countries their overall level of readiness to deploy effective EdTech policies.

What are the key components of ETRI?

The ETRI framework is organized around the EdTech practices (or service delivery) and policies that could impact a country’s quality of education services and resulting learning outcomes. The practices (activities and conditions associated with the use of digital technologies in school) and policies (how the system defines, articulates and implements strategies to foster the desired practices) are two of the three dimensions of the World Bank’s Global Education Policy Dashboard (GEPD). The practice and policy dimensions are broken down across ETRI's 6 overarching pillars, which are believed to play a role in the education ecosystem: School Management, Teachers, Students, Devices, Connectivity, and Digital Education Resources.

The metadata and scores document describes all the indicators for the 6 pillars of the Education and Technology Readiness Index (ETRI), and explains how each of them is calculated. More information in the table below.

Pillar		Level	Questionnaire	Definition	Aspects tracked
School Management	1	Practices	School Survey	Readiness of the school management to use and promote the use of ICT in education.	1) existence of a school-level ICT strategy 2) presence of leadership practices to ensure a broader set of stakeholders are part of the ICT strategy 3) prioritization of ICT as it relates to student outcomes.
	2	De Facto Policies	School Survey	The principals’ awareness of the role of school management in using and promoting the use of ICT in education.	1) recognition of responsibility for the integration of the use of ICT if there is an ICT strategy 2) application/use of guidance for incorporating ICT into teaching and learning 3) participation in support through training.
	3	De Jure Policies	Policy Survey	The existence of key elements in the policies that enable school management to use and promote the use of ICT in education.	1) assignment of responsibility for the integration of the use of ICT if there is an ICT strategy 2) existence of guidance for incorporating ICT into teaching and learning 3) offer of support through training.
Teachers	4	Practices	School Survey	The readiness of grade 5 teachers to integrate ICT in their class instruction.	1) teacher’s efficacy 2) use of technology for lesson preparation 3) use of technology for teaching and assessment.
	5	De Facto Policies	School Survey	The principals’ awareness of grade 5 teachers ICT skills and teachers’ professional development.	1) application/use of standards/competency framework 2) application/use of a support system for teachers through training and professional development 3) application/use of an evaluation system.
	6	De Jure Policies	Policy Survey	The existence of key elements in the policies that enable teachers to efficiently use and teach ICT in education.	1) existence of standards/competency framework 2) presence of a support system for teachers through training and professional development 3) presence of an evaluation system.
Students	7	Practices	School Survey	The performance of grade 5 students in using ICT in and outside school.	1) self-efficacy of students in using ICT 2) use/frequency with which students use ICT inside the school 3) use/frequency with which students use ICT outside the school.
	8	De Facto Policies	School Survey	The principals’ awareness of key elements in the policies that enable students’ performances on ICT and their assessment.	1) application/use of a competency framework for students 2) integration of ICT in activities in the curriculum and outside the school 3) application/use of an assessment of ICT competencies.
	9	De Jure Policies	Policy Survey	The existence of key elements in the policies that enable students to efficiently use and by assessed by and on ICT.	1) existence of a competency framework for students 2) existence of guidance/tools to integrate ICT in activities in the curriculum and outside the school 3) existence of an assessment of students’ ICT competencies.
Devices	10	Practices	School Survey	The readiness of use of digital devices in teaching and learning and their availability in schools.	1) students’ access to the devices 2) students’ use of the devices 3) the existence of technical support.
	11	De Facto Policies	School Survey	The principals’ awareness of key elements in policies related to digital devices in schools.	1) application/use of availability standards 2) application/use of monitoring tools 3) assignment of responsibilities for maintenance and support.
	12	De Jure Policies	Policy Survey	The existence of key elements in the policies related to digital devices in schools.	1) existence of availability standards 2) existence of monitoring tools 3) assignment of responsibilities for maintenance and support.
Connectivity	13	Practices	School Survey	The readiness of schools to connect students to the internet.	1) availability of connectivity 2) student access to the internet 3) perceived quality of the connectivity.
	14	De Facto Policies	School Survey	Principals’ awareness of key elements in the policies related to internet connectivity in schools.	1) application/use of a connectivity plan 2) application/use of monitoring tools 3) application/use of technical support.
	15	De Jure Policies	Policy Survey	The existence of key elements in the policies that enable all public schools to be connected efficiently to the internet.	1) existence of a connectivity plan 2) existence of monitoring tools 3) existence of technical support.
Digital Education Resources (DERs)	16	Practices	School Survey	The readiness of schools to use quality digital education resources.	1) access to digital resources 2) use of digital resources 3) quality of digital resources.
	17	De Facto Policies	School Survey	Principals’ awareness of key elements in policies related to the use of quality digital education resources.	1) knowledge of guidance to ensure alignment with the curriculum 2) knowledge of a strategy to ensure access to DERs 3) knowledge of a legislation/policy defining quality standards for DERs.
	18	De Jure Policies	Policy Survey	The existence of key elements in policies that promote the use of quality digital education resources.	1) existence of guidance to ensure alignment with the curriculum 2) existence of a strategy to ensure access to digital education resources 3) existence of legislation/policy defining quality standards for DERs.

How can ETRI be implemented?

Two instruments are used to collect data and populate the country-level ETRI: a School Survey and a Policy Survey.

The School Survey collects information related to practices (what is implemented in the schools) and de facto policy (to what extent policies, strategies and laws are known and implemented by actors) at the school level. The Policy Survey collects information related to the existence of de jure policies (legislation that exists) that are believed to play an important role in ensuring EdTech is well integrated into the education system. The methodology followed for the Policy Survey is based on the Systems Approach for Better Education Results (SABER).

The approach to data collection at the school level varies depending on the country’s context. School-level data can be collected in-person through a school visit (as a standalone or integrated in another school survey like the World Bank’s Global Education Policy Dashboard (GEPD)) or remotely through the phone if preferable (e.g., because of social distancing restrictions due to COVID-19, budget constraints). Respondents is the principal or the principal and teachers (e.g., math, language, and ICT in relevant grades) of the targeted grade(s) in late primary (grade 4-6) and/or secondary education. The sample of schools (between 200 and 300 schools) is drawn to be representative (at the national or subnational level) of the target population of schools (offering the targeted grades) and stratified to allow for comparison between rural and urban schools. The data for the policy survey is compiled by a national expert thorough legislative review and interviews with relevant stakeholders as needed.

The following surveys are available:

ETRI School Survey 2.0: English – Principals & Teachers ^New | English - Students ^New | English - School Checklist ^New

ETRI Policy Survey 2.0: English ^New

ETRI School Survey: English | Vietnamese - Primary Principal | Vietnamese - Primary Teacher | Nepali | Spanish

ETRI School Survey Manual: English

ETRI Interview Scheduling Protocol: English

ETRI Policy Survey: English | French

Indicators are given a color to pinpoint areas for improvement, and descriptive statistics related to the underlying questions are provided. The color coding follows a traffic light color scheme and is determined by the cut-off/threshold in the value of each indicator.

The technical note explains the technical aspects of the overall project, including the field work, instruments, indicators, scores, and the sampling strategy.

Indicators are presented in the form of a traffic light system, using the school and policy survey data and more detailed results and recommendations. For instance, in the example below and after analyzing the sub-pillar levels, it was found that there are several areas that need improvement in both practices and policies:

- To promote the effective use of EdTech, it is crucial to support its use in three key areas: by students within the classroom, by teachers for instructional purposes, and by students utilizing available devices.

- It is essential to prioritize the improvement of technology integration into classroom instruction and ensure that students have access to the required devices.

- There is a pressing need to improve policies regarding the knowledge and utilization of digital educational resources, standards/frameworks, and ICT competencies among school principals and teachers.

- This underscores the critical need for increased professional development opportunities and resources that can enhance educators' capacity to effectively integrate technology into their teaching practices.

- Furthermore, there is a need to establish clear responsibilities for the maintenance and technical support of devices used in schools to enhance the availability and effectiveness of technology in the classroom.

Where has ETRI been piloted?

The Education and Technology Readiness Index (ETRI) has been piloted -with different levels of development- in Niger and Sierra Leone, in close collaboration with the Global Education Policy Dashboard; in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC)/Vietnam, Nepal, and in the Dominican Republic.

Below is a summary of implementation in Ho Chi Minh City, Nepal, and the Dominican Republic:

	Ho Chi Minh City	Nepal	Dominican Republic
Results	See here See presentation for HCMC	See here See presentation here	Next Steps in EdTech for Dominican Republic: Insights from the EdTech Readiness Index See here
Government counterparts	Department of Education and Training.	Ministry of Education.	Instituto Dominicano de Evaluación e Investigación de la Calidad Educativa (IDEICE); Ministry of Education.
Survey implementation agency	Private survey firm: Mekong Development Research Institute (MDRI).	Private survey firm: Nepal Development Research Institute (NDRI).	Technical public institution: Instituto Dominicano de Evaluación e Investigación de la Calidad Educativa (IDEICE).
Grades of implementation	Primary: Grade 5 Secondary: Grade 8, Grade 11. A handful of schools combined grades at a single school and grade-specific questions were collected for multiple grades.	Primary: Grade 5 Secondary: Grade 9.	Primary: Grade 5.
Survey platform	SurveyCTO, managed by MDRI.	Survey Solutions, managed by ETRI team.	Survey Solutions, managed by ETRI team.
Respondents	Both principals and teachers as separate interviewees.	Principals, in some cases after consultation or in the company of teachers.	Principals only, after consultation with a Mathematics or Language teachers.
Sharing questionnaire	The full questionnaire was shared with the school principal in advance.	The full questionnaire was shared with the school principal in advance.	The full questionnaire was shared with the school principal in advance.
Training	ETRI team provided minimal training to MDRI.	ETRI team provided in-depth training to NDRI in administering the survey through the SurveyCTO platform.	ETRI team provided in-depth training to IDEICE in administering the survey through the Survey Solution platform.
Training material	ETRI team provided a manual which was adapted into Vietnamese.	NDRI team produced a training manual for their own enumerator team, which was reviewed by ETRI team and then translated into Nepali. ETRI team provided a calling protocol for the enumerators, which was incorporated into the training manual.	ETRI team provided an introductory video and calling protocol for enumerators, translated in Spanish.
Policy Consultant	Completed by a local consultant. Hired by the World Bank country team.	Completed by an education consultant with extensive experience working with the Nepal Ministry of Education. Hired by the World Bank Nepal team.	Completed by an international consultant with local expertise. Hired by the ETRI team.

How to get your country or project involved:

If you are interested in ETRI or would like to explore the possibility of applying ETRI in your project, please contact the ETRI teams at ETRI@worldbank.org.

KEY RESOURCES

ETRI Brief: English | Arabic

Country Presentation: English | Spanish | French

ETRI Dominican Republic Results: English

ETRI Nepal Technical Note: English

ETRI Nepal Results: English

ETRI Compilation Note: English

ETRI Operational Toolkit: English

ETRI HCMC, Vietnam Results: English

ETRI Dominican Republic Results: English

VIDEOS

Introduction of ETRI shared during the EdTech Policy Academy