Center for International Cooperation in Education Development

Center for International Сooperation in Education Development (CICED) was founded in 2008 by the decree of the Russian Government with the purpose to implement international development aid initiatives aimed at improvement of education. In 2008-2019 CICED operates under the Russian Education Aid for Development program (READ). Today CICED is a network that unites more than 200 expert and organizations. CICED implements projects in both Russia and CIS countries, bringing together Russian and international specilaists in the field of education quality assessment, educational policy and international development aid.

Within the READ Program CICED works on development of Russian tools in the field of education quality assessment and introduces them to the national assessment systems of READ countries. CICED also develops systems of monitoring of education quality for use in cross-country research and in activities of field-specific organizations including schools, educational authorities, research institutions etc. CICED promotes Russian expertise in the field of quality assessment and education management at the international level.

CICED implements activities in Russia, CIS countries (Middle Asia region, Republic of Armenia, Republic of Belarus). These activities address gaps in the countries current educational assessment systems, including building local expert capacity through “learning by doing” practices. Working with READ countries CICED’s main principle is to help them to deliver greater learning results at a much lower cost.

CICED works in close cooperation with key organizations that are responsible for educational management and policymaking which includes government bodies, universities, NGOs and independent institutions. Partnerships with a wide range of groups are essential for an effective aid program.

Through participation in global projects and task forces CICED promotes Russian expertise. Within such projects Russian specialists participate development of frameworks and indicators for monitoring of the progress in the achievement of global learning for all, working on better approaches to data analysis for policymaking. Together with other donors they work on improvement of use of rigorous evidence in education policy and implementation. The examples of such work is Learning Metrics Task Force (LMTF), international donor network Building Evidence in Education (BE2), UNESCO Global Alliance for Monitoring Learning task forces.

CICED’s governing bodies consist of Supervisory Board, the international READ Expert Council and a Scientific Supervisor. The operational management is carried out by the Director.