US Ambassador rues quality of education in India

Powell said USAID fundamentally transformed its approach to education to help address this crisis in quality and that it was not going to measure its success by the number of children in school but by the effectiveness they demonstrate in the classroom as measured by child outcomes.

As part of the new education strategy, she said, USAID has developed early grade reading assessments designed to help teachers understand the specific needs of their students and their classrooms.

These tools are already making a difference on the ground, changing the way entire nations approach education.

By focusing on literacy and measuring impact, USAID's new strategy will help improve the reading skills of 100 million children by 2015, she said.