Russia Education Aid for Development (READ) is a collaboration between Government of the Russian Federation and the World Bank aimed at improving learning outcomes around the world through better measurement of student learning. Russia’s vision and leadership in improving global learning outcomes led to the creation of the READ program in 2008. Since then, Russia has been, and continues to be, a strong contributor to the international development agenda, supporting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the building of human capital across the globe. Russia has been a most committed sovereign donor to improving learning assessment systems around the world. As a result, READ 1 (2008-2015) and the ongoing READ 2 (2016-2020) programs have had a significant impact on improving the measurement of student learning around the world.
The READ program consists of (i) READ Reimbursable Advisory Services (RAS), which supports Russian institutional and expert development and scale up Russian educational development aid), (ii) Center for International Cooperation in Education Development (CICED), which promotes Russian expertise within the global international educational community through various means, and (iii) the READ Trust Fund, which, in partnership with the World Bank, facilitates global engagement and country-level activities to build effective student assessment systems around the world.