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African Harmonised Early-Grade Assessment Data 2008-2022

Africa, 2008 - 2022
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Reference ID
afr-df-ahead-2008-2022-v2
DOI
https://doi.org/10.25828/2287-mw84
Producer(s)
DataFirst
Collections
African Foundational Learning Data
Metadata
Documentation in PDF DDI/XML JSON
Created on
Jul 31, 2026
Last modified
Aug 03, 2026
Page views
99743
Downloads
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  • Citation
  • Identification
  • Version
  • Scope
  • Coverage
  • Producers and sponsors
  • Sampling
  • Survey instrument
  • Data collection
  • Data processing
  • Data appraisal
  • Data access
  • Access policy
  • Metadata production

    • Citation

    Citation
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    Identification

    Survey ID number
    afr-df-ahead-2008-2022-v2
    Title
    African Harmonised Early-Grade Assessment Data 2008-2022
    Abbreviation or Acronym
    AHEAD 2008-2022
    Country
    Name Country code
    Africa AFR
    Abstract

    AHEAD pools and harmonises microdata from Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) and Early Grade Mathematics Assessment (EGMA) surveys conducted by USAID funded projects in African countries. The data was previously publicly available from USAID's Development Data Library and the separate datasets are still available from the ICPSR's Data Lumos repository. Harmonisation was undertaken within the Gates funded African Foundational Learning Data Hub (AFLEARN) project of DataFirst. The harmonisation assigns a single canonical variable name, code, label scheme to comparable items across surveys to produce one analysis-ready pooled data file suitable for cross-country and cross-time comparative research on early-grade literacy and numeracy across diverse educational contexts. Further survey-level information can be found on the AHEAD documentation page: [https://datafirst-aflearn.github.io/ahead/]

    Kind of Data
    Sample survey data [ssd]
    Unit of Analysis
    Individuals

    Version

    Version Description
    v2.0: Edited, anonymised data for public distribution
    Version Date
    2026-10-15
    Version Responsibility Statement
    DataFirst
    Version Notes

    Changes from Version 1 to Version 1.1:

    1. Two new projects were appended. They are Nal'ibali Story Powered Schools (SPS) in 2017, 2018, and 2019 from South Africa; and Literacy Achievement and Retention Activity (LARA) in 2017 and 2019 from Uganda.
    2. Three projects are excluded because the original source microdata for these records are not available. Users of Version 1 release that included these projects should treat the current file as authoritative and expect those country-years to be absent. These are Early Grade Reading Improvement Activity (MERIT) in 2016, 2017 and 2018 from Malawi; Tunoze Gusoma in 2022 from Rwanda; and a national assessment in 2021 from Zambia.
      No variables from the Version 1 were dropped.

    Changes from Version 1.1 to Version 2:

    1. The new version expands coverage by adding 82 259 pupil records from 20 new project-rounds across seven new projects, including the first data from Somalia. The harmonised data file now holds 217 127 records, 15 countries, 24 projects, and 50 project-rounds.
    2. Adds 771 variables, 2 880 in total, mostly oral reading items, second-language and written-comprehension subtasks, rapid naming, working memory, and a representation level field for every record. One variable, age_dob, is removed.
    3. Corrects values for 11 035 previously published records in Kenya 2015, DR Congo 2015, and the South Africa SPS endline. The corrections cover age, month, and item-level codes, so analyses that used these variables should be re-run.
    4. Puts every *_pcnt variable on a 0 to 100 scale, rebuilds the administrative division fields, and reorders and recodes the mathematics strategy flags. These changes alter 132 125 previously published records, but no record is removed and no harm_student_id changes.

    Scope

    Keywords
    Education Early grade reading Early grade mathematics Literacy Numeracy Learning assessment EGRA EGMA Early foundational learning

    Coverage

    Geographic Coverage

    National coverage

    Universe

    Early-grade primary school pupils assessed in the respective EGRA/EGMA samples. Exact target grades and eligibility rules differ by survey

    Producers and sponsors

    Primary investigators
    Name
    DataFirst
    Funding Agency/Sponsor
    Name Role
    Gates Foundation

    Financial support

    Sampling

    Sampling Procedure

    Constituent surveys used different sample designs. Harmonised survey design variables are present in the pooled file where supplied by the original survey. There is no single pooled sampling frame. Weighted and sampling error estimation analysis requires a separate survey design specification for each source.

    Survey instrument

    Questionnaires

    Different Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) and Early Grade Mathematics Assessment (EGMA) instruments were used in data collection. Original instruments, languages of assessment, and field protocols differ by constituent survey.

    Data collection

    Dates of Data Collection
    Start End
    2008 2022
    Time Method
    Cross-section [cross section]
    Time periods
    Start date End date
    2008 2022
    Data Collection Mode
    • Face-to-face

    Data processing

    Data Editing

    Full description of the cleaning operations can be found in the User Guide in the Downloads tab.

    Data appraisal

    Data Appraisal

    Known limitations, residual unresolved codes, and cross-survey variable availability are documented in the User Guide.

    Data access

    Location of Data Collection
    DataFirst data repository
    URL for Location of Data Collection

    Access policy

    Access conditions

    Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 attribution license

    Citation requirements

    DataFirst. African Harmonised Early-Grade Assessment Data 2008-2022 [dataset]. Version 2.0. Cape Town: African Foundational Learning Data Hub, DataFirst [producers], 2026. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25828/2287-mw84

    Deposit requirements

    Researchers agree to cite the data in their publications using the recommended citation in this metadata record, including the DOI (unique dataset identifier)
    Researchers agree to send DataFirst a link to any research publication based on the data

    Metadata production

    Producers
    Name Abbreviation Affiliation
    DataFirst DF University of Cape Town
    Date of Metadata Production
    2026-07-31

    Metadata version

    DDI Document version
    4
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