Ethiopia is a large country in the Horn of Africa. It has a diverse population of eighty million people who speak over thirty distinct languages. Approximately 80% of the population live in rural areas and rely on subsistence agriculture. Despite economic growth and an abundance of natural resources, it is a country with a per-capita income of less than $180 (U.S.) in 2007. The current government has sustained a strong commitment to education since it came to power in the early 1990s, and there have been remarkable improvements on key indicators. For example, the primary school population has almost doubled in the last five years. This commitment has been matched by financing, with on average 4% of the GDP and twenty percent of the national budget spent on education annually, although this represents spending of only about $25 (U.S.) per primary pupil per year. This article examines how efforts by government and donors to improve quality in general education through a new multi-million-dollar aid instrument--the General Education Quality Improvement Program (GEQIP)--is impacting on the Paris aid effectiveness principles of ownership, alignment, harmonization, managing for results and mutual accountability. This article argues that there is an inherent tension between complex education quality reform and aid effectiveness principles which all stakeholders need to recognize in the design and implementation of large scale reform programs. It concludes with some lessons learned for designing complex education reform programs in ways which maximize aid effectiveness in developing countries.