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By: Alice Ndidde, Ward Heneveld, Lina Rajonhson and Fulgence Swai 29th March 2006

Characteristics of Effective Primary Schools in Sub Saharan Africa A Synthesis of studies in Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda. By: Alice Ndidde, Ward Heneveld, Lina Rajonhson and Fulgence Swai 29th March 2006. Problem Statement.

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By: Alice Ndidde, Ward Heneveld, Lina Rajonhson and Fulgence Swai 29th March 2006

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  1. Characteristics of Effective Primary Schools in Sub Saharan Africa A Synthesis of studies in Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda. By: Alice Ndidde, Ward Heneveld, Lina Rajonhson and Fulgence Swai 29th March 2006

  2. Problem Statement • Investments in primary education have NOT been very effective in influencing student learning outcomes • They have emphasized policy recommendations and national programs • Most do not take into account the wide variations in realities among schools • Usually local educators’ do NOT organize and reflect on their own experience and use these reflections to improve student learning outcomes ADEA 2006 Biennial Meeting (Libreville, Gabon, March 27-31, 2006)

  3. Contd.. But • local empowerment and financing for improvement activities are beginning to take root • These can be reinforced with a structured approach that helps local educators analyze and reflect on their schools’ realities ADEA 2006 Biennial Meeting (Libreville, Gabon, March 27-31, 2006)

  4. One Structured Approach has been tried • Study one region/province/smaller unit at a time • Form a research team of about 20 local Inspectors of schools, pedagogical supervisors, teacher trainers, and Heads of primary schools • Team to be assisted by an experienced qualitative researcher • Select 30 schools to study, 15 with high student results and 15 with weak results ADEA 2006 Biennial Meeting (Libreville, Gabon, March 27-31, 2006)

  5. Contd. .. Carry out a four step process: • Develop research design: hypothesized characteristics and indicators of an effective local school • Collect data: two researchers in each school for two days • Analyze the data: summarize for findings; analyze for priority characteristics, formulate recommendations • Prepare and disseminate a written report ADEA 2006 Biennial Meeting (Libreville, Gabon, March 27-31, 2006)

  6. This approach has been tested in four countries: • Rwenzori Region in Uganda (the pilot) • Toamasina Province in Madagascar • Cabo Delgado Province in Mozambique • Singida Region in Tanzania ADEA 2006 Biennial Meeting (Libreville, Gabon, March 27-31, 2006)

  7. Research Results: On school admin. and head teachers: • Oversight of teachers is largely perfunctory • Very little observation of teachers in the classroom • When Head pays attention to teacher preparation and student evaluation, this may influence learning • Overall, the school’s administration is not as significant for learning as hypothesized ADEA 2006 Biennial Meeting (Libreville, Gabon, March 27-31, 2006)

  8. Contd. On teachers and their teaching methods: • Very little variation in teaching methods: • Teachers talk • Students are engaged passively • Textbooks are available but poorly utilized • No significant difference in teaching methods between trained and untrained teachers ADEA 2006 Biennial Meeting (Libreville, Gabon, March 27-31, 2006)

  9. Contd. On teachers and their teaching methods: • Teachers who prepare lessons and evaluate students regularly have better student results • Language of instruction and related issues was not studied ADEA 2006 Biennial Meeting (Libreville, Gabon, March 27-31, 2006)

  10. Contd. On Learning Materials • Learning materials, especially textbooks, are available in schools compared to ten years ago • However, classroom observations showed that: • When textbooks are used in class, they are used very formalistically ADEA 2006 Biennial Meeting (Libreville, Gabon, March 27-31, 2006)

  11. Contd. … On Physical Infrastructure: • Overall, physical infrastructure is inadequate to house all students comfortably in classrooms. • While Mozambique and Tanzania, found classroom availability to be a significant characteristic, • Madagascar and Uganda did not support this conclusion (less-crowded schools) • Different conclusions suggest that there may be a threshold of crowdedness beyond which students’ results are influenced ADEA 2006 Biennial Meeting (Libreville, Gabon, March 27-31, 2006)

  12. Contd. .. On External Monitoring and Supervision: • Not associated with whether the students do well on school leaving examinations, despite supervision visits being as frequent as resources probably allow. Why weak association? • Frequency of visits, breadth of purpose and topics for them • Lack of regular follow-up • Uncertainty of roles between school heads and external supervisors • Retained as a priority issue and made recommendations to strengthen local supervision. ADEA 2006 Biennial Meeting (Libreville, Gabon, March 27-31, 2006)

  13. On Community Involvement and Support: • Community involvement was found to be significantly related to students results in Madagascar and Uganda. • Reflected in larger financial contributions compared to Mozambique and Tanzania • Students’ achievement could be influenced by the general community’s collective expectations for its children’s education when economic opportunities are greater. ADEA 2006 Biennial Meeting (Libreville, Gabon, March 27-31, 2006)

  14. Principle Observations from these studies • What goes on in the classroom is key • In-school professional leadership influences teachers, particularly their preparation and evaluation of students • The resources in a school are often underutilized (textbooks, teaching materials, teacher training) ADEA 2006 Biennial Meeting (Libreville, Gabon, March 27-31, 2006)

  15. Contd. .. • Physical infrastructure may only influence learning negatively at high levels of crowdedness • Communities’ financial and in-kind help to schools may reflect their aspirations for their children, thus influencing learning • BUT priorities among characteristics that influence learning are probably unique to sub-national units: ADEA 2006 Biennial Meeting (Libreville, Gabon, March 27-31, 2006)

  16. Uganda ADEA 2006 Biennial Meeting (Libreville, Gabon, March 27-31, 2006)

  17. Madagascar ADEA 2006 Biennial Meeting (Libreville, Gabon, March 27-31, 2006)

  18. Implications for future action: The studies reinforce the conditions for improving learning that were recognized at the last ADEA conference: • Political commitment: emphasize the focus on the classroom • Select and Sequence priorities: Assess any action for what it will do to improve what goes on between teachers and students. ADEA 2006 Biennial Meeting (Libreville, Gabon, March 27-31, 2006)

  19. Contd. .. • Capacity building: focus on those closest to the schools. • Partnerships: Involve more public and private people from the sub-national and school levels • Learning from experience: Use strategies and activities that are based on evidence, both local and non-local ADEA 2006 Biennial Meeting (Libreville, Gabon, March 27-31, 2006)

  20. Contd.. And they suggest one more condition: Recognizing potential understanding and expertise embodied in local experience • Respect that experience and those who have it • Provide training and opportunities for local educators to study their schools objectively ADEA 2006 Biennial Meeting (Libreville, Gabon, March 27-31, 2006)

  21. Contd. .. • Expect local educators to identify, plan, and implement changes that use the evidence they have collected and analyzed • Provide funding so that local educators can use their analyses to plan and implement improvements in learning • Assess them on how much student performance improves ADEA 2006 Biennial Meeting (Libreville, Gabon, March 27-31, 2006)

  22. THE END

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