Doc B-1.1 (Word) - ADEA

Association for the Development of Education in Africa Biennale on Education in Africa
(Libreville, Gabon, March 27-31, 2006) |Effective Schools and Quality Improvement | |Parallel Session B-1 |
|Characteristics of |
|Effective Schools |
|Synthesis Report : |
|Local Studies on the Quality of Primary Education |
|in Four Countries | by Ward Heneveld
with Alice Ndidde, Lina Rajonhson, and Fulgence Swai Working Document
DRAFT
PLEASE DO NOT DISSEMINATE
DOC B-1.1
This document was prepared by ADEA for its Biennial Meeting (Libreville,
Gabon, March 27-31, 2006). The views and opinions expressed in this volume
are those of the authors and should not be attributed to ADEA, to its
members or affiliated organizations or to any individual acting on behalf
of ADEA.
The document is a working document still in the stages of production. It
has been prepared to serve as a basis for discussions at the ADEA Biennial
Meeting and should not be disseminated for other purposes at this stage.
© Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) - 2006 Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA)
International Institute for Educational Planning
7-9 rue Eugène Delacroix
75116 Paris, France
Tel.: +33(0)1 45 03 77 57
Fax: +33(0)1 45 03 39 65
adea@iiep.unesco.org
web site: www.ADEAnet.org
Contents
Acknowledgements 4
Acronyms and abbreviations 5
1. Abstract 6
2. Executive summary 7
3. Introduction 11
4. The Methodology 13
4.1. Parameters of the Design 13
4.2. The Research Team 13
4.3. Choice of the Regions to Study and their Sample Schools 13
4.4. The Methodology for the Studies 14
5. Country Conclusions 16
5.1. Five Rwenzori districts in Uganda 16
5.2. Toamasina Province in Madagascar 17
5.3. Cabo Delgado Province in Mozambique 18
5.4. The Singida Region of Tanzania 19
6. Findings and conclusions on school characteristics 21
6.1. The School Administration (including the Head Teacher) 21
6.2. An Effective Teacher, Including Teaching and Learning Processes
23
6.3. Learning Materials 26
6.4. The School's Infrastructure 27
6.5. External Monitoring and Supervision 28
6.6. Community Involvement and Support 29
6.7. Summary 30
7. Implications for future action 31
8. Appendices 35
8.1. Research Team Participants (by position) 35
8.2. An example of a data analysis chart 36
8.3. Conceptual Frameworks and Summary Diagrams 37
8.3.1.Uganda 37
8.3.2.Madagascar 45
8.3.3.Mozambique 53
8.3.4.Tanzania 60
9. Bibliography 67
Acknowledgements The studies reported on this synthesis report would not have occurred if
Development Cooperation Ireland's (DCI) representative in Uganda, Liz
Higgins, had not invited Alice Ndidde and me to help the educational
leadership in the five Rwenzori districts of western Uganda try to
understand why investments were not improving students' learning outcomes.
However, the credit for being able to replicate that study in other
countries goes to the research team from the Rwenzori region. The Ugandans
stayed with us over five months in late 2003 and into 2004 as we together
figured out how to work through defining characteristics and indicators to
study, collecting and analyzing the data, and reaching conclusions and
making recommendations. They know best how many unclear suggestions and
wrong turns we made as we created our methodology through "learning by
doing." Because of their and Alice's fortitude we had a strikingly
successful result from that research, and we created a methodology that we
thought other local educators could use. ADEA and the Irish Trust at the
World Bank agreed with us and have been generous and helpful in the
development and implementation of the other three studies. I am
particularly grateful for the support of Joris von Bommel, ex-ADEA, and
Aidan Mulkeen at the World Bank. Also, the research teams in Madagascar,
Mozambique, and Tanzania would have been smaller if the Madagascar Ministry
of National Education (MENRS), the Aga Khan Foundation Mozambique, the
Canadian Development Agency, and UNESCO had not helped to finance
additional researchers. Each national Ministry of Education assigned a local institution to
administer the studies' implementation. We are grateful to the Planning
Directorate in MENRS in Madagascar, the National Institute for the
Development of Education (INDE) in Mozambique, and the Tanzania Institute
of Education (TIE) for all they did to ensure that the new studies were
carried out. Similar appreciation goes to the local education authorities
in Toamasina, Cabo Delgado, Singida, and the Rwenzori districts. They were
generous with personnel and facilities during the research. I was the international consultant for the studies in Madagascar,
Mozambique, and Uganda. Alice Ndidde served in Tanzania. She has become a
valued friend and colleague. However, we would have not been able to
complete this work, nor to make it as formidable as we think it is, if the
national consultants had not worked so hard. These competent researchers
are Lina Rajohnson in Madagascar, Rafael Bernardo in Mozambique, and
Fulgence Swai in Tanzania. I acknowledge with deep gratitude their
significant contributions of time and effort to making these studies happen
and their excellent mediation as interpreters of thoughts, of language, and
of the notes generated by the research teams. The reports that Ms.
Rahonhson and Mr. Swai wrote after the teams had finished their analyses
seemed like a bonus. Just as importantly, we thank the research-
practitioners who did the work. They arrived at the first meeting for a
"workshop" and found out they had gotten themselves into much more than
that. Their expression of how hard we were working confirmed to me the
sincerity and effort they committed to; and the results of the studies
confirm their efforts and their competence. In the end, if there are faults in this work, they are mine. I have been
seeking for many years to broaden the concept of research on the quality of
education so that it can respectfully capture the rich experience of local
educators. I believe that the approach we have used does this well. Those
who have worked with me have believed enough in the methods we are
developing to see the studies through to the end. They are very special
colleagues. Acronyms and abbreviations
BEPC Brevet élémentaire du premier cycle
CCT Coordinating Centre Tutor
CIDA Canadian International Development Agency
CISCO Circonscription Scolaire
CONFEMEN Conférence des ministres de l'education des pays ayant le
français en partage (Conference of Francophone Ministers of Education)
DCI Development Cooperation Ireland
Grade IIIA A teacher qualification in Tanzania
INDE Instituto Nacional do Desinvolvimento da Educação (Mozambique)
MENRS Ministère de l'Education nationale et de la Recherche scientifique
(Madagascar)
PASEC Programme d'analyse du système éducatif des pays de la CONFEMEN
PLE Primary Leaving Examination
PSLE Primary School Leaving Examination
SACMEQ Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring
Educational Quality
TIE Tanzania Institute of Education
ZAP Zone administrative et pédagogique
ZIP Zona de Influência Pedagógica
1. Abstract THIS PAPER PRESENTS THE FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS OF FOUR SUB-NATIONAL
STUDIES ON THE QUALITY OF PRIMARY EDUCATION IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA. THEY
WERE CARRIED OUT BY LOCAL EDUCATORS IN THE RWENZORI REGION OF UGANDA, IN
TOAMASINA PROVINCE ON THE EAST COAST OF MADAGASCAR, IN CABO DELGADO
PROVINCE IN NORTHERN MOZAMBIQUE, AND IN THE SINGIDA REGION IN CENTRAL
TANZANIA. IN EACH STUDY 20 LOCAL INSPECTORS, PEDAGOGICAL SUPERVISORS,
TEACHER TRAINERS, AND HEADS OF PRIMARY SCHOOLS, ASSISTED BY TWO
CONSULTANTS, SELECTED A SAMPLE OF 30 SCHOOLS, DEFINED THE CHARACTERISTICS
OF AN EFFECTIVE SCHOOL AND THE INDICATORS FOR EACH CHARACTERISTIC,
COLLECTED DATA ON VISITS TO EACH SCHOOL, AND ANALYZED THE DATA TOGETHER.
ALL THE TEAMS CHOSE THE NATIONAL PRIMARY SCHOOL LEAVING EXAMINATION AS THE
MAIN DEPENDENT VARIABLE WITH WHICH THE SCHOOL DATA WAS COMPARED. THE
QUALITATIVE METHODOLOGY USED SIMPLE STATISTICAL MEASURES TO CHECK
RELATIONSHIPS AMONG SCHOOL CHARACTERISTICS. THE TEAMS CARRIED OUT THE
STUDIES IN TWO TWO-WEEK WORKSHOPS BEFORE AND AFTER VISITS TO THE SAMPLE
SCHOOLS OVER A PERIOD OF FOUR MONTHS IN 2004/2003 (UGANDA) AND IN LATE 2005
(THE OTHERS). This synthesis report summarizes the findings of each of the studies,
compares findings and conclusions across the studies, and comments on
impli