ADEA BIENNIAL Effective Schools & Quality Improvement

1. ADEA BIENNIALEffective Schools & Quality Improvement Rapporteur’s Comments

2. Overview of the Current Situation(B. Fredriksen, N. Burnett. A. Verspoor) • POSITIVE: • “Remarkable progress” in enrollments • national political commitments and donor financing are growing • More cooperation among countries • Literacy rates are increasing • Gender-sensitive HIV/AIDS practices are spreading • Bi-lingual Education awareness and practical alternatives are available

3. Overview of the Current Situation(cont’d.)(B. Fredriksen, N. Burnett. Verspoor) • NEGATIVE • Overall learning levels in primary education remain low, with declining reading results • Overcrowding in many schools • Perfunctory oversight of teaching • Continued use of ineffective teaching methods • Textbooks in classrooms, teacher supply, and language of instruction remain problems • Comments: Overcome dependency with African alternatives for vision, pedagogy, teaching paradigms, and language instruction

4. What’s been shared in the detailed sessions? • Research on Effective Characteristics • Large scale, more quantitative • Small scale, more qualitative • Examples of Approaches to Improve Characteristics • Effective approaches • Emerging possibilities

5. Research Findings presented (Sessions B.1- B.5) • Schools have improved conditions for learning, but the conditions are not yet adequate • Some textbooks and teacher manuals are in most schools • Teachers who plan lessons and evaluate students regularly haved better student results • Continued use of ineffective classroom teaching practices in spite of training in alternative approaches • Contribution of education and training to differences in teaching practices is not observed • Many complementary alternatives for difficult-to-serve populations are serving them effectively

6. Research Findings presented (cont’d.)(Sessions B.1- B.5) • Student learning levels are low (especially in reading) • Students do not get the instruction and support they need because • teachers do not get the help they need to teach effectively (training, language of instruction, etc.) • School heads are critical to success but their quality and pedagogical leadership remains limited • Community’s role is important and growing, but school-community interaction not yet effective • Repetition does not improve a student’s chances of achieving at his/her peers’ level or of completing primary school

7. Approaches that can improve learning • Strong mother tongue (MT) and bi-lingual education programs • Retain use of MT 50% of the time for more than 3 years • Teacher must be competent in speaking and academic use of language(s) for teaching, so training must be good • Needs in multi-lingual situations (3 or more languages) must be “unpacked” carefully

8. Approaches that can improve learning (cont’d.) • Characteristics of effective principals’ are known (Are expectations too high? How to educate leaders in a small tertiary system?) • Organizes and empowers staff and community, including mobilizing resources • Focuses the school on student learning and creates a positive climate for it • Provides professional support to teachers • Could he/she be an experienced manager not an educator? • Education International’s code of conduct (African codes?)

9. Approaches that can improve learning (cont’d.) • Potential research-based efficiencies could contribute to reducing the funding gap to achieve EFA without reducing student learning: • Consider more inputs with proven high contributions to learning at low financial costs (e.g., more textbooks, teacher manuals, Health/nutrition inputs, supervision and short initial teacher training at the expense of providing small class sizes, buildings, long pre-service training, high repetition rates) • Reduce inefficiencies due to bad governance • Examine current uses of funds to reduce funding for activities that don’t influence student learning

10. Approaches that can improve learning (cont’d.) • Rural teachers will serve if they are fully supported • Government must recognize rural teacher postings as having special needs • Encourage and support alternative delivery systems when appropriate and in partnership (including urban poor areas?) • Create incentives that respond to local conditions for teachers

11. Approaches that can improve learning (cont’d.) • Curriculum approaches based on competencies • Value existing approaches and local cultures and build on them • Involve teachers, teacher supervisors and inspectors in field training • Make the conceptual idea concrete and cost out carefully beforehand • Raise awareness and knowledge of what’s coming beforehand • Gender Responsive pedagogy – use the FAWE Teacher’s Handbook in every school

12. Approaches that can improve learning (cont’d.) • Direct financing to schools • Formula funding mechanisms work • Community capacity for planning, budgeting and financial management can be created • School Projects • Clarify the concept, preparation process, and documentation before starting • Local capacity for analysis of needs related to learning can be built • Capacity to guide and supervise projects must be created close to the schools

13. Approaches that can improve learning (cont’d.) • Parent-Teacher Associations (PTA) • Government should recognize value of this participation • Provide legal support and protection for PTAs • Help them to become more professional • Support national representation and include in policy dialogues • Strengthen balance of cooperation and power between PTAs/NGOs and school management • Complementary schools and local teachers • Adapt size and location of the school to students’ needs • Hire teachers locally and provide culturally appropriate training and support • Teach a simplified curriculum in the local language • Empower a local committee to manage the school

14. Approaches that can improve learning (cont’d.) • Information & Communication Technology (ICT) • Build in efficiency and relevance of the training • Create an architecture that allows a variety of delivery systems • Establish an adequate ICT capacity in each country • When internet is to be used, make sure connectivity will be accessible and reliable

15. Where do we go from here? • Each country cannot to rely on traditional education practices if EFA is to be achieved • Each country cannot continue to look for Silver Bullets – the magic solution – to resolve education’s complex challenges • Each country ought to adopt A REFLECTIVE APPROACH to find solutions

16. What does a reflective approach require? • Active Reflection on research findings and program ideas, especially when they contradict the accepted wisdom • Respect for and use of national/local conditions and experience to help understand the problems • Processes of discussion within the system that use all stakeholders’ inputs • After reflection bold decisions, with commitment, by Government

17. What the results of Reflection may include: • Explicit references to local and international information, including research findings • A mix of policies, activities, and programs that are mutually dependent on each other • A variety of interventions undertaken by a variety of partners, all of them adapted to national and sub-national contexts • As much local authority as possible in deciding what to do within carefully managed processes

18. What to take home that may help: • The research findings that have been shared • Awareness and knowledge of the models that have been shared • Awareness that • all problems are complex but solveable • Inputs of all forms are helpful to find the best solution • A commitment to design and use reflective processes at home to reach policy and program decisions using all information that can be obtained