Download - Teaching Community Assistant Initiative
Teaching Community Assistant Initiative
A project with:Ghana Education ServiceGhana National Association of TeachersAbdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL)Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA)
• Education Quality: Evidence from elsewhere• The problem • Remedial Education in India• Extra Teachers in Kenya• Key Insights
• Teaching Community Assistant Initiative Ghana• Context• Program Design• Research Design• Research design
Low Quality of Education
• Progress in participation rates but not in quality
• Pratham-JPAL 2005 – Among 7-14 year olds children :– 15 % do not recognize
letters– 61 % cannot read and
understand a story– 38% do not recognized
numbers• Pratham: “All children in
school AND learning”
Evidence from Elsewhere
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Intervention Impact on Basic Skills
Providing free textbooks
Marginal (high achievers only)
Add other supplies, inputs, e.g. flipcharts
No
Improving the quality of education “inputs” without other reforms do not necessarily contribute to better children learning if basic knowledge was not previously acquired.
• Education Quality: Evidence from elsewhere• The problem • Remedial Education in India• Extra Teachers in Kenya• Key Insights
• Teaching Community Assistant Initiative Ghana• The context• Program Design• Research Design• Next steps
Teacher Assistant in India
Balsakhi (“friend of the child”)
• Teach children lagging behind separately for 2 hours during regular class time
• Teachers are community volunteers (high school education level)
Project Design and phases
• Sample frame: a.. Schools in in Vadodara, India– 122 Schools– Approx 6,000
children
• Preliminary Tests :– Math and language
Baseline Comparison of Students
BAL NO BAL DifferenceSTANDARD 3Math 0.039 0.000 0.039
(0.074)Verbal 0.025 0.000 0.025
(0.082)STANDARD 4Math 0.441 0.452 -0.011
(0.019)Verbal 0.340 0.353 -0.013
(0.017)
Project Design and phases
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122 schools
61 schools 61 schools
ProgramG3 YesG4 No (Control)
ProgramG3 No
(Control)G4 Yes
Randomization
Project design and phases• Implementation and monitoring
• Implementation by Pratham• Researchers worked with Pratham to provide
monitoring (Directly monitored attendance reports)• Final Test
– Assess for a second time knowledge in math and language
– Important: Assess all children having taken part in preliminary test
• Important Impacts: – 0.25 std dev in average; – At least 0.6 for children lagging behind (= 38% to
50% NEA)10
Follow-Up Comparison
Treatment Control DifferenceSTANDARD 3Math 1.698 1.259 0.439
(0.116)Verbal 1.245 0.998 0.247
(0.103)STANDARD 4Math 1.197 0.869 0.329
(0.087)Verbal 0.916 0.621 0.295
(0.089)
• Education Quality: Evidence from elsewhere• The problem • Remedial Education in India• Extra Teachers in Kenya• Key Insights
• Teaching Community Assistant Initiative Ghana• Program Design• Research Design
Extra teacher in Kenya
• Primary Education in Kenya• Challenges
– Class size– Teacher absenteeism– Heterogeneous Classes– Few teaching and learning material– Low completion rates
• Program “Extra Teacher”– Recruits and renewed contract for school
committees– In some classes, divided the group by
knowledge level.
Research design
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210 schools
121 schools:Extra Teacher Program
89 schoolsNo ETP
Randomization
60 schools:Spilt by ability
61 schools:Split randomly
Randomization
Tracking and Extra Teachers
• Dividing the class by knowledge level is the most efficient– results are best for all children (two groups)– After 18 months, 0.14 sd difference in test
scores– One year after program ended, 0.16 sd
difference in test scores
• Why?– Possibly, children benefit from a more targeted
instruction to their level and from more efforts from the teachers
• Education Quality: Evidence from elsewhere• The problem • Remedial Education in India• Extra Teachers in Kenya• Key Insights
• Teaching Community Assistant Initiative Ghana• Program Design• Research Design
Key Insights• It is relatively easy to teach how to read and count to children,
in a short period, with simple and cheap learning and teaching material (India)
• It is important to target instruction to the right level. E.g. in dividing classes by knowledge level (India, Kenya)
• It is this important to have a simple method to identify knowledge levels of each child (India)
• Low qualified individuals can be trained in a relatively short period (4 to 15 days) to teach basic language and math knowledge (India).
• Giving school committee authority to recruit and supervise assistant and contractual teachers is efficient (Kenya).
• Education Quality: Evidence from elsewhere• The problem • Remedial Education in India• Extra Teachers in Kenya• Key Insights
• Teaching Community Assistant Initiative Ghana• The context• Program Design• Research Design
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The Quality Gap in Ghana
• As enrollment has swelled, quality of primary education has fallen
• Less than 20% meet proficiency standards in Math and English in P3 (NEA)
• Large regional differences – proficiency in Greater Accra 33.5%, Upper East 6.3%
• General Situation:• Teachers coping with children at a wide range of levels• Disparities in PTR between urban-rural areas: from 38:1 to 57:1
• As a consequence:• Full classes being led by untrained teachers • High teacher absenteeism 21 to 27% • Only 39% of time spent in direct instruction
The Initiative
The context • Problem of quality
evidence through results of a national test (NEA)
• It is possible to recruit low qualified individuals in the system
• There already exist some initiatives aimed at improving quality
The Teaching Community Assistant Initiative• Recruiting “assistant”
with the Program of Youth Employment
• Assign them a school• Role: teacher basic
knowledge to children lagging behind.
• 10 days training and simple teaching and learning material
• Supervised by School Management Committees 20
• Education Quality: Evidence from elsewhere• The problem • Remedial Education in India• Extra Teachers in Kenya• Key Insights
• Teaching Community Assistant Initiative Ghana• The context• Program Design• Research Design
The intervention process
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Recruitment Orientation andTraining
Children Identificationand class
Monitoring of intervention Mainstreaming
NYEP, GES and SMCs
GES Teachers Colleges GES and NYEPSMCs, GES,
GNAT and NYEPAssistants and Teachers
•SMC Training
•NYEPcollects
Applications
•SMCs identifiesqualified
Candidates
• GES tests andscreens (criteria)
• NYEP finalizes
• Assistants:10 days
• Teachers: 2 days
• 1 day orientation for Districts reps
• Using a simple5 scale oral test
•Simple materials based on NALAP
•Focusing on basic skills – Reading and Maths
• Regular testingA part of teaching
• SMC: daily Checks on attendance and assigned task
• GES Circuit Supervisors,NYEP Coord:as part of routine job
• GNAT Coordinators: regular checks; Feedback from teachers
• Training for NYEP “graduates”?
• Having been an assistant a condition?
•Facilitate entryIn Teachers Colleges
Why is this interesting for a government? • Focus on quality and basic knowledge in P1, P2,
P3• Collaboration between Union, Ministry of
Education et Youth• Concepts de “remedial” were rigorously tested• Complementarities with the Strategic Plan et
other initiatives– NALAP• Test children regularly• Opportunities of an entry positions for youth• Cost Effectiveness
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• Education Quality: Evidence from elsewhere• The problem • Remedial Education in India• Extra Teachers in Kenya• Key Insights
• Teaching Community Assistant Initiative Ghana• The context• Program Design• Research Design• Next Steps
National Pilot – Impact Evaluation
A.1
Lowest performers
A.2
Best performers
C
Add an assistant. Split Class randomly
D
Train teachers only in testing and teaching low performing
E
Control
Randomly allocate 440 schools into one of the following group:
A
TCAI: Remedial education during school
B
TCAI: Remedial education after school
Randomly allocate students to teacher or assistant.
CB.1
Students assigned to regular teacher
CB.2
Students assigned to the assistant
D.1
Lowest performers
D.2
Best performers
B.1
Lowest performers
B.2
Best performers
• Education Quality: Evidence from elsewhere• The problem • Remedial Education in India• Extra Teachers in Kenya• Key Insights
• Teaching Community Assistant Initiative Ghana• The context• Program Design• Research Design• Next Steps
Next Steps
• May-September: Logistics Pilot• September-December: Preparations for
National Pilot• December onwards: National Pilot
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