teaching community assistant initiative a project with: ghana education service ghana national...

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

4

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.


• 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

9

122 schools

61 schools 61 schools

Program

G3 Yes

G4 No (Control)

Program

G3 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)


• 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

14

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


• 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).


• Teaching Community Assistant Initiative Ghana• The context• Program Design• Research Design

19

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


• Teaching Community Assistant Initiative Ghana• The context• Program Design• Research Design

The intervention process

22

Recruitment Orientation andTraining

Children Identificationand class

Monitoring of intervention

Mainstreaming

NYEP, GES and SMCs

GES Teachers Colleges

GES and NYEPSMCs, GES, GNAT and NYEP

Assistants 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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• 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


• 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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