Improving educational quality project : a final evaluation

The project was implemented in Ghana, Mali, South Africa, and Guatemala. The project"s primary objective for the core countries of Ghana, Guatemala, and Mali -- to strengthen the capacity of local researchers -- was achieved. The host country research teams (HCRTs), the primary project implementors, were also the primary beneficiaries of project TA and research experience which, over the project"s 5 years, provided them substantial opportunities to use new skills, with help from project teams, in designing and conducting observations of teacher-pupil interactions, monitoring teacher performance, and analyzing and reporting qualitative and quantitative research data. In all four countries, the teams implemented assessment methods to test the effectiveness of either the IEQ-sponsored innovation or the program innovations they were tasked to evaluate. Although teachers, the project"s secondary beneficiaries, were trained in new instructional techniques, the total number of teachers trained in each country was small. In Ghana, 2-3 teachers in 7 schools were targeted for training. In Mali, a larger number of schools (42) was included in the Basic Education Project (6880258), but the amount of training provided was less, and not all teachers participated. In Guatemala and South Africa the project was not mandated to work with teachers. However, participating teachers in all four countries teachers reported positive impacts, such as increased access to educational resources (e.g., text-books and other printed materials) and improved teaching resulting from the simple fact of being observed by the HCRTs. In only two of the focus countries (Ghana and Mali) were the research teams tasked with identifying and implementing solutions that would improve pupil performance. In these countries, pupils have benefitted from changed teaching techniques, increased access to educational resources, and the reduction in teacher absenteeism. An unintended yet significant outcome of the focus on classroom-based observation was to encourage a broad range of stakeholders in the education sector to look at the child and the classroom as the focus for decisionmaking. Specifically, the project involved researchers and university faculty in direct contact with the schools. They in turn served as important informants for the policymakers, who, because they are often unable to visit schools, especially those in secondary cities and rural areas, are forced to make uninformed policy decisions. Finally, IEQ research and the dissemination of research results at international conferences has helped to provoke a change in the attitudes of the educational community about how to go about making educational policy and to increase dialogue among the various stakeholders. Project sustainability is most likely to occur in countries where the HCRTs are affiliated with a strong institution, although additional resources will be needed to support these units.