IMPACT EVAUATION STUDY ON WHOLE SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT AND GRANTS THE GAMBIA

Country Overview ► Pop -1.6m (2007) ► Per capita GDP -$350 ► Area sq km (400 x 30 km)

Whole School Development Initiative (piloted & adopted) ► It is an ongoing participatory approach that uses series of activities to improve teaching and learning in schools

Activities ► Training of SMCs and others on 3 of 5 modules - Concepts of WSD - Concepts of WSD - School development Planning - School development Planning - Financial management/resource mobilization - Financial management/resource mobilization  Training of Regional staffs on plan evaluation (central level) ► Evaluation of plans (regional level) ► Moderation of plans (Central level)

Activities ► Implementation of school plans for the academic year Sept – June 2009 starts ► Training done on module 4 - Curriculum management and Teachers’ Professional Dev (N0v/Dec 2008) - Curriculum management and Teachers’ Professional Dev (N0v/Dec 2008)

Expectations ► improved management of schools ► continued professional development of teachers ► increased participation and support by the community ► improved learning environment and pupil welfare ► increased access to high quality teaching and learning materials ► better management of curriculum delivery

QUESTION: Impact Evaluation Studies 2 Key Questions!!! 1. What is the Impact of the WSD on 1. What is the Impact of the WSD on i. student performance i. student performance ii. school management ii. school management (What is working and what isn’t) (What is working and what isn’t) 2. What is the Impact of the school grant on student performance 2. What is the Impact of the school grant on student performance  After one year, the differences between schools are because of the programme

Launching ► Sensitisation of stakeholders on Impact Evaluation Studies Consultations at various levels Central and regional Central and regional Donor partners Donor partners Government Departments; UTG, GBOS,WAEC Government Departments; UTG, GBOS,WAEC

Set Up ► Randomly assigned clusters of schools to one of three groups - Group 1: Receive full training + grant (90 schools) - Group 1: Receive full training + grant (90 schools) - Group 2: Receive grant only (90 schools) - Group 2: Receive grant only (90 schools) - Group 3: Comparison group (90 schools) - Group 3: Comparison group (90 schools)

Baseline data collection School environment School management Teaching / learning activities Student performance End of academic year (2007/08)

Corporal punishment ► 20% of randomly selected children report being beaten the previous day ► That means in a week, you have a 65% chance of being beaten ► In a month: 99% chance ► Correlates?  Ability: almost no relationship  Gender: no relationship  Wealth: no relationship

Current Status of Evaluation ► All stakeholders aware of the IES ► Full cooperation on implementation ► All scheduled training done ► Implementation of the School development plans underway ► Baseline data processed, analysed and conclusions drawn ► Preliminary results shared

Challenges To Roll Out ► Ensuring local ownership ► Continued monitoring of schools ► Maintaining trained staff on IE team, others

Lessons Learnt ► Stakeholders have to be fully on board ► Collaboration of stakeholders guaranties smooth implementation ► Question must be pertinent to country’s drive for improvement on education ► Palpable eagerness for results of follow up data collection # 1 after the one year ► Very sensible and practical using nationals to drive the process

Next steps ► Disbursement of school grants ► Training on last module: - Learner Welfare and School Environment and Teaching/learning resources ► Follow up data collection # 1 June 2009 ► Follow up data collection # 2 June 2010