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Teachers who know what to teach & how to teach it are an obvious condition for learning. In our review “Education in Africa: What Are We Learning?” ( https://academic.oup.com/jae/article/30/1/13/5999001), @AcostaAminaM & I identified 9 recent teacher professional development studies from the region. [thread]
You might have heard that teacher professional development isn’t helpful. The “Smart Buys” report: “In-service teacher training as typically provided is generalized, overly theoretical, off-site training that does not respond to ... teacher needs” ( http://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/719211603835247448/pdf/Cost-Effective-Approaches-to-Improve-Global-Learning-What-Does-Recent-Evidence-Tell-Us-Are-Smart-Buys-for-Improving-Learning-in-Low-and-Middle-Income-Countries.pdf).
Agreed! @AnnaPopovas et al. even have a study showing that many at-scale teacher professional development programs around the world do not reflect what evidence shows works. https://www.cgdev.org/publication/teacher-professional-development-around-world-gap-between-evidence-and-practice
Several recent studies show promising results at effectively improving teacher performance, including some at scale. (Others don't. The *how* really matters.)
In Ghana, training teachers to target instruction to children’s learning levels by dividing the class by ability group for part of the day increased student learning. https://www.poverty-action.org/sites/default/files/publications/duflo%20kiessel%20lucas%20202005%20external%20validity.pdf Duflo et al. by 2020
In another study in Ghana, training teachers to do targeted instruction (including by dividing students by learning level rather than grade level) also increased student scores on a combined Math and English test.
http://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/184851585721598666/pdf/Strengthening-Teacher-Accountability-to-Reach-All-Students-STARS-Milestone-4-Impact-Analysis-Report.pdf by @SabrinBeg et al. 2020
http://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/184851585721598666/pdf/Strengthening-Teacher-Accountability-to-Reach-All-Students-STARS-Milestone-4-Impact-Analysis-Report.pdf by @SabrinBeg et al. 2020
In Uganda, a study (too recent to make it into our review) showed that training teachers to "teach students to learn like scientists" led to big gains in progression to secondary school. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eUDenJZAb2hOyRZdIS0b-3iHTFvQtHN1/view by @profnavaashraf et al.
In South Africa, Cilliers et al. tested traditional, centralized training for teachers versus in-class coaching, with the impact of coaching more than double that of centralized training. http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2019/02/04/jhr.55.3.0618-9538R1 by @JacobusCilliers et al. 2019
In the subsequent cohort of students, only those with teachers who benefitted from coaching (not centralized training) show sustained learning gains (and even those have shrunk). Sustained coaching needed!
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6xmv7283oxoysj2/The%20Challenge%20of%20Sustaining%20Effective%20Teaching%20with%20appendix.pdf?dl=0 by @JacobusCilliers et al. 2020
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6xmv7283oxoysj2/The%20Challenge%20of%20Sustaining%20Effective%20Teaching%20with%20appendix.pdf?dl=0 by @JacobusCilliers et al. 2020
A teacher training program combined with partially scripted lesson plans and weekly text message support for teachers improved teacher practice and children’s literacy in Kenya. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/306069139_Improving_Literacy_Instruction_in_Kenya_Through_Teacher_Professional_Development_and_Text_Messages_Support_A_Cluster_Randomized_Trial by @MatthewchJukes et al. 2016
In Ghana, teacher training for preschool teachers led to small increases in children’s school readiness. But when that training was coupled with parental awareness meetings, the outcomes were reversed! (Read the paper.) https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19345747.2018.1517199 by @WolfsSharon et al. 2018
In Kenya, a combined package of teacher coaching and training, along with instructional materials, boosted learning in early child education centers.
https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Cost-and-Cost-Effectiveness-of-a-Pre-Primary-School-Donfouet-Ngware/592d351726584831edda09aad94f1c4253e559e1 Donfouet et al. 2018
https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Cost-and-Cost-Effectiveness-of-a-Pre-Primary-School-Donfouet-Ngware/592d351726584831edda09aad94f1c4253e559e1 Donfouet et al. 2018
In Malawi, teacher training boosted outcomes in informal preschools only when combined with parent training. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/25130 by @BerkOzler12 et al. 2016
A teacher training program in Rwanda designed to complement a new entrepreneurship curriculum in secondary schools did not improve student test scores, although it did boost student participation in school business clubs. Published: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0304387818309878
by @mpblimpo & Pugatch
by @mpblimpo & Pugatch
Our review ( https://academic.oup.com/jae/article/30/1/13/5999001) is part of a special issue of the Journal of African Economies dedicated to education and labor markets in Africa ( https://academic.oup.com/jae/issue/30/1 ). Check it out!
