Review of national policies on learning and teaching

Transcription

1 2014/ED/EFA/MRT/PI/16 Background paper prepared for the Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2013/4 Teaching and learning: Achieving quality for all Review of national policies on Frances Hunt 2013 This paper was commissioned by the Education for All Global Monitoring Report as background information to assist in drafting the 2013/4 report. It has not been edited by the team. The views and opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author(s) and should not be attributed to the EFA Global Monitoring Report or to UNESCO. The papers can be cited with the following reference: Paper commissioned for the EFA Global Monitoring Report 2013/4, Teaching and learning: Achieving quality for all For further information, please contact

2 Review of national policies on Frances Hunt 2013 Abstract This report provides an overview of how national education. It responds to a set of specific questions which focus on strategies to improve learning, links between teacher quality and learning outcomes and how policy seeks to overcome the most. It also focuses on how policy addresses mechanisms to support, motivate and monitor teachers. Data was collated from the national education plans of forty countries and in-depth case study reviews carried out on policy from Cambodia, South Africa, Timor Leste and Bangladesh. The report includes a summary of key lessons and observations related to the inclusion of and learning in education policy and a range of strategies that can both directly and indirectly support and learning. The report has been written as a background paper to support UNESCO s Global Monitoring Report 2013 which has Learning and Teaching for Development as its theme. Contents 1 Introduction Mapping of across national education policies Focus on learning in education policy Strategies to Strategies to overcome groups Linking teacher quality to learning outcomes Teacher deployment to areas Teacher Teachers learning Verifiable teacher quality Monitoring and evaluating of teacher Budgets reforms In-depth country reviews Bangladesh: PEDPIII South Africa: Action Plan to 2014 Towards the realization of schooling Timor Leste: National Education Strategic Plan Cambodia: Education Strategic Plan Discussion and Conclusion Annexes Annex One: Terms of Reference Annex Two: Country Analysis Table Afghanistan Bangladesh Belize

3 5.6 Bhutan Cambodia Ecuador Egypt Ethiopia Gambia Ghana Guinea Bissau Guyana India Indonesia Jamaica Kenya Lao Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Malawi Mauritius Mozambique Namibia Nepal Nigeria Palestine Papua New Guinea Rwanda Sierra Leone South Africa Sri Lanka Sudan Swaziland Tanzania Timor Leste Uganda United Arab Emirates Zambia Zimbabwe Annex Three: References

4 Figures Figure 1: The focus on learning in education policy... 5 Figure 2: Strategies to overcome groups... 8 Figure 3: Strategies linking teacher quality to learning outcomes Figure 4: Detail about teacher deployment to areas Figure 5: Accountability in the education policy Figure 6: Mechanisms for teacher accountability Figure 7: Verifiable indicators relating to learning outcomes and teacher quality Figure 8: Breakdown of costings for and learning reforms Tables Table 1: Budget breakdown costs related to and learning in PEDPIII (US$) Table 2: Timor Leste Projected total education budget expansion ($) Table 3: Timor Leste Further breakdown of budget detail ($) Table 4: Total MOEYS funding Cambodia (Riels Millions) Table 5: Total capital budget Cambodia (Riels millions) Table 6: Total recurrent and capital MOEYS funding (Riels Millions) Table 7: Breakdowns of Financing Plan (Riels Millions)

5 1 Introduction Teacher and quality are crucial in supporting children s learning in schools and evidence shows that policies for better learning place teachers at their core (UNESCO-GMR Team 2004:3). This report provides an overview of how national education and learning. It looks at how learning outcomes, how they link to learning outcomes and how they provide support to and learning. This is important because research shows major gaps in learner achievement (UNESCO Institute of Statistics 2012), as well as teacher education and motivation in many countries (Leu and Price-Rom 2006, Bennell and Akyeampong 2007, Guerrero, Leon et al. 2012). Also, researchers such as Kim and Rouse (2011: 425) critique the Education for All agenda which has shaped education policy in many countries, for its under-consideration of teachers. This report looks at whether this remains the case. The report has been written as a background paper to support UNESCO s Global Monitoring Report 2013, which has Learning and Teaching for Development as its theme. The report s specific objectives are twofold: Objective One: provides a mapping of national education policies on across forty countries in the Arab States, Latin America, the Caribbean, sub-saharan Africa, and South, South East and West Asia. There is a strong focus on how national reforms to, in particular to reach groups. In addition, particular attention is paid to teacher reforms to and improve teacher morale (see: 5.2). Objective Two: provides an in-depth analysis of national education policies in Cambodia, South Africa, Timor Leste and Bangladesh, illuminating further the issues raised in Objective One (see: 3). Both objectives respond to a specific set of questions highlighted in 5.1 (terms of reference). These concentrate on strategies to, links between teacher quality and how policy seeks to overcome the most. Additionally, the report focuses on how policy addresses mechanisms to support, motivate and monitor teachers, and includes sections on teacher governance, accountability, incentivisation and recruitment / deployment. Data has been collated from the National Education Plans of forty countries. Policies were sampled on language (written in English), age (more recent documents were preferred) and location (Arab States, Latin America, the Caribbean, sub-saharan Africa, and South, South East and West Asia). The policy documents were scanned for content and key word searched for a range of information. Time didn t allow a full reading of every document making gaps in evidence possible, but overall patterns should remain. The paper is not a literature review as such and does not engage with many of the key academic debates in the and learning field. The paper is divided into two analysis sections (see: 2 and 3) which respond to the two objectives. Analysis of data is both qualitative and quantitative, with examples of practice given. The concluding chapter draws together findings and provides lessons / observations on strategies to address learning outcomes in policy. 2 Mapping of across national education policies This section responds to Objective One: to provide an overview of in national education policies. More detailed country-level can be found in tabular form in 5.2. The following text responds to the questions found in

6 2.1 Focus on learning in education policy Education policy documents differ in their focus. Around a third of the 40 documents under review include learning as a major focus (see: Figure 1). This is particularly the case in South Africa, Tanzania and Bangladesh, where the focus on learning is fundamental. In South Africa there are 13 output goals, of which nine relate to learning outcomes at different stages of the system (grades, 3, 6, 9 and 12) (Department of Basic Education South Africa 2010); In Tanzania the aim is for an integrated and outcomes-oriented education system (viii) with an immediate priority to establish delivery strategies and actions that emphasize the achievement, improvement and evaluation of learning outcomes and outputs (United Republic of Tanzania 2008:9); In Bangladesh learning outcomes are one of the six results areas (Directorate of Primary Education Bangladesh 2011). Figure 1: The focus on learning in education policy 70% 60% 50% 50% 58% 40% 30% 33% 25% 28% 20% 10% 8% 0% Figure 1 also shows that education policies are more likely to have access to education or the quality of education as their primary focus. While there are obvious links 5

7 between increasing access, quality and better learning outcomes 1, in almost 30% of policy documents an explicit reference to learning outcomes is not made. 2.2 Strategies to Policies to are not always distinct from those to improve quality of education. Most education policy documents include strategies which would enhance both quality and learning, such as, curriculum development, teacher education, reducing teacher: student ratios, classroom conditions and increasing access to relevant resources. Strategies which are particularly geared towards or make the direct link within the text to learning include: Type of school Prioritising development of certain types of schools that are seen to produce better academic results e.g. Kendriya Vidyalayas 2 in India and 1AB 3 schools in Sri Lanka (Ministry of Education Sri Lanka 2006, Planning Commission Government of India 2008); Age / stage of learning Early childhood development (ECD) / pre-primary education with the benefits of early childhood education on future learning highlighted (Ministry of Education Science and Technology Kenya 2005, Ministry of Education and Sports Uganda 2010, Ministry of Education Timor Leste 2011); Providing merit-based incentives for students annually at secondary level (Ministry of Education Youth and Sport Cambodia 2010:27); Whole school approaches Child-friendly schools (Ministry of Education Rwanda 2010); School-feeding programmes (most countries); What is taught Teaching life skills (Ministry of Education and Training Lesotho 2005); Focus on Maths and Science (Ministry of Education and Training Lesotho 2005, Ministry of Education Sports and Culture Zimbabwe 2005, Ministry of National Education Indonesia 2005, Department of Basic Education South Africa 2010); Learning outcomes to be more clearly linked to employment (Ministry of Education Lao 2009); Approaches to Remedial programmes for pupils who haven t reached appropriate standards (Ministry of Education Guyana 2008:36, Ministry of Education Culture and Human Resources Mauritius 2009); Interactive radio instruction (IRI) to teach Maths in early years promoted as a means to improve attainment (Ministry of Education Guyana 2008:36); Language of instruction home language in first two years (Ministry of Education Culture and Human Resources Mauritius 2009, Ministry of Education and Sports Uganda 2010); Focus on teachers School leaders combat teacher absenteeism (Department of Education Papua New Guinea 2009); Use school-based mentors to support teacher training initiatives (Ministry of Education Rwanda 2010); 1 Increasing access should for those children not previously in school, but if not resourced properly, could inhibit learning for those already with access. Improving quality indicators e.g. teacher-student ratio, teacher qualifications, student time spent access to learning materials should lead to better learning. 2 A particular type of school originally for children of defense services personnel. 3 1AB schools have subjects up to GCE-A level in all subject streams. 6

8 Upgrading teachers and rewarding teacher progress (United Republic of Tanzania 2008). School and teacher management School Learning Improvement Plans - with projections of enrolments and staffing requirements and continuing professional development (CPD) for the teachers in that school (Department of Education Papua New Guinea 2009); Offer incentives (i.e. study visits to ASEAN countries) to divisional officials and head teachers of schools and divisions demonstrating highest gain in student achievement (Ministry of Education Sri Lanka 2006); Using learner achievement information Collecting data from assessment tools in order to make improvements in students performance and learning (Ministry of Education and Training Lesotho 2005, Ministry of Education Sri Lanka 2006, Ministry of Education Namibia 2007, Ministry of Education Culture and Human Resources Mauritius 2009, Ministry of Education Jamaica 2009:52, Ministry of Education and Higher Education Lebanon 2010, Ministry of General Education Sudan 2012); Developing guidelines on dissemination of student achievement results to improve self-learning (Ministry of Education Youth and Sport Cambodia 2010:23); Parents and community Involving parents in discussions on their children s learning (Department of Basic Education South Africa 2010). These strategies cover much ground, but there are a couple of points to note. Firstly, those policies with a clear learning aim do not necessarily have different or stronger strategies to than others where learning is less prioritized strategically; only South Africa has a strong role for parents / guardians in supporting learning outside of the school; and the collation of assessment results in order to is prominent. 2.3 Strategies to overcome groups In many countries getting children from groups 4 into school and learning continues to be a challenge. Children from groups are less likely to gain initial access to school and most likely to drop out once there (Hunt 2008). Retention to secondary schooling is often a particular issue and evidence suggests children with low achievement are more likely to leave school early, than those with higher achievement (Boyle, Brock et al. 2002, Hunter and May 2003). This vulnerability in education is particularly evident for poorer children or those from groups. Figure 2 provides an overview of the strategies used to overcome groups forty national education policies. These strategies include activities relating to initial and sustained access, as well as initiatives focused on learning for those children already enrolled. It is often not possible to differentiate strategies to overcome learning obstacles within schools, from those targeting initial access for groups, as the distinction is not made. While in some cases the primary focus may be on getting children into and retaining them in school, all strategies in Figure 2 offer some sort of support to overcoming groups. 4 These children might be from very poor households, orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs), children with special educational needs (SEN), children from minority ethnic groups, those living in very remote areas or urban slums, and female children within these categories. 7

9 Figure 2: Strategies to overcome groups 120% 100% 95% 93% 100% 80% 60% 63% 70% 78% 68% 68% 68% 40% 48% 48% 45% 35% 45% 43% 45% 20% 23% 0% Figure 2 provides a quantitative account of the strategies to overcome learning obstacles 40 education policy documents under review. Included in the graph are interventions that focus more generally on school level inputs, that often have a focus on groups and in turn their learning. For example, in many policy papers 8

10 construction work specifically targets areas where buildings and facilities are generally less developed (e.g. Zimbabwe, Palestine). And policy often emphasizes the importance of ECD initiatives for children from communities (e.g. Lebanon, Namibia, Kenya). Often the direct link between early intervention and continued access and learning are made, such as: Attendance in pre school education has been shown to give children substantial advantages in their later education (Ministry of Education Timor Leste 2011: 65). For those children who fail to access pre-school, Kenya and Swaziland promote a primary readiness programme (Ministry of Education Science and Technology Kenya 2005, Ministry of Education and Training Swaziland 2011). The majority of policy documents mention school feeding programmes, which can both get children into school, but also assist concentration and learning once there. In some cases school feeding programmes are universal (particularly at primary level) and in others they are targeted to specific communities. The local community often plays an important role in supporting these schemes. Interesting initiatives include: Girls being allowed to take home rations as well as eat at school in Ghana (Ministry of Education Science and Sports Ghana 2006); Policy documentation in many countries highlights the role non-state providers (NGOs, community-led providers, religious organisations) have in educational provision, often in areas that the state find difficult to reach or for children who have been unable to access or remain in the state system. These programmes tend to offer educational opportunities to children who would not access education and in many cases the state works with providers to ensure learning is worthwhile, e.g. giving financial support, training of teachers, curriculum support and development of equivalency programmes. Interesting practices include: An apprenticeship scheme in Kenya for child-head of households who would be most likely expected to support younger siblings (Ministry of Education Science and Technology Kenya 2005). There is little acknowledgement of low-cost private providers in education policy documentation. Alternative / flexible schooling is also proposed in around a third of the policy documents. This might include flexible timetabling for schools in areas where children are expected to carry out seasonal work on the land (and would otherwise withdraw) and/or provide ongoing agricultural labour at times which are incompatible with traditional school timetables. It also might include mobile schooling which can move to support the learning of children, often in pastoralist communities or urban areas. Around 20% of policy documents note the role distance education can play, particularly for secondary pupils, where in some cases schools may be a distance away or to support classroom (e.g. Guyana). The focus on teachers is often around: increasing the number of hours teachers work (often with incentives); increasing the number of teachers within the country as a whole; deploying teachers to particular parts of the country often areas; and increasing the number of female teachers and teachers with particular ethnic languages. While the focus of these initiatives might initially be on increasing access to schools, by providing teachers to in-need communities, it can help ensure this access is maintained and learning enhanced. Teachers with specific language skills can support early years learning in particular and female teachers are especially important for girls education. Some interesting practices linked to teachers include: 9

11 Teachers taking on additional responsibilities to target out of school children in order to get them back to school (Ministry of Education Belize 2012). Increasing voluntary retirements of more experienced teachers and those working in night schools, in order to enable increased numbers of (less well paid) teachers in primary and early years in Ecuador (Ministerio de Educacion Ecuador 2007). While there are incentives for initial teacher education programmes in Cambodia and Lao to get teachers from specific ethnic and language groups into, there don t appear to be other teacher enrichment programmes that specifically support the learning of children in communities / with special needs, apart from: Training in multigrade in Cambodia, Kenya and Papua New Guinea. Training to teachers in SEN, for example, in Belize, Egypt, Gambia, Guyana, Kenya, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Tanzania and Swaziland. Additionally only a small proportion of policy papers highlight the need for remedial of students who are falling behind. All countries include a focus on supporting the education of children with special educational needs (SEN), with such initiatives differing quite substantially between policy papers. In part this might be a result of how SEN is being defined, with policies from Rwanda and Afghanistan offering a broad conceptualization, which includes the poor and. To develop schools and support systems that reduce barriers to learning, participation for all children, with special focus on children most vulnerable to exclusion from and within the education system (Ministry of Education Afghanistan 2011: 44). Previously the education of learners with special needs focused exclusively on those with disabilities and though this view has been pervasive the current policy is to view all educationally vulnerable groups of learners such as orphans, street children, children infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS or children heading households - commonly referred to as OVCs - as learners with special needs (Ministry of Education Rwanda 2010: 18) Whilst policies in other countries (e.g. Nepal) appear to link SEN only to disabled children and their access needs into schools. For the most part countries are most keen to include children with SEN into mainstream schools, sometimes with a small numbers of specialized schools. In many cases SEN initiatives appear to be about getting children physically into schools, rather than their learning needs / enhancing their learning once at school. In some policy documents SEN initiatives are written in terms of whole-school inclusive education (e.g. Bangladesh, Lao, Mozambique). In others the focus is on making school buildings and facilities more accessible (e.g. in Sri Lanka all new school construction must include facilities for children who have SEN) or providing tools / support for children (e.g. in Sri Lanka there is a scheme to provide spectacles for needy children). The focus on developing a SEN strategy before starting any intervention (e.g. Guinea Bissau) is more prevalent in a small number of policy documents. Almost half of the policy documents include language initiatives which support children through home language instruction particularly in the early years of provision. The following quote explores the relevance of this for children in Lao: As many ethnic children enter formal school education without a grasp of the Lao language they are automatically when progressing from Grade 1 to Grade 2. This is a 10

12 key cause behind high repetition rates and poor cohort survival rates (Ministry of Education Lao 2009: 20). A small number of documents (i.e. Lao and Cambodia) proactively encourage the recruitment of teachers with specific language skills and include the production of learning materials in minority languages (e.g. Namibia). From a demand-side, almost all policy documents provide either fee-free provision and or bursary / scholarship schemes to target those most in need (almost half provide both). Almost 70% of policies note cutting universal costs for schooling, usually by the elimination school fees 5 particularly at primary level. Research (Ohba 2009) indicates though that even where tuition fees have been eliminated, households costs often remain in terms of uniforms, books / materials, transport, costs of meals, opportunity costs, etc. Almost half of the policy documents note support for payments for these additional costs. A number of policy documents highlight advocacy work to encourage communities to send their children to school, but few note the ongoing role of households and communities might play in supporting the educational progress of children once in school (the exception being South Africa, see: 2.2). Advocacy tends to focus on encouraging: children with SEN into school (e.g. Rwanda, Swaziland); children s access to early years provision in areas (e.g. Palestine, Timor Leste); children s access to non-state provision (e.g. Indonesia); education in conflict areas (e.g. Sudan) and delaying the age of marriage for girls (e.g. Sudan). Overall the focus on children in education policy prioritises access to education, with increased learning a by-product of this increased access. Policies do not tend to focus on the learning needs of these children as distinct from other children or provide specific support to teachers to assist their learning. Training of teachers in multigrade and working with children with special educational needs, might be exceptions to this. 2.4 Linking teacher quality to learning outcomes In just over a half of the education policy documents reviewed a direct link is made between teacher quality and learning outcomes 6. Figure 3 provides detail from these twenty two policy documents with the purpose of providing detail of strategies that link teacher quality to learning outcomes. That said, it is not always possible to identify that the intention of the strategy is to outcomes, as this link is not often made clear. With this in mind, Figure 3 asks the question, what strategies are in place to improve teacher quality in these policy documents. Figure 3: Strategies linking teacher quality to learning outcomes 5 Many of these countries have been fee-free for a number of years and some might not note it in the policy so the actual number may be higher. 6 More prevalent is the link between quality to quality of education (58%), where only in some cases links are made to learning outcomes. 11

13 120% 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 100% 100% 77% 73% 64% 59% 59% 55% 45% 45% 41% 36% 27% 32% 27% 27% 23% 0% Figure 3 shows the strong perceived link between teacher education (both pre-service and in-service) and teacher quality. Further, in relation to quality improvements, almost 80% of the 22 policy documents include strategies for the improvement of teacher education programmes (rather than an increase in numbers of teachers educated) and around 60% have plans for the further training of teacher educators. In some cases there are calls to increase the qualification standard requirements for teachers. Policies include the following interesting and innovative ideas: 12

14 In Bangladesh a Diploma in Education (Dip-in-Ed) will replace the Certification in Education (a one year training course - currently a requirement for newly recruited teachers) by 2014 thus raising the standards of teacher qualification. The use of school cluster-based in-service teacher training in Kenya, Namibia, Sudan and Timor Leste. Mentors operating at school-level in every school to support teacher development in Rwanda. Better inductions / training for newly qualified teachers (NQTs), for example, in Belize. There is less focus in policy on the training of non-formal teachers (around 45% of the this). In some cases this might be due to near-universal state provision of education, but in others it may be a gap. Policy encourages improvements / adaptations to teacher behavior and practice within school settings, with potential links to learning outcomes. Almost half of the 22 policies call for increasing hours or reducing teacher absenteeism, thus increasing time spent in classrooms. And around forty percent of the policy documents focus on teacher accountability for children s almost 60% include a teacher performance management system / competency framework to monitor and guide teacher practice. Both initiatives suggest increased pressure put on teachers to deliver better results. Other government led initiatives are in place to raise the status and working conditions of teachers, thus encouraging a more professionalized force (this includes increased / standardized pay, developing a career structure for teachers and providing licensing for teachers). Whilst these don t directly link to learning outcomes, these initiatives potentially provide motivational incentives for teachers to both remain in and improve performance. Overall it is only possible to infer a link between strategies that link teacher quality to learning outcomes as the reasoning behind the strategy is often not made. An exception to this is South Africa s education policy which both makes an explicit link to teacher quality and learning outcomes and explains the reasoning behind the interventions. 2.5 Teacher deployment to areas More than seventy percent of the 40 policy documents describe measures to encourage the deployment or redeployment of teachers to areas 7. The nature of this deployment varies between countries and is often unclear as to whether it is voluntary or required. Figure 4 provides further of teacher deployment. 7 Lebanon s policy is not included here because while it talks of deployment, the focus on areas is not made. 13

15 Figure 4: Detail about teacher deployment to areas 90% 80% 79% 70% 60% 61% 54% 50% 40% 30% 32% 25% 32% 20% 10% 11% 4% 0% Overall, almost eighty percent of the policy documents that include teacher deployment / redeployment include some sort of incentive for teachers to work in areas. When this is broken down further, around sixty percent of policies that encourage teacher redeployment include a housing incentive for teachers (a place to live) and around thirty percent have a monetary allowance. There are also incentives related to initial teacher education, for example, schemes in Ghana, Cambodia, Papua New Guinea and Liberia prioritise trainees from certain areas (often with specific language skills), through training scholarships. The deployment schemes generally focus on remote rural areas, with around 30% actively encouraging female teachers to these areas (e.g. Afghanistan, Uganda). There are some interesting practices around teacher deployment, including: An attendance incentive / promotion incentive for teachers deployed to areas to encourage access and learning in Nigeria (Federal Ministry of Education Nigeria 2009); An attempt to raise the status of teachers in order to encourage teachers into districts in need, in Indonesia (Ministry of National Education Indonesia 2005); 14

16 A focus on recruiting and training non-formal education teachers in rural areas in Uganda (Ministry of Education and Sports Uganda 2010). Overall there is a sense that getting teachers into areas is of major importance to policy makers. Incentives are provided and trainee teachers from these areas, encouraged into. Not apparent is any certainty that these incentives are successful in shifting locational preferences of teachers, leading to increased teacher numbers where required (see also Zafeirakou 2007: 11). 2.6 Teacher This section looks at how teacher can be linked to learner outcomes in education policy. This connection is not always explicit, with the layout of policy documents at times precluding direct links. With that in mind, I have included examples of connections where available. Teacher recruitment: Teacher recruitment is generally more focused on access to and quality of education, than learning outcomes (for the most part deployment / redeployment of teachers in 2.5 is about equitable access to education). There are some exceptions. The following are examples of policies which link teacher recruitment and learning outcomes: Policy in South Africa highlights the need for the recruitment of new teachers to reach required learning standards: in order to achieve learning outcomes South Africa needs to attract in each year a new group of young, motivated and appropriately trained teachers into the profession (Department of Basic Education South Africa 2010: 3). Policy in Sri Lanka links demand-driven teacher recruitment to quality and learning outcomes: future recruitment will be done only if there is a need for that teacher to be hired. This is the only way to mitigate the adverse situation that is causing poor learning in schools and perhaps has also contributed to the growing private coaching culture (Ministry of Education Sri Lanka 2006: 56). Teacher recruitment and decentralization of teacher recruitment is linked to educational quality in India, which is in turn linked to learning outcomes (Planning Commission Government of India 2008: 10). Teacher development: Teacher development is often linked to learning outcomes as outlined in 2.4 (see also policy in Namibia, Mauritius, India, Palestine, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda). The following text provides explicit examples of how the link between teacher learning outcomes can work out in practice: Policy in Bangladesh directly links teacher development to learning outcomes via the EXAMPLES (Directorate of Primary Education Bangladesh 2011). Policy in Guinea Bissau states that the evaluation of pupils attainment levels will help shape measures to improve performance (Ministry of National Education Culture Science Youth and Sports Guinea Bissau 2010: 38-9). In Kenya there are indicators to see how subject teachers boost the performance of learners in certain districts after INSET training (Ministry of Education Science and Technology Kenya 2005). Teacher Management: In most cases are more likely to be linked to quality and access over learning outcomes in educational policy, but there are some exceptions: In the Gambia, the improvement of school management is one strategy of the Quality Assurance Programme which aims to outcomes in Grades 1 12 (Department of State for Basic and Secondary Education Gambia 2008: 63). 15

17 Policy from Mauritius calls for capacity building of school heads to provide the leadership to effectively manage their schools and improve learner achievement (Ministry of Education Culture and Human Resources Mauritius 2009: 66). In Sri Lankan policy, the link is made between poor leadership and poor learning (Ministry of Education Sri Lanka 2006). In Timor Leste, there are four new school management principles which include quality learning outcomes and aim to improve and learning (Ministry of Education Timor Leste 2011: 80). Overall there isn t a strong link between learning outcomes and teacher management in most education policy documents (although this is probably less the case for teacher development). There are some examples, at times rhetorical rather than strategic. A clearer focus on learning outcomes within the context of teacher deployment and management messages might provide a focus for policy makers interested in addressing learning outcomes more broadly. 2.7 Teachers learning Accountability is included in most educational policy documents, with eighty percent of the reviewed documents including reference to accountability at some level. Figure 5 provides more detail, with just over forty percent of policy documents calling for schools to be more accountable. In 35% of the reviewed policy documents, teacher accountability (mostly for students learning, but also for the quality of education) is included. In some instances, accountability is included, but not defined. Figure 5: Accountability in the education policy 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 35% teacher accountability 10% head teacher accountability 43% school accountability 18% increased accountability but not defined In relation to teachers, how this accountability is meant to work out in practice is often not defined or not well-defined. The exception to this is policy from South Africa where parents and communities are given strategies to hold schools and teachers to account if thirteen output goals are not achieved (see 3.2). 16

18 Figure 6 provides some detail on how education policy includes mechanisms for teacher accountability. Figure 6: Mechanisms for teacher accountability 90% 80% 80% 70% 60% 50% 53% 40% 30% 20% 10% 10% 5% 0% teacher performance management system / competency framework teacher performance related pay teacher / school inspections repurcusions for non-performing teachers Most policy documents have a system of school inspections in place which should review both school and teacher performance and just over fifty percent of the policy documents reviewed call for some sort of teacher performance management system / competency framework. Yet the link between teacher accountability and performance frameworks is generally not clear, with only a third 8 of policies that include a teacher performance framework also including a focus on teacher accountability 9. Teacher performance-related pay is highlighted in policy from Jamaica, Timor Leste, Cambodia and Sri Lanka, for example: Jamaica calls for the implementation of a: performance-based () system with respect to pay to foster a culture among teachers to apply the curriculum and improve the learning outcomes (Ministry of Education Jamaica 2009: 50). 8 Bangladesh, Cambodia, Jamaica, Lebanon, Timor Leste, South Africa, Guinea Bissau. 9 Of the 14 policy documents that highlight teacher accountability though, eight of them include a teacher performance management system. 17

19 Interestingly, only in two countries (Timor Leste and South Africa) are repercussions for nonperforming teachers noted. Policy in Timor Leste states: The quality of teacher management is especially poor. Teacher performance is a problem. Teachers with low qualifications and performance receive the same salary as those with good qualifications. The Teacher Career Regime should improve the situation. The management of the Teacher Career Regime will be a major challenge for the Ministry. Staff discipline and accountability needs to improve. Good performance should be rewarded and staff that consistently fail to show commitment to their job should be removed. Poor teacher attendance is an issue and attendance lists are often either not completed or filled in incorrectly. There is no proper link between attending work and receiving a salary (Ministry of Education Timor Leste 2011: 163). Overall, while there is evidence of a rhetoric of accountability and teacher accountability, there is less structure as to how this might work in practice in most policy documentation. Links to teacher performance management systems are weak and the role of inspections on monitoring teacher performance not clearly made. Policy generally does not provide mechanisms of how parents and communities might look to through increased accountability mechanisms, with the exception of South Africa (see 3.2). Moreover, in only two policy documents are there seemingly implications for teachers if they are seen to be underperforming. 2.8 Verifiable teacher quality This section provides information about the extent to which policy documents include indicators related to learning outcomes and teacher quality (see: Figure 7). For the most part, students are linked to learning outcomes and for teachers relate to teacher qualifications and the numbers of teachers trained. Figure 7: Verifiable indicators relating to learning outcomes and teacher quality 60% 50% 40% 30% 43% 53% 28% 20% 10% 0% learner outcomes number / percentage of teachers trained 8% teacher classroom practices no indicators 18

20 In just over forty percent of policy documents indicators are present for learning outcomes, usually the percentage of students achieving particular grades in country-wide assessments. In many cases this system is not yet in place, with systems of student testing and monitoring to be established. There are slightly higher sets of teachers with around fifty percent of policies including indicators relating to the numbers / percentages of teachers trained within the system. Less evident are indicators on teacher quality relating to classroom practices and teacher behavior. Policy from Belize and Rwanda includes indictors on the teacher competencies / use of methods demonstrated on inspection visits; and policy from Guyana includes indicators on teacher attendance. Almost a third of policy documents include no indicators on and learning, although a large number of these intend to develop student testing systems, possibly to include indicators related to learning in the future. While many and learning, there are around a third that don t. The focus is on quantifiable indicators relating student learning outcomes and teacher qualifications. A broader range of indicators could include more focus on teacher practice and behavior as identified in performance monitoring systems or reviewed in school inspection visits. 2.9 Monitoring and evaluating of teacher For the most part the education policies reviewed do not state 10 evaluated and where lines of responsibility for teacher governance is located. Most policies indicate a decentralizing system, whereby tasks are increasingly removed from central offices and greater autonomy is located locally, in schools and district education offices. While each policy document is different, I try to map examples of where responsibilities for teacher governance lie, i.e. centrally, at district level or within the school / local community. Teacher governance at a national / central level: The focus of teacher governance at a central level is often around setting up systems to map and monitor teacher performance, establish career structures and pathways to promotion, set national salary levels and establish systems for teacher incentives. For example: Inspection / monitoring is organized nationally (often alongside provincial initiatives) in Guyana, Kenya, Mauritius and Jamaica. In Guyana there are plans to establish a centrally based monitoring and evaluation system with indicators (12). This central unit (MERD) will make monitoring visits to a sample of schools to validate data presented by (district) officers on which will focus on and school achievement (Ministry of Education Guyana 2008: 42). In Lesotho there will be the establishment of a National Standard Body that will oversee the development of national standards for teachers professionalism of the service etc. (Ministry of Education and Training Lesotho 2005: 93). In Malawi the Ministry will define career paths at primary level (e.g. PEAs) and other staff grades at district and headquarters level. In addition, the Ministry will finalise and implement staff norms and establishment levels for all education institutions (Ministry of Education Science and Technology Malawi 2009: 29). In Sudan, the MoGE has established a high level working group to investigate policies and system changes that would promote more efficient deployment and utilization of teachers (Ministry of General Education Sudan 2012). 10 E.g. teacher management - deployment, teacher appraisals, accountability, professionalism, pay and incentive system etc. 19