| Abstract |
In-service training (INSET) is a key aspect of teachers' professional development, and should help bring about improvements in teaching practices, sustain motivation and help teachers adapt to changes. But the design of INSET programmes and the context in which they are implemented can make a difference in how effective they are in improving teaching quality and in turn pupil learning.
The Education Quality Improvement Programme in Tanzania (EQUIP-T) is a Government of Tanzania programme, funded by DFID, which seeks to improve learning outcomes in primary education, especially for girls, in seven regions of Tanzania. It focuses on strengthening the professional capacity and performance of teachers; school leadership and management; systems that support regional and district management of education; and community participation in education. In late 2014, EQUIP-T started implementing large-scale INSET for early grade teachers in the programme regions, and in 2015 it delivered reading, writing and arithmetic (3Rs) curriculum training and a series of Kiswahili literacy modules. The core of the delivery model is a continuous cycle of school-based training linked to classroom practice led by a teacher appointed in each school.
The independent impact evaluation of EQUIP-T uses a mixed-methods approach to enable robust estimation of EQUIP-T impact on pupil learning and collection of evidence on pathways of programme influence. The baseline research was conducted in 2014, the midline in 2016, and the endline will take place in 2018. The quantitative baseline and midline surveys cover 100 government primary schools in 17 EQUIP-T districts (and 100 control schools in non-programme districts) and include: Standard 3 pupil tests in Kiswahili and maths; head teacher and teacher interviews; Teacher Development Needs Assessments (TDNAs) in Kiswahili and maths; and observations of Standard 2 lessons in Kiswahili and maths. The qualitative research covers nine research sites that overlap with a subset of the quantitative survey schools. It uses key informant interviews and focus group discussions with head teachers; teachers of Standards 1-3; Standard 3 pupils and their fathers and mothers; school committee members; community leaders; and region, district and ward education officials.
At midline, the IE finds that EQUIP-T's INSET for early grade teachers has contributed to gains in Kiswahili literacy skills for the poorest performing pupils in the EQUIP-T districts. This issues note presents evidence from the IE on changes in teacher performance and how these relate to the EQUIP-T INSET. There are four key findings. (1) Teachers' interactions with pupils in the classroom have become significantly more gender and spatially inclusive since baseline. This is a sign that the EQUIP-T INSET, which covered gender-responsive pedagogy in its early modules, is contributing to behaviour change. (2) There are perceptions of positive changes in general teaching practices but limited evidence from lesson observations to support this. The mixed evidence on changes in effective teaching practices may reflect an improvement in the capacity of teachers to teach well, but this may be constrained by the systemic constraints discussed in this note, including large class sizes. (3) Compared with the official instructional time, early grade pupils in the EQUIP-T districts receive on average 40% fewer actual instructional hours in both Kiswahili and maths. Teachers not attending their lessons although scheduled to teach is a main contributing factor. (4) EQUIP-T has helped improve teachers' classroom attendance, and has thus boosted instructional hours for pupils. But there is still a substantial loss of instructional time, and also a reduction in time during which teachers use and further develop teaching practices learnt during INSET.
This note also discusses three systemic constraints that affect the EQUIP-T INSET, and likely also other INSET programmes operating in similar contexts: high teacher turnover, large class sizes and differences between the language of instruction and the languages spoken by pupils. |
