Enrollment without Learning: Teacher Effort, Knowledge, and Skill in Primary Schools in Africa

Abstract

School enrollment has universally increased over the last 25 years in low-income countries. Enrolling in school, however, does not assure that children learn. A large share of children in low-income countries complete their primary education lacking even basic reading, writing, and arithmetic skills. Teacher quality is a key determinant of student learning, but not much is known about teacher quality in low-income countries. This paper discusses an ongoing research program intended to help fill this void. We use data collected through direct observations, unannounced visits, and tests from primary schools in seven sub-Saharan African countries to answer three questions: How much do teachers teach? What do teachers know? How well do teachers teach?

Enrolling girls without learning: Evidence from public schools in Afghanistan

“…Our analysis once again confirms that enrolment does not imply learning. This finding adds to the recent evidence for South Asia and other developing countries as to the ineffectiveness of government schools in teaching numeracy and literacy and a shallow gradient in learning with respect to school enrolment and grade (Asadullah & Chaudhury, 2013; Alcott & Rose, ; Asadullah, ; Bold et al., ; World Bank, ). The findings are also consistent with Pritchett and Sandefur () who use Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) data on reading ability among adult women in 51 developing countries and conclude that universal female literacy is unlikely to be achieved through girls’ universal completion of primary school.…”

The Lost Human Capital: Teacher Knowledge and Student Achievement in Africa

“…In particular, we investigate the role of teachers' knowledge of the subject they teach, using unique cross-sectional data collected from nationally representative surveys of schools in Kenya, Nigeria, Mozambique, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo, and Uganda (these countries, together, represent close to 40 percent of the region's total population). The data quantify teacher quality along three core quality dimensions: time spent teaching, teachers' knowledge of the subject they are teaching, and teachers' pedagogical skills (see Bold et al 2017). Unlike many other large-scale data collection efforts, which assess students and teachers using multiple choice items and thus introduce additional chance variation in test scores, the data we use are collected using one-on-one tests for students, and test scores for teachers that are derived from mock student tests marked by the teachers.…”

Education and adult health: Is there a causal effect?

“…This could be a problem if either of two conditions meet: 1) the quality of the additional education is lower in the South; ii) there 20 For instance, Pischke and Von Wachter (2008) provide evidence for Germany that reforms increase time at school, but not the quality of education provided. Bold et al (2017) for evidence on the relationship between quality of education and returns to it. Recently, Glymour and Manly (2018) also proposes a similar explanation for the mixed findings across CSL studies on education and health.…”