CONCEPT NOTE Leading, Teaching and Learning Together - VVOB

Leading, Teaching and Learning Together Programme overview and Monitoring, Evaluation and Research

CONCEPT NOTE

December, 2018

Concept note: Programme overview and Monitoring, Evaluation and Research

2 December, 2018

In Rwanda, a large number of pupils are currently in school. In 2016, net enrolment rates for primary education were as high as 97.7% (MINEDUC, 2016). The challenge going forward now is to target the hardest-to-reach ensuring that all children of the official primary age group are accessing schooling. Cumulative drop-out by the end of the last year in primary was 41.9% in 2015 and the repetition rate in primary school was 19% (World Bank, 2015). In addition, learning outcomes, especially in primary education, are still very low in Rwanda.

The long term and short-term development strategies of Rwanda have put Education at the center of its long-term development aspirations. Priority area 4 of the National Strategy for Transformation (NST1) covers the strengthening of access to quality education including increasing and improving access to quality and inclusive education for all and increasing completion rates especially in primary and secondary education.

Based on available scientific evidence, VVOB is convinced that two sets of actors play a key role in achieving learning outcomes and well-being for children and youth: teachers and school leaders. Teachers and school leaders are the two most critical sets of actors in raising the quality of basic education in Rwanda, so that young Rwandans have the skills and competencies to succeed in the 21st century. Teachers are crucial when it comes to improving learning outcomes and learner wellbeing. School leaders who support, evaluate and develop teacher quality also have a high impact on learning outcomes.

In the framework of its programme on “Leading, Teaching and Learning Together (2017-2021)”, VVOB will, together with its partners, raise the effectiveness of teachers and school leaders in secondary education by improving the delivery, sustainability and institutionalization of CPD services to school leaders and teachers.

The Rwanda Ministry of Education through the University of Rwanda-College of Education (UR-CE) and the Rwanda Education Board (REB) in partnership with VVOB - Education for Development are implementing a five-year programme referred to as “The Leading, Teaching and Learning Together Programme” (LT)2. The programme focuses on effective school leadership and school-based teacher support, to enhance the implementation of the Competence-Based Curriculum and to improve learning outcomes. At the core of the programme, the afore mentioned partners developed Continuous Professional Development (CPD) trajectories for School Leaders and Teachers, consisting of URCE certified CPD Diploma and Certificate programmes, complemented with Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) and Communities of Practice (CoP) for sharing experiences, best practices and challenges amongst these stakeholders.

The programme is being implemented in primary education in 6 districts in Rwanda and is being scaled up in secondary education in 14 districts. The programme intervention logic for the (LT)2 programme is visualized in the figure 1.

Inclusive and equitable quality education for all male and female learners

Leading, Teaching and Learning Together Programme (2017-2021)

1,300 Primary & Secondary Schools will benefit our current programmes.

2,732 Teachers are committed to strengthen teaching skills by 2021.

2,000 School Leaderswill complete a diploma course on effective school leadership by 2021.

Targeted Districts

Nyagatare

Musanze

RubavuNyabihu

Ngororero

Karongi

Nyamasheke

Rusizi

Kamonyi

Nyanza

Gisagara

Nyaruguru

Gicumbi

Kayonza

Gatsibo

Rwamagana

NgomaBugesera Kirehe

Gasabo

Burera

Gakenke

Rutsiro

Muhanga

Ruhango

Nyamagabe

Huye

Rulindo

Kicukiro

Nyarugenge

Primary Schools

Secondary Schools

Non-intervention districts

Overlap

Kigali

VVOB INTERVENTION MAP 2017-2021

http://rwanda.vvob.be 3


December, 2018

CPD Diploma Programme in Effec-tive School Leadership

CPD programmes in partnership with UR-CE

CPD Certificate Pro-gramme in Educational Mentorship and Coaching

STEM CPD Certificate Programme in Educational Mentorship and Coaching

CDP Support with Quality control by REB

PLC of Head Teachers at sector level

Impact on Learners

School Head Teacher

Head of Department/School Subject Leader

School Based Mentor (SBM)

Sector Education Officer

UR-CE & TTC Tutor

New , initial and experienced Teacher

Deputy HT in Charge of Studies

Scho

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rshi

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tTe

ache

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port

Leading

Teaching

CoP

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Reduced Gender Gap Improved Learning Outcomes /STEM Learners Wellbeing

Primary EducationMathematics for Girls

Secondary Education Young people have the skills and competencies to succeed in the 21st century

Reduced Gender Gap Improved Learning

Outcomes /Maths Learners Wellbeing

Figure 1: The programme intervention logic for the (LT)2 programme

The programme includes the development, design and implementation of three (3) Certified CPD Training Programmes for professional development of Head Teachers, Deputy Head Teachers, Sector Education Officers, School-Based Mentors, STEM SSLs and TTC Tutors (referred to as direct beneficiaries):

1. CPD Training Programmes with certification by URCE

Under this programme, trainees benefit from a CPD Certificate in Educational Mentorship and Coaching to enable them to guide and coach school leaders in leading their schools effectively, or to guide and organise school-based CPD, and to promote reflective practice in schools to advance the implementation of the CBC. It focuses on teacher development as an ongoing process in a teacher’s career including the induction of new teachers, peer learning through PLCs and CoPs, coaching conversation with fellow teachers and other pedagogical skills, assessing teacher professional development needs to inform a CPD plan, conducting a lesson observation and a lesson study, and gender consideration in the facilitation of CPD activities as a significant means for improving quality of teaching and learning.

CPD Certificate Programme in Educational Mentorship and Coaching for SBMs, and SEOs

(20 credits)This programme aims at equipping Head Teachers and Deputy Head Teachers with the competences to fulfil their roles as school leaders. The 5 standards for effective school leadership form the backbone of the programme. Attention is paid to both concentrated and distributed forms of leadership, inclusive education and both task and emotional dimensions of school

leadership.

CPD Diploma Programme in Effective School Leadership (40 credits)

The CPD certificate for STEM SSLs/Head of Departments builds on the CPD certificate for SBMs with a specific application on STEM. SSLs and Head of Departments in STEM will be introduced to a variety of aspects of pedagogical content knowledge for STEM and STEM leadership. Examples related to selected topics of the primary mathematics curriculum or secondary STEM curriculum are drawn, in order to mentor and coach NTs in STEM.

CPD Certificate Programme in Educational Mentorship and coaching for STEM SSLs/Heads of Department

(20 credits)

Two modalities for Continuous Professional Development


4 December, 2018

2. CPD Support in Professional Learning Communities and Communities of Practice with quality control by REB

For head teachers and deputy head teachers PLCs are organised by SEOs at the sector level. SEOs also play a central role in collecting and analysing school performance data. These data form the basis of identifying areas for improvement and establishing collaboration among schools. Through their engagement in PLCs of head teachers, SEOs will obtain better insight in school performance and take more data-driven decisions. In addition, research has underlined the importance of a competent and motivated leader (in Rwanda: SEOs) for PLCs to introduce fresh insights and ideas and avoid group thinking (e.g., Brodie, 2013). VVOB’s experience has confirmed the need for extensive coaching and feedback to help PLC members understand the bottom-up and collaborative nature of PLCs and the positive impact on head teachers’ and teachers’ motivation (VVOB, 2017).

Professional Learning Communities of school leaders at the level of the sector

Communities of Practice are organized for teachers by the SBMs, in collaboration with the STEM SSLs/Heads of Departments and either the head teacher or the deputy head teacher. Activities at the school level may include collaborative lesson preparation, lesson study/observation, case discussions, analysing student work on assessments, analysing marking and record keeping systems, or developing strategies for teaching learners with special educational needs (SEN).

Communities of practice of teachers at the level of the school

VVOB’s experience has shown that trainings alone are insufficient and need to be complemented by strategies that provide continuous support and involve school leaders and teachers themselves. PLCs or CoPs can be an effective form of professional development (e.g., Vescio et al., 2008; Ingvarson et al., 2005). They bridge the gap between theory, policy and practice, focus on practice, provide opportunities to participants to break out of their isolation, create a forum for sharing and contribute to job satisfaction and motivation (Vande Walle and Fransen, 2017). Their cost-effectiveness and embeddedness into existing structures at sector and school level contributes to their sustainability as an instrument for professional development.



December, 2018

Our approach to monitoring, evaluation and research

Impact evaluation Outcome evaluation Process evaluation

Are the objectives being met? Is the programme making a difference, for whom and at what cost?

Monitoring Midline study Operational research

What does implemen-tation on the ground look like? What have we

achieved so far?

Needs assessment Formative research

What is the current status? What are the gaps and good practices? Who is most in need?

Logframe Theory of Change Baseline study

Which intervention will be applied and for whom? How will it be applied?

Eval

uatio

n Assessment

Plannin

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Implem

entation

We strive to conduct high quality monitoring, evaluation and research which complies with scientific and ethical standards. To do so we collaborate with renowned research institutes from around the world and aim to obtain ethical clearance from the Rwanda Ethical Board for all our scientific research activities.

We aim to work with innovative, effective and cost-efficient monitoring tools. As such we are piloting the use of various e-monitoring tools to collect data from the ground.

We use the Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick (2015) evaluation of trainings model as a base for all our monitoring, evaluation and research activities. In practice, this means that we focus on evaluating our CPD training programmes and our CPD modalities at four levels: reaction, learning, behaviour and results. We believe that all four levels need to be measured to make a correct judgement about whether a programme has been successful. The flowchart below visualizes what we do at the different levels.

Figure 2: phases of the programme life cycle

Monitoring, evaluation and research lies at the core of the Leading, Teaching and Learning Together programme. The programme builds on the latest research evidence. Monitoring, evaluation and research is used to inform the design and to shape our CPD programmes, to assess the impact of the programme or the impact of specific programme components and to continuously learn and improve what we do. The flow chart below visualizes the different phases of the programme life cycle and how we apply monitoring, evaluation and research in each of these phases.

Monitoring, evaluation and research

Participatory evaluations after each training session Phone interviews with a

sample of direct beneficiaries of the CPD training programmes

Pre and post knowledge, attitude and practices surveys of direct beneficiaries of the CPD training programmes

Rapid Cycle Evaluation to assess changes in direct beneficiaries of the two modalities (e.g. motivation, competencies) at school level E-monitoring to assess

the implementation of competencíes in practice

Rapid Cycle Evaluation to assess changes at school level (e.g. more student and parent participation) Randomised controlled

trial assessing the impact of induction programme on e.g. new teacher retention, job satisfaction, burn-out rates

Figure 3: Our approach to monitoring, evaluation and research

REACTION LEARNING BEHAVIOUR RESULTS


6 December, 2018

Our topics of interest relate to the two main pillars of our theory of change, i.e. school leadership support and teacher support and two CPD modalities, i.e. CPD programmes and CPD Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). Related to these two pillars, and two CPD modalities, we have completed the following research projects in the recent past:

• Cost-effectiveness analysis of a CPD programme on school leadership; experimental study in which two CPD modalities, CPD training programmes and coaching in CPD PLCs, were compared to a control group (VVOB, 2015)

• Endline evaluation of the LOPE programme; quantitative and qualitative study which focused on improvements in self-reported and observed competences of school leaders (UR-CE, 2016)

• The impact of Professional Learning Communities on headteacher and teacher intrinsic motivation in Rwanda; qualitative study conducted in collaboration with the Education Development Trust (2017)

• Cost-effectiveness of a CPD induction programme for new teachers in primary schools; randomized controlled

trial conducted in collaboration with the HIVA research institute for work and society in Leuven in Belgium and

Maastricht University in the Netherlands. )

• Impact of the CPD training programme on head teachers’ personal interpretative framework; qualitative

research conducted in collaboration with the University of Leuven in Belgium.

• Rapid Cycle Evaluation of the (LT)2 programme in secondary education, with a learning question on impact

at the level of the school; mixed methods longitudinal study conducted in collaboration with the Research Base

United Kingdom.

• Mapping and analysing the existing CPD practices in the school leadership and teacher support systems in secondary schools in Rwanda; needs assessment study (VVOB, 2018)

Our topics of interest, past and current research projects

Key outcomes of some of these research projects are described below under “impact of our programmes”.

There are also new research projects in the pipeline, focusing on the following:



December, 2018

Impact of our programmes

The evaluations we have conducted so far have shown that our programmes have an impact. Not only on the direct beneficiaries of our CPD training programmes (Head teachers, SEOs, SBMs and SSLs) but also on teachers and learners. An experimental study (VVOB, 2015) which assessed the impact of three different intervention conditions (coaching + training; coaching; training) in comparison to a control condition for instance came to the following conclusions:

The end-line study of the LOPE programme (UR-CE, 2016); which compared baseline and end-line results of head teacher and teacher scores for five standards of school leadership showed that:

• A significant improvement was found across the three intervention groups in the application of the 8 dimensions of school leadership as measured with a 360° feedback tool. The difference was bigger for the first two groups (coaching + training and coaching alone).

• The CPD training programme for SEOs was found to change the role of the SEO from a “telling” role to a “coaching” role.• The costs of the different interventions differed with coaching + training being most expensive (£2,07 per pupil) followed by training (£1,35 per pupil) and coaching alone (£1,25 per pupil). Coaching alone was found to be most cost-effective.

• A significant increase in mean scores was found for all five standards and this trend was found for both teacher and head teacher scores.

• The positive trend was found for both male and female head teachers though male head teachers were found to score themselves higher at baseline than female head teachers.

Lastly, a study on the impact of Professional Learning Communities on head teacher and teacher intrinsic motivation (EDT, 2017) came to the following main conclusions:

• PLCs were perceived to improve headteacher motivation, most likely through more and richer professional relationships with others

• More collaboration and peer learning helped head teachers to make joint decisions, increased their sense of competence, inspired action and created an environment of mutual respect.

• A more rewarding working environment was also perceived by teachers, with more space for joint decision making and better relations with students, parents and staff members

Figure 4: Head teacher and teacher assessments of five standards of leadership

References

Brodie, K. 2013. The power of professional learning communities. Education as Change, 17(1), 5–18.

Education Development Trust (EDT). 2016. The impact of Professional Learning Communities on headteacher and teacher intrinsic motivation in Rwanda.

Ingvarson, L., Meiers, M., Beavis, A. 2005. Factors affecting the impact of professional development programmes on teachers’ knowledge, practice, student outcomes & efficiency. Professional Development for Teachers and School Leaders.

Kirkpatrick, J. & Kirkpatrick W. 2015. An introduction to the new world Kirkpatrick model. Kirkpatrick partners LLC.

MINEDUC, 2016. Educational statistical yearbook. Ministry of Education, Kigali, Rwanda.

University of Rwanda – College of Education (UR-CE). Endline report; Professional development trajectory on effective school leadership for primary head teachers through the post-graduate diploma programme. 2016.

Vande Walle, S. and Fransen J. 2017. Developing, supporting and institutionalizing effective professional learning communities, paper presented at 2017 DETA conference, Kigali, Rwanda.

Vescio, V., Ross, D., & Adams, A. 2008. A review of research on the impact of professional learning communities on teaching practice and student learning. Teaching and Teacher Education, 24(1), 80–91.

VVOB, 2015. Coaching school leadership to achieve high level learning outcomes; Outcomes evaluation report. Available from: https://rwanda.vvob.be/publications.

VVOB, 2018. Needs assessment study; Leading, Learning and Teaching Together programme in Secondary Education (2018-2021). Available from: https://rwanda.vvob.be/publications.

World Bank, 2015. Education Statistics Rwanda. Available from: http://datatopics.worldbank.org/education/country/rwanda.

KG 565 st, KacyiruP.O. Box 3776Kigali-Rwanda

T +250 785 702 442 [email protected]

http://rwanda.vvob.be

@VVOBrwanda

@VVOBrwanda

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CONCEPT NOTE Leading, Teaching and Learning Together - VVOB