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Shallwani, S. (May, 2011). Effects of an early education programme in Pakistan. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the Comparative and International Education Society, Montreal. Abstract: The Releasing Confidence and Creativity (RCC) programme focuses on improving access to quality early education and supports pre-primary and early primary classrooms in over 250 government and community schools. The RCC core research study examines the results of the RCC programme on various outcome indicators by collecting in-depth information on a sample of RCC schools and comparison non-RCC schools. As children are affected by factors at different levels in their learning environment (U. Bronfenbrenner, 1979), school-level, classroom-level, and child-level data are gathered annually by trained research assistants working in pairs. School conditions and classroom quality are assessed through a comprehensive observation visit in the middle of the academic year, using locally-developed observation tools. Children’s learning achievement in Grades 1 and 2 (in English literacy, Urdu literacy, and numeracy) is assessed at the end of the academic year through locally-developed curriculum-aligned learning achievement tests. This paper will discuss the effects of the RCC programme on pre-primary and Grade 1 classroom quality, as well as on children’s learning achievement at the end of Grade 1. Emerging findings indicate that the RCC programme has an extremely positive impact on the quality of the learning environment, as well as on children’s literacy and numeracy skills at the end of Grade 1. The benefits are greatest for girls and for government schools which are attended by the poorest children. The results are discussed in light of Pakistan’s national education goals and the objectives of the RCC programme.
Citation preview
Effects of an early education
programme in Pakistan
Sadaf Shallwani
Aga Khan Foundation
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education / University of Toronto
Shallwani, S. (May, 2011). Effects of an early education programme in
Pakistan. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the
Comparative and International Education Society, Montreal.
Contact: Sadaf Shallwani, Department of Human Development and
Applied Psychology, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education /
University of Toronto. http://sadafshallwani.net
Pakistan
� 66% of primary school aged children are enrolled
in primary school (UNESCO, 2009)
� Of those who enroll, less than half complete primary
school
� Highest drop-out rate in Class 1: one out of six
children never makes it to Class 2
� Quality issues, particularly in government schools
and in rural areas (Shami & Hussain, 2005)
� Lack of basic facilities, inadequately trained and often
absent teachers, shortage of learning materials and
books
� Lack of resources invested in pre-primary and
early primary years
Releasing Confidence and
Creativity (RCC) Programme
� Project of the Aga Khan Foundation – Pakistan,
with multiple local partners
� Funded by USAID, and now Dutch government
� Working since 2002 to improve access to quality
early child development (ECD) programming in
Pakistan
� Access to and quality of teaching/learning in
pre-primary, Class 1, and Class 2
� Support families and communities
� Build capacity and commitment of key stakeholders
� Influence policy and practice, strengthen learning
networks
Releasing Confidence and
Creativity (RCC) Programme
� Expand access to and improve the quality of
teaching/learning in pre-primary, Class 1, and Class
2
� Raise awareness and commitment – communities and
stakeholders
� Allocate a classroom for pre-primary if necessary
� Hire teachers for pre-primary
� Train pre-primary and early primary teachers
� Provide materials for the classroom
� Provide ongoing support and monitoring to teachers
Research on impact in Sindh
� Research objective: Examine the impact of the
RCC programme on classroom environments and
on children’s learning outcomes in the province of
Sindh
� A sample of programme schools (RCC) was
randomly selected
� Comparison schools (non-RCC) were randomly
selected from the same districts as the programme
schools
� Programme and comparison schools were
compared on a number of indicators
Indicators
� Classroom quality – assessed using a locally
developed Classroom Observation Tool
� Classroom environment
� Teaching/learning activities
� Interactions
� Aggregate child outcomes
� Attendance, retention, promotion
� Child learning achievement at the end of Class 1
– assessed using a locally developed Learning
Achievement Tool
� English literacy, Sindhi/Urdu literacy, and numeracy
About the sample
� 18 programme (RCC), 17 comparison (non-RCC)**
� School facilities – similar (toilet, water, services
and maintenance)
� Except for outdoor space (non-RCC scored better)
� Physical environment of early years classrooms –
similar
Use of pre-primary curriculum
� 65% of the comparison schools had a pre-primary
curriculum or resource present and in use
� 94% of programme schools had a pre-primary
curriculum or curriculum-related resource present
and in use (p < .05)
Classroom Observations
� Pre-primary observations
� 15 comparison schools (7 did not have a designated
space for pre-primary children)
� 15 programme schools (all had a designated space for
pre-primary children)
� Class 1 observations
� 14 comparison schools
� 15 programme schools
Classroom Observations
Classroom Set-up
� Classroom arrangement p < .01
� Classroom display p < .05
� Availability and accessibility of learning materials p < .01
Teaching and Learning
� Type of teaching and learning activities p < .05
� Instructional style p < .05
� Opportunities for peer learning / group work n.s.
� Engagement in learning activities p < .05
Interactions
� Teacher-child interactions p < .01
� Child-child interactions n.s.
Pre-Primary Classroom Observations:
Availability and Accessibility of Learning Materials
85.7
14.3
00
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
None available Available with teacher direction only Available for frequent independent use
Perc
en
tag
e
Availability & Accessibility of Learning Materials (Pre-primary)
Comparison Schools
Pre-Primary Classroom Observations:
Availability and Accessibility of Learning Materials
85.7
14.3
0
6.7
46.7 46.7
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
None available Available with teacher direction only Available for frequent independent use
Perc
en
tag
e
Availability & Accessibility of Learning Materials (Pre-primary)
Comparison Schools
Programme Schools
p < .01
Pre-Primary Classroom Observations:
Type of Teaching / Learning Activities
100
0 00
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Completely teacher-directed Mostly teacher-directed, some childchoice
Mix of teacher & child choice, withteacher involvement
Perc
en
tag
e
Type of Teaching/Learning Activities (Pre-primary)
Comparison Schools
Pre-Primary Classroom Observations:
Type of Teaching / Learning Activities
100
0 0
40
33.3
26.7
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Completely teacher-directed Mostly teacher-directed, some childchoice
Mix of teacher & child choice, withteacher involvement
Perc
en
tag
e
Type of Teaching/Learning Activities (Pre-primary)
Comparison Schools
Programme Schools
p < .05
Pre-Primary Classroom Observations:
Instructional Style
100
0 00
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Mostly rote and one-answer questions Some questions with more than oneanswer, teacher shows interest
Often questions with more than oneanswer, teacher encourages elaboration
Perc
en
tag
e
Instructional Style (Pre-primary)
Comparison Schools
Pre-Primary Classroom Observations:
Instructional Style
100
0 0
40
46.7
13.3
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Mostly rote and one-answer questions Some questions with more than oneanswer, teacher shows interest
Often questions with more than oneanswer, teacher encourages elaboration
Perc
en
tag
e
Instructional Style (Pre-primary)
Comparison Schools
Programme Schools
p < .05
Pre-Primary Classroom Observations:
Engagement in Learning Activities
71.4
14.3 14.3
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Many children engaged less than 50%of time
Most children engaged more than 50%of the time
Almost all children engaged more than75% of the time
Perc
en
tag
e
Engagement in Learning Activities (Pre-primary)
Comparison Schools
Pre-Primary Classroom Observations:
Engagement in Learning Activities
71.4
14.3 14.313.3
20
66.7
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Many children engaged less than 50% oftime
Most children engaged more than 50%of the time
Almost all children engaged more than75% of the time
Perc
en
tag
e
Engagement in Learning Activities (Pre-primary)
Comparison Schools
Programme Schools
p < .05
Class 1 Classroom Observations
� No significant differences between programme
and comparison schools (except availability of
Numeracy materials)
� Beginning shifts (but very small)
Aggregate Child Outcomes
� Pre-primary attendance (p < .001)
� Comparison schools: 29%, Programme schools: 69%
� Class 1 attendance (p < .05)
� Comparison schools: 48%, Programme schools: 63%
� Retention and promotion – not significantly
different
Class 1 Learning Achievement Tests
English Literacy
0
1
2
3
4
Fill in missing lettersin sequence
Match capital andsmall letters
Circle the vowels Circle word whichbegins with 'k'
Match object withletter
Match object withword
Ave
rag
e s
co
re o
ut
of
4
English literacy
Comparison
Class 1 Learning Achievement Tests
English Literacyp < .001(except vowels: p < .05)
0
1
2
3
4
Fill in missing lettersin sequence
Match capital andsmall letters
Circle the vowels Circle word whichbegins with 'k'
Match object withletter
Match object withword
Ave
rag
e s
co
re o
ut
of
4
English literacy
Comparison
Programme
Class 1 Learning Achievement Tests
Sindhi / Urdu Literacy
2.44
0.61
2.72 2.68
0
1
2
3
4
Fill in missing letters insequence
Join the letters to make a word Match object with letter Match object with word
Ave
rag
e s
co
re o
ut
of
4
Sindhi / Urdu Literacy
Comparison
Class 1 Learning Achievement Tests
Sindhi / Urdu Literacy p < .001
2.44
0.61
2.72 2.68
3.16
1.83
3.59 3.64
0
1
2
3
4
Fill in missing letters insequence
Join the letters to make a word Match object with letter Match object with word
Ave
rag
e s
co
re o
ut
of
4
Sindhi / Urdu Literacy
Comparison
Programme
Class 1 Learning Achievement Tests
Numeracy
2.38
2.97
2.74
2.50
2.11
0
1
2
3
4
Write numbers in correctorder
Identify shapes Match number to correct# of objects
Concept of 'more than' One-digit add / subtract
Ave
rag
e s
co
re o
ut
of
4
Numeracy (Math)
Comparison
Class 1 Learning Achievement Tests
Numeracy p < .001
2.38
2.97
2.74
2.50
2.11
3.40
3.70 3.66
3.46
3.09
0
1
2
3
4
Write numbers in correctorder
Identify shapes Match number to correct# of objects
Concept of 'more than' One-digit add / subtract
Ave
rag
e s
co
re o
ut
of
4
Numeracy (Math)
Comparison
Programme
Class 1 Learning Achievement Tests
Scores (out of 10)
p < .001
Comparison
(Non-RCC)
Programme
(RCC)
English literacy 4.1 6.7
Sindhi / Urdu literacy 5.4 7.7
Numeracy (math) 6.2 8.4
Limitations
� Bias in data collection?
� Measures – reliability and validity assessments
needed
� Gender and age disaggregation would strengthen
learning achievement analyses
� Children at non-RCC schools were more likely to
be coming from home to Class 1 (no pre-primary
experience) – difficult to tease out effects of
exposure to pre-primary education in general vs
exposure to RCC programme in particular
Discussion and implications
� Consistent, clear, and meaningful differences in classroom quality at the pre-primary level (where RCC intervention is most intense)
� Aggregate outcomes – drop-out, retention – not seeing effects of RCC at least in the short-term (yet)
� Clear differences in learning achievement in Class 1
� Long-term effects – Class 2 and onwards
Policy and practice
� Advocacy
� Areas for RCC to increase focus
� Risks of effects disappearing if quality is not sustained in early primary and later primary
� Data suggest that attendance effects are gone by Class 2
