Quality of School Interactions and Student Wellbeing: Impacts After One Year of a School-based Program in DRC

• In Event: Journal on education in emergencies: Launching the inaugural edition

Abstract

Improving education quality for millions of children worldwide has become a global priority. This study presents results from the first experimental evaluation to test the impact of a universal school-based program on the quality of school interactions (i.e., students' perceptions of the levels of support/care and predictability/cooperation in the school and classrooms) and students' subjective wellbeing (i.e., peer victimization and mental health problems) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a low-income country affected by decades of conflict. The evaluation employed a cluster-randomized trial, whereby clusters of two to six schools were the unit of randomization. Sixty-three schools nested in 39 clusters, with 3,857 students in second through fourth grades were included in the analyses. After one year of partial implementation, multi-level analyses showed promising but mixed results. The program had significant positive impacts on students' perceptions of supportive and caring schools and classrooms, but negative impacts on students' sense of predictability and cooperation. Average program effects on students' subjective wellbeing were not statistically significant, but differential impacts were found for sub-groups of students. Future directions and implications are discussed.

Author

• Nina Weisenhorn, International Rescue Committee (IRC)