Users, functions and findings: The evolution of classroom observation tools for literacy instruction in Uganda

• In Event: Developing and using classroom observation instruments to improve early grade reading (EGR): experiences, lessons learned and guidance

Proposal

This presentation seeks to share experiences and lessons learned from developing, testing, and adapting a classroom observation tool for use in an early grade reading program in Uganda. Used by government officials, teacher coaches, program staff, and head teachers, the tool is designed to meet a variety of needs: coaching, monitoring, reporting, and informing policy and programming. To meet these requirements and still be ‘user-friendly’ for stakeholders with varying levels of expertise in observation and pedagogical support, the program’s CO tool has been adapted in several important ways, including the evolution from a paper-based tool to an electronic tool that provides scripted feedback.

A critical point in the evolution of these tools has been the recognition that the flow of data coming in and expectations for its use needed to change to be more sustainable. Through this process, program staff have negotiated trade-offs between the depth of information a single tool can collect and the breadth of its reach across various purposes. As a case in point, the program recognized through field visits and interviews that not enough steps were being taken by local government in response to the findings of school monitoring visits. To drive action, the program tested and introduced an approach through which program staff guide local government officials to develop, use, and analyze findings from their own tool during monitoring and supervision activities.

As the program’s CO tool was divided into two tools to meet separate coaching and monitoring needs, early anecdotal evidence suggests a high level of uptake of both by target users, and the measurable impact of these tools on the quality of teacher performance and support will be shared during the presentation.

Many programs experience similar tension between needing a single tool to serve many purposes and the reality of limited user capacity and/or lack of sustainability. By conducting ongoing research on how the classroom observation tool is being used and reflecting on the changing needs of the intervention, the program has navigated tool development from meeting initial reporting and monitoring demands, to focusing more specifically on the teacher-coach interaction, to ensuring post-project sustainability through a research component taken on by government actors. This presentation will examine how the program created opportunities for research and reflection on the alignment of CO tools to the demands of the program, barriers to tool use and uptake, and how data from CO tools are being utilized to ensure an agile approach to classroom support.

This presentation also aims to spark a broader discussion around the data captured by classroom observation tools: How can information flows continue after a program ends? Who needs the data captured and what purpose does it best serve? How can analysis and ownership of the data be transferred and sustained?

Author

• Rachel Jordan, RTI International