Perceived impact of a digital self-assessment tool to enhance resilience and quality of education in rural Uganda

• In Event: Teachers, Competencies and Development

Proposal

In Uganda, close to 100% of primary age students attend primary school. In general however, schools face severe quality challenges. Just over one third of the students who started primary in the late 2000’s, qualified for the last grade by 2016 and only 59 % of those who did manage to complete primary transitioned to secondary school (UNESCO, 2020). Moreover, even after reaching the final year of primary, 30% cannot read and understand a story in English which is main language of instruction and the nation’s official language (UWEZO, 2016). With widespread school closures brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the learning crisis has escalated to new heights. Against this background, in 2022-2023, the intervention that central to this research was carried out by Edukans-Uganda in close cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Sports in rural primary schools in 200 primary schools in five Ugandan districts (located in Lango and central Buganda sub-regions). It was supported by the Belgian Development Agency ‘Enabel’ as part of the Wehubit programme which uses digital social innovation as a vehicle for accelerating inclusive and sustainable development.
A large body of evidence suggests that the quality of teaching and learning is one of the main drivers of the variation in student learning in schools. An increasing amount of studies, albeit scarce in sub–Saharan African (SSA) contexts, suggest that school leadership is a significant factor for school effectiveness. Models of successful leadership include elements of instructional and transformational leadership and team building (e.g.: Global Partnership of Education, 2019; Grissom et al., 2021).
The intervention entails the introduction of a digital self-assessment tool for school improvement. This tool, ‘EDU-Q Card’, helps head teachers detect problems that require immediate action. Thess heads involve fellow teachers, students, parents and community members in this process. This intervention provides a fresh and innovative perspective on school improvement in challenging contexts. It ensures meaningful contribution of community members who otherwise are not heard in the process of decision making and it applies a digital innovation for first-time users.

The tool is designed to generate immediate reports and provide instant feedback for self-monitoring. To facilitate communication with often illiterate community members, reports are simplified, using different colors and emoticons in addition to the actual numbers. Head teachers take the lead in a process of collaborative self-assessment. In this process, teaching staff, parent and community members simply monitor the education quality in schools and engage in a dialogue on the basis of their findings resulting in a shared School Improvement Plan (SIP).
The tool provides a solution for the challenge Ugandan head teachers face to meet the formal requirement to make a SIP with full participation of the parents and other stakeholders. Using principles for innovative school community models (Korhonen et al., 2014), the EDU Q-card addresses the development of students’ learning and learning environments, teachers’ professionalism and competence in teaching, school leadership and partnerships. This incentive is in line with the ecological model of Bronfenbrenner (2006); it proposes that the development of an individual in any given context is shaped by the interaction with its different surroundings (Bronfenbrenner, U., & Morris, P. A., 2006). By including multiple layers of the surroundings, it is presumed that more sustainable change can be achieved.
Following the previous line of thinking it becomes apparent that the introduction of an educational innovation succeeds or fails with the teachers who need to implement it (Lieberman and Pointer Mace 2008; Ilomäki, L., & Lakkala, M. 2018). Therefore, the research made use of the experiences of the head teachers to see the effectiveness of the tool in their schools. Data collection was guided by the following research questions:
1. What professional needs of head teachers in Ugandan schools are answered in the design of the tool and assessment approach?
2. How do the head teachers use the assessment tool in practice?
3. What is working well and what are the constraints in working with the assessment tool?
The research made use of a mixed qualitative methodology including the review of existing literature, focus group discussions and interviews with key project beneficiaries and actors including Center Coordinating Tutors (CCTs), Inspectors of schools, project implementation team, head teachers and deputies, school management committee/PTA members. Also head teachers were observed on how they used the tool. By doing so the use of data triangulation is achieved (Heale, & Forbes, 2013) and the richness in experiences of the head teachers is captured (Bryman, 2008). Sampling was purposive and four (4) schools were visited; 2 in Luwero district and 2 in Nakaseke district. The schools were visited in two rounds to include a learning element typical to action research.
Results reveal that the digital self-assessment instrument supports the capacity building of the head teachers as it equips them to more effectively monitor and support daily teaching and learning practice and involve teachers, parents and community in making a SIP together.
“There is now more engagement of the school management committees and PTA than before, … school environments have greatly improved, feeding programs have been initiated, sanitation facilities have become tidier, and parents have become more concerned with school attendance of their children” CCT Luwero.

The relationship between the school and community was described as cordial, this facilitated joint school improvement planning. It was observed that head teachers developed deeper understanding of their roles and professional needs. The tool adequately provided opportunities for the head teachers to strengthen their capacities to critically undertake such roles and do this in contact with teachers and community members.
A limitation was the short duration between the first and second round. This implied that the schools had insufficient time to implement recommendations. Nevertheless, the study offered valuable input for discussion on how this tool might be further replicated in Uganda and other countries. Discussion would help determine appropriate next steps for further research, new ways to apply this digital assessment resource as and applicability of the approach in other country contexts.

Authors

• Mark Hoeksma, Edukans

• Pamela Kertho Kertho, Edukans Education Services

• Suzan Wietsma, Edukans Foundation