BackHome
Refresh: OffView Personal Schedule
Individual Submission Summary
Share...

Direct link:

Long-term Impacts of Intensive Literacy Teacher Support Program on Schools and Teachers: 8-year Follow-up of QITABI in Lebanese Public Schools

Mon, March 11, 8:00 to 9:30am, Hyatt Regency Miami, Floor: Terrace Level, Orchid A

Proposal

Background
Despite the increasing interest in the long-term outcomes and implications of complex international development efforts seeking multi-level systems change (Gez, 2021), they are rarely documented due to the factors such as: questions of power and voice, processes of implementation, and limited funding. If they are, they tend to focus on whether a project was a success or a failure for the individuals the intervention sought to reach. While important to understand, this approach ignores the impact on critical settings-level capacities (Tseng & Seidman, 2007; Kim et al., 2022) that systems-strengthening approaches seek to build - and which can have a sustainable and wide-reaching “afterlife” beyond the space and time of a specific program. To address this gap, this study evaluates the sustained impacts of a set of intensive and long-term QITABI programming targeted to improve Arabic literacy teaching practice and build positive school environments in Lebanese public schools, 8 years after the initial randomization and program implementation.

Experimental design

Of the 878 Lebanese public primary schools that were operating in the academic year 2015-16, 260 schools were randomly selected to receive the intensive Arabic literacy teacher support and coaching program starting in 2015-16 (N=140) and 2016-17 school year (N=120) until 2019, after which they continued to receive a scaled-up version of QITABI programming with some additional services and monitoring (7-8 years of high-intensity services). The remaining 618 schools were assigned to the waitlist control group and provided with access to a scaled-up version of some components of the program, including teacher training and literacy resources as of 2019 (4 years of low-intensity services). By the 2021-22 school year, 863 schools remained open; while some schools were closed or merged with other schools. An analysis with detailed school-level service delivery records and school closing and merging information confirmed the minimal risk of school-level contamination across treatment and control groups.

Data and Analysis
To examine the long-term impacts of intensive Arabic literacy programming, the QITABI practice and research partners are co-conducting nationwide surveys targeting all principals and teacher surveys targeting all public primary schools in Lebanon (N=863). All principals and Arabic teachers teaching grades 1-4 are invited to participate. Outcomes assessed in the survey include: 1) principal awareness of and engagement with QITABI 2) teacher instructional practice, self-efficacy, and job satisfaction, using measures developed by the research-practice partnership to ensure the validity and relevance in the Lebanese context.

Intent-to-treat impacts will be tested using structural equation modeling, accounting for measurement errors and attrition. The analysis will be conducted by the research partner with support and consultation with the practice partner, based on research plans co-constructed between the partnership. The findings will be collectively interpreted by the partnership in consultation with QITABI consortium members, relevant Lebanese government officials, as well as with principals and teachers.

Discussion
The findings will provide valuable information on the long-term school-level outcomes and implications of a complex international education systems strengthening effort, based on a collaborative approach that seeks to re-envision research-practice partnerships in international development.

Authors