Measuring early childhood learning in Rwanda

• In Event: Together for Early Childhood Evidence: Building data-informed early childhood education systems

Proposal

The Ministry of Education of Rwanda has made improving the quality of pre-primary education a priority; they have developed an official pre-primary curriculum, established quality standards and have designated staff to inspect and monitor schools. However, there is limited data on the quality of the classroom environment to guide decision-making. The current monitoring system does not include the collection of data on the quality of teaching and learning in pre-primary classrooms, and inspectors are not trained in this area.

Under the Together for Early Childhood Evidence project, the team expanded the scope of an ongoing International Development and Early Learning Assessment (IDELA) study to i) enhance quantitative data about the quality of pre-primary classroom environments using the IDELA Classroom Environment (IDELA-CE) tool, and ii) build the capacity of government officials to monitor quality pre-primary learning environments. This project trained government officials in how to i) assess the quality of pre-primary learning environments using the IDELA-CE and ii) use the findings and data to improve students’ experiences and learning.

The IDELA study found that higher quality classrooms were associated with the presence of more experienced teachers, longer length of support from a non-governmental organization (Save the Children, in this case), and presence of a nutrition program at the school. In addition, higher quality classrooms were associated with stronger learning and development skills for children. Resources and teaching related to literacy and numeracy, as well as interactions between teachers and children were most highly correlated with children’s skills. Classrooms rated as having poor quality were associated with particularly low student learning scores.

The project also effectively built the capacity of government officials to collect and use data on pre-primary quality. For many of the government officials trained and involved in the IDELA-CE data collection, this was their first time in an ECE classroom. Anecdotal evidence demonstrated that this experience helped them to better understand how young children learn (through play) and the challenges faced by teachers including a high teacher: student ratio, insufficient learning materials, and lack of required skills to support children’s learning and development.

Prior to implementing the IDELA-CE, data on quality of preprimary classrooms was scarce. Now, building on this experience and leveraging the strengthened coordination and data use by government officials, results and findings from the report can help to shape policy recommendations and interventions to address areas of need.

In addition, the involvement and capacity building of local officials to collect and utilize classroom-level data has helped to shape a more positive data-use culture in Rwanda. The data has helped local education officers to better direct resources, budgets, and organize teacher training based on identified areas of need. Recognizing the importance of quality early childhood programming and the use of data, many district officials have committed to continue including ECE classroom observation in their ongoing monitoring plans and to expand this training to other staff in their districts.

Author

• Theoneste Niyonzima, USAID RWANDA