Leveraging Strengthened School Leadership to Improve Student Outcomes in India

• In Event: Role of School Leaders in Improving Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN): Learnings from Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and India

Proposal

Effective school leadership can be pivotal in enhancing student outcomes, primarily by shaping teaching practices, fostering teamwork among teachers, and boosting teacher satisfaction. Research has consistently highlighted the importance of leadership in driving student success (Leaver et al., 2019; Adelman & Lemos, 2021). Yet limited evidence exists on how to improve the effectiveness of school leaders in improving student outcomes, especially in low- and middle-income countries.

In this study, we evaluated a large-scale school leadership training program in public, residential schools targeting students from marginalized communities in Telangana, India. The program was implemented by Alokit in collaboration with Global School Leaders with a focus on foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN), active learning strategies, school culture, and student safety. As part of the program, principals and vice-principals participated in a mix of in-person and virtual workshops, while a smaller group of them also received one-to-one in-person and virtual coaching sessions.

A randomized controlled trial (RCT) design with two treatment groups was utilized for the impact evaluation. A total of 384 residential schools under the Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society (TSWREIS) and Telangana Tribal Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society (TTWREIS) participated in the program. Treatment 1 schools (150) received training workshops, treatment 2 schools (99) received coaching in addition to training workshops, while 135 schools were assigned to the control group. As part of research activities, a survey with all school principals was conducted at baseline, followed by student learning assessments and a survey with principals, teachers, and students after two years of implementation of the program. We also conducted two rounds of qualitative interviews with school principals and regional and state-level officers to gain their perspective on the program design and effectiveness.

After three years of program implementation and research, we report five key findings. First, the program showed strong potential to improve student learning outcomes. Students in treatment schools showed a modest but meaningful improvement in foundational math skills, a 0.115 standard deviation (SD) increase. Second, the impact of the program is stronger if implemented in a stronger educational system. The strongest gains came from Social Welfare schools, with a 0.19 SD increase in math skills, significant at 99%. Third, in-person coaching strengthened the impact to a small extent, raising concerns for its cost-effectiveness. Fourth, the program saw a stronger uptake overall, especially when backed by senior government officials; however, there could be external factors that could compromise the uptake as well as the research design, such as large-scale transfer. Fifth, school principals, vice-principals, and teachers really appreciated the support received from the program and showed a stronger commitment to pursue the program, indicating stronger program sustainability.

Authors

• Dewi Susanti, Global School Leaders

• Gautam Anand, Global School Leaders