Scaling Educational Programs: Case Studies from Uganda, Honduras, and Colombia

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

The challenge of bringing promising educational innovations to scale continues to be a key area of concern for educational practitioners, researchers, policymakers, and reformers (Morel et. al., 2019; Curtiss Wyss, et. al, 2023). Understanding that no one approach to scaling will ever prove suitable to every project and context, the key task before these groups is to identify promising features and characteristics of approaches to scaling in order to inform future decision making. Coburn, 2003 and Morel et.al., 2019, through their analyses of educational scaling attempts, provide valuable contributions to the field. This panel presentation draws from four distinct studies, three related to the educational programs originating from a single organization, yet implemented across distinct continents, and the last related to the example of an innovative school management program in Uganda.
The papers are connected by a view of scaling that is consistent with that articulated by Coburn (2003) where, “to be ‘at scale’ reforms must effect deep and consequential change in classroom practice.” Here, “deep change” refers to altering teachers’ beliefs, norms of interaction, and pedagogical principles as enacted in the classroom. In other words, it goes beyond surface structures or procedures (such as changes in materials, classroom organization, or the addition of specific activities) (2003, p.4).

Background: FUNDAEC and Scaling

In addition to this conceptual connection regarding the concept of scaling, three of the four panelists present findings from case studies connected to an initiative that began in 1974, when a group of scientists and professionals, in search of “a more appropriate role for science, technology, and education in the development of rural areas” in Colombia, came together to form an organization known as the Foundation for the Application and Teaching of the Sciences (FUNDAEC) (Arbab et.al., 1988). Following almost a decade of action and learning with youth in the fields of education and development, FUNDAEC developed an alternative, formally recognized secondary education program directed at rural populations. The program, known as the Tutorial Learning System (SAT), helped rural youth acquire an intellectually rigorous yet locally relevant education that “covered the areas of knowledge traditionally taught in formal educational systems,” yet endowed learners with “social vision and useful skills” to work on their families’ farms and to provide valuable service to their community (Arbab et.al., 1988). Over subsequent decades, SAT was adopted and implemented by numerous organizations around Colombia, and eventually implemented in parts of Honduras, Ecuador, and Nicaragua. Later, beginning in the mid-2000s, a selection of SAT materials were re-envisioned for a wider audience and repurposed as an informal educational program for youth outside of Latin America, resulting in the Preparation for Social Action (PSA) program.

Throughout the decades dedicated to extending the scope of influence and implementation of its educational programs, FUNDAEC has maintained a coherent approach to scaling. Rather than view its programs as centering around the adoption of novel techniques or teaching methods, FUNDAEC advanced an approach of institutional accompaniment that dedicated years to training organizational staff in the use of its materials and in understanding its underlying conceptual framework. This approach to scale involves features similar to those described in Morel et.al.’s “replication” and “adaptation” conceptualizations of scale (2019). On the one hand, organizations adopting the SAT and PSA programs were aided to adopt and implement, over many years, the new program with fidelity. Far from blind imitation, the process of adoption required deep understanding of the new local context, of the “core principles” or explicit conceptual framework of the program, and centered around prolonged accompaniment and capacity building of organizational staff. Similarly, rather than fidelity and imitation being the end goal, adopters of FUNDAEC’s educational programs are encouraged to first understand the material deeply, then take ownership for its implementation and adaptation to the new context.

Presentations: Four case studies on different dimensions of scaling

Among the goals of the panel is to challenge dominant conceptualizations of scale in educational programs which prioritize quick and largescale adoption. FUNDAEC took decades to develop its learning, then spent additional decades accompanying institutions and organizations to understand the conceptual framework of its programs so that meaningful ownership of the educational process was possible. In turn, organizations like Kimanya-Ngeyo are learning to follow this approach as it scales its teacher training activities in Uganda. Additionally, other examples of the power of accompaniment and a focus on relationships to bring innovations to scale and improve learning are explored. Ultimately, this panel will present concrete examples of how “deep change” can be accomplished across diverse educational settings.

The first two presentations review the growth and influence of the SAT program in Colombia, as well as its eventual adaptation and transfer to Uganda in the form of the PSA program. During these presentations the core principles of FUNDAEC’s educational programs, as well as its approach to institutional capacity building, are examined in case studies from Uganda and Colombia. Ultimately, lessons from the scaling of SAT and PSA are linked to an emerging approach to scale envisioned for Kimanya-Ngeyo’s teacher training program in Uganda.

The third presentation highlights the role of solidarity between parent groups and community governance of schools. It contrasts a dominant framework that assumes community groups act as monitors to enforce a pre-determined set of best practices with a more complex dynamic of solidarity. The presentation raises the question of how future intervention designs can leverage and cultivate such relationships during efforts to scale.

The final presentation examines the theme of accompaniment as a core principle of scale in FUNDAEC’s educational programs. It explores how two connected educational innovations have leveraged the concept of teacher accompaniment to improve teaching and learning outcomes for middle and high school students in Honduras (via the Sistema de Aprendizaje Tutorial, SAT program) and Colombia (via the Preparation for Social Action, PSA program). Accompaniment emphasizes the relationships between teachers and mentors, as well as the centrality of reflection to assist teachers in thinking through ways to improve their teaching practices.

Sub Unit

• General Pool

Chair

• Erin Murphy-Graham, University of California Berkeley

Individual Presentations

• Government Partnership in Evidence-Informed Competency-Based Teacher Training through CPTCs - Vesall Nourani, University of Chicago

• Rethinking Scale for Deep and Lasting Change in Teacher Education: Lessons from Uganda - Joseph Lample, Kimanya Ngeyo Foundation for Science and Education

• Accountability vs. Solidarity: Engaging Communities in School Management in Ugandan Primary Schools - Vianney Mbonigaba, Innovations for Poverty Action; Sarah Kabay, Innovations For Poverty Action

Discussant

• Michele Schweisfurth, University of Glasgow