National Snapshot of School Leadership in Rwanda: Preliminary Findings from an Assessment of Professional Standards

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

Proposal

Effective school leadership is a critical factor in improving educational outcomes, yet its application has not been robustly verified within the Rwandan context. To address this gap, in 2018, the Rwandan Ministry of Education designated effective school leadership as a strategic priority. This policy was further solidified in 2020 with the launch of the National Professional Standards for Effective School Leadership (REB, 2020), which articulated specific knowledge, skills, and attitudes for school leaders across five broad areas, including leading learning and teaching. The degree to which these standards have been uniformly integrated across training programs, however, remains a subject of discussion.

The overarching objective of this study is to examine how Rwanda's professional standards are being implemented in practice, identify influencing factors, and assess their contribution to improving teacher instructional practice. The research employs a sequential mixed-methods design, with the first phase of the study utilizing a cross-sectional quantitative survey. The survey was administered via phone to a nationally representative sample of 310 primary school head teachers from all 30 districts in Rwanda. The instrument was developed in alignment with the national standards to assess head teachers' self-reported leadership skills, their perceptions of their practices, professional development experiences, and the relevance of the standards to their daily work.

This presentation will report on the preliminary findings from the quantitative survey data analysis, offering the first-ever national-level snapshot of the status of leadership among primary school head teachers in Rwanda. Descriptive and inferential statistical techniques were used to summarize key variables and explore associations between school leader characteristics and their self-reports on leadership skills and attitudes. The presentation will share insights into the extent to which head teachers’ leadership skills align with national expectations and will identify patterns and differences across diverse school contexts. These preliminary findings provide actionable insights for policymakers and training institutions in Rwanda. By providing a data-driven understanding of leadership practices, the study's results are intended to inform ongoing policy discussions and contribute to both national and global conversations on effective school leadership and its potential for improving learning outcomes.

Authors

• Nikhit D'Sa, University of Notre Dame

• Fernanda Soares, University of Notre Dame

• Vincent Manirakiza