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The goal of this study is to provide a better understanding of how a school system can operate efficiently under adversity. The results of this work will be useful in identifying relevant policies in the Middle East and North Africa region. Palestine refugees are achieving higher-than-average learning outcomes in spite of the adverse circumstances they live under. Their education system the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) operates one of the largest non-governmental school systems in the Middle East. It manages nearly 700 schools, has hired 17,000 staff, educates more than 500,000 refugee students each year, and operates in five areas, including the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. This study examines three: West Bank, Gaza, and Jordan. Contrary to what might be expected from a resource-constrained administration serving refugee students who continually face a multitude of adversities, UNRWA students outperform public schools in the three regions the West Bank, Gaza, and Jordan by a year's worth of learning. This study was undertaken to better understand the reasons for success at UNRWA schools and their positive variation from comparable public schools. Econometric techniques were used to analyze international (TIMSS and Programme for International Student Assessment, or PISA) and national learning achievement data. Pedagogical practices and classroom time-on-task were observed using structured methods (Stallings model). Systems Approach for Better Education Results (SABER) tools were used to better understand the policies and implementation strategies for school and teacher management and for monitoring and evaluation. Additionally, qualitative data were collected and analyzed in line with an education resilience conceptual framework to better uncover factors that help students develop the skills to learn despite the adversities they face.

As visitas escolares a museus de ciência constituem uma oportunidade única para muitos alunos, defendendo muitos professores a sua articulação com o currículo escolar. Embora esta articulação nem sempre aconteça, os jovens estão mais conscientes do papel dos museus para comunicar ciência. Interessa, por isso, saber quais as experiências vividas pelos alunos no museu quando a relação professor museu-aluno não é planejada e, em particular, como aprendem e o que aprendem os alunos nestas visitas. O estudo decorreu no museu de ciência da Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal com alunos, 14-15 anos, em visitas escolares. A observação do comportamento dos alunos e a análise das suas conversas permitiu constatar que em apenas 30% dos 83 diálogos analisados os alunos procuram ir para além da interação superficial com os módulos, explicando e partilhando ideias com os pares. As conversas foram de tipo cumulativo pois as ideias apresentadas no grupo não foram avaliadas ou elaboradas., School visits to science museums provide unique opportunities for many students, and many teachers argue that they need to be linked to the school curricula. Although this link is not always created, youth are more aware of the role that museums play in science communication. It is important to know what students experience in the museum when the relationship teacher-museum-student is not planned. Particularly, how do they learn and what do they learn. This study was carried out in the science museum of University of Coimbra, Portugal with students aged 14-15 ys, in a school visit. Observation of the students’ behaviour and the analysis of their conversations showed that only in 30% of 83 analysed dialogues students sought to go beyond superficial interaction with the exhibits, explaining and sharing ideas with peers. Conversations were cumulative in nature as the ideas presented in the group were not evaluated or elaborated., info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

This paper presents evidence from the first three years of a randomized controlled trial of a government-administered pilot teacher performance pay program in Punjab, Pakistan. The program offers yearly cash bonuses to teachers in a sample of public primary schools with the lowest mean student exam scores in the province. Bonuses are linked to three school-level indicators: the gain in student exam scores, the gain in school enrollment, and the level of student exam participation. Bonus receipt and size are also randomly assigned across schools according to whether or not the teacher is the school’s head. On average, the program increases school enrollment by 4.1 percent and student exam participation rates by 3.4 percentage points, both in the third year. The analysis does not find that the program increases student exam scores in any year. Mean impacts are similar across program variants. The positive mean impact on school enrollment is mainly seen in urban schools and the positive mean impact on student exam participation rates is only seen in rural schools.

Improving education outcomes by disseminating information to parents and thereby encouraging them to become more actively engaged in school oversight is attractive since it can be done relatively cheaply. This study evaluates the impact of alternative approaches to disseminating information about a school grants program in Indonesia on parent knowledge about the program in general, knowledge about the implementation of the program in their child’s school, and participation in school activities related to the program as well as beyond it. Not all dissemination approaches yielded impacts, and different modes of dissemination conveyed different types of information best, resulting in different impacts on behavior. Specifically, the low-intensity approaches that were tried - sending a letter from the principal home with the child, or sending a colorful pamphlet home with the child - had no impact on knowledge or participation. On the other hand, holding a facilitated meeting with a range of school stakeholders or sending targeted short message services (SMSs) to parents did increase knowledge and participation. Facilitated meetings mostly increased overall knowledge and fostered a feeling of transparency on the part of parents, which resulted in greater participation in formal channels for providing feedback to the school. SMSs increased knowledge about specific aspects of the program, such as the grant amount, and tended to increase participation through informal channels.

Improving education outcomes by disseminating information to parents and thereby encouraging them to become more actively engaged in school oversight is attractive, since it can be done relatively cheaply. This study evaluates the impact of alternative approaches to disseminating information about a school grants program in Indonesia on parents knowledge about the program in general, knowledge about the implementation of the program in their childs school, and participation in school activities related to the program as well as beyond it. Not all dissemination approaches yielded impacts, and different modes of dissemination conveyed different types of information best, resulting in different impacts on behavior. Specifically, the low-intensity approaches that were tried—sending a letter from the principal home with the child, or sending a colorful pamphlet home with the child—had no impact on knowledge or participation. On the other hand, holding a facilitated meeting with a range of school stakeholders or sending targeted text messages to parents did increase knowledge and participation. Facilitated meetings mostly increased overall knowledge and fostered a feeling of transparency on the part of parents, which resulted in greater participation in formal channels for providing feedback to the school. The text messages increased knowledge about specific aspects of the program, such as the grant amount, and tended to increase participation through informal channels.

This report presents results of the application of SABER teachers in three administrative divisions of Russia. It describes the performance of Tomsk oblast, Ivanovo oblast, and St.Petersburg in each of the eight teacher policy goals, alongside comparative information from education systems.

This report presents results of the application of SABER teachers in Papua New Guinea. It describes Papua New Guinea’s performance in each of the eight teacher policy goals, alongside comparative information on education systems that have consistently scored highly on international student achievement tests and have participated in SABER-Teachers. Additional detailed descriptive information on the teachers policies of the education systems of Papua New Guinea and other education systems can be found on the SABER-teachers website.

This report presents results of the application of the SABER-teachers tool in Solomon Islands. It describes the performance of Solomon Islands’ education system in achieving each of the eight teacher policy goals, alongside comparative information from education systems that have consistently scored highly on international student achievement tests and have participated in the SABER-Teachers initiative. Additional detailed descriptive information on the teacher policies of the education systems of Solomon Islands and other countries can be found on the SABER-teachers website.

This report presents results of the application of SABER teachers in Samoa. It describes Samoa’s performance with respect to each of the eight teacher policy goals, alongside comparative information from education systems that have consistently scored highly on international student achievement tests and have participated in SABER-Teachers. Additional detailed descriptive information on the teacher policies of the education systems of Samoa and other countries can be found on the SABER-teachers website.