Search

The study assessed school based-management committees' (SBMCs') involvement in Managing public primary schools in Maiduguri Metropolis Borno State, Nigeria. The objectives of the study were to assess: SBMCs' involvement in provision of educational resources; maintenance of educational resources and SBMCs' involvement in maintenance of discipline among pupils in public primary schools in Maiduguri Metropolis, Borno State, Nigeria. Three research questions were answered. Survey research design was adopted for the study. Simple random sampling technique was used to select 19 head teachers out of the population of 39 head teachers of public primary schools in Maiduguri Metropolis, Borno State. Questionnaire was used for data collection. The questionnaire was validated and pilot tested. The validity index yielded a coefficient of 0.78, while the reliability index yielded a coefficient of 0.72. Mean and standard deviation were used to analyze the data. The findings of the study revealed that there were passive SBMCS' involvement in the provision of educational resources, there were active SBMCS' involvement in the maintenance of educational resources, as well as active involvement in maintenance of discipline among pupils in public primary schools in Maiduguri Metropolis Borno State, Nigeria. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that government should create awareness to enlighten parents, alumni, community leaders, religious leaders on the importance attached to SBMCs involvement in provision and managing educational resources as well as maintenance of discipline among pupils in public primary schools in Maiduguri Metropolis, Borno State, Nigeria.

This study qualitatively explored the effectiveness of the strategies used by teachers in developing writing accuracy and coherence among public primary school pupils in Nantumbo District, Tanzania. It used the case study design involving the population of 736 purposefully sampled individuals including 16 teachers and 720 pupils from eight (8) schools in Namtumbo District Council. The study used classroom observation, focus group discussion, classroom continuous assessment and documentary review in data collection. Content analysis was adopted to analyses data and the findings revealed that teachers used various strategies in teaching how to write alphabetical letters including scaffolding, brief explicit lessons, alphabetic order, songs and teaching aids. It was further found out that some of these strategies such as using a talk-chalkboard strategy to teach punctuation marks were not effective to scaffold pupils and make them master writing. The study recommends teachers to use interactive strategies to enhance students’ acquisition of the writing skills.

This paper aims to investigate the spatial equity and accessibility of public primary schools in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, Nigeria. The study analyzed the distribution of public primary schools and identified spatial disparities or inequities in accessibility to these schools. Both primary and secondary data sources were utilized to determine the spatial distribution of public primary schools and population distribution in the area. The results reveal that the distribution of public primary schools was uneven and not based on population distribution in the study area. To address this, the study proposes the establishment of more than 120 primary schools to ensure that each ward has an adequate number of schools to serve its population. The study recommends policy interventions to address these spatial inequities and ensure that all children, regardless of their geographic location, have equal access to education. The study seeks to promote spatial equity and ensure that all children in the study area have equal opportunities to access quality education.

Gifted and talented learners exhibit personality characteristics that make them manifest different competencies to undertake tasks that their peers cannot. However, in Nairobi County, learning competencies of talented and gifted pupils in public primary schools are below average. Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between achievement motivation characteristics and academic achievement among gifted and talented learners in public primary schools in Nairobi County. The study adopted a field survey research design. Target population comprised 3,247 teachers and 19,863 learners in classes VI-VIII totalling 23, 110 participants from which a sample of 391 respondents was determined using Yamane’s Formula. Stratified sampling was used to create 17 strata based on number of sub-counties in Nairobi County. From each sub-county, 13 teachers and 10 gifted and talented learners in classes were randomly selected. This procedure realized a sample of 221 teachers and 170 gifted and talented learners in classes VI-VIII. Questionnaires were used to collect data from teachers and learners. A pilot study was conducted among 40 respondents from a sample of public primary schools in Nairobi County to establish validity and reliability. Validity was ascertained based on the views of experts in educational psychology and special needs. Reliability was determined using split-half technique and reliability coefficient, r = 0.725, was obtained using Cronbach’s Alpha Method which indicated high reliability. Qualitative data were analysed thematically along the objectives and presented thematically in narrative forms. Quantitative data were analysed descriptively using frequencies and percentages and inferentially using Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Analysis with the help of Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS 23) to test the hypotheses. Quantitative findings were presented using tables and charts. Results indicated that gifted learners in Nairobi County public schools benefitted from achievement motivation. Analysis of the results addressing H0: showed that achievement motivation has a statistically significant influence on academic achievement among gifted and talented learners in public primary schools in Nairobi County. The variable is positively correlated with number work activities (r = .581, p = .001), language activities (r = .556, p = .002), and essential life skills (r = .514, p = .004). It was recommended that Teachers and parents should create an appropriate learning environment for gifted pupils in public schools to create a positive self-concept, motivation, regulated learning, and problem-solving approach to improve their academic achievement.

This study investigated the School Quality Assurance (SQA) strategies in enhancing learning achievement among Public Primary Schools (PPSs) in Arusha Region, Tanzania, using a cross-section descriptive design. Interviews and questionnaires were used to collect data from 226 participants. Qualitative data was analyzed using a thematic approach and quantitative data through descriptive statistics, ordinal regression and Spearman’s rho correlation. The study revealed that visiting schools regularly, follow-up visits, releasing SQA feedback on time, friendly language, supporting professional development, visiting schools without prior information and involving teachers in SQA practices enhanced learning achievement. Poor transport facilities, shortages of SQAOs and inadequate SQA facilities limited the implementation. While insufficient fund caused SQAOs failure to visit every school in a year, delayed written reports made schools fail to implement SQA recommendations on time. The study recommended that the government of Tanzania should allocate required resources such as employing more qualified officers, adequate provision of funds and transport facilities to facilitate SQA practices. Furthermore, the government needs to support SQAD by continuously conducting short courses on lesson preparation and classroom management in order to support teachers in improving teaching skills. SQAOs need to handle teachers in a friendly manner that promotes trust, thus enhancing quality of their exercise.

This study focused on the perceptions of school committee members on the importance of community participation in education among public primary schools in Rorya District. The study employed a mixed research methods design which included structured questionnaires and focus group discussions to be able to collect both quantitative and qualitative data. The questionnaires were validated by the experts in the field, and the pilot study was conducted in order to establish the acceptable reliability. As a result, a Cronbach’s Alpha of above 0.7 was established in each variable. The study revealed that community participation was not making a meaningful impact in education among public primary schools for Rorya District; the role played by the community was ineffective and therefore, inadequate to provide sustainability in public primary. The challenges community participation faced were mainly due to the factors related to the inadequate capacity of the SMCs to carry out their responsibilities effectively. Therefore, the study concluded that the SMCs have limited knowledge: of the importance of engaging community in education; of the role played by community in education; and the challenges community faced in engaging in education for public primary schools in Rorya District; further the study revealed that there was a positive relationship between the perceptions of the SMCs on the role played by the community and their perceptions on the challenges they faced as pertained to participation in education. The study recommends that the local government should raise awareness among the SMCs and the community for effective engagement in education.

The study purpose was to investigate the influence of head teacher’s financial training on the management of Free Primary Education funds in Endebess Sub County, Trans Nzoia County, Kenya. The significance of the study lied on the strength that would be important to stakeholders of education as they will gain the most recent and detailed information about public primary school head teachers’ financial management gaps and the best practices in meeting the dearth. This study was guided by Organization Systems Theory. This study employed a descriptive survey design. The population of the study included all the head teachers and hence, census sampling technique was used to select the whole study population as a study sample since the population was small. Questionnaires and interview schedules were used to collect quantitative and qualitative data respectively. The study revealed quite important insight to the financial skills and financial management nexus. The findings of the study established a positive correlation between financial training and the financial management function. The study further established that financial training factor has the strongest association to financial management. The study concludes that the financial training was statistically a significant factor in relation to the financial management practices in the schools in Endebess Sub County. Given that the financial training component of financial skills has one the highest influence on financial management in primary schools in the study area, the study recommends that the duty bearer should provide regular finance trainings to support the chief executive officers, head teachers, and the school management teams updating their financial competencies regularly.

This paper is based on research carried out to examine sexual abuse by children against fellow children, technically known as Child-on-Child Sexual Abuse, in short COCSA, by investigating factors which drove pupils to sexually abuse their fellow pupils and ways to prevent such abuse in public primary schools. The study was conducted in a public primary school in Kibaha, Pwani Region, using a qualitative approach which employed a case study design. Data collection instruments included in-depth interviews, naturalistic observation, focused group discussions and questionnaires. The study used a total of 82 respondents to generate the data needed for the study. After content analysis of the data, some of the findings showed that COCSA was real in the primary school and most of the respondents were aware of the existence of COCSA in the school. One of the four study conclusions was that there existed factors that contributed to making children either victims or perpetrators of COCSA. Finally, one of the three recommendations of the study was that Government should establish COCSA awareness programmes for the entire country through text and audio-visual media to help prevent children from being recruited into COCSA.Keywords: Child-on-child sexual abuse, public primary schools, safe schools, school pupils

Submitted by Cintia Lima Raphael (cintia.lima@unesp.br) on 2021-03-04T14:31:07Z No. of bitstreams: 1 raphael_cl_me_edu.pdf: 1143611 bytes, checksum: 01c21b5bafdf196874d07be741e0c825 (MD5) Approved for entry into archive by Satie Tagara (satie@marilia.unesp.br) on 2021-03-04T19:02:51Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 raphael_cl_me_mar.pdf: 1143611 bytes, checksum: 01c21b5bafdf196874d07be741e0c825 (MD5) Made available in DSpace on 2021-03-04T19:02:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 raphael_cl_me_mar.pdf: 1143611 bytes, checksum: 01c21b5bafdf196874d07be741e0c825 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2020-08-21 Não recebi financiamento Trata-se de dissertação de mestrado voltada à investigação das escolas públicas primárias (provinciais/estaduais), em Piracicaba, município do interior do estado de São Paulo, no século XIX (1857-1897). A relevância da pesquisa sobre a escolarização primária pública em Piracicaba, no recorte proposto, apresenta-se em virtude da existência de poucos estudos sobre essa temática, no período anterior à escola primária graduada neste município, que futuramente seria um dos principais protagonistas da educação paulista. Essa pesquisa tem como objetivo principal compreender as formas pelas quais se estabeleceu a escolarização pública primária em Piracicaba, ao analisar a figura do/a professor/a. O recorte temporal definido para pesquisa se deve ao fato do ano de 1857 ser identificado como o mais remoto nas fontes documentais encontradas e, em 1897, a inauguração do primeiro Grupo Escolar no município – instituição escolar estadual emblemática do regime republicano, que alteraria profundamente o sistema educacional paulista. Os procedimentos metodológicos envolvem pesquisa bibliográfica e análise documental. A pesquisa tem caráter histórico e estabelece como critério de análise a perspectiva da História Cultural, notadamente, da Cultura Escolar. Nesse sentido, predominam as contribuições de Forquin (1993), Julia (2001), Souza (1998; 2009) e Escolano (2017) como referencial teórico. Dentre as fontes documentais estão as oficiais, tais como os ofícios de autoridades e atas da Câmara Municipal de Piracicaba e os anais da Assembleia Legislativa de São Paulo, complementadas por fontes jornalísticas - Gazeta de Piracicaba e A Provincia de São Paulo - e bibliográficas do período pesquisado. Como resultado, pôde-se constatar que a criação e supressão de escolas no município foi um processo dinâmico, que sofreu grande instabilidade, o que resultou numa visível variação numérica ao longo do período. Observamos que, em 1826 havia uma escola para meninos na localidade, enquanto em 1845, foi criada a primeira escola para meninas, houve ampliamento no decorrer do período, o que acarretou no ano de 1897 em 14 escolas públicas primárias destinadas para ambos os sexos. Ser professor/a em Piracicaba, naquele momento histórico, representou o enfrentamento de dificuldades de ordem estrutural, material e política. Ser professora, dada a época, foi um processo ainda mais complexo, pois suas liberdades eram mais cerceadas e as possibilidades de ascensão na carreira muito escassas. Todavia, apesar de Piracicaba carecer de recursos necessários ao provimento de condições ideais para o exercício do magistério, estava bem à frente, nas questões educacionais, em comparação a outras localidades da província/estado de São Paulo. Espera-se, assim, com essa pesquisa, poder contribuir para o resgate e registro de uma parte da história da educação paulista, dentro do contexto piracicabano, dado que há poucas pesquisas voltadas a essa temática e que a documentação até então encontrada aponta grande potencial de investigação. The present work is a master's thesis focused on the investigation of public primary schools (province/state schools), in the 19th century (1857-1897), in Piracicaba, an inland town in the state of São Paulo. The relevance of the research on public primary schooling in Piracicaba, in the proposed outline, is presented due to the existence of few studies on this theme, in the period prior to the graduated primary school in this municipality, which in the future would be one of the main protagonists of São Paulo education. This research has as its main objective to understand the ways in which public primary schooling was stablished in Piracicaba by analyzing the figure of the teacher. The time frame defined for research is due to the fact that the year 1857 was identified as the most remote in the documentary sources found and, in 1897, the inauguration of the first School Group in the municipality - an emblematic state school institution of the republican regime, which would profoundly alter the São Paulo educational system. The methodological procedures involve bibliographic research and document analysis. The research has a historical character and establishes the perspective of Cultural History as a criterion for analysis, especially School Culture. In this sense, the contributions by Forquin (1993), Julia (2001), Souza (1998; 2009) and Escolano (2017) predominate as a theoretical framework. Among the documentary sources are the official ones, such as the official letters and minutes of the Piracicaba City Council and the annals of the Legislative Assembly of São Paulo, complemented by journalistic sources - Gazeta de Piracicaba and A Provincia de São Paulo - and bibliographic sources of the period researched. As a result, it was found that the creation and suppression of schools in the municipality was a dynamic process, which suffered great instability, which resulted in a visible numerical variation over the period. We observed that in 1826 there was only one school for boys in the area, in 1845, the first school for girls was created, and as early as 1897, there were fourteen public primary schools there, intended for both sexes. Being a teacher in Piracicaba, at that historic moment, represented facing structural, material and political difficulties. Being a female teacher, given the time, was an even more complex process, as her freedoms were more restricted and the possibilities for career advancement were very scarce. However, in spite of Piracicaba lacking the necessary resources to provide ideal conditions for the exercise of teaching, it was well ahead in terms of education, compared to other locations in the province/state of São Paulo. Therefore, with the present research, we expect to contribute to the rescue and registration of a part of the history of São Paulo education within Piracicaba context, given that there are few researches focused on this theme and that the documents found so far point to great potential research.

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Education Management at Strathmore University The general objective was to determine the factors influencing truancy of boys in public primary schools Nyali Sub-County, Mombasa County, Kenya. Four research objectives were developed from which research questions were drawn to be answered by the study. Specifically, the study sought to determine the institutional factors influencing truancy, examine the community factors influencing truancy, determine the socio-economic factors influencing truancy and to examine the student factors, influencing truancy among boys in public primary schools in Nyali Sub-county. The study was guided by the Social control theory and Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological theory of human development. The study employed a Causal research design approach that incorporated a cross-sectional data approach. The study targeted all the 12 public primary schools in Nyali Sub-County, whose population was approximately 11, 078 pupils. A random sample of 3 schools was selected from which a proportional sample that comprised of 45 boys (learners), 18 class teachers and 45 parents/guardians were drawn, making a total of 108 respondents Three questionnaire tools were used to collect the required information. Findings were that classes in the sub-county are largely overcrowded with very high learners to teacher ratio. Three key institutional factors influenced truancy these are: lack of textbooks impacted most on truancy followed by classroom congestion and lastly lack of exercise books. Poverty was found to be the single most significant community factor influencing truancy. Lack of school fees significantly influenced truancy. Student factors did not influence the truancy of the boys at all. Overall, institutional factors, community factors, socio-economic factors and student factors contributed up to 77.2% of the variations in the truancy of the boys in public primary schools in the sub-county. The study was limited to factors in a school set up and did not study the entire concept of truancy because of its complex and multi-dimensional, therefore ends suggesting further research on the aspects that could have been missed out. Recommendations were that accelerated learning programmes be introduced, Infrastructure expansion programme is implemented in the sub-county, the 100% transitioning policy for learners finishing primary education be implemented, that bottlenecks curtailing smooth progression of learners between ECDE and form four be removed, that school feeding programmes be introduced. Further research is necessary to ascertain the additional variables responsible for truancy beyond the four that this study has investigated namely institutional, community, social-economic and student factors. Further research is also necessary to examine the influence of truancy on performance.

International Transaction Journal of Engineering, Management, & Applied Sciences & Technologies, 11, 3, 11A03R: 1-8

Resumen: En este artículo se presentan los resultados centrales de un análisis cuyo objetivo principal fue determinar la congruencia de los libros de texto de inglés que se utilizan en las escuelas públicas mexicanas con el enfoque sociocultural propuesto en el currículo oficial para el área de lenguas, en comparación con los textos empleados para la enseñanza del español en dichas escuelas. Si bien este trabajo forma parte de un proyecto de investigación cualitativa sobre la enseñanza del inglés en las escuelas primarias públicas mexicanas más amplio, aquí se aborda solo lo relacionado con el análisis de los libros de texto. Para el análisis se diseñó una guía basada en los elementos que, según Richards y Rodgers (2009), caracterizan los distintos modelos o enfoques de enseñanza. Los resultados sugieren que los libros de texto para la enseñanza del inglés empleados en las escuelas primarias públicas mexicanas son insuficientemente congruentes con el enfoque sociocultural estipulado en la normatividad oficial, a diferencia de los utilizados para la enseñanza del español. Derivado del análisis, al final del artículo se enuncian algunas recomendaciones y sugerencias para la formación y el desarrollo profesional de los docentes de inglés. Abstract This article presents findings from an analysis of textbooks used to teach English in public primary schools in Mexico. The analysis, which was part of a broader qualitative research study, focused on comparing the methodology used in the English and the Spanish course books that are part of the language area of the curriculum and share a sociocultural teaching approach. For this purpose, guidelines were defined using some of the elements which according to Richards & Rodgers (2009) characterize language teaching methods and approaches. The findings suggest that the textbooks used to teach English in the public primary schools do not adequately support or align with the sociocultural framework that is required by the official curriculum, in comparison to the Spanish textbooks. Based on this analysis, the article concludes with some considerations and recommendations about this topic and the professional development of the English teachers. Résumé Cet article présente les résultats d'une analyse des manuels utilisés pour enseigner l'anglais dans les écoles primaires publiques au Mexique. L'analyse, qui a fait partie d'une étude de recherche qualitative plus large, s'est concentrée sur la comparaison de la méthodologie utilisée dans les livres de cours d'anglais et d'espagnol qui font partie du domaine des langues du curriculum et partagent une approche d'enseignement socioculturel. À cette fin, des lignes directrices ont été définies en utilisant certains des éléments qui, selon Richards & Rodgers (2009), caractérisent les méthodes et approches d'enseignement des langues. Les résultats suggèrent que les manuels utilisés pour enseigner l'anglais dans les écoles primaires publiques ne soutiennent pas ou ne s'alignent pas tout à fait sur le cadre socioculturel requis par le programme officiel, en comparaison avec les manuels scolaires de l’espagnol. Sur la base de cette analyse, l'article se termine par quelques considérations et recommandations sur ce sujet et sur l’épanouissement professionnel des enseignants d'anglais.

Namen sistemov za upravljanje z dokumenti je poleg arhivske funkcije še ustvarjanje, urejanje in upravljanje z dokumenti ter možnosti njihovega sledenja in revidiranja. V javnih osnovnih šolah v Sloveniji sta najpogosteje zastopana Lo.Polis podjetja Logos in eAsistent konzorcija Herkules. Prednosti sta ta dokumentacijska sistema prinesla predvsem učiteljem zaradi velike preglednosti in znatno hitrejše obdelave raznih statističnih podatkov. Najmanj so nad dokumentacijskim sistemom navdušeni osnovnošolci, ker imajo njihovi starši informacije takoj na razpolago. Računovodstvo uporablja druge računalniške programe, v največji meri je zastopan SAOP. Za lažje in učinkovitejše delo je omogočen uvoz in izvoz podatkov iz šolskega dokumentacijskega sistema v računovodski program. Osnovne šole dokumente, ki so vezani trajni hrambi, hranijo ali samo v papirni obliki ali kombinirano, tako v papirni kot tudi elektronski obliki. Dokumente, ki se hranijo določen čas 5 let ali manj oz. krajši kot je minimalni rok hrambe dokumentov, več dokumentov arhivirajo v elektronski obliki. The purposes of electronic document managemet systems are in addition to the function of archiving, creating, editing and managinig the documents and the possibility of their tracking and auditing. In Slovenian public primary schools the most often EDMS Lo.Polis from company Logos and eAsistent from consortium Herkules. Advantages of those documentation systems brought mostly teachers due to high transparency and significantly faster processing of various statistical data. At least enthusiastic about document systems are pupils because their parents have the information readily available. Accountancy use other computer programs, to the greatest extent is represented SAOP. For easier and more efficient work is it posiible to import and export data from school documentation system in accounting program. Primary schools documents that are bound permanent storage, keep only in paper form or in combination, in both paper and electronic form. The documents that are bound to term of 5 years or less, respectively less than a minimum retention period of documents, more documents archived electronically.

Sri Lanka is increasingly seeking to ensure that its public school system not only delivers greater shares of students who have completed higher secondary and tertiary education, but also that all students obtain a much better education. Raising teacher effectiveness is considered as crucial for achieving these aims. This paper reviews the literature on teacher management in Sri Lanka, and points to what may be critical teacher management issues. The paper also outlines considerations and options for addressing these issues, informed by international evidence on approaches to improve teacher effectiveness.

To address the educational gap, many Latin American countries are focusing on extension of the school day and enrichment of the curriculum. In Brazil, a nationwide policy -- Mais Educação -- was implemented in 2008 with this objective. This paper explores the nationwide rollout of the program across the country and compares the performance of schools before and after implementation of the program. The paper quantifies the impacts of the program on student learning and dropout rates in urban areas, and investigates the heterogeneity of impacts by several characteristics of the program's implementation. Participating schools are compared with nonparticipating schools after controlling for school selection into the program based on observable characteristics using propensity score matching. The analysis finds that participation in Mais Educação has on average no impacts on school dropout rates and average negative impacts on mathematics test scores. The negative impacts on student achievement are stronger in the short term, which suggests that the negative effects may be reduced as the program improves its implementation. In addition, especially for fifth-grade schools, the level of student spending is associated with reduced dropout rates. Interestingly, in schools choosing the fields of Portuguese and/or sports in the added hours, the program is associated with lower test scores in Portuguese and mathematics. Finally, for the sample of fifth-grade schools, heterogeneous impacts are seen in the program according to the GDP per capita of the city where the school is located. The higher the GDP per capita, the greater the positive impact of the program on mathematics test scores and on dropout rates.

Evidence on the impacts of a large-scale expansion in pre-primary education is limited and mostly circumscribed to high- and middle-income nations. This study estimates the effects of such an expansion on progression in primary school in rural communities in Guatemala, where the number of pre-primary schools increased from about 5,300 to 11,500 between 1998 and 2005. Combining administrative and population census data in a difference-in-differences framework, the analysis finds that access to pre-primary education increased by 2.4 percentage points the proportion of students that progress adequately and attend sixth grade by age 12. These positive although limited effects suggest the need for complementary actions to produce substantial improvements in adequate progression.

The relative return to input-augmentation versus inefficiency-reduction strategies for improving education system performance is a key open question for education policy in low-income countries. Using a new nationally-representative panel dataset of schools across 1297 villages in India, this paper shows that the large investments over the past decade have led to substantial improvements in input-based measures of school quality, but only a modest reduction in inefficiency as measured by teacher absence. In the data, 23.6 percent of teachers were absent during unannounced visits with an associated fiscal cost of $1.5 billion/year. There are two robust correlations in the nationally-representative panel data that corroborate findings from smaller-scale experiments. First, reductions in student-teacher ratios are correlated with increased teacher absence. Second, increases in the frequency of school monitoring are strongly correlated with lower teacher absence. Simulations using these results suggest that investing in better governance by increasing the frequency of monitoring could be over ten times more cost effective at increasing teacher-student contact time (net of teacher absence) than hiring more teachers. Thus, at current margins, policies that decrease the inefficiency of public spending in India are likely to yield substantially higher returns than those that augment inputs.

Improving the quality of education is one of today's main challenges for governments in the developing world. Based on a unique matched student-to-teacher panel data set on test scores this paper presents two empirical results for Indonesia. First, through detailed inspection of teacher-level responses to test questions, the paper concludes that subject matter knowledge of primary school teachers in Indonesia is low on average and that a 1.0, but also a 2.0 standard deviation increase in teachers' subject matter knowledge seem to be achievable medium-term goals for education policy making in Indonesia. Second, the paper presents the results of three types of value-added regressions, a (standard) level specification, a school fixed-effects specification, and a flexible student-teacher fixed-effects specification. The student-teacher fixed-effects approach estimates the parameters of a value-added model using test score variation within each student-teacher pair across three different subjects, mathematics, science and Indonesian language. The results suggest that a 1.0 (and 2.0) standard deviation increase in teachers' subject matter knowledge across-the-board can yield increases in student achievement by 0.25 (and 0.50) student-level standard deviations by the time students complete the six-year primary school cycle.

This study presents evidence from a randomized control trial (RCT) in Mongolia on the impact of in-service teacher training and books, both as separate educational inputs and as a package. The study tests for the complementarity of inputs and non-linearity of returns from investment in education as measured by students test scores in five subjects. It takes advantage of a national-scale RCT conducted under the Rural Education and Development project. The results suggest that the provision of books, in addition to teacher training, raises student achievement substantially. However, teacher training and books weakly improve test scores when provided individually. Students whose teachers have received training and whose classrooms have acquired books improved their cumulative score (totaled across five tests) by 34.9 percent of a standard deviation, relative to a control group. Students treated only with books improved their total score by 20.6 percent of a standard deviation relative to a control group of students. On the other hand, extra teacher training did not have a statistically significant effect on the total test score. In addition, providing both inputs jointly improved test scores in most subjects, which was not the case when either input was provided individually. This study sheds light on the relevance of supplementing teacher training schemes with appropriate teaching materials in resource-poor settings. The policy implication is that isolated education investments, in settings where complementary inputs are missing, could deliver minimal or no return.

This paper analyzes the relation between public, education-related infrastructure and the quality of education in schools. The analysis uses a case study of the establishment of two large, high-quality public libraries in low-income areas in Bogotá, Colombia. It assesses the impact of these libraries on the quality of education by comparing national test scores (SABER 11) for schools close to and far from the libraries before (2000–02) and after (2003–08) the libraries were opened. The paper introduces a Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition on difference-in-differences estimates to assess whether variation of traditional determinants of mathematics, verbal, and science test scores explains the estimates. The analysis finds differences that are not statistically different from zero that could be attributed to the establishment of the libraries. These results are robust to alternative specifications, a synthetic control approach, and an alternative measure of distance.