Evaluation of the PEAS-DES Inspect and Improve project endline report
10 September 2021
NFER conducted an independent evaluation of the Inspect and Improve (I&I) pilot project in Eastern Uganda. I&I is a school inspections and improvement programme implemented by Promoting Equality in African Schools (PEAS) in partnership with Uganda’s Directorate of Education Standards (DES), under the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES).
The pilot project, launched in 2019, aimed to improve the quality of leadership and management in ten government schools, and generate learnings about how PEAS can work effectively with government-run schools to promote school- and system-level improvements in education quality.
NFER used a mixed-methods approach for the research and included comparative case studies. As part of the evaluation, we used the World Management Survey (WMS) to assess changes in the quality of leadership and management in the ten pilot schools. The WMS was previously adapted for use in both the education sector and Ugandan context.
We examined these changes in management practices in greater detail through the use of comparative case studies, exploring the perspectives of school leaders, school staff, and members of Board of Governors (BoGs) in four of the ten participating schools.
Key Findings
Evidence of effectiveness and impact
- There is strong evidence that I&I was successful in improving the quality of leadership and management in all ten participating schools across all areas of management as defined by the WMS
- There is also emerging evidence that improvements to school management have led to improvements to student and teacher attendance, teaching practices, and student safety and well-being
Learnings/potential for scale
- Culture and mind set are important factors that require shifting before increased school management capacities can result in school improvements
- High turnover of school leadership and low foundational management capacities are some of the factors that hamper the extent to which I&I can support school improvements
- There is promising evidence that pilot has the potential to have a wider impact beyond targeted intervention schools, particularly through support networks and communities of practice with neighbouring schools.
The baseline report can be found here: Baseline Report, Evaluation of the PEAS-DES Inspect and Improve project