Education Quality Improvement Programme Impact Evaluation Endline Survey 2018 (Tanzania)
Abstract
Education Quality Improvement Programme in Tanzania (EQUIP-T) is a six-year (2014-20) Government of Tanzania programme, funded by the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID), which seeks to improve the quality of primary education and to improve pupil learning outcomes, especially for girls. The programme focuses on strengthening professional capacity and performance of teachers, school leadership and management, systems which support district management of education, and community participation in education. Initially, the programme was intended to run for four years, with activities targeted at seven of the most educationally disadvantaged regions in Tanzania. In 2017 the programme was extended for a further two years, and the extension introduced some new sub-components to the seven regions, and introduced a reduced package of interventions to two new regions.
The independent Impact Evaluation (IE) of EQUIP-T is a five-year study funded by DFID. It is designed to: i) generate evidence on the impact of EQUIP-T on primary pupil learning outcomes, including any differential effects for boys and girls; ii) examine perceptions of effectiveness of different EQUIP-T components; iii) provide evidence on the fiscal affordability of scaling up EQUIP-T post-endline; and iv) communicate evidence generated by the impact evaluation to policy-makers and key education stakeholders. The evaluation uses a quasi-experimental approach to quantitative estimation of impact that combines propensity score matching (PSM) with difference-indifferences (DID).
The research priorities for the quantitative endline IE are captured in a comprehensive endline evaluation matrix (see Annex C in the 'EQUIP-Tanzania Impact Evaluation. Endline Quantitative Technical Report, Volume I: Results and Discussion' under Reports and policy notes). The matrix sets out evaluation questions linked to the programme theory of change. It asks questions related to the expected results at each stage along the results chain (from the receipt of inputs to delivery of outputs, and contributions to outcomes and impact) under each of the programme's components. The aim is to establish: (i) whether changes have happened as expected; (ii) why they happened or did not happen (i.e. whether key assumptions in the theory of change hold or not); (iii) whether there are any important unanticipated changes; and (iv) what links there are between the components in driving changes.
The main IE research areas are:
-Impact of EQUIP-T on standard 3 pupil learning in Kiswahili and mathematics.
-Impact of EQUIP-T on teacher absence from school and from classrooms.
-Impact of EQUIP-T on selected aspects of school leadership and management.
The IE uses a mixed methods approach that includes:
-A quantitative survey of 100 government primary schools in 17 programme treatment districts and 100 schools in 8 control districts in 2014, 2016 and 2018 covering:
*Standard three pupils and their parents/caregivers;
*Teachers who teach standards 1-3 Kiswahili;
*Teachers who teach standards 1-3 mathematics;
*Schools;
*Head teachers; and
*Standard two lesson observations in Kiswahili and mathematics.
-Qualitative fieldwork in a few treatment schools that overlap with a sub-set of the quantitative survey schools, in 2014, 2016 and 2019, consisting of key informant interviews (KIIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs) with head teachers, teachers, pupils, parents, school committee (SC) members, PTP members, region, district and ward education officials and EQUIP-T programme staff.
The endline data available in the World Bank Microdata Catalog are from the EQUIP-T IE quantitative endline survey conducted in 2018. The endline qualitative research will take place in mid-2019 with results available in early 2020.