Why Do Students Learn so Little? Seeking Answers inside Haiti's Classrooms
Author: Adelman, Melissa
Date: 2015-05-00
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Elementary Education,Foreign Countries,Grade Repetition,Poverty,Educational Quality,Statistical Analysis,Teaching Methods,Time Factors (Learning),Instructional Materials,Learning Activities,Learner Engagement,Observation,Teacher Education,Teacher Competencies

Despite improvements, the primary education system in Haiti remains highly inefficient: children start primary school 2 years late on average, and fewer than 60% will reach the last grade of the cycle. While the official age for beginning primary school is 6, the average child enters first grade for the first time at 7.8 years old, after having spent 2 or more years in some form of preschool. This distortion grows over time, as about 10% of children repeat and 2-6% drop out of each grade of primary. These repetition rates are higher than the averages in the rest of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) and Sub-Saharan Africa. Using a simulated cohort approach, these rates imply that only about 58% of children in first grade will arrive at sixth grade, and only 29% will ever reach the final year of upper secondary. For those who do eventually complete primary, the average ages by grade suggest that it takes 7 to 8 years on average to complete 6 years of primary school. Most importantly, many students, particularly in poor communities, seem to learn little. &quot;Ministère d'Education Nationale et Formation Profesionnelle&quot; (MENFP) partnered with the World Bank and two organizations (Institut de Formation du Sud--IFOS and FHI360) to collect data in a sub-sample of 97 schools that had taken part in the original &quot;Initiative de Renforcement des Services Scolaires&quot; (IRSS) project. The observations were conducted using a French translation of the Stallings Classroom Snapshot instrument that has recently been used in six Latin American and Caribbean countries (Bruns and Luque 2015). The instrument was originally developed by Jane Stallings in the 1970s to measure the efficiency and quality of primary teachers in the United States (Stallings 1977; Stallings and Mohlman 1988). The Stallings instrument generates quantitative data on four central aspects of teacher classroom practice: use of class time; use of materials; core pedagogical practices; and ability to engage students. The instrument generates robust, quantitative, and comparable data, making it useful in developing country contexts. The results from the Stallings classroom observations provide several valuable insights into what is happening inside Haitian classrooms. Given that at least basic motivation to teach appears to be present for most teachers, equipping them with the skills and tools to do it effectively--through targeted and practical in-service training, scripted lessons, and other means--is a high priority. In the long-run, improved teacher training that enables mastery of content, provides classroom practice and feedback, and that aligns with standards based on a revised curriculum could contribute to improved instruction and student learning. New instruction methods in Haiti should demand students to ask questions, compare, analyse, solve problems, and discuss, among others activities. This should become the norm rather than the exception. In the short-term, given the weaknesses of existing teacher training programs, scripted instruction methods in which teachers are guided through each class, albeit with adequate support and coaching, could be a way to foster student learning in the classroom.