Title: Moving beyond access
Description: Kenya has reached its goal of increasing access to primary education; nearly all children now enter first grade (UNESCO, 2010). However, according to official statistics, just 84% of the children who enroll in primary school reach the end of the cycle (UNESCO, 2010). While theories abound as to what categories of students are at risk of dropping out of primary school, prospective studies of this problem are rare, particularly in rural areas. In this mixed-methods study, I use quantitative data from a randomized control trial, the Health and Literacy Intervention (HALI), involving 5,500 students in 101 schools, as well as qualitative data from in-depth interviews with 41 schoolchildren, dropouts, and parents, to examine the problem of primary-school dropout in rural Kenya. My first research question concerns the impact of two interventions, assigned randomly at the school level, on primary school dropout. I find that a literacy teacher-training intervention reduces the risk of dropout in the early primary grades by more than half, likely as a result of improved student performance. The second intervention, a malaria screening and treatment program, did not result in a statistically significant reduction in dropout risk. Second, I examined the relationships between baseline academic performance and attention and later dropout risk. Among children in the older primary grades, poorer baseline performance on literacy and numeracy assessments predicted a higher risk of dropout. I did not find a similar relationship among children in the early primary grades, but did observe that children with lower performance on sustained attention tasks had higher risk of dropout, with borderline statistical significance. Finally, I investigated family decision-making surrounding school enrollment in order to inform the development of future dropout-prevention interventions.

These interviews revealed that, contrary to the assumptions made in much of the literature on dropout in sub-Saharan Africa, children are the primary decision-makers rather than parents. Poor academic performance and school quality, including teacher-related concerns, were primary factors leading to dropout. Taken together, these findings suggest that school quality interventions, such as the teacher-training program, may be an effective means of reducing primary school dropout in this region.
Subjects: Dropouts, Prevention, Academic achievement, Primary Education
Places: Kenya