# **Data**

We employ both administrative data and data from a large-scale longitudinal survey.

**Education Management Information System.** The Government of Malawi operates an Education Management Information System (EMIS) with data on all public schools in Malawi. The EMIS data, which is collected primary through an Annual School Census (ASC) completed by Head Teachers and zonal EMIS officers, includes data on a wide range of indicators including enrollment, dropout and repetition rates, staffing, availability of infrastructure and textbooks. Because it is available for all public schools, the EMIS data is available for the entire sample of public primary schools in all districts of Malawi. For our difference-in-difference analysis, we compare data from EMIS 2016, collected during the 2015/16 school year prior to the start of MESIP; with data from EMIS 2020, collected during the 2019/20 school year towards the end of MESIP implementation.<sup>14</sup> We employ EMIS data for measurement of PTR, PCR, and repetition rates.

**Malawi Longitudinal Schools Survey.** For test scores, we draw on data from the Malawi Longitudinal School Survey (MLSS). The MLSS is an independent, nationally representative survey that provides data on students, teachers, schools and school communities with the objective of capturing and evaluating the impact of MESIP over 2016-2020. The MLSS is designed to align with the MESIP project cycle to both provide information to the government on implementation and outcomes of the project and to support evaluation of the project. Visits are unannounced.<sup>15</sup> Data is collected through observations and interviews – for example, observations of school and classroom facilities; observation of lessons and teaching practices; interviews with Head Teachers, teachers, and members of community committees; and interviews and testing of students in both a cohort and longitudinal sample (see below). Testing is conducted under classroom conditions in a primarily multiple-choice format supervised by the class teacher as well as MLSS enumerators. For more details of the MLSS instruments and procedures, see Appendix A.

For our difference-in-difference analysis, we compare the data from MLSS baseline and endline. MLSS baseline data collection was conducted in a sample of 559 schools between May and September 2016, just prior to the commencement of MESIP (Asim and Casley Gera, 2024). Endline data collection took place between April 2021 and February 2022, following the completion of the main MESIP activities.

> 14 EMIS 2020 data is the last collected prior to COVID-19. COVID-19 introduced significant disruption to schooling (see Asim et al., 2022) and to EMIS data collection; we use the last available pre-COVID data to mitigate these potential confounding factors. This is a conservative approach which is expected to potentially underestimate the full extent of impacts from MESIP activities.

> 15 The first visit to each school is unannounced to help capture the real situation of the school in terms of infrastructure, school performance, school and classroom management practices, student and teacher absenteeism and student learning outcomes. If required to complete all instruments, a second visit is made on an announced or pre-scheduled basis.

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