Improving Learning In Uganda: Problematic Curriculum Areas and Teacher Effectiveness -- Insights from National Assessments

by Innocent Mulindwa Najjumba, Jeffery H. Marshall

Overview

The Uganda school system has expanded over the years resulting from mass education reforms at the primary – since 1997, and the lower secondary level – since 2007. This has enabled provision of key inputs to schools by Government which include tuition, trained teachers, school infrastructure, and learning materials. The curriculum for the primary level was also reviewed. However, completion rates and learning outcomes are still low which points to inefficiency and low quality of education provided. Current discourse on education is focused on the need to improve efficiency and quality of education. This study is therefore, an attempt to provide a comprehensive analysis of learning outcomes and teacher effectiveness, drawing from the nationally owned and multi-year assessment data sets for Uganda between 2006-2011. This book provides some answers to questions like: What are the performance levels of learners over the years? What are the curriculum areas that learners find most difficult as measured by their performance and have these been the same over the years? What determines learners’ performance? What is the content knowledge level of the teachers? What are the teacher characteristics that determine learners’ performance? How effective are the teachers? Guidance on next steps is also provided. The main contribution of this book is three fold: (a) It explores learners’ performance by curriculum area; (b) It links learners’ performance with teachers’ competency levels by curriculum content area, making it one of the very few materials available in the Africa region. It therefore, amplifies the importance of focusing on what learners find a problem in the teaching-learning process in the quest for quality. The findings also reveal that teacher effectiveness is very low and efforts to improve instructional methods have to be prioritized by Government; and (c), it provides insights on the various dimensions to the education quality and efficiency challenge that many developing countries are grappling with today, and the depth of analysis that have to be undertaken.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780821398500
Publisher:	World Bank Publications
Publication date:	03/14/2013
Series:	World Bank Studies , #2
Pages:	168
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.40(d)

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xi

Abbreviations and Acronyms xiii

Executive Summary xv

Analytical Framework xv

Main Findings xvi

Suggestions for Next Steps xxii

Chapter 1 Introduction and Methodology 1

Introduction 1

School Curriculum in Uganda 1

Background to This Work 3

Rationale and Objectives of This Report 4

Methodology 5

Report Outline 12

Notes 12

Chapter 2 Learning Outcomes and Problematic Curriculum Areas 13

Overall Achievement Levels in Numeracy and Literacy 13

Student Achievement Levels in Literacy 13

Importance of and Overall Achievement in Numeracy 20

Overall Achievement Levels in Biology 25

Summary of Assessment Results 28

Problematic Curriculum Areas 29

Problem Areas in Numeracy 41

Problem Areas in Biology 55

Note 57

Chapter 3 Teacher Knowledge and Effectiveness 59

Primary Student and Teacher Achievement Levels in Numeracy 61

Predictors of Teacher and Student Performance 77

Linkages with the Primary Leaving Exams (PLE) 90

Note 93

Chapter 4 Discussion and Suggestions on Next Steps 95

Emerging Issues in Literacy and Numeracy Achievement 95

Teacher Content Knowledge and Effectiveness 98

Suggestions for Next Steps 100

Appendix A P3 Literacy Test Blueprints 2006 103

Appendix B Summary Tables for English Literacy 107

Appendix C Summary Tables for Numeracy 119

Appendix D 133

References 141

Figures

Figure 1.1 Knowledge Components of Effective Teaching 10

Figure 2.1 Summary of P3 English Literacy, Overall Percentage Correct, Uganda, 2009/10 13

Figure 2.2 Summary of P3 Average Literacy Scores by Level, Uganda, 2009/10 14

Figure 2.3 Summary of P6 English Literacy, Overall Percent Correct, Uganda, 2009/10 14

Figure 2.4 Summary of P6 Average Literacy Scores, Uganda, 2009/10 15

Figure 2.5 Summary of S2 English Literacy, Overall and Within Common Content Areas, Uganda, 2008-10 15

Figure 2.6 Summary of S2 English Literacy by Proficiency Levels, Uganda, 2008-10 15

Figure 2.7 Female-Male Difference in Overall English Literacy by Grade, Uganda, 2010 16

Figure 2.8 Female Difference in Overall English Literacy by Grade, Uganda, 2006-09 16

Figure 2.9 Urban-Rural Difference in Overall English Literacy by Grade, Uganda, 2010 17

Figure 2.10 Urban-Rural Difference in Overall English Literacy, Uganda, 2006-08 18

Figure 2.11 Government-Private School Difference in Overall English Literacy, Uganda, 2010 19

Figure 2.12 Government-Private School Difference in Overall English Literacy, Uganda, 2006-09 20

Figure 2.13 Summary of Numeracy, Overall Percent Correct in P3, P6, and S2, Uganda, 2006-10 22

Figure 2.14 Summary of Overall Numeracy Proficiency Levels, Uganda, 2006-10 22