Collective Action of School Leaders during Coronavirus Pandemic
Researchers
Abstract
Research has shown that engaging local actors in the monitoring of public services can improve outcomes across multiple sectors, and in the case of the Ebola epidemic, a community monitoring intervention was able to significantly improve response to the crisis. For the past 6 years, Elevate: Partners in Education has been implementing a school scorecard intervention in Ugandan primary schools in which local actors are trained to monitor issues at their school. From 2016–2019, Elevate conducted a study to 1) assess the impact of its implementation of the scorecard and to 2) build on the results of previous research to better understand a key mechanism of impact: collective action. Elevate found that at the end of the study, headteachers in schools that received the scorecard demonstrated higher levels of collective action. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, Elevate wanted to see how schools were responding to the crisis. In the present study, a phone survey is conducted with headteachers to investigate their understanding of and response to the crisis, and if the scorecard intervention and levels of collective action influenced their response.
Project Outcomes of Interest
Headteachers' understanding of and response to the pandemic, headteachers' connection to the community and perception of ability to address crisis, trust and communication between headteacher and community
Partners
Elevate: Partners for Education
Key Findings
- Community monitoring interventions can improve educational outcomes
- In order to move towards sustainability and scale, need to better understand underlying mechanisms of impact
- Participatory process aligns different stakeholders towards shared goal
- Community monitoring interventions and aligning stakeholders could help to develop more resilient education systems
Link to Results
- Blog: "Community Monitoring Intervention Improves Headteachers' Response to Coronavirus Pandemic"
- Webinar: From Research to Policy in School Management and Accountability: Rigorous Evidence from Randomized Evaluations
Impact Goals
- Keep children safe, healthy, and learning
Project Data Collection Mode
- CATI (Computer-assisted telephone interviewing)
Results Status
Results