Search

Language acquisition and learning literatures favour mother-tongue education policies, particularly in the early years of schooling. However, English Medium Instruction (EMI) remains a popular language policy position in multilingual contexts. This paper studies EMI transition policies using a longitudinal dataset from Ethiopia, by leveraging regional variation in education language policy reforms for causal identification. Employing a dynamic value-added model, this paper shows that students in schools using English as a medium of instruction have lower mathematics test scores (−0.25 standard deviations) compared to students in mother tongue education schools. Furthermore, English medium learners do not perform any better in their English test scores compared to mother tongue learners. These findings are in line with the international education literature on skill development, learning and second language acquisition. The main results support the prolonged utilisation of mother tongue instruction in primary education. These results are particularly relevant for policy makers in linguistically diverse contexts. • This paper studies the impact of English medium instruction policies on children's learning outcomes in the context of Ethiopia. • A value-added model of student attainment is used to estimate the impact of English medium instruction on student learning outcomes. • The main results show that mother tongue instruction has a positive impact on student learning. • Social and political contexts matter. As such, there is not one optimal language policy for all multilingual contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the persistent effect of the 1998–2000 Ethiopia–Eritrea conflict on human capital accumulation. The empirical findings indicate that exposure to conflict during early childhood increases the probability of grade repetition (for boys and girls) and school dropout (especially for boys), and decreases student achievement in mathematics and language scores (mainly for girls) a decade later. Identification of the effect is based on a difference-in-difference approach that exploits temporal and regional variation of the conflict. These effects are robust when including region-specific trends, school, grade, class, and teacher level fixed effects, and other student and family characteristics. The paper provides the first estimates on the long-term effect of exposure to conflict at early (before school-age) childhood on test scores of primary school students. • I examine the causal effect of Ethiopia-Eritrea conflict on human capital accumulation in Ethiopia. • The analysis uses school survey data from Ethiopia and applies reduced form difference in-difference analysis. • Exposure to the conflict decreases maths and language scores and increases likelihood of grade repetition and school dropout. • Exposure to the conflict during early childhood persists more than exposure at a later ages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using cross-sectional data on the varieties of skills and employers' demands for them, this paper examines determinants of wages in the garment sector in Ghana and Ethiopia. It found that the effects of cognitive and technical skills are consistent, while those of noncognitive and behavioral skills are important but in different ways depending on the culture, work environment, and employers' expectations. Based on the empirical evidence from the survey using the author's unique assessment data, she promotes a comparative, constructivist approach to skills analysis departing from conventional institutionalism, which considers school as the predominant site of skills development. • The impact of cognitive and technical/hard skills is consistent across countries. • While the impact of noncognitive/behavioral skills is significant in both countries, their makeup is very different depending on the culture, work environment, and employers' expectations. • Years of schooling is a significant predictor of wages but not an indicator of workforce capacity. • Constructivist analysis using micro empirical data of the varieties of skills provides an accurate picture of diverse realities. • Standardized assessment tools and analytical methods make the constructivist study cross-sectionally comparable as well. • A discussion about skills development should overcome the conventional institutionalist framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advocates of teacher value-added modelling (VAM) argue that this technique can provide evidence on teacher effectiveness to inform teacher policies and broader education system reforms. Critics contend that value-added is a poor proxy for teacher quality and as such is of questionable utility, especially where teacher accountability is concerned. In low- and middle-income countries, and especially sub-Saharan Africa, where the challenge of the 'learning crisis' is most severe, a lack of longitudinal data has precluded extensive debate on the matter. In this paper we explore the potential of value-added analysis for diagnostic purposes in the context of Ethiopia. We make use of data from the Young Lives longitudinal study – specifically two rounds of school surveys conducted in Ethiopia between 2012 and 2017 when pupils were in grades 4–8. Learning levels in the Young Lives sites in Ethiopia are very considerably below curricular expectations. Like many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Ethiopia faces a significant challenge in terms of a 'learning crisis' and in terms of the attendant need to develop policies to improve educational effectiveness within the confines of very limited resources. We discuss the background to VAM models and their use, including in relation to the context of Ethiopia. The paper shows that learning progress in primary schools varies widely between classrooms, and between pupils within the same classroom. Some schools and teachers are more successful in raising overall attainment by 'raising the floor' of learning and narrowing the dispersion. Others are more successful by 'raising the roof'. Less effective teachers appear to be particularly ineffective for pupils with higher scores at the start of the year. In contrast, the most effective teachers showed high levels of 'value-added' for pupils at all levels of prior performance. Diagnostic analysis of teacher value-added has potential, we argue, to aid understanding of contributors to low levels of learning such as: (i) over-ambitious curricula; (ii) absence of 'teaching at the right level'; (iii) within class heterogeneity and pupil grouping strategies; and (iv) teaching and learning strategies – such as 'differentiation' or 'mastery'. • The crisis of low levels of learning in many sub-Saharan African contexts, affects a majority of pupils. • Causes of low levels of learning outcomes are many. • Value-added analysis analysis offers important potential for education system diagnostic research and practice. • Teachers in sub-Saharan Africa face large and heterogenous classes in challenging and poorly resourced conditions. • Differential value-added analysis does not provide for the identification of causal pathways. • Differential value-added analysis can draw attention to avenues for potential intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learning is a fundamental human right, the basis of developing human capital and the foundation of human development. Basic skills provide individuals, their families and communities with the foundations needed to participate in society and to achieve better life chances. The shift in focus from mass access to mass learning has drawn attention to the question of who is and is not attaining these skills, and why. Opportunities to learn depend on access to schooling, but also the effectiveness of that schooling. There is considerable evidence of learning inequalities, both across and within countries. However, less is known about whether these patterns of inequality are rooted in variations in school effectiveness. In this paper we use evidence from Young Lives school surveys in Ethiopia, India and Vietnam to consider differences in girls' and boys' learning outcomes and progress and investigate how these patterns relate to school effectiveness. We explore whether girls or boys are 'sorted' into more or less effective schools and whether the same schools are differentially effective for boys and girls. Findings from India are perhaps closest to the 'typical' story that is often heard, in which girls, particularly those in rural areas, have lower attainment and attend less effective schools. In comparison, in Vietnam, girls have higher test scores and attend more effective schools on average, with this pattern driven by the higher performance of girls in rural areas. In Ethiopia, the divide between urban and rural areas is predominant in this context, over and above other areas of inequality including gender. Comparing results from these different areas of analysis and from three very different countries reveals the complexities of understanding how gender relates to educational outcomes. It demonstrates the importance of understanding gendered outcomes and school effectiveness in context. • Educational outcomes depend on access to education and the quality of that education. • Cross-country analysis reveals the complexities of how gender and school effectiveness relate to educational outcomes. • In India, where there is greatest school choice, girls have lower attainment and attend less effective schools than boys. • In Vietnam, the opposite is true - girls perform better and attend more effective schools. • In Ethiopia, the divide between urban and rural areas is predominant, over other axes of inequality including gender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: After nearly two decades of military dictatorship, democratic civic education has been integrated into the Ethiopian school curriculum. This paper examines the policy–practice concordance in implementing the civic education curriculum based on empirical evidence generated on the philosophical underpinnings, curricular contents, pedagogical approaches, and the role of instructional technology. Data were gathered through a questionnaire survey on 179 randomly selected high school students, key informant teachers, and content analysis of students’ textbooks, teachers’ guides, and official policy documents. The findings reveal that the existing civic and ethical education curriculum is eclectic in its character blending the minimal interpretation of democratic civic education with the inclusive conception of ethno-cultural diversity relevant to multicultural societies. Nevertheless, the manner in which the TV-instruction is used in classrooms is found to hinder interactive learning that is instrumental to nurture democratic and active citizens. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Using DHS survey data, the paper finds that reaching universal completion of grade six among girls will not achieve universal female literacy. • Across nearly 50 developing countries, calculations suggest 40% of women would be illiterate even if all women completed at least grade six. • Results vary considerably; in Nigeria universal completion increases women's literacy by only 5%, while in Ethiopia it raises it by 57%. • Achieving SDG targets requires both universal schooling and dramatic improvements in the learning profile in most developing countries. Using the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data on the ability of women at various levels of schooling attainment to read a simple sentence, we show that reaching universal completion of grade six among girls would not bring the world anywhere close to the goal of universal female literacy. These calculations are based on the empirical relationship between grades completed and ability to read, a descriptive 'learning profile.' The large literature on schooling and life outcomes suggests simple correlations are a reasonable guide to causal effects, and the typical concern is over -estimation of the true return to schooling – implying our calculations using a descriptive and not causal learning profile are a best-case scenario. This best case is often not at all good: the learning profile is so weak in Nigeria that even if all women had completed grade six, adult female illiteracy would only have fallen from 58 percent to 53 percent. In contrast, children in many other countries do learn to read in much higher numbers and enrolling out-of-school girls would dramatically reduce illiteracy. For instance, in Ethiopia the same calculations yield a reduction in illiteracy from 82 to 25 percent. But across nearly fifty developing countries with available data our calculations suggest 40 percent of women would be illiterate even if all women completed at least grade six. Achieving new Sustainable Development Goal targets of universal literacy and numeracy will require both achievement of universal schooling and dramatic improvements in the learning profile in most developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]