Impact-evaluation study of a school leadership development programme in Rwanda - Inception Report, VVOB – Education for Development

Nguyen, Dong; See, Beng Huat; Do, Hoa; Kirezi, Jocelyne Cyiza; Pieck, Loran; Peeraer, Jef

Abstract

School leadership plays a critical role in securing equity and excellence in schools. School leaders influence the quality of teaching and learning in their schools through multiple pathways, including promoting teacher development, creating safe environments, and establishing effective partnerships with families and communities. These pathways suggest the complex roles and competing demands for school leaders. Providing quality professional development is central in supporting these school leaders to respond to these job demands effectively. Professional development can take various forms, from informal peer-mentoring to more structured courses. The Republic of Rwanda has launched professional development programmes for leaders at all levels in education. The Diploma in Effective School Leadership programme (DESL) is one of the relatively structured flagship programmes in the country. The DESL is designed specifically for novice school leaders in Rwandan primary and secondary schools. We were commissioned to
measure the possible impacts of this programme for a dual purpose: firstly, to inform any necessary improvements of this programme and similar programmes in the future; and secondly, to contribute to the international evidence base on the impacts of professional development for school leaders on learning and teaching outcomes.

We have developed a quasi-experimental pre-post design to measure any potential impacts of school leaders’ participation in the 2024 and 2025 cohorts of the DESL programme on leadership, teaching, and learning outcomes. The current project formally lasts between 2024 and 2026.

Multiple sources of data from surveys, interviews, national examination results, and documents will be collected in 246 schools across Rwanda for analysis. The school leaders, teachers and students at these schools will participate in this study.

This first report of the current project presents the contexts for the study and research design with details on sampling and data collection. It also reports the instrumentation development from a pilot study and clarifies next steps for the project.

Citation

Nguyen, D., See, B. H., Do, H., Kirezi, J. C., Pieck, L., & Peeraer, J. (2024). Impact-evaluation study of a school leadership development programme in Rwanda - Inception Report, VVOB – Education for Development

• Working Paper Type: Working Paper
• Online Publication Date: Aug 22, 2024
• Publication Date: Aug 22, 2024
• Deposit Date: Dec 9, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 11, 2024
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3212584
• External URL: https://rwanda.vvob.org/sites/rwanda/files/20240806_inception_report_v0.pdf