Egypt Education Community Score Card Pilot in Ismailia Governorate Context and Design Features Mariana T. Felicio, TTL Social Development Specialist, MNA March 16, 2011

Diagnostics Education Sector Policy Note, 2007: Egypt, Improving Quality, Equality, and Efficiency in the Education Sector: Fostering a Competent Generation of Youth. Widening inequality gap is observed between the rich and the poor with regards to access to quality education due to: Inefficiencies in expenditures High private education costs Two-track system separating performers from non-performers at preparatory stage

Context – Government Vision Decentralization Reforms Reforms in the Ministry of Education Legislation – Ministerial Decree 334, Board of Trustees, Parents and Teacher (Sept 2006) School Improvement Plans (SIPs) are mandated at every school. On pilot basis, Ismailia, Luxor and Fayoum for a variety of Bab 2 Expenditure (late 2007); All country for routine maintenance. Formula fund transfers to the Markaz level and all the way to the school, based on enrollment rates and poverty levels (2008)

Results People very happy with transparency Appreciate flexibility Makes school planning more than a theory People realize advantage of predictable formula People not afraid to spend More contributions from community

School Management Parents Hypothesis: Improving the accountability of teachers positively impacts student performance Teachers Effectively engage students in learning including class work, homework, class tests, etc. Know the weaknesses and strengths of students and employing legitimate measures to address weaknesses Improve quality of teaching methods to meet the needs of students School Management Engage with teachers and ensure stronger accountability relationships between management and teachers Provide incentives to retain and improve performance of teachers Promote a healthy school environment to motivate effective learning Parents Engage with teachers to ensure free flow of information between the teachers and parents about student performance Participate in school and class activities, as may be required, to contribute to the needs of the schools and students Support teachers efforts by helping students with homework

The Framework for Community Scorecard in Ismailia Information sharing/feedback Joint review and action plans Increased trust and reciprocity leading to willingness to co-operate in implementing measures for improved quality performance of schools School Board/Management Interactions Partnerships Parents Teachers

Approach The Education Community Scorecard Pilot is in line with existing MOE efforts to decentralize functions to the school level. The pilot will serve as an experiment to answer the research questions: How can the pilot help improve the way MOE implements decentralization? How can it increase the effectiveness, policies and accountability in line with the MOE's current policy objectives? Does the intervention change the quality of school performance and the way decentralization efforts are implemented?

Pilot Objectives and Expected Outcomes Community Score Card to Enhance Quality of Performance of Schools Objectives Improve the accountability of teachers Improve the accountability of school management and processes Promote accountability and effectiveness in student academic learning Expected Outcomes Improvement in performance of target students in the impact evaluation test Improved responsibility, transparency and accountability of school management and teachers Expanded capacity and knowledge of in-country stakeholders on Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation tools for improving service performance

Components Baseline survey Community score card – FGDs and Action Plans Impact evaluation (planned)

Design Features – Baseline Survey Governorate: Ismailia - all 7 districts Survey Firm: El-Zanaty Associates Sample: 100 randomly selected primary schools 50 treatment schools 50 control schools 5 structured questionnaires were rolled out targeting : School Checklist Head Teacher Teacher Parent Pupil One Roster for Year 3 tests – Arabic and Math

Baseline survey’s initial findings Increased participation of school community members in monitoring progress, positively affect achievement of targets. Student performance increases if parents are provided with their children’s learning outcomes. Schools are better managed when Board of Trustees are more hands on, (ie. active in human resources monitoring vs budget sign off) Addressing school management issues are the most direct way to positively affect academic learning. Over 20% of schools identified (i) academic performance and (ii) relationship between the school and community as key indicators to assess action plan success.

Policy and Strategic Planning Unit Ministry of Education Policy and Strategic Planning Unit Ismailia Governorate Quality Assurance Unit (including 8 facilitators to social workers at school level) Support Agency (CARE) Including staff for Quality Assurance and Supervision District Technical Support Unit Board of Trustees (Head Master, Social worker, NGO) School Head Master Social Worker Quality Assurance Team Parents and Students

Main Features of the Proposed Activity Orientation Workshop on Social Accountability and Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation Training of trainers – targeting facilitators Training of Facilitators – Step-down training Piloting the CSC in selected schools communities Monitoring of action plan implementation Impact evaluation of the methodology

Impact Evaluation CSC activities An impact assessment the CSC activities will be conducted after one school year. Aims of Impact Evaluation Assess improvements in the responsibility and accountability of the teacher Evaluate accountability of school management. Assess changes in students learning outcomes Monitoring and Evaluation Strategy Collection of baseline data Structured questionnaire Math and Reading (Arabic) tests to target students Implementation of action plans designed by teachers, parents and school Board Continuous monitoring of action plans implementation Repeat of all major activities of the CSC after 7 months to track progress and evaluate impact and effectiveness of the intervention

Role of Country Partners CARE Egypt – Community Score Card Element Activities Awareness creation and capacity development Organize and lead Orientation Workshop on Social Accountability Training of Trainers Workshop (QAU staff, CARE staff, 8 facilitators) Field Test of CSC Methodology Training of Trainers (training of social workers) Piloting of the CSC Help coordinate community score card exercise at community level, with support from social workers at each school Focused group discussion and performance score card Interface meeting, problems harmonization, development of corrective action plans Report writing Prepare implementation process report and findings Prepare quarterly report on implementation of corrective actions plans Quality Control/Technical Assistance Assist with follow up visits to communities to monitor the implementation of action plans, periodic spot checks Impact evaluation Repeat the community score card process to track progress in action

Key Activities and Time Line Activity Dates 1. Baseline data collection October 2010 2. Orientation Workshop November 4, 2010 3. Training of Trainers October 28 and November 3, 2010 4. Training of facilitators Mid November 5. Piloting Community Score Card Input tracking Focus group discussions Interface meetings and action plans development December, 2010 4. Implementation of Action Plan December 2010 - June 2011 5. Impact Assessment and Evaluation Repeat pilot activities Evaluate results and analyze the findings September – October 2011