EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Introduction

This report presents the results of a study conducted in July 2007 to document the best practices and to analyze the lessons learned from key elements of the Malawi Teachers Training Activity (MTTA).. MTTA is a three-and-a-half year initiative funded from August 2004 to July 2008 by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)/Malawi, in collaboration with the Government of Malawi. It was supported and built upon efforts by various development partners, including UNICEF and DfID.

MTTA aims to improve students' learning by improving the quality of teaching in Malawi. Its activities include:

1. in-service teacher training (INSET)1 and support for improved content knowledge in science, mathematics, and English (SME);
2. materials to support teachers (i.e., resource books and English language books provided to Teacher Development Centers [TDCs]);
3. support to Teacher Training Colleges (TTCs) to improve pre-service teacher training in SME, social studies, and life skills; and
4. the development of HIV/AIDS prevention clubs and materials. The project targeted all government primary schools in four districts: Phalombe (Southern Region), Machinga (Southern Region), Kasungu (Central Region), and Mzimba South (Northern Region).

Research Design

After two years of MTTA implementation, the formal project assessments of teachers' and pupils' skills and SME content knowledge revealed that teachers' and pupils' learning outcomes had improved significantly in a number of schools. Eager to understand what contributed to these findings, the MTTA team decided to explore what contributed to teacher and pupil success at these sites. What were the "best practices" of MTTA that could be learned from teachers and pupils in these settings?

The study aimed to answer the following questions, as they related to the first two activities listed above (i.e., in-service teacher training and materials support):

1. Were gender differences evident in classroom practices, teacher assignments, pupil behavior, or other aspects of the schooling experience in each school visited? If so, what were they and (how) did they appear to be affected by the MTTA project?
2. What factors distinguished the three types of schools (high-performing, progressing, and low-performing) from each other? 1 Since teachers' ongoing professional development opportunities were referred to as "INSET" (in-service training) during MESA and the first years of MTTA, this document uses that term instead of the newer acronym CPD (Continuing Professional Development). Best Practices in the Malawi Teacher Training Activity 1
3. What were the quality and culture of teaching and learning (particularly in SME in standards 3 and 6) and the level, quality, and type of professional development at each school? (How) did these two issues interact?
4. (How) was the MTTA project incorporated into daily school activities in each school? Was there evidence of local innovations on any project activities? Was there evidence of local ownership of the project? Was there evidence of potential project sustainability?
5. What factors within a district led to some schools using project activities and resources to achieve positive learning results for pupils and teachers, while others did not?
6. What appeared to be the key differences within and across schools and districts that affect how the project was implemented and how successful it was at improving learning?

In order to examine these questions, two research teams conducted one-day qualitative studies of ten MTTA schools in all four districts served by the project. The teams visited five schools identified by MTTA staff or by the MTTA database as highest-performing schools; three schools selected from the MTTA database as progressing schools; and three schools selected from the MTTA database as low-performing schools. Three of the selected schools were urban schools, seven were rural schools. Research methods included interviews, observations, focus group discussions, and document analyses conducted with parents, teachers, pupils, MTTA officials, and local and district education officials at each school.