Abstract
Learning recovery and acceleration necessitates improving the quality of teaching that students receive. Research has consistently shown that no other aspect of schooling is as important to students’ academic achievement as the quality of the teaching that they receive (Hanushek, 2011; Darling-Hammond, 2000; Araujo et.al., 2017). In fact, the value of teachers goes far beyond the effects on measured cognitive learning: research shows that teachers are essential to the socioemotional well-being and outcomes of students, often well beyond their schooling years (World Bank 2020). Despite its importance, many education systems today do not provide teachers with high-quality teacher professional development (TPD) opportunities to improve and strengthen their teaching practice. For example, an analysis of 139 TPD programs in low- and middle-income countries found that much of the professional development that teachers receive does not align with best practice of what we know works to help teachers improve their teaching practice (World Bank, 2021).
This study aims to evaluate different components of a TPD program focused on providing first grade teachers with high-quality professional development that is tailored, focused, practical and ongoing, and that will help them improve their teaching practice. Specifically, in this project we will explore the most effective way to deliver online training on teaching practices in El Salvador, a context of increasing inclusion of technology and remote learning.
To this end, we are conducting a large-scale RCT with 1,145 schools to evaluate the impact of a virtual group-based training on early learning instruction. Moreover, we aim to understand the complementarities between this virtual group-based training and other components of a TPD program. Specifically, we are evaluating three additional components: (a) one-to-one instructional coaching that aims to provide guidance to teachers on how to implement the teaching practices learned in the virtual training, (b) encouraging nudges to motivate teachers to use the tools that they learned during the virtual training, and (c) self-reflection resources and exercises component, which is a less expensive alternative to component (a) that might be more feasible in a context of lack of professional coaches.
We will measure the effects of the different combinations of TPD components on first grade teachers teaching practices (using the adapted TEACH ECE observation tool), teachers’ school attendance, and first grade students’ reading and writing skills. Moreover, we will also explore other secondary outcomes such as teachers’ wellbeing (mental health) and potential mechanisms that can explain these results, such as teachers’ motivation, experience, self-efficacy, empathy, and support from leadership.