SMS Messages to Increase Adherence to Differentiated Learning

Previous research in Ghana has demonstrated the effectiveness of Differentiated Learning (teaching students at their level and not grade) on student learning. As a result, the Ghanaian Ministry of Education has scaled up differentiated learning to 10,000 schools in Ghana, an effort known as the Galop Initiative. Despite these efforts, the effective implementation of Differentiated Learning (DL) across the nation remains a challenge. Teaching in a differentiated manner demands additional effort, planning, and adaptability, making teacher motivation one potential barrier to implementation. Teacher motivation may be affected by their beliefs of whether or not management and policymakers cares about their effort to implement DL. The study seeks to assess whether providing information weekly SMS messages reminding teachers to implement DL positively influences teacher motivation and DL implementation via a randomized controlled trial. Teachers from 100 schools (Treatment Group) are randomly selected to receive SMS messages from GES, highlighting the importance of implementing DL, while the remaining 100 schools serve as the Control Group. By understanding the motivational factors, the research aims to identify mechanisms through which teachers effectively implement DL.