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Evaluating the Fast-track Transformational Teacher Training and Model Practice Classrooms in Ghana: Improving Kindergarten Quality through Teacher Pre-service Training

Last registered on July 14, 2017
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Evaluating the Fast-track Transformational Teacher Training and Model Practice Classrooms in Ghana: Improving Kindergarten Quality through Teacher Pre-service Training
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0002322
Initial registration date
July 11, 2017

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
July 14, 2017, 8:27 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country
Ghana
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Sharon Wolf
Affiliation
University of Pennsylvania
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2015-09-15
End date
2017-07-31
Keywords
Education
Additional Keywords
pre-primary; pre-service teacher training
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
This study assesses the evaluation of a government-owned scalable pre-service training programme - the Fast-Track Transformational Teacher Training Programme (FTTT) in Ghana. The programme transforms existing KG classrooms through teacher training and learning resources, into model practice classrooms for KG1 and KG2 at low cost. The model classrooms are used by public Colleges of Education to host high quality practical placements for student teachers.

Drawn from the government’s own KG strategy, the FTTT is fully integrated with, and implemented through, Ghana Education Service (GES) systems. GES officers and College tutors lead the delivery of training, and are responsible for much of the school-based coaching and mentoring which is designed for sustainability. The goal of the programme is to equip student teachers with the knowledge and confidence to apply a pedagogy that replaces rote learning with teaching at the right level, including pupil assessments, for them to implement as newly qualified teachers (NQTs).

This external impact evaluation of the FTTT uses a randomized control trialto assess impacts of the program for student teachers who had received the training with those who had not. Specifically, impacts are assessed on classroom quality, teacher professional well-being, and student learning outcomes (1) during the student-teaching year, (2) term 1 of the following year when student-teachers are posted as NQTs, and (3) term 3 of the NQT year. A further sub-group of FTTT-NQTs received the additional benefit of their head teacher attending a 4-day training and sensitization workshop. Data collected includes direct surveys with teachers, classroom observations, and direct assessments with KG students.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Wolf, Sharon. 2017. "Evaluating the Fast-track Transformational Teacher Training and Model Practice Classrooms in Ghana: Improving Kindergarten Quality through Teacher Pre-service Training." AEA RCT Registry. July 14. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.2322-1.0
Former Citation
Wolf, Sharon. 2017. "Evaluating the Fast-track Transformational Teacher Training and Model Practice Classrooms in Ghana: Improving Kindergarten Quality through Teacher Pre-service Training." AEA RCT Registry. July 14. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/2322/history/19470
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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
A pilot model in the Central Region of Ghana of the FTTT programme was developed and implemented from August 2013 to July 2015 by the NGO Sabre Trust in collaboration with GES and Our Lady of the Apostles College in Cape Coast. This model is evaluated in the current study, implemented during the 2015-2016 school year in the Western Region of Ghana.

The FTTT trains teachers in play- and activity-based pedagogy for KG instruction and adopts a thematic (topic-based) approach to lesson planning. The programme builds on the standard three-year certification programme, which includes placement in a standard KG classroom in the third year of training with mentorship from the teacher of that class. The scope and quality of the mentorship is determined by the teacher and does not involve specific guidance. The FTTT augments the student-teacher placement year with intensive and guided in-service training and support. Student-teachers are placed in schools with “model practice classrooms,” which provide them with enhanced training, coaching and mentoring by FTTT trainers. The enhanced training services include intensive workshops, in classroom coaching, one-on-one feedback meetings with trainers, and a best practice forum for student-teachers to share their experiences with each other.
Intervention Start Date
2015-09-15
Intervention End Date
2016-07-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Observed teaching quality (primary outcome); teacher professional well-being and knowledge in early childhood education (primary outcome); child learning and developmental outcomes (secondary outcome).
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Randomized-control trial, with student-teachers randomized to treatment or control schools. Student teachers are assessed at the end of the student-teaching year when they are all placed in schools in the Western Region, and twice in the following school year when they are placed as full-time, New Qualified Teachers (NQTs) across the country.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer
Randomization Unit
Student-teachers
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
135 teachers.
Sample size: planned number of observations
135 teachers and classrooms; 2,025 students (15 per teacher).
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
23 treatment schools, 23 control schools during treatment year; 135 schools in follow up year after teachers are placed as Newly Qualified Teachers around the country.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Our power analysis provides at least 80% power for the main study outcome, teaching quality, at a significance level of p < 0.05. Optimal Design software was used for the determinations of the minimum detectable effect sizes (Raudenbush et al., 2011). For teacher-level teaching practices during the first year of permanent posting of newly qualified teachers’ we assume an R-squared of 0.20 – this is conservative given the extensive baseline data that will be collected on teachers: With 137 teachers across the two treatment conditions, the MDES is 0.43 s.d. Notably, school-based intervention research finds effect sizes of less intensive teacher training programmes on similar classroom outcomes ranging from 0.50 – 0.89 standard deviations (Durlak et al., 2011; Brown et al., 2010; Raver et al., 2009; Rivers et al., 2013). The statistical power analysis related to the child-level outcomes, which we are hoping to be adding to this study, also provides at least 80% power for child outcomes, at a significance level of p < 0.05. We assume an R-squared of 0.20 taking into account the measurement of a number of covariates, and an intra-class correlation of children in schools ρπ=0.15 (based on estimates from another study of ours in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana). With these assumptions, 15 children in each classroom in each of the 137 schools, the Minimum Detectable Effect Size (MDES) is 0.22 standard deviations. This is a reasonable estimate given the intensity of the intervention. Recent studies from the U.S. context show similarly sized impacts of comparable preschool interventions (e.g., Morris et al., 2014).
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
University of Pennsylvania
IRB Approval Date
2017-08-18
IRB Approval Number
825687
IRB Name
New York University
IRB Approval Date
2016-03-10
IRB Approval Number
IRB-FY2016-697
IRB Name
Innovations for Poverty Action
IRB Approval Date
2016-03-07
IRB Approval Number
9937
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials