Effects Of BTL Program In Partner Schools Are Very Clear

MONITORING was done in 156 out of 250 partner schools in 25 extension districts. The indicators for schools in extension districts were divided into three parts: (a) teaching and learning, (b) school management and teacher's professional development, and (c) student's achievement .

Summary of indicators (a) and (b) were divided into four parts, which are: (i) condition of the 156 partner school in 2009 monitoring; (i) condition of the 156 partner schools in 2010 monitoring; (iii) condition of the 156 partner schools in 2011 monitoring; (iv) condition of 20 comparison schools which have never participated in DBE3 program in 2010 monitoring.

a) Teaching and Learning

Chart 1 shows the results of 3 indicators related to teaching and learning. There was a significant improvement between 2009 and 2010 with regards to teacher behavior, classroom environment and students' activities. The changes include an interesting and attractive classroom environment that encourage student's learning, teachers designing lessons which encourage student activity, as well as a variety of student activities such as discussions and practicum that made use of varied learning resources.

In contrast, few such indicators were observed in the comparison schools. These improvements were maintained in 2011. This shows that partner schools achieved approximately 90% in all indicators and reflects that fact that teacher training was focused on these indicators.

b) School Management and Teacher's Professional Development

In the 2009 monitoring there was no significant difference in the indicators related to school principal's leadership and MGMP (teachers working group) in partner schools and in comparison schools. A great improvement was observed in each indicator in 2010 monitoring, however, as seen in Chart 2. The improvements continued to be visible in 2011. The largest improvement in the indicators related to school principal's leadership was seen in the 'number of principals monitoring teaching and learning process.'

The management and use of school libraries also improved in 2011 with 80% of partner schools having libraries that were well organized and being used regularly, compared to only 61.8% in 2009. However, most of the libraries still lack adequate reading materials. The effectiveness of the MGMPs rose in 2010, with 39.6% considered effective, compared to only 15.9% in 2009. The most visible shortfall is the frequency of MGMP meetings, which in most cases was less than once a month. Difficult access to MGMP was also one of the problems faced by teachers. This is due to the wide coverage area of an MGMP (usually the whole district) and that it covers such a large number schools. Teachers' professional development was mostly met through school level MGMPs, not the district level MGMPs.