Improving school management in low and middle income countries: A systematic review

Gautam Anand, Aishwarya Atluri, Lee Crawfurd, Todd Pugatch and Ketki Sheth

Economics of Education Review, 2023, vol. 97, issue C

Abstract: Improving school quality in low and middle income countries (LMICs) is a global priority. One way to improve quality may be to improve the management skills of school leaders. In this systematic review, we analyze the impact of interventions targeting school leaders’ management practices on student learning. We begin by describing the characteristics and responsibilities of school leaders using data from large, multi-country surveys. Second, we review the literature and conduct a meta-analysis of the causal effect of school management interventions on student learning, using 39 estimates from 20 evaluations. We estimate a statistically significant improvement in student learning of 0.033 standard deviations. We show that effect sizes are not related to program scale or intensity. We complement the meta-analysis by identifying common limitations to program effectiveness through a qualitative assessment of the studies included in our review. We find three main factors which mitigate program effectiveness: (1) low take-up; (2) lack of incentives or structure for implementation of recommendations; and (3) the lengthy causal chain linking management practices to student learning. Finally, to assess external validity of our review, we survey practitioners to compare characteristics between evaluated and commonly implemented programs. Our findings suggest that future work should focus on generating evidence on the marginal effect of common design elements in these interventions, including factors that promote school leader engagement and accountability.

Keywords: School management; Principals; School leaders; Literature review (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Improving School Management in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review (2023)
Working Paper: Improving School Management in Low and Middle Income Countries: A Systematic Review (2023)
Working Paper: Improving school management in low and middle income countries: A systematic review (2023)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:97:y:2023:i:c:s0272775723001115

DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2023.102464

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