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EdTech in Kenya: A Rapid Scan (EdTech Hub Country Scan No. 7)

Otieno, J., & Taddese, A. - 2020

EdTech Hub country scans explore factors that enable and hinder the use of technology in education. These factors include the policy or vision for EdTech, institutional capacity, private-sector partnerships, and the digital infrastructure. The scans are intended to be comprehensive but are by no means exhaustive; however, we hope they will serve as a useful starting point for more in-depth discussions about opportunities and barriers in EdTech in specific countries and, in this case, Kenya. This report was originally written in June 2020. It is based primarily on desk research, with quality assurance provided by a country expert.

Many successful piloted programs fail when scaled up to a national level. In Kenya, which has a long history of particularly ineffective implementation after successful pilot programs, the Tusome national literacy program—which receives funding from the United States Agency for International Development—is a national-level scale-up of previous literacy and numeracy programs. We applied a scaling framework (Crouch and DeStefano in Doing reform differently: combining rigor and practicality in implementation and evaluation of system reforms. International development group working paper no. 2017-01, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC, 2017. https://www.rti.org/publication/doing-reform-differently-combining-rigor-and-practicality-implementation-and-evaluation) to examine whether Tusome’s implementation was rolled out in ways that would enable government structures and officers to respond effectively to the new program. We found that Tusome was able to clarify expectations for implementation and outcomes nationally using benchmarks for Kiswahili and English learning outcomes, and that these expectations were communicated all the way down to the school level. We noted that the essential program inputs were provided fairly consistently, across the nation. In addition, our analyses showed that Kenya developed functional, if simple, accountability and feedback mechanisms to track performance against benchmark expectations. We also established that the Tusome feedback data were utilized to encourage greater levels of instructional support within Kenya’s county level structures for education quality support. The results indicated that several of the key elements for successful scale-up were therefore put in place. However, we also discovered that Tusome failed to fully exploit the available classroom observational data to better target instructional support. In the context of this scaling framework, the Tusome literacy program’s external evaluation results showed program impacts of 0.6–1.0 standard deviations on English and Kiswahili learning outcomes. The program implemented a functional classroom observational feedback system through existing government systems, although usage of those systems varied widely across Kenya. Classroom visits, even if still falling short of the desired rate, were far more frequent, were focused on instructional quality, and included basic feedback and advice to teachers. These findings are promising with respect to the ability of countries facing quality problems to implement a coherent instructional reform through government systems at scale.

The Kenyan education system has very limited re-entry options for learners who drop out before attaining secondary school certificate. It is very difficult to access training and or secure a job that requires at least secondary school education. This study examined the prospects of initiating Open and Distance e-Learning(ODeL) in re-entry programmes into high school for out of school Young Adult Secondary School Dropouts (Y.A.S.S.D). The study focused on the enablers and challenges of initiating ODeL in the secondary school re-entry programmes. An alternative flexible and sustainable community based ODeL model that potentially can address re-entry for the Y.A.S.S.D is proposed. A qualitative phenomenological design was used; focus group discussion and interviews were conducted from a purposeful sample of participants. The study revealed that the potential of ODeL in addressing re-entry into secondary school for Y.A.S.S.D great. Majority of the participants were aware of the existing secondary school re-entry options, however, ODeL appeared new. Despite there being challenges in introducing the ODeL mode of study in secondary school re-entry programmes, it is viable and requires further exploration. The enablers of this mode of study are largely in place to the extent appreciated by participants in the study.

We evaluated a program to improve literacy instruction on the Kenyan coast using training workshops, semiscripted lesson plans, and weekly text-message support for teachers to understand its impact on students’ literacy outcomes and on the classroom practices leading to those outcomes. The evaluation ran from the beginning of Grade 1 to the end of Grade 2 in 51 government primary schools chosen at random, with 50 schools acting as controls. The intervention had an impact on classroom practices with effect sizes from 0.57 to 1.15. There was more instruction with written text and more focus on letters and sounds. There was a positive impact on three of four primary measures of children’s literacy after two years, with effect sizes up to 0.64, and school dropout reduced from 5.3% to 2.1%. This approach to literacy instruction is sustainable, and affordable and a similar approach has subsequently been adopted nationally in Kenya.

Since 2008, the Ministries of Education in Liberia and Kenya have undertaken transitions from small-scale pilot programs to improve reading outcomes among primary learners to the large-scale implementation of reading interventions. The effects of the pilots on learning outcomes were significant, but questions remained regarding whether such large gains could be sustained at scale. In this article, the authors dissect the Liberian and Kenyan experiences with implementing large-scale reading programs, documenting the critical components and conditions of the program designs that affected the likelihood of successfully transitioning from pilot to scale. They also review the design, deployment, and effectiveness of each pilot program and the scale, design, duration, enabling conditions, and initial effectiveness results of the scaled programs in each country. The implications of these results for the design of both pilot and large-scale reading programs are discussed in light of the experiences of both the Liberian and Kenyan programs.

Previous large-scale education technology interventions have shown only modest impacts on student achievement. Building on results from an earlier randomized controlled trial of three different applications of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on primary education in Kenya, the Tusome Early Grade Reading Activity developed the National Tablets Program. The National Tablets Program is integrated into the Tusome activity by providing tablets to each of more than 1,200 instructional coaches in the country to use when they visit teachers. This enables a national database of classroom instructional quality, which is used by the education system to monitor overall education quality. The tools provided on the tablets are designed to help coaches increase the quality of their instructional support to teachers, and deepen the shallow accountability structures in Kenya’s education system. Using results of a national survey, we investigated the ability of the National Tablets Program to increase the number of classroom observations done by coaches and to improve student learning outcomes. Survey results showed high levels of tablet program utilization, increased accountability, and improvements in learning outcomes. We share recommendations regarding large-scale ICT interventions and literacy programs.

To improve learning outcomes, an intervention in Kenya called the Primary Math and Reading (PRIMR) Initiative provided pupil learning materials, teachers’ guides and modest teacher professional development in mathematics. This paper presents the causal impact of PRIMR’s mathematics intervention on pupil achievement indices for procedural and conceptual numeracy, using a differences-in-differences analytic strategy. The mathematics intervention produced modest, statistically significant results: generally similar results for males and females, a larger impact in grade 2 than grade 1, a larger impact in nongovernment schools than public schools, and smaller outcomes in mathematics than for English or Kiswahili. These findings have relevant policy implications in Kenya given an impending national mathematics programme.

Education policymakers are investing in information and communications technology (ICT) without a research base on how ICT improves outcomes. There is limited research on the effects of different types of ICT investments on outcomes. The Kenya Primary Math and Reading (PRIMR) study implemented a randomized controlled trial comparing the effects and cost of three interventions – e-readers for students, tablets for teachers, and the base PRIMR program with tablets for instructional supervisors. The results show that the ICT investments do not improve literacy outcomes significantly more than the base non-ICT instructional program. Our findings show that cost considerations should be paramount in selecting ICT investments in the education sector.

The uptake of technology and specifically, GeoGebra software, in teaching mathematics has had mixed success in spite of its documented benefits. This study investigated teachers’ perspective towards training and eventual use of GeoGebra as a tool to enhance learning of mathematics. In this article we share findings from a larger study that was conducted in Kajiado County in Kenya (Africa) on GeoGebra use in teaching Secondary School Mathematics. This article presents the relationship between observed teachers’ perceptions towards the uptake of GeoGebra, a technology based tool and the actual uptake of GeoGebra using the Diffusion Innovation theoretical framework. Data was collected from practicing mathematics teachers who were exposed to GeoGebra through a series of training sessions. The findings after training sessions with the mathematics teachers showed willingness to use GeoGebra in their classes. The teachers identified Geometry as the topic where use of GeoGebra would be most relevant due to its abstract nature. Teachers’ responses indicated that GeoGebra was perceived as useful for teaching and learning Mathematics and that it would help learners grasp concepts in Geometry. However, the study also found out that systemic support would sustain teachers’ engagement with GeoGebra at classroom level as actualization of Geogebra use did differ significantly from teachers’ perceptions.

Kenya is one of the countries whose teachers the UNESCO (2015) report cited as lacking curriculum support in the classroom. As is the case in many African countries, a large portion of teachers in Kenya enter the teaching profession when inadequately prepared, while those already in the field receive insufficient support in their professional lives. The cascade model has often been utilized in the country whenever need for teachers’ continuing professional development (TCPD) has arisen, especially on a large scale. The preference for the model is due to, among others, its cost effectiveness and ability to reach out to many teachers within a short period of time. Many researchers have however cast aspersions with this model for its glaring shortcomings. On the contrary, TCPD programmes that are collaborative in nature and based on teachers’ contexts have been found to be more effective than those that are not. This paper briefly examines cases of the cascade model in Kenya, the challenges associated with this model and proposes the adoption of collaborative and institutionbased models to mitigate these challenges. The education sectors in many nations in Africa, and those in the developing world will find the discussions here relevant.

Instructional coaching has improved student outcomes in the United States, and may help to solve Kenya's literacy problems. Coaching is costly, however, and evidence is lacking regarding the most cost-efficient teacher-to-coach ratio. We used student literacy outcome data from more than 8000 students participating in the Kenya Primary Math and Reading Initiative—a randomized controlled trial of instructional interventions in public and nonformal schools—to fill this gap. Coaches in larger public zones made fewer visits per teacher, and teacher-coach ratio and student performance were negatively associated. Using causal methods, we concluded that lower ratios might improve nonformal school outcomes.

What should be considered when developing a literacy intervention that asks teachers to implement new instructional methods? How can this be achieved with minimal support within existing policy? We argue that two broad sets of considerations must be made in designing such an intervention. First, the intervention must be effective by bridging the gap between current teacher practice and the scientific literature on effective instruction. This broad consideration is detailed with 10 design recommendations. Second, the intervention must be amenable to being scaled-up and mainstreamed as part of government policy. This involves being (i) simple and replicable; (ii) well received by teachers; and (iii) cost effective. The paper describes how these factors were considered in the design of a literacy intervention in government primary schools in coastal Kenya. It also includes reactions from teachers about the intervention and their change in knowledge.

Some education policymakers focus on bringing down pupil–teacher ratios. Others argue that resources will have limited impact without systematic reforms to education governance, teacher incentives, and pedagogy. We examine a program under which school committees at randomly selected Kenyan schools were funded to hire an additional teacher on an annual contract renewable conditional on performance, outside normal Ministry of Education civil-service channels, at one-quarter normal compensation levels. For students randomly assigned to stay with existing classes, test scores did not increase significantly, despite a reduction in class size from 82 to 44 on average. In contrast, scores increased for students assigned to be taught by locally-hired contract teachers. One reason may be that contract teachers had low absence rates, while centrally-hired civil-service teachers in schools randomly assigned contract teachers endogenously reduced their effort. Civil-service teachers also captured rents for their families, with approximately 1/3 of contract teacher positions going to relatives of existing teachers. A governance program that empowered parents within school committees reduced both forms of capture. The best contract teachers obtained civil service jobs over time, and we estimate large potential dynamic benefits from supplementing a civil service system with locally-hired contract teachers brought in on a probationary basis and granted tenure conditional on performance.

This study was conducted to evaluate the contribution of four of the seven e-School dimensions to the success of the pilot phase of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) e-School project in Kenya. The study employed survey research methodology. All six of the NEPAD e-Schools in Kenya were included and the teachers and students in those schools formed the study population. Of the 5,186 students and teachers, a representative sample of 1,508 was selected using probabilistic techniques. Data was collected using observations and a survey questionnaire. It was established that all six of the e-Schools had installed the basic computing facilities required for integrating information and communication technologies (ICT) in teaching and learning; all the e-Schools were observed to have the Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) for Internet access in computer laboratories where a variable number of computers were installed. The ICT infrastructure provided modest communication capabilities. But while teachers received technical (ICT) training, they did not receive training on pedagogies for ICT integration in teaching and learning. We conducted hypothesis testing and confirmed that the four dimensions of E-School Success Model, investigated in the current study, positively contribute towards the success of the e-School. We therefore concluded that ICT infrastructure quality, content and communication quality, training effectiveness and use make considerable contributions to the success of the pilot phase of the NEPAD e-School project in Kenya. We recommend that stakeholders should continue investing in the NEPAD e-School project. Further studies on the impact of the other three dimensions of the e-Schools are recommended.

This study investigated the effectiveness of using metacognitive prompts during testing for improving results in a Genetics Problem Solving Test (GPST). The study, a pre-test post-test, control group quasi-experimental design involving 2x2x2 analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) also investigated the moderating effects of gender and school type. A total of 2,138 high school students purposively selected from seventeen high schools in Western province, Kenya, participated in the study using three validated instruments; Biology Ability Test (BAT), Genetics Problem Solving Test (GPST), and Metacognitive Prompting Questionnaire (MPQ). Findings showed that metacognitive prompting (MP) had a significant effect on students’ genetics problem solving ability, F(1, 2137) = 10.909, p < 0.001. The findings also revealed gender differences, with girls outperforming boys on the genetics problem solving test. Furthermore, a significant interaction between metacognitive prompting and school type showed that students in provincial schools benefited from MPs more than students from district schools. This study established a foundation for instructional methods for biology teachers and recommendations are made for implementing metacognitive prompting in a problem-based learning environment in high schools and science teacher education programs in Kenya.

Primary school enrollments have increased rapidly in sub-Saharan Africa, spurring concerns about low levels of learning. We analyze field experiments in Kenya and Uganda that assessed whether the Reading to Learn intervention, implemented by the Aga Khan Foundation in both countries, improved early-grade literacy as measured by common assessments. We find that Ugandan literacy (in Lango) increased by 0.2 standard deviations. We find a smaller effect (0.08) on a Swahili literacy test in Kenya. We find no evidence that differential effects are explained by baseline differences across countries in student test scores, classroom attributes, or implementation fidelity. A plausible explanation that cannot be directly tested is differential effective exposure to the literacy treatment in the tested languages. Students in Kenya were tested in Swahili, which is not necessarily the main language of instruction in primary schools, despite official policy.