Innovation and achievement: the work of four not-for-profit school groups
Serena Rossignoli
Serena is Education Development Trust’s Senior Researcher. She is an experienced evaluator and researcher with a strong track record of assessing and implementing both small and large-scale projects and programmes (with budget up to USD72 million) in a range of countries for organisations such as UNDP, UNESCO, FAO, and the World Bank. She has a PhD in Evaluation of Education and a Master’s Degree in Anthropology and Development obtained at the London School of Economics.
Anna Riggall
Dr Anna Riggall leads Education Development Trust's global programme of academic educational research and promotes evidence engagement across the organisation. She has over 20 years’ experience leading international educational research and holds an MA in Education & Development Studies and PhD in Education. She specialises in the areas of education system reform, education for marginalised groups including children with disabilities, girls and refugees, teacher development, leadership, accountability and education in emergencies.
This report examines four not-for-profit school chains, run by non-governmental organisations in low-income contexts. These are Fe y AlegrÃa, the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (better known by its acronym BRAC), Gyan Shala and Zambia Open Community Schools.
These school chains have succeeded in reaching marginalised students and expanding access to hard-to-reach groups. The evidence also suggests that students enrolled in these school groups can outperform students in traditional government schools. Our analysis provisionally points to some ingredients for success. These include strong social committment; a high degree of autonomy from government control allowing adapation to local need; strong accountability; highly effective resource management and investment in teacher training.
The scale of the challenges around access and quality of education in the global South, particularly for the most marginalised children and families, is vast. The availability of financial support globally to address this challenge is insufficient to meet the need. In this context, philanthropic, NGO-run, not-for-profit school groups appear to have a place in provision – be that in the short- or long-term.
'The scale of the access and quality challenge requires a creative and inclusive approach to evidence collection. We believe that as educators, there is much we can learn from the systematic analysis of the work of effective schools of different types and the approaches and policies used by improving education systems. If we can learn something from the successes of these school groups, we should.' - Tony McAleavy