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Instructional Time LOSS and Local-Level Governance

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Introduction

Studies have shown that the amount of time students spend engaged in learning tasks is related to learning outcomes. However, schools often offer to the students only a fraction of the time that governments pay for, and schools in lower-income areas often offer less time than governments plan for students. An assessment of the amount of time used in the schools of Tunisia, Morocco, Ghana and the Brazilian state of Pernambuco showed that the percentage of time that students were engaged in learning vis-à-vis government expectations ranged from 77.9% in Tunisia to 38.7% in Ghana. To ensure service delivery to the poor, local governance must improve. Community organizations and other local governing bodies must be empowered to ensure that schools offer students the amount of time governments mandate, verify teacher attendance, and monitor students’ acquisition of basic skills through simple means, such as oral reading tests.

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    Helen Abadzi

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  1. Helen Abadzi
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Correspondence to Helen Abadzi.

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Original language: English

Helen Abadzi (Greece)

An educational psychologist and senior evaluation officer at the Operations Evaluation Department of the World Bank, Washington, DC. She is interested in the applications of cognitive science and memory research to improve the education of the poor. Her recent publications on these topics include several Prospects articles and the book Efficient learning for the poor (World Bank, 2006). E-mail: habadzi@worldbank.org

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Abadzi, H. Instructional Time LOSS and Local-Level Governance. Prospects 37, 3–16 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11125-007-9014-1

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