Assignment Report: Independent Verification of Educational Data in Rwanda
This report is for a Pilot of Results-Based Aid (RBA) in Rwanda
Abstract
Results that will trigger payment for the RBA pilot in Rwanda are annual improvements in the number of students completing national examinations and increased numbers of teachers with identified levels of English language competencies.
National examinations administered by the Government of Rwanda in November 2011 provide the baseline data for RBA student completion payment calculations. The contract for measuring teachers’ English language competencies was awarded to British Council and baseline testing took place in November 2012.
Independent verification advises DFID on the reliability and accuracy of the data reports on the validity of the testing instrument and procedures used to measure the English language competencies of teachers. It also involves cross-referencing the results to be verified with independent evidence such as schools’ records relating to those results.
83 of the 100 schools surveyed were in perfect agreement between the Rwanda Education Board (REB) results list and school records. The overall conclusion is that the figures reported by REB should be accepted and taken as the baseline for RBA payment calculations.
The baseline assessment of the English language competence of teachers was carried out in line with the agreed protocol, and to a high standard. The Aptis test appears to have performed satisfactorily as an assessment of overall level of the English language competence of school teachers in Rwanda. Improvement to Common European Framework of Reference Level B1 is recommended as the target level for the calculation of RBA payments although this should not be interpreted as endorsing B1 as an adequate level for effective teaching in English.
Citation
Anon. Assignment Report: Independent Verification of Educational Data for a Pilot of Results-Based Aid (RBA) in Rwanda. HEART, UK (2013) 82 pp.