Work

Why Programs Fail: Lessons for Improving Public Service Quality from a Mixed-Methods Evaluation of an Unsuccessful Teacher Training Program in Nepal

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: This study demonstrates rigorously that an at-scale government training program for secondary teachers in Nepal had little or no impact on student learning. It then documents five sets of weaknesses related to training uptake, training-session management, teacher subject knowledge, teacher adoption of new classroom practices, and student knowledge of earlier-grade curriculum content, each of which plausibly explains some, but not all, of the program's failure. While weaknesses in trainer and teacher motivation may have contributed to the program's disappointing performance, the study argues that time, resource, and capacity constraints of both trainers and teachers, and a mismatch between policy design and student learning needs, also limited program success. These results highlight the need to broaden common accountability-focused conceptions of how to improve public service quality.

Source: The World Bank Economic Review

DOI: 10.1093/wber/lhae028

Authors: Julie Schaffner, Paul Glewwe, Uttam Sharma

Institutions: Tufts University, University of Minnesota, Institute for Social and Environmental Research-Nepal

Language: English

Topic: Evaluation and Performance Assessment

Subfield: Public Administration

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Quality education

Open Access status: green

Funders: Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Division of Human Resource Development, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development