PASEC

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Fast Track Initiative partners meeting

• PASEC
• Break out session on
• Experience in measuring outcomes
• Copenhaguen, 20th april 2009
• Pierre Varly PASEC/CONFEMEN

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1. What is PASEC ?

• PASEC is a CONFEMEN (Francophone ministries of
  education) program established in 1991 who aims
  at
• Identifying contextual and school factors that
  impact learning outcomes
• Developing national capacities in the assessment
  area
• Producing regional comparisons
• Disseminating analysis data and methodological
  support
• PASEC assesses grade 2 and 5 learning outcomes in
  French (or national language) and Maths at the
  beginning and the end of a school year
• PASEC is low cost assessment is about 160 000
  by country

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2. What is the PASEC added value ?

• PASEC has a long standing hability to produce
  data and capacities in difficult contexts
• It is the leader in capacity building in the
  assessment area and the main source of data on
  learning outcomes
• in francophone Africa
• A key partner to the FTI initiative
• Promote accountability and public debate on
  quality of education

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3. PASEC scope 21 francophone countries

• Pre 2002 Djibouti, Centrafric an republic,
  Congo, Mali
• Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Senegal cohort
  studies Cameroon, Madagascar, Guinea
• Post 2002 5 countries every two years
• Togo , Niger, Mali, Guinea, (thematic studies on
  teachers)
• Chad, Mauritania, Cameroon, Madagascar, Benin,
  Gabon, Mauritius, Congo, Senegal, Burkina Faso
• Ongoing PASEC IX Ivory Coast, Burundi, Comores,
  Guinea Bissau, Lebanon
• Not participating yet Rwanda, Democratic
  republic of Congo, Sao Tome Principe, Cabo
  Verde
• ? Lao and Cambodia wish to participate

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4. Regional perspective with recent data
(2004-2009)
Relationship between french and maths score, 5th
grade, begining of the school year

• Source PASEC VII, VIII preliminary PASEC IX
  data,scaled using Rasch model
• Low income - maths taught in national language
  in the early grades
• Low income maths taught in French all along
  the primary cycle
• Middle income

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5. Recent trends in learning achievement
Trend data for Cameroon, Madagascar, Senegal,
Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Congo Significant
progress in access to grade 5 in these countries
in the last ten years More poor and rural
population enrolled at school ? Slight decrease
in french PASEC tests score in the countries
where the composition of the pupils enrolled
changed
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6. Key factors affecting learning outcomes or
explanation of the final test score
Initial test score 36 Pupils (2,5 of
variance) Repetition, socio economic
background, entry age, gender, learning support
at home, child work Classroom and teachers
(4,9) initial teacher training, class size,
teachers absenteism School (1,6) frequency
of pedagogical meetings betwen school head and
teachers  Class  effect (24,2) effective
schooling time, school management, unobserved
pupils caracteristics (high poverty) ??
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7. How PASEC results are driven into education
strategies?

• A simple case the repetition
• Do you reduce the repetition rate by
• A . Putting a target (10) into a framework and
  making it a condition for funding ?
• B. Really convincing the Ministry and the
  administration to do so ?
• C. Promoting debate with the teachers and the
  parents based on data and facts ?
• Response A B C
• ? These results can be achieved through a STRONG
  partnership

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8. PASEC and the global compact

• PASEC reports, analysis and data are
• a key component of the Country Status Reports
  (CSR)
• a major input for UNESCO BREDA regional reports
  for  quality  issues
• PASEC data and technical advisers animates
   quality  sessions in the education sector
  reviews (Guinea, Benin, Senegal)
• Dissimenation and communication strategies
  online reports and data, distribution of
  factsheet in the country, press

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9. Main PASEC impact on policies

• At regional level
• Decrease of the repetition rates in the majority
  of francophone countries
• Diminution of double-shift schooling
• Renewed policies on contract teachers
  recruitment, training and management
• Curricula reforms
• At national level
• ? Basis of the  quality  management strategies
• Conditions of teacher recruitement (Guinea),
  Provision of school textbooks (Chad), Management
  of teacher training institutions (Niger, Chad),
  Curricula schooling time (Benin)

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10. PASEC a leader in capacity building in
francophone africa

• Most national assessment activities have
  beneficiated from PASEC inputs and leadership
• south south cooperation (PASEC national
  experts and technical advisers)
• training modules and workshops
• on-site capacity building missions
• methodological guideline to come
• ? CONFEMEN seeks to better support national
  activities

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11. Perspectives-Strategic plan 2009-2012

• Improve data quality and comparability
• Evaluate impact on countries policies improve
  communication
• More national training
• Improve the FTI partnership with further
  collaboration with SACMEQ , IEA, EGRA, WB
  UNESCO
• Strategic plan 2009-2012 (including staff,
  missions, training and field operations) 1,9
  millions Euros

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Thank you for your attention !

• pvarly_at_confemen.org
• pasec_at_confemen.org
• www.confemen.org