Oketch, Moses;
Rolleston, Caine;
Idrogo, Cesar Burga;
Araya, Mesele;
(2025)
Understanding teachers’ contribution to learning outcomes: Implications for teachers’ policy in Ethiopia.
International Journal of Educational Development
, 119
, Article 103425. 10.1016/j.ijedudev.2025.103425.
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Abstract
Estimating teachers’ relative contribution to raising learning outcomes at scale is important for informing policy on teachers and teacher development. Much of the research dedicated to assessing the contribution of teachers to their pupils’ progress in quantitative terms uses value-added modelling (VAM). Value-added modelling is typically estimated based on students’ measured learning gains over a course of a fixed period such as an academic year. Unfortunately, value-added estimates generally describe a black box of mechanisms and do not identify which specific teacher practices and/or interactions with pupils lie behind students’ progress. Therefore, it is worth asking whether and to what extent VAM can be used to understand teacher contribution to pupils’ progress, and how it can help us to inform teacher policy. In this article, we examine both questions in the context of Ethiopia. We argue that VAM offers important potential, but that it needs careful contextualization to adequately inform teacher policy. While data suited for value-added analysis are rarely available in low- and middle-income contexts, we are able to make use of such data from the Research on Improving Systems of Education (RISE) Ethiopia programme. Ethiopia is a particularly interesting case study. Important reforms to improve both equity and quality of basic education have been implemented, with a strong focus on strengthening teacher training. Nonetheless, learning outcomes have declined in recent years. Our findings provide additional evidence supporting the critics of unconditional VAM approaches.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Understanding teachers’ contribution to learning outcomes: Implications for teachers’ policy in Ethiopia |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.ijedudev.2025.103425 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2025.103425 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
| Keywords: | Teacher value added, Value added modelling, Raising learning outcomes, Ethiopia, GEQIP, Learning gain |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Education, Practice and Society |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10216287 |
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