Evaluating a Large-Scale School Intervention Project in South Africa: Lessons and Challenges

Abstract

This paper reports on the evaluation process and outcomes of a large-scale school intervention project conducted in South African schools. Known as the Quality Learning Project (QLP), the project intervened simultaneously at the district, school and classroom levels of the education system, focussing on achieving substantial improvements in learner performance. Two strategies of interventions were selected: capacity building to improve the functioning of districts, schools and classrooms; and effective teacher support to improve learning. A combination of quantitative and qualitative methodologies and indicators were utilized to build greater confidence in the results. The findings indicate that improvements in learner performance can be attributed to the interventions. The paper highlights emerging lessons from the evaluation of the QLP for efforts to improve the quality of education in South Africa.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n23p792