Organizational Perspectives on Accountability and Learning: Cases Highlighting Innovative Practice (OPAL-CHIP)

This project conducts further work related to Organizational Perspectives on Accountability and Learning (OPAL), a three-year project that examines the relationship between school funding models, accountability, and learning outcomes in Mumbai and Kathmandu. Preliminary results from OPAL show that there is a substantial overlap in the literacy and numeracy outcomes in public and private schooling when taking into account students' home backgrounds. OPAL-CHIP takes this finding as a point of departure, investigating school management practices and relationships in those public schools with higher than expected literacy and numeracy outcomes.

OPAL-CHIP surveys high performing public schools in Mumbai and Kathmandu, looking at schools with high learning outcomes and those that are undertaking innovative change programmes to improve learning. From this survey, it selects six schools for case study research, with data collected from interviews, focus groups, and school observations. These are analyzed using thematic analysis both within and across cases.

The analysis of case study data is used to plan workshops for teachers and headteachers in Mumbai and Kathmandu. In these workshops, participants will analyse and discuss examples from the case studies, focusing on the different forms of accountability within the schooling, the processes, and key aspects of the organizational culture. Case study findings will also be disseminated to a general audience via short, informational videos.

The project achieves impact by engaging teachers and headteachers of primary schools in Mumbai and Kathmandu as participants in a workshop. Data that are collected in case studies are used as prompts for discussion and analysis by workshop participants. Participants will analyse key quotes, scenarios, and videos from case studies and will synthesize ideas about how relationships within school (e.g. accountability), culture, and the role of the teacher impact students' learning. They will then use apply this synthesis to their own schools, developing ideas for how the organization could be transformed to improve learning outcomes.

Additionally, the project creates and disseminates videos that highlight innovative practice in school management in terms appropriate to a lay audience. These videos will include content from case study data collection as well as more scenes of typical school environments and interactions. They will be narrated in multiple languages used in the relevant communities (i.e. Nepali, Hindi, Marathi, Urdu) and will include subtitles for accessibility. Videos will be disseminated by social media in an order to engage local parents in discussions around innovation in public education and possible new ways of managing schools, including the role of parents.

The primary beneficiaries of the proposed impact activities are primary school-aged students in public schools in Mumbai and Kathmandu. These beneficiaries are addressed through research and impact activities that will improve the quality of education in these schools. The project engages the teachers and headteachers of these schools in a development workshop that uses cases of high-performing, innovative public schools to prompt discussion and analysis of participants' own school environments and to help plan change.

Other beneficiaries of the research include, parents, teachers and headteachers. Parents benefit through the targeted dissemination of videos highlighting innovative practice among high performing public schools. These videos will enable them to consider new possibilities in public school management, including the roles of parents in the school, which will enable them to play a role in school improvement. Teachers and headteachers benefit from professional development, which aims to increase their engagement at work and provide ideas for improving their working environment.