Improving teacher quality: lessons learned from grantees of the Partnership to Strengthen Innovation and Practice in Secondary Education

With half of its population under the age of 25, the African continent is facing an immense opportunity and an equally immense challenge. African youth could propel the continent into an era of shared prosperity, but only if well prepared by effective educational systems. Unfortunately, these educational systems may not be preparing the next generation to participate effectively in 21st century economies. The Partnership to Strengthen Innovation and Practice in Secondary Education (PSIPSE) - a donor collaborative - has been supporting grantees that are testing approaches to improving teacher quality. Based on a review of project documents, a web survey, and telephone interviews - the main goal of this study was to draw lessons from the experiences of these grantees as they implemented teacher training programs. These lessons and implications can inform the work of implementers in the field as well as future grant-making and strategy development among PSIPSE donors and other stakeholders seeking to catalyze systemic reforms to improve teacher quality. This paper presents findings from our analysis, which focused on learning about ongoing efforts to provide teacher training, leverage or increase teacher motivation as a strategy to improve teacher quality, measure the effectiveness of these interventions, and engage government and other stakeholders to facilitate implementation and prepare for scale.