Strengthening Teacher Accountability to Reach All Students (STARS). World Bank SIEF; Milestone 3: Observational survey field report

Previous research in Ghana and India demonstrated the effectiveness of "targeted instruction”— teaching students at their level of knowledge, not their grade level. The Teacher Community Assistant Initiative (TCAI) in Ghana found that this model increased learning by students despite limited teacher take-up of the program. Low adherence to this intervention, and other interventions that have been proven effective more broadly, raises challenges as governments attempt to scale-up effective interventions. One potential factor impacting low adoption rates among teachers is the lack of managerial support, which may prevent teachers from thoroughly implementing the program. The Strengthening Teaching Accountability to Reach All Students (STARS) program is designed to train teachers on targeted instruction and improve the support that head teachers and circuit supervisors provide for those teachers. Through a randomized controlled trial, this project will (1) test the effect of training teachers on targeted instruction and (2) test whether additional management training of head teachers (i.e. school principals) and circuit supervisors (i.e. middle-level management responsible for a subset of schools within a district) increases the quality of implementation of targeted instruction and student outcomes. This study works within the system to improve educational outcomes. Ghana Education Services (GES), National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA), and the National Inspectorate Board (NIB) have designed the materials and trained the teachers, head teachers, and circuit supervisors.