Article Critique on School Governance

Question: Discuss about the Article Critique on School Governance. Answer: Introduction: In developing countries, learning achievements are still weak despite the rapid expansion in school participation. As such, the students scores in the developing countries remain low on internationally comparable tests. Most educational policy makers focus on lowering the pupil-teacher ratios. While some concentrate on systemic reforms designed to improve provider incentives and governance, others focus providing more resources for educational centers (Duflo, Dupas, Kreger, 2015). As a result, Duflo, Dupas, and Kremers primary focus were to examine how the various approaches applied by educational policymakers compliment and relate to each other in Kenya. The article demonstrates that in the absence of parents empowerment, the additional resources brought about the contract teacher program are often captured by the existing civil service teachers. Mainly, public service teachers reduce their effort which undoes the positive impact of class size reduction for students. In addition, they strive to capture rents by hiring their relatives, whose students perform poorly compared to those of other contract teachers. However, empowering parents through short-term training session mitigates the adverse effects brought about by civil service teachers. The findings of the research suggest that in the presence of the weak institutions, the behavioral responses of the existing providers may undermine the increase in resources. Even so, programs delegating authority to hire teachers on short-term contracts have potential to enhance student performance and test scores in the near term. In addition, it possesses the capacity to enhance the quality of the teaching labor force over the long term. It is the little details that matter. Critique of the Article By and large, the Duflo, Dupas and Kremer (2015) seek to establish how the reforms set in the Kenyan educational sector complement each other. They strive to answer the question whether or not the changes pertaining to the hiring of teachers on short-term contracts and school-based Management (SBM) training programs complement each other in the context of a randomized evaluation of the Extra Teacher Program in Kenya. The program was instigated in the country from 2005 up to 2007. As a whole, the authors were effective in convincing the reader that the questions answered in the article are interesting and significant. The direction and goals of the study are important as they help the reader understand the role played by the Extra teacher programs in developing countries. It also helps determine the effectiveness of such programs and the prospects for success in other developing nations apart from Kenya. The article plays a significant role and adds to the existing body of knowledge on the impact of such programs in improving the quality of the teaching labor force and improving student performance in test scores. Besides, the information provided in this research study will shade light to the stakeholders in the educational sector to determine the prospects for improvement in similar projects. As such, government, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and donors will be able to understand the effectiveness of such programs to determine whether or not to instigate reforms in the educational sector. In addition, the findings of the study act as mirror and reference for future studies done in relation to the Extra Teacher Program. The background setting for the article is in the education sector of Kenya. Duflo, Dupas, and Kreger (2015) examine a program under which school committees at randomly selected institutions in Kenya are funded. The fund was designated for the hiring of additional teachers on an annual contract. The contacts were only renewable on the condition of performance, outside the typical ministry of education civil-service channels. At the beginning of their study, the programs were already widespread in developing nations, but there were no evaluations of these programs as at the time. On the whole, the authors manage to skillfully explain the institutional and policy context of the topic under study. As such, they expound on the various elements and structure of the education system in Kenya with regards to the Teachers Service Commission, School Based Management Programs and the Extra Teacher Program instigated in the developing country. They also narrate Kenyas historical pattern of school committees that supplement the civil service teachers hired by the TSC. What is more, the authors provide informative background information on the education governance in Kenya. Most importantly, they deliver crucial information relating to the Extra Teacher Program. Specifically, the authors offer an enlightening program description that highlights aspects of the ETP, its origin, purpose and implementation. As a result, the audience of the paper can understand the information that the authors are trying to relay. Besides, the program description is expressive in such a manner that an individual who is not of Kenyan origin can understand various elements and crucial aspects of the program and education system in Kenya, and be able to apply the findings within their local setting. Notably, Duflo, Dupas, and Kremer (2015) fail to employ and establish a theoretical framework for their study. As such, the paper lacks a theoretical model. Typically, the theoretical model is made up of the concepts alongside their definitions and refer to existing theory that was used a foundation of the study. Therefore, the conceptual framework is an essential element in any research paper as it demonstrates the authors understanding of theories and concepts that relate to the topic under study. It also shows the relationship between the study and broader areas of knowledge. In this regard, the authors would have reviewed relevant research studies for theories relating to the reform programs and develop analytic models after that. This way, the research would have made a more explicit statement of theoretical assumption which permits the reader to evaluate critically. Even so, the paper was successful in developing an empirical analysis relevant to the topic under study. Duflo, Dupas, and Kremer (2015) successfully integrate the three stages of empirical analysis. Particularly, they provide a descriptive analysis of the data, then an analytic followed by a theorized explanation. In Stage one, a summary is generated to explain the study sample and data. In the data segment, the paper clearly describes the student participation, teacher effort and pedagogy as observed during the survey. In addition, the data section presents the test scores of standardized tests predominantly covering math and literacy questions that were administered in all the schools used as samples. Likewise, it presents data that was collected on the contract teachers hired through the program, including their demographic characteristics, relationships to the school and past experiences. In the second stage, the authors interrogate and critically appraise the data collected. The study has a specified empirical model which is stated as Yij = bi BasicETP_TSC ij+ b2 Basic ETP_CT+ b3ETP_wSMB_TSCij+ b4ETPwSMB_CTij+| Xija5+ Eij2. It is worth noting that this model was effectively employed to determine the various elements of the result findings. As such, the data was subjected to vigorous testing under the model to investigate the relationship between variables. Through this model, the standard deviation, standard error, coefficients, and significance levels were constructed to determine the relationship between the various variables. In addition, a linear probability regression model was done on the data. The independent variables in the model were the basic ETP and the SBM. On the other hand, the dependent variables comprised of the test scores and scope of improvement. By and large, the measures used in the study analysis correspond to the concepts of interest. As such, the determination of the test scores corresponds to the interest of the research with regards to improved learning and greater quality participation of teachers. As a result, these variables are useful in answering the research questions stipulated in the earlier stages of the paper. Notably, the article does not exhibit any form of bias between the two programs as the author report and analyze the data as drawn from the observations. It is vital to highlight the fact that the authors also used a causation in estimation and interpretation of the data. Specifically, the authors sought greater explanation and connection with the broader understanding of the relationship between the dependent and independent variables. Furthermore, Duflo, Dupas, and Kremer used an OLS regression control for student age, region, gender and the date that the test was taken. Similarly, the LPM regression was used in the process. Their causal story suggests that there are often significant learning effects during the contract years of the ETP but these effects are eroded once the students are reassigned to their regular classes. In addition, it was noted that the test scores also go down. Presentation of the data was perfectly orchestrated, allowing the authors to effectively present their findings and offer viable interpretations of the results. Their discussion of the estimated parameters is clear and concise with respect to sign, statistical significance, and magnitude. The researchers presented the results of their study in tables. Commendably, the information in the table was well interpreted to enable the reader to understand what the results represented. Duflo, Dupas, and Kremer (2025) also offered a descriptive analysis of the data and conveyed the findings of the results in a simple manner. Besides, they employed cognitive robustness tests. As a result, their audience can easily deduct what the study found out after the research. By and large, Duflo, Dupas, and Kremers research is an informative piece that adds to the already existing body of knowledge on special programs in the education system. Within Kenya, the results of the study will act as an essential background for improvement in the ETP and SBM system. Furthermore, the findings of this study are applicable to all settings in the world and can be applied in other nations apart from Kenya. Generally, the authors managed to present a well-formed research paper that employs all aspects of good research. It should be noted that Duflo, Dupas, and Kremer did an excellent research throughout the stages presented in the paper. As a result, their paper is well researched, developed, analyzed and presented. Reference Duflo, E., Dupas, P., Kremer, M. (2015). School governance, teacher incentives, and pupilteacher ratios: Experimental evidence from Kenyan primary schools. Journal of Public Economics, 123, 92-110.