Beeline Reader
Executive Summary
Project Host:
Fellows:
Francis Bizoza Bigirimana, Social Entrepreneur Fellow
Lindsay Kincaid, Social Entrepreneur Fellow
Catherine Lebel, Research Fellow
Introduction
Schools in informal settlements in Kenya provide access to crucial education for many young students, yet rates of finishing primary school are low. CFK Africa is working to improve attendance via a variety of methods, and this LEAP project was designed to provide guidance on how to implement, measure, and eventually scale specific interventions to improve school attendance in informal settlements in Kenya.
Organization’s role & strength
In Kenya, millions of people live in informal settlements. In these communities, residents lack access to quality health care, proper nutrition, and adequate sanitation, leaving them susceptible to preventable diseases. Limited access to quality education and economic advancement opportunities, high levels of unemployment, and gender inequity further impede individual and community progress. Though residents are talented, resilient, and entrepreneurial, many lack the opportunities needed to break cycles of poverty. CFK Africa is working to change that narrative. CFK Africa’s Best Schools Initiative (BSI) works with students ages 5 to 12 and collects data from 64 primary schools in Kibera. This initiative targets equitable and sustainable education development at multiple levels; building capacity at the school level, assisting school leaders in implementing transformative policies, and helping guide the greater educational community in leading similar research.
Need summary
Schools in informal settlements are critical for providing accessible education for many students, but it can be difficult to keep attendance rates high. CFK Africa, through their Best Schools Initiative, worked closely with stakeholders to identify 12 factors (for example, providing school lunches, teacher training) that could potentially improve school attendance in informal settlements. They are now implementing these practices in partnership with schools, but had questions about data collection and levels of evidence required to evaluate the practices. The focus of this LEAP project was therefore to provide advice and strategies for collecting data to evaluate these practices and providing a framework in which to do so.
Solution summary & next steps
We worked to provide value to CFK Africa and for the wider field through four deliverables. First, we used CFK Africa’s existing data (collected from schools in 2020, prior to any interventions) to glean insights to guide current and future data collection, and to provide preliminary evidence to guide future interventions. Second, we created an overview of different research design methods to measure intervention effectiveness and infer causality, and we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each in the context of CFK Africa’s Best Schools Initiative. Third, we provide advice on the best data collection platform and methods to measure school attendance and other relevant data. Finally, we provide advice on how to pursue potential funding and partnership avenues to sustain effective programs, as well as potential venues for sharing this important work with others.