All Children Learning

Pre-Covid, 53% of learners in LMIC could not read and understand a simple text by age 10, and this has since increased to an estimated 70%.  The same is true of 87% of learners in Sub-Saharan Africa. (World Bank 2018, 2021)

According to Uwezo’s 7th Learning Assessment Report (2021), only 2 in 5 Grade 4 learners meet expectations in reading a Grade 3 appropriate English text, and only 5 in 10 learners meet expectations in solving a Grade 3 appropriate numeracy problem. 

In 2017, the Kenyan government began implementing a Competency-based Curriculum (CBC) as part of comprehensive reforms to address critical gaps in curriculum content and delivery including the inadequate preparation of teachers and school leaders resulting in poor learning outcomes. The CBC marks a paradigm shift from a content-mastery, teacher-centered approach to an inquiry-based approach that emphasizes the role of the learner and deeper learning. (Brookings, 2017) It requires that learners are engaged in a participatory learning process to develop seven core competencies and seven values. 

This learning crisis is not unique to Kenya. The World Bank (2018) sounded the alarm - schooling is just not working for many children in the developing world, especially children living in poverty. The World Bank highlights critical interventions to address the global learning crisis, including effective school leadership that is focused on learning, improved pedagogy, and better teacher development and support

School instructional leadership, including the ability of an educator to asses, plan and track learning, is proven to have a positive effect on curriculum delivery and learner outcomes (Robinson, Lloyd & Rowe, 2008; Southworth, 2002). The evidence demonstrates the efficacy of specific leadership and classroom practices that contribute positively to student learning. Bruce Sheppard (1996) in his study found that the instructional leadership practices of leaders and teachers in schools increases student achievement by improving teaching and learning. Unpacking the layers of what this means reveals other important findings. For example, the presence of instructional leadership in a school is correlated with higher teacher efficacy; contributes to creating a strong learning culture; creates coherence; reduces teacher isolation; increases teacher collaboration; creates a shared focus on student learning goals; and provides structures to support collaborative inquiry.

Based on a study of school leaders in eight countries, Bloom et. al. (2012) concludes that a one point increase on their scoring of school management practices is associated with a 10% increase in student performance. Leaver et al. (2019) found that in countries participating in PISA, school leaders moving from the bottom to top 25% of their quality management score were associated with a large increase in student learning outcomes, equivalent to an additional 3 months of schooling for every year. This same relationship has been validated by other researchers in countries in the Global South, like Uganda  (Crawfurd, 2017).

Research also suggests that the influence of quality school leadership on student achievement is stronger in adverse circumstances. An analysis of school closures during the Hurricane Matthew crisis in Haiti showed that “for schools experiencing the highest level of infrastructure damage, one standard deviation of better routine management practices would equate to a 0.43 standard deviation increase in average score on the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) administered at the end of the school year (approximately 8 months later)” (Adelman, et. al 2020). Furthermore, evidence from the Global North suggests that the ability of the school leader matters most in schools serving the most underprivileged students (Branch, et al. 2012).

Literature on school leadership points to the impact of quality instructional leadership on positive outcomes related to learner well-being. The Education Commission’s Education Workforce Initiative (Education Commission, 2019) in their recent report proposes four functions of effective learning teams - teaching and learning, student welfare, operations and administration, and instructional leadership. The report goes on to call for the reorientation of school leader roles to instructional leadership and inclusion and the reorientation of middle-tier leaders to provide instructional leadership and data-driven improvement.

Dignitas (2019) conceptualizes instructional leadership as the three levers proven to have the greatest impact on student outcomes.  According to their model, impactful instructional leadership helps schools create and maintain learner-safe spaces, provides opportunities for student autonomy, ensures differentiated instruction, promotes a positive student achievement culture, leverages learner-centered instructional methodologies, and excels in learner engagement.  At an outcome level, Dignitas expects to see learners that are goal-oriented and committed to personal achievement, actively engaged throughout lessons, and able to interrogate and apply new knowledge. This conceptualization by Dignitas reflects an understanding of the aim of education as developing the whole child.

However, Kenya's educators are often ill-equipped and poorly supported to fully address the learning demands of the classroom, particularly following covid school closures, as a result of varied learner experiences during school closures. Akala (2021) cites Waweru (2018) as noting the lack of teacher preparedness and training in the new curriculum as a big impediment to its  successful implementation. Teachers who participated in Waweru’s study complained of lack of knowledge. Teachers have been accused of not using the discovery method and yet it is obligatory in CBC. Teacher centeredness is preferable in most cases, personalized instruction is not happening in most of the schools. According to a recent survey, only 61% of teachers are confident that CBC and new assessment frameworks will improve the quality of education (Uwezo, 2021). 

A Grade 3 monitoring learning progress report published by the Kenya National Examinations Council (2020) recommends on-going professional development for teachers, school managers and the Ministry of Education (MOE) line institutions. Further, Samuel Hall’s (2021) research on implementation of CBC in Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps established poor feedback channels between teachers and head teachers to discuss issues they faced with the new curriculum. Samuel Hall (2021) endorses regular pedagogical feedback for teachers implementing competency-based curriculum. 

In the context of these curriculum reforms, and the complexities of school reopening after prolonged closures, teachers need enhanced skills in formative assessment, data-driven instruction, and differentiated teaching to ensure they can teach every child at the right level.  To achieve this, professional development training and coaching is critical to improve the competencies and practice of teachers and school leaders.

Dignitas uses an innovative training and coaching approach to empower schools and educators in marginalized communities to transform students’ opportunities.  

LeadNow is Dignitas’ digital training and coaching toolkit, designed to equip educators who want to become leaders who will transform opportunities for the next generation. 

LeadNow is founded on the belief that School Leaders and Teachers are everyday superheroes with the power to transform children’s futures when supported with the right training, support, and community.

Our vision is a world in which every school is a vibrant place for learners to thrive and succeed.  We also believe that it’s not possible to have thriving learners if we do not have thriving teachers.  Teachers are able to thrive, and deliver quality teaching and learning, when they are well prepared, equipped and supported.  

A focus on teachers is important to improve learner outcomes, so that all children can reach their potential. Technology is an enabler that allows us to reach more teachers, and improve learning and well-being for more children.

Dignitas' LeadNow (built on Moodle) is modeled on Dignitas' proven Learning Cycles which focus on five critical steps to see positive shifts in classroom and leadership practice.  Educators on the LeadNow platform move from Content Delivery to Modelling to Practice to Goal-Setting to Coaching, with a real intent to bring theory to life in a manner that is cognizant of the constraints and complexities of under-resourced, crowded classrooms.

Coaching is delivered with our ground-breaking remote coaching tool (supported by Qualtrics), developed in partnership with the University of York.  The tool leans on the expertise and feedback of a panel of 40 local, expert educators, and is designed to nudge and measure competency gain around specific classroom and instructional practices.

LeadNow offers educators an opportunity to learn and develop new competencies in a practical way (synchronous or asynchronous, as a cohort or individually), with the support of data-driven coaching, that is proven to impact leadership and classroom practices in ways that transform learner outcomes.

Dignitas targets learners in marginalised communities, and in particular those who have been excluded from adequate government support due to insufficient resourcing.  Dignitas has a long history of supporting learners in Kenya's urban, informal settlements and remote, rural communities.  

Children in the most marginalised communities are often the furthest behind, and at the greatest risk of dropping out of school altogether (Uwezo 2021)

Unfortunately, due to the nature of most marginalised communities, it is not only the children that are excluded from support, but also the teachers.  Many teachers do not get any in-service support or development opportunities, and few school leaders have the know-how or motivation to offer impactful support at the school level.

By supporting educators, Dignitas embraces a strengths based approach to developing community resources who can sustain impact in the lives of learners, schools, and communities for a long time.  Dignitas also partners with local and national government to ensure the sustainability of impact, and to ensure the best leverage of opportunities to advocate for children often left behind. 

Dignitas has partnered with 731 schools, 2,600 educators, and impacted the learning of 209,000+ children (Kenya, South Sudan).  Our flagship program, Stawisha Instructional Leadership Institute (Stawisha), partners with schools to co-create impact that transforms teaching and learning. Dignitas has a proven track record in improving educator competency, shifting classroom practice, and improving learning and well-being outcomes for learners. Typically, Dignitas measures average gains of 30-50% across instructional competencies proven to improve learner outcomes. Indicative data shows that children in Dignitas classrooms learn up to three times as much in a lesson as their peers in non-Dignitas classrooms.

In response to COVID19 school closures, Dignitas developed an innovative, evidence-based, blended approach that equipped 560 educators to support the learning and well-being of approximately 12,000 children in marginalised communities.

Stawisha was honoured with a WISE Award in 2020.  Dignitas is listed in HundrED’s Global Collection 2020, 2021 and 2022, which annually recognizes the top 100 education innovations globally with potential for impact at scale.  Our digital training and coaching toolkit, LeadNow, is listed in the World Bank –Top Ten Global Education Innovators for teacher professional development, and our work is featured in the Education Workforce Initiative’s Leadership Brief.

Dignitas works in close partnership with government to leverage program insight, evidence and learning to shape systems; collaborating with government actors to create system-wide solutions that transform learning.

Dignitas leverages real-time data dashboards, enhancing the use of data by school leaders, teachers, coaches and other stakeholders.  This allows school support to be targeted, precisely addressing school needs and potential.

Dignitas also co-hosts, with local stakeholders, VoICE meetings in each active community location three times per year.  VoICE is our 'Valuing our Insight, Collaboration, and Evidence' initiative and is designed to provide space for us to listen to and engage with our communities, co-create solutions to emerging challenges, and plan together for ongoing work based on shared data and evidence.

Dignitas' technical advisory board also features School Leaders themselves to ensure that programming and evaluation decisions are driven by those closest to the challenges we seek to address.

We think Solve can help us with business and market development support that will allow us to strategically consider pathways to grow the reach and impact of LeadNow.   We're currently exploring the place of LeadNow in Coaching at Scale in partnership with the Kenyan government, and opportunities to offer our services to individual educators as a means of revenue generation.  

We'd like to build robust evidence around LeadNow, and explore partnerships that would extend and deepen our impact.

LeadNow is designed specifically for underserved, marginalised communities.Remote coaching has always relied on video observations which are simply not practical for these kinds of communities.  LeadNow's groundbreaking remote coaching tool offers a new, innovative, and data-driven approach to nurturing and measuring competency gain and practice shifts amongst educators, remotely.

LeadNow has the potential to impact at scale, with the opportunity to offer the coaching support in any language, and to modify the content to address any number of specific classroom or leadership challenges.

2022-27: Impact the learning of 750,000 children through direct program implementation.  

2022-2027: Impact the learning of 1,500,000 children in partnership with the government, through collaborative implementation.

Learners outcome gains - specifically literacy, numeracy and 21st century skills (communication, collaboration, critical thinking and self-efficacy)

Shifts in classroom practice

We believe that by improving leadership practice and classroom practice, we can drive long term changes to how teaching and learning happens, and ensure every learner has the opportunity to reach their full potential.

Dignitas’ solution, informed by an external evaluation designed to identify levers of impact on student learning, leans on instructional leadership, learner engagement, and school and classroom culture, as critical levers of change. 

In particular, Stawisha training and coaching is designed to help schools create and maintain learner-safe spaces, provide opportunities for student autonomy, differentiate instruction, promote a positive student achievement culture, use learner-centred instructional methodologies, and to excel in learner engagement.  At an outcome level, we expect to see learners that are goal-oriented and committed to personal achievement, actively engaged throughout lessons, and able to interrogate and apply new knowledge.

Dignitas measures educator competency gains with school and classroom observation tools, aligned to World Bank Teach and Coach tools, and leveraging indicators tied to specific leadership and classroom practices proven to drive gains for learners.  Typically, Dignitas measures average gains of 30-50% across instructional competencies. 

Our platform is build on Moodle, and leverages Qualtrics.  We would like to develop an SMS-nudge component.