This discussion report provides background for a study of classroom practices conducted in 1987 and 1988. Schools in Pakistan focus on increasing enrollments at the expense of improving the quality of education programs. The report describes problems found in a study of schools and teaching that was a preliminary for USAID assistance.. Curriculum development requires a series of formally connected steps moving toward well-focused ends. The paper analyzed the curriculum, texts, and tests used during the instructional process, and identified the lack of formal links between these components. This, means that teachers in Pakistan fall back on the easiest form of instruction: rote learning of the textbook.
This study—one of several conducted under the Harvard BRIDGES project collected data on teachers’ instructional practice.. The study compared effective and less effective teachers of science, math, and Urdu as measured by student achievement scores.
This document summarizes the BRIDGES findings and conclusions about gender and school differences in a sample of Pakistani schools. The objective was to identify those characteristics that might affect different learning results in girls’ and boys’ schools.
This document describes the differences in instructional practices between samples of male and female teachers in Pakistani primary school classrooms. Significant findings in terms of results were that better teachers used a greater variety of ways to practice a skill such as review, stating a preliminary objective, examples in teacher presentations, guided practice exercises, independent practice, homework, and teacher/student interactions that included checking and correcting homework.
The document describes the different use of instructional time in a sample of male and female teachers. The study analyzed instructional time during observations of lessons in Urdu, math and science and looked at the amount of time spent in academic and other activities.
The document suggests a model for improving student learning in primary schools based on teacher practices.
The paper describes a formative evaluation of three sets of instructional materials, beginning Urdu, Math/Science, and Pashto, developed for Kachi (kindergarten) classes by the Instructional Materials Development Cell (IMDC) of the Directorate of Primary Education. The study tested whether the materials met the program objectives, attempted to identify the minimum level of training required for teachers to use the materials, and recommended modifications in the materials based on the findings.
This document describes the evaluation of Pakki (Class One) materials that were distributed to classes which had completed the Kachi books. The purposes of this study were similar to those of the evaluation study of Kachi materials:testing the capacity of the instructional system to introduce, monitor, and maintain the program components that included lesson formats, workbooks, and guides.
The HRS study was conducted in 2763 semi-urban villages in the 20 districts of Balochistan. The study identified potential ways to ease constraints on enrollment through (a) providing opportunities where there is willingmess to send girls to school, (b) providing incentives where teacher distribution is a problem, (c) providing for temporary venues where facilities are the limiting factor, and (d) providing ways to increase the supply of and improve the distribution of teachers for girls in the short- and long-term. The study showed the speccific villages where these solutions were likely to work.
This HRS report summarized information from the full study of 9003 villages (semi-urban and rural villages) in the 20 districts of Balochistan. The study showed the status of education in Balochistan, showing how the shortage of primary teachers threatens efforts to increase girls’ enrollment. The report was intended to provide detailed information to the Department of Education to plan the building and staffing requirements for primary school expansion.
The document outlines the step-by-step actions that were achieved to prepare, implement, and sustain an instructional program for primary classrooms in NWFP. The report shows the steps taken to develop instructional materials for Kachi, Pakki, Second, and Third classes, supplementary teacher support materials, preservice and inservice teacher training and units to improve teacher subject knowledge, materials-specific training of teachers and supervisors, assessment and monitoring systems, and a 3 year interactive radio program.
This final report, related to the one immediately above, shows the results of the PED Program in NWFP at the time the activities were suspended. It summarizes the progress in developing instructional materials and efforts to implement them in classrooms.. The document describes the instructional materials an explains how staff were trained to put them in place In addition the report describes relations between the Federal and Provincial levels and the constraints, lessons learned, and recommendations for future education efforts.
This document describes the work of the Instructional Materials Development Cell (IMDC). In October 1991, the IMDC was established in the Directorate of Primary Education in Peshawar. Its mandate was to prepare instructional materials, build support systems for the materials, field test the drafts, and evaluate and improve the education program.
This report identifies the central issues relating to teachers and the activities PED had planned for the ten year program before PED was suspended. The document summarizes PED’s accomplishments and suggests ways the activities might be continued after PED’s funding ceased.
Pre-primary (Kachi) and “nursery” (Zero) classes exist in many government schools in Pakistan, but the classes were not assigned resources in the early 1990s. The Kachi study gathered information on the conditions and practices in Kachi classes. The IMDC trained supervisors to conduct classroom observations, and collect data to determine the needs of these pre-primary students. The findings informed the development of instructional materials specifically for these classes.
Primary Education Support 