Philippine E-Journals

An Evaluation of “School of Quality” in Primary Education in Lao PDR

Phoutsavad Vongphachan | Djemari Mardapi | Benjamina Paula G. Flor

Discipline: Education

 

Abstract:

This study aimed to describe the effectiveness of “School of Quality” (SoQ) in terms of teachers’ capability, students’ achievement scores, and quality education outcome indicators performance in comparison with Conventional Schools (CS) in Primary Education in Vientiane Province, Lao PDR. Quantitative research using Scriven’s summative evaluation model and descriptive statistics to analyze data collected from 259 teachers, 750 students, and 1069 students’ scores from 30 schools (15SoQ and 15 CS) and documentation were employed. The following are the results: (1) SoQ teachers had lower educational qualification; (2) SoQ teachers had longer experience; (3) SoQ teachers had better performance; (4) SoQ had higher mean scores obtained both in school’s final and nationally conducted examinations; (5) SoQ had lower dropout rates in grades 1 and 2, higher in grades 3 and 4; (6) SoQ had lower promotion rates in grades 1 to 4 but in grade 5 SoQ had higher promotion; and (7) SoQ had higher repetition rates in grades 1 to 4 but in grade 5 had lower repetition rates. In conclusion, the SoQ approach was found effective in teachers’ performance and students’ achievement but not in teacher’s educational qualification and quality education outcomes.