A “SACMEQ School Resources Index” was constructed using the Rasch scaling technique. Data
were from the pooled school resource items that were collected from pupils, teachers, and school
heads derived from two sub-regional studies undertaken in 1995 and 2000 (known as SACMEQ I
and SACMEQ II). Capitalizing on the possibility to link more items, the new scale provided a
higher correlation to the pupils’ achievement compared to the initial composite variable on the
total school resource possessions. This school resources index provided a valid and meaningful
instrument to compare the resource level among different schools, regions, and countries with
varied levels of economic development. When examining the changes between SACMEQ I and
SACMEQ II, most of the countries showed an increase in the resource score. From the school
resources index, the hierarchical resource “profiles” were also established. The profiles could be
used as a guideline of standard to identify more critical and relevant resource items at each
progress level, for better budgetary planning, resource allocation, priority setting, and
benchmarking.