Questionnaires
All instruments were originally developed in French, but have been translated to English as well.
Instruments
The baseline survey consisted of three unique instruments: A caretaker survey, a child survey and academic assessment, and a teacher survey.
Caretakers’ instrument (Enquête sur les personnes qui s’occupent des enfants)
The caretaker survey was designed to learn about the decisions and opinions within each household in the sample. A caretaker was defined as “the person who takes care of the child and makes decisions about what he/she eats and how he/she spends his/her time.” The survey instrument was divided into a schooling section and a household information section. Within the schooling section, caretakers were asked about schools and Daaras in their community, last year’s schooling choices, this year’s schooling choices, their opinions about education, and the child’s school participation/attendance. The household information section briefly captured some basic household characteristics, such as household size, number of children, education levels, and household assets.
Children’s instrument (Enquête sur les enfants)
The children’s survey begins with a few questions for the child’s caretaker, which are used to confirm the child’s name, age, and the school he or she attends. The rest of the survey is addressed to the child. First, the enumerator spent 3 to 5 minutes speaking with the child and setting him/her at ease. Next, the child answers questions about the school/Daara they attend. There are different sets of questions depending on whether he/she attends a formal school or a Daara. In general, both sets of questions tease out what the child does on a typical school day, including chores, playing, learning math or French, reading the Koran, reciting lessons, etc. Next, the child is asked questions regarding opinions about school. Questions cover whether or not he/she likes studying, what his/her favorite subject is, whether or not he/she likes the type of school currently attended, and what is important about education.
Children’s ASER Math and French instruments
After completing the survey, each child participated in an academic assessment based on the ASER instrument. ASER is a household survey that measures reading and arithmetic. ASER (meaning “impact” in Hindi and Urdu), began in India in 2005 as an evaluation tool for Pratham’s literacy enrichment programs in India. Since then, the process and tools have been adapted for use in other countries, including Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Mali, Senegal, and Mexico. The tests conducted in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda are known as the Uwezo surveys. The instruments function as follows:
On the reading portion, children would start with three simple sentences. They choose one to read out loud. If the child successfully reads the sentence, they move on to reading one of three complex sentences. Continued correct answers will lead to reading a short paragraph, answering comprehension questions about the paragraph, reading a short story, and finally, answering comprehension questions about the story. If these final comprehension questions are answered correctly, the child earns a “level J,” the highest score on the test. If they cannot read a simple sentence, they move on to read individual multisyllabic words. If the child cannot read these words, they move to monosyllabic words. If they cannot read the monosyllabic words, they are given complex sounds to read, then simple sounds, and finally letters. Letter recognition is “level A,” or the lowest level on the test.
The numeracy portion has a similar structure to the reading evaluation. It starts with two digit by one digit division, and moving up, they complete 2 digit by 2 digit multiplication, then multiplication with decimals, then three digit by two digit division, and finally a word problem. Moving down, they do 2 digit by 1 digit multiplication, double digit subtraction, double digit addition, single digit subtraction, and number recognition 10-99. Levels range from “A” to “J”.
Teachers’ instrument (Enquête Ecole)
The teacher survey included an introduction and four sections. First, basic information was collected about the person responding to the survey. Following this brief introduction, section 1 collected information about the school, including number of pupils, number of classrooms, subjects taught, etc. Section 2 covered school scheduling and activities. Section 3 elicited information about pedagogical methods within the school, including teachers’ classroom methods and activities. Finally, section 4 collected information about teachers’ qualifications and certifications.