Danielle-Andree Atangana
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
UROP Fellowship: Community College Summer Fellowship Program
Lansing Community College
Research Mentor(s): James Allen IV, PhD Candidate
Ford School of Public Policy
Presentation Date: Thursday, July 30, 2020 | Session 3 | Presenter: 1
Authors: Danielle-Andree Atangana, James Allen, Noelle Seward
Abstract
Overview: What is the relationship between the number of scheduled school days in sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries and student’s learning outcomes? Understanding learning outcomes in SSA is important because more than half of out-of-school primary children globally are in SSA. As of 2014, 1-in-5 primary aged children in SSA were out of school. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the number of scheduled days of school for each SSA countries and learning outcomes.
Methods: The method of data collection for public school calendars consisted of: 1) searching secondary data sources from official government websites and public calendar websites, 2) reading online newspapers and 3) contacting officials requesting for extended versions of school calendars. Calendars were saved as screenshots or PDFs, and then entered by hand into Microsoft Excel. After all the data was entered, two-step verification was used to avoid error. Country-level youth literacy data from the World Bank Development Indicators, overall and by gender, will represent student learning outcomes as the primary outcome of interest.
Expected Results: The relation between number of school days in SSA countries and learning outcomes is unknown and may vary. More scheduled days of school can be extremely beneficial, or it can produce little to no results depending on how much learning occurs in the classroom. Additional school days may even deter some from enrolling in school, leading to lower literacy in the general population. I will present my data using scatter plots. I will compare the number of school days and learning outcomes. Overall, these findings will be important because they can assist policymakers understand how learning can be improved in a region where learning outcomes are low.
Google Slide Presentation
Presentation Script
Research Disciplines
Social Sciences
