Donald Baum

This study provides a comparative assessment of policies governing private schools in twenty countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Findings suggest that current regulatory systems are failing to adequately address the negative externalities and failures of private schooling markets. Insufficient capacity on the part of governments is a contributor to uneven policy implementation and creates opportunities for rent-seeking and corruption. Onerous market entry regulations offer constraints on the growth of official private education markets, but facilitate growth in unofficial markets if demand for education is not being fully met by the supply of government service provision, restricting the governments ability to provide adequate oversight of private providers.

Abstract

The implementation of school voucher programs is increasing in low-income countries. It is important for policy makers to carefully consider the appropriateness of this type of policy intervention for their particular educational contexts. This paper models an approach by which researchers and policymakers can assess the educational circumstances of a particular location, and determine the potential effectiveness of a private school voucher policy. This study provides insight into the current contributions of private schools to education provision in Tanzania, and considers the feasibility of a school voucher program to contribute to the expansion of the secondary school system, compared to the alternative expansion of public secondary education. The study offers an analysis of current educational circumstances and educational goals in Tanzania, and projects differential costs and outcomes associated with various options for expanding secondary education. Data come from two sources: (i) a census of the private schooling market in the Morogoro Urban district, conducted as part of the World Banks Systems Approach for Better Education Results (SABER) initiative, and (ii) Tanzanias National Panel Survey 2010-2011. For those students unable to cover the full cost of secondary education, findings suggest that a targeted private school voucher would be an efficient and equitable policy mechanism for secondary school expansion. Such an approach would ease the financial burden on government for constructing all new schools, yet assure access for the most vulnerable.

Using data from a census of private schools in one of Lagos, Nigerias administrative jurisdictions, this paper explores the linkages between a heterogeneous sector of private schools and issues of school access, affordability, quality, and ultimately social mobility for households at the bottom of the income distribution. Although a large private education market has buoyed Lagoss growth towards near-universal primary enrolment, this heterogeneous school sector appears to be providing socially stratifying paths towards educational attainment. We apply Lucas's (2001) theory of effectively maintained inequality to assess the extent to which access to higher quality education services within the private sector is determined by cost. We find that higher-cost private schools provide students with greater opportunities to study in institutions with higher quality inputs and increased potential for progression within the educational system. As such, it is highly likely that these schools are primarily accessible to students at the upper ends of the income distribution.

This paper estimates the relative effectiveness of private and public primary schools in Kenya using data from 4,433 grade-six schoolchildren. Using Ordinary Least Squares as a baseline model, we use the proportion of private schools in a district as an instrument in a Heckman Two-Stage Correction framework, as well as propensity score matching models to correct for selection bias. There is a positive private school effect across all models. In the corrected models, we find that private school pupils outperform their public school counterparts by between .24 and .52 standard deviations.

Women in the United States are underrepresented in high school principalships. A review of literature identified specific barriers that have historically contributed to this disparity including role congruity, normative male dominance, and gender bias against women. Similar barriers most likely have also contributed to the underrepresentation of female high school principals in Utah, yet intentional studies analyzing their unique career journeys have not been completed. A lack of awareness of the female high school principal experience in Utah may leave their unique experience glossed over and misunderstood. The purpose of this study was to increase awareness of the unique professional journey of female high school principals in Utah and to potentially adjust the male-gendered lens through which this leadership position has traditionally been viewed. A narrative, phenomenological qualitative research approach was used to gather and analyze the career journeys of six female high school principals in Utah. The findings of this study indicated female high school principals in Utah have experienced similar barriers in their career journeys as those identified in the literature. Mentored support and examples of inclusive leadership practices assisted these women in moving through and beyond these barriers. The findings of this study imply that a male-gendered leadership lens continues to impact the careers of female high school principals in Utah; however, an increased awareness of their unique career journeys may promote a transformation away from this perspective and generate a high school principal experience that is more inclusive and refined.