Edulution’s 2023 Zambia results prove that participation in the Numeracy Programme correlates with significantly higher mathematics scores in the national Grade 7 exam.
These 2023 results reflect Edulution's strongest impact since data collection began in 2019!
This analysis sought to address two primary questions:
Does the Edulution Programme enhance Grade 7 mathematics exam results compared to non-participants?
Is there a positive correlation between time spent on the Programme and improved exam performance?
Following the approach used by Edulution’s independent evaluators, SNBI of the Swiss Educational Innovation Network, percentile ranking was used for statistical comparisons; classifying Learners from the 1st to the 99th percentile. This allows for meaningful cross-year and cross-subject comparisons.
Zambian students take a national government exam at the end of Grade 7, providing an opportunity to compare the performance of Edulution participants (treatment group) against non-participants (control group).
The median Edulution Learner is at the 79th percentile in Mathematics. This demonstrates a significant performance improvement compared to the overall cohort (N=139,174), marking a 29 percentile increase from the median Learner at the 50th percentile.
This represents Edulution’s greatest impact to date:
Furthermore, the Numeracy Programme is not only improving Learner’s maths grades, but is noticeably affecting other school subject areas as well.
Two reasons might drive the increase in performance on subjects other than numeracy:
The Edulution classroom experience - the ‘Learning Container’ is designed to boost confidence and a love of learning, optimising participants to more productive engagement in their other school subjects
Encouraged cognitive development - the cognitive development provoked by intensive and engaging numeracy classes is applicable to all subjects, contributing to improved exam performance across the spectrum
Learner outcomes improve with programme exposure - up to a point
Learners' exposure to the Edulution Programme varies, with a target of around 120 hours annually. The analysis of individual time on the Programme against Mathematics exam results for 2021, 2022 and 2023 demonstrates:
A strong initial impact on Learner results up to approximately 350 hours
A higher and more consistent correlation in 2023 compared to 2022, indicating a more robust programme influence
Reasonably parallel regression lines for 2021, 2022 and 2023 suggest similar incremental learning rates per hour. The highest line, for 2023, confirms the superior median percentile rankings at almost all exposure levels
Edulution is encouraged by these results as we continue to expand our blended E-learning Programme with Implementation Service Providers, to impact the lives of millions of Learners and unemployed youth in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Σχόλια