Chapter 10: The Impact of a Systemic Reform Initiative on Primary Nigerian Teachers’ Instructional Practices: A Longitudinal Study

The Literacy Enhancement Assistance Program (LEAP), a 3-year systemic reform initiative, targeted the policy, community participation, and pedagogy dimensions of the educational system in three Nigerian states. LEAP aimed to improve the English language literacy and numeracy skills of primary student participants. To this end, the project targeted the improvement of the instructional practices of primary teachers in relation to sustaining student-centered instruction, nurturing gender equity in the classroom, and using instructional resources and continuous assessment strategies effectively. The longitudinal study presented in this chapter aimed to assess (1) the impact of LEAP on participant primary Nigerian teachers’ classroom instruction, and (2) the deter-The Enterprise of Education, pages 165–191 Copyright © 2007 by Information Age Publishing All rights of reproduction in any form reserved. mination of whether the project had differential effects for participating private Islamic versus public primary schools. The instructional practices of a representative sample of 160 teachers were observed six times over the life of the project. A baseline assessment indicated that traditional, teacher-centered instruction was prevalent in almost all participating schools. By the end of the project, with few exceptions, teachers in all three participating states achieved statistically and practically significant gains in their instructional ratings. Nonetheless, in the case of two states, LEAP activities had differential impacts in terms of improving teachers’ classroom practices in favor of the participant public as compared to the Islamic private schools. The results indicate that the larger community support for and involvement with educational change is crucial to maximizing the benefits derived from large-scale investments in systemic educational reform.