From planning to action: government initiatives for

Chapter 7

Changing schools through participatory knowledge management in El Salvador: can education systems learn? Fernando Reimers Harvard Institute for International Development

H o w w e think about education systems matters for h o w o p e n they are to change Education systems around the world have experienced a remarkable expansion during the past three or four decades. There is no question that education systems have succeeded in terms of providing access to school at different levels to growing numbers of students. At the same time, there is little doubt that large educational challenges remain to be met; in part this stems from the changing nature of the problems which have to be addressed by education, in part from the realization that there are some problems which have not been adequately dealt with. T h e commitment of m a n y people around the world to various forms of democratic governance and their desire to have a 'voice' in the conduct of their o w n communities and societies present n e w demands to schools: H o w can democratic values be taught? W h a t are the skills which are needed to live and participate in a democracy? W h a t are the foundations necessary to have societies which value diversity? H o w can people be taught to be tolerant and accepting of each other? In spite of the impressive quantitative expansion of m a n y education systems around the world, there is growing awareness of the permanence of certain problems. These ongoing problems pose the following questions to schools: H o w can educational opportunity be structured to reduce poverty? H o w can education systems m a x i m i z e quality and equity? H o w can schools reach the 'unreached', the rural and urban poor, the marginalized groups of society? While some will argue that these questions call for n e w policy solutions, for n e w initiatives to galvanize action in education systems, the author argues that these questions call for a n e w w a y of thinking

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about education systems. M a n y initiatives of education reform consist of doing 'more of the same', the problems just mentioned require reforms of a different kind, they require responses qualitatively different, and not more of the same. The solution to the n e w challenges and to the unresolved problems will c o m e not from n e w contents or policy prescriptions, but from n e w processes to address these problems. The kind of intelligence necessary to address these problems is algorithmic rather than semantic or content specific. It is process-intelligence, not intelligence about contents. W h a t is needed is a change in paradigm regarding h o w education systems change and learn from their o w n experience, rather than a set of n e w policy prescriptions to be implemented by schools. M o s t thinking about h o w education initiatives influence educational opportunity is top-down. Implicit in this approach is a machine model of the education system. Policies are conceived by a certain core of people, and are then implemented using an administrative machinery which can translate orders from the top into changed conditions in the classroom. This is not a caricature of an old approach, current language evokes images of a 'machine model' of the education system. M a n y education researchers, policymakers, donors and advisers aspire to find the right 'policy levers' to produce change in classrooms. For a long time n o w , education specialists have searched for 'magic bullets' that can bring about the needed change in schools. For example, the recent World B a n k Education Sector Review focuses o n six 'key' reforms to solve the challenges regarding access, equity and quality in education. These are: a higher priority for education, greater attention to outcomes, emphasis o n basic education, more attention to equity, m o r e household involvement, and more autonomous institutions (World Bank, 1995). While the content of change — the specific policy options which have been recommended over time — has altered, c o m m o n to all these efforts is the desire tofinda blueprint of action which a well-tuned education machine can translate into n e w practices in schools and classrooms. The importance of process is neglected in this approach. The author suggests that the paradigms used to think about educational change will act as self-fulfilling prophecies as those committed to the change process behave in ways which reinforce their preconceptions about the nature of the education system. A n attempt to introduce change in the education system from the top, thinking of the organization in the framework of traditional administration, will evoke the responses which are appropriate to that traditional m o d e . It will 'create' a traditional organization, good at carrying out orders and doing ' m o r e of the s a m e ' , but woefully inadequate at trying something different. Initiatives which do not

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fit in the mould of what the education system has been doing in the past, will be faced by resistance. T h e sources of resistance include the legal and normative framework within which ministries operate, as well as the values and skills of teachers and administrators w h o have been trained under the system which the n e w initiative or programme m a y be trying to change. These sources of resistance freeze education systems, they block their capacity to respond to policy initiatives, the question then is how to 'unfreeze ' them O n e w a y to open education systems to change is to think about them differently, not as machines for implementation, but as dynamic and complex organizations. Education systems are essentially knowledge organizations. The author suggests that w e need to view educational change as a process which occurs in systems which are 'organic', consisting of multiple levels of decision-makers and networked by multiple links. The specificity of education systems stems also from the fact that they are knowledge organizations. Their mission is the creation and re-creation of knowledge — broadly understood — the key inputs are not funds or buildings, but knowledge; the key management processes both for classroom management and system management are knowledge based also. Within this view, knowledge is an essential resource to initiate and sustain change, but knowledge understood as the result of dialogue a m o n g multiple stakeholders w h o participate in the education system1. Managing educational change is therefore managing knowledge, and dialogue is the prime means to do this. A n implication of this alternative framework of educational change for a conceptualization of information systems, is that they can either be part of a machine top-down model of education change, or they can be understood as systems which support knowledge management and policy dialogue to produce organizational learning. The author proposes that w e m o v e a w a y from thinking about information systems, which evoke m a n y of the connotations of the paradigm where change is initiated at the top, to thinking about knowledge systems to support dialogue and organizational learning, of which information is certainly an important part. Reimers and M c G i n n have developed a model of h o w information and technical 1. Peter Senge, at the Massachusets Institute of Technology Centre for Organizational Learning, has proposed dialogue as a tool to achieve meaning collectively in order to further efficiency in business settings. I use dialogue here in the same sense, extrapolating to the education sector, (see Peter Senge, 1990). For a m o r e elaborate presentation of w h y education policies are particularly difficult to inform, given the complex external environment and internal structure of Ministries of Education, see Reimers and M c G i n n , 1997.

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knowledge can support dialogue processes a m o n g multiple stakeholders in education reform (see Reimers, F. and M c G i n n , N . 1995). A n important reason w h y m a n y education policies do not reach schools is that there are no conditions to facilitate such dialogue and organizational learning. There m a y be information systems present, systems of indicators related to goals, monitoring and reporting systems, but if they are not integrated into a live process of dialogue, they will not contribute to organizational development and change. These information systems m a y enlighten one or a few administrators, but that is far from having an impact on the conditions which determine educational opportunity in the school and the classroom. M a n y senior administrators and policy-makers regard information and knowledge as a scarce commodity which has to be controlled. A culture of evaluation is lacking in m a n y ministries of education, as is a culture that values democratic discussion of research-based k n o w l e d g e ; obviously, this prevents m a n y opportunities for dialogue and hence for the type of organizational learning suggested here as essential to change schools. This chapter will review the experience of the implementation of a radical idea to expand educational opportunity in El Salvador: a community-based programme in rural schools. T h e author will first provide a context of the challenges facing education systems in Latin America and in El Salvador specifically, then he will review the challenges faced b y the E D U C O experiment in trying to change school practices and quality. It should be understood that this chapter does not offer an evaluation of the success of the E D U C O model. Rather, this particular case is chosen as an example to illustrate the complex links that mediate policy changes with changes at the school level. O n the merits of the E D U C O model itself, the author thinks this is a bold innovation in school administration that will, over time, yield very valuable lessons for other education systems as they search for alternative ways to organize school management. The policy-makers and administrators w h o initiated and support this innovation deserve m u c h credit for their vision and their courage in trying out a radically different approach to school management in an education system facing serious challenges. W e should, however, proceed with caution in drawing conclusions and generalizations about the effects of the model implicit in E D U C O . Only careful scrutiny and study, ongoing evaluation and research, and frank dialogue about this experience will provide a sound basis to understand the impact and shortfalls of the various project components and of their interactions. It is not the purpose of this chapter to m a k e that type of analysis, but rather to discuss the challenges of effecting school change. Using this case and El

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Salvador as an example, the theme central to this chapter is that of dialogue and k n o w l e d g e m a n a g e m e n t as a w a y to facilitate organizational change. The chapter will conclude by drawing s o m e lessons o n h o w to create systems of dialogue to p r o m o t e organizational learning in education systems. W h y education systems need m o r e than ' m o r e of the s a m e ' . T h e problems of traditional education systems in Latin A m e r i c a A n assessment of the education systems of the countries of Latin America needs to address three central questions: ( 1 ) is education contributing to increasing the productivity of the labour force in an increasingly global e c o n o m y ? ; (2) is it contributing to reducing absolute poverty and to improving equity?; (3) is it contributing to consolidating democratic institutions? Although conditions vary between schools in different countries of the region, and within any given country, m a n y will conclude that the simple answer to these questions is n o . In spite of a long tradition of rhetoric o n the importance of education to development, Latin-American education systems have serious problems. The problems can be summarized by the lack of relevancy in m u c h of what is taught, by the l o w quality of teaching and consequent low levels of learning, by the fact that education systems perpetuate social inequalities and b y the inefficiency of education systems. After decades of policies reportedly aimed at providing educational opportunity for all, educational opportunities are unevenly distributed in Latin America. T h e quality of primary education for m a n y is very poor, while education policy and spending in the region has emphasized higher education and quality education for a few. T h e opportunity to learn is seriously constrained for children from such lower socio-economic strata as the urban poor, and those living in rural areas are served by the teachers with least training, the worst schools and least grades2. T h e bias in public financing of education towards higher education, which benefits primarily middle and upper-middle classes w h o s e ability to pay exceeds actual payments for the education of their children, further worsens equity. Large w a g e differences result from m a n y individuals with low-quality primary education, and a few with higher education, entering the labour market. This leads to inequities in the distribution of income. 2. M a n y schools in rural areas in Latin America are 'incomplete' in the sense that they do not offer all grades of primary education, they m a y only offerfirst-gradeeducation (one grade), or thefirsttwo or three grades.

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If the quality of education that the poor receive is deficient this also presents a serious constraint to increasing the productivity of the labour force. Latin America has the worst income distribution in the world. Low-quality education for the large portion of the population that is poor also poses a challenge for the functioning and sustainability of democracy in the region. T h e consolidation of democracy in the region will require the participation and involvement of citizens in the conduct of public affairs. This requires motivation and competency in large segments of the population; low-quality schools mould neither. W h i l e the specific constraints o n effective design a n d implementation of education policy need to be analyzed in particular contexts, s o m e of the c o m m o n weaknesses in Latin America include: •

•

•

•

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Inadequate funding of education. In s o m e cases this includes insufficient levels of spending. In others it includes regressive spending, with emphasis on the higher levels of education, attended disproportionately by the non-poor. T h e combination of both cases compounds the problem of insufficient spending for the poor. Insufficient information and analysis. Education policy is designed and implemented in m a n y countries without the most basic information about the intended beneficiaries, the options that can best achieve certain objectives, or the actual impact of the programmes implemented. T h e lack of this basic information on needs, effects and costs prevents decision making which can optimize the use of public resources based on actual needs of the population. Inflexible and inefficient bureaucracies characterized b y excessive centralization. These bureaucracies lack assessment and follow-up mechanisms, are highly inefficient, and are generally overstaffed, so overall salaries are low and staff get in each other's way. Staff are generally concentrated in urban areas. Personnel systems have few incentives for innovation and improved performance. Lack of public and frank dialogue about these problems. This leads to absence of accountability and of mechanisms to m a k e officials accountable to the intended beneficiaries of the policies or to the electorate. There are no mechanisms for the intended beneficiaries of education programmes to participate in the identification of their needs or in the consideration of options for policies or programmes, and beneficiaries rarely have an input in the evaluation or decision to continue the policy or not.

Participatory knowledge management, El Salvador

In sum, education policy decisions are m a d e and implemented without serious attention to their impact on effectiveness, efficiency or equity. In part this stems from deficient capabilities to conduct technical analysis, as w h e n Ministries of Education lack mechanisms to figure out the most cost-effective options to reduce repetition rates. But it stems also in part from a political economy where those w h o m a k e decisions do not suffer consequences from the groups w h o lose from those decisions; this would explain the sustained subsidies to higher education even w h e n the consequence might be serious constraints in the opportunity to learn at the basic levels for the rural and urban poor. T h e lobby for the higher-education subsidies is more effectively organized than those w h o lose from low-quality basic education. A culture where information and knowledge about these problems are kidnapped by a few senior administrators, as opposed to being used to stimulate collective debate and reflection, further prevents the education systems' planners from learning from experience, and condemns them to the vicious cycle of doing more of the s a m e , even w h e n they try to solve these problems. A close look at the organizational constraints to educational opportunity in El Salvador El Salvador shares s o m e of these s a m e problems, worsened by a 12 year civil war. O n e in every three adults in El Salvador does not k n o w h o w to read. According to data from the 1992 Household Sample Survey, 29 per cent of persons 16 years and older in 1992 did not k n o w h o w to read. The illiteracy rate was 2 4 per cent for m e n , and 32 per cent for w o m e n . In Latin America, only Guatemala and Honduras had (in 1990) a similar proportion of illiterate adults; only Haiti had more illiterates (Reimers, 1995). El Salvador's lag behind other countries of Latin America in terms of the reading ability of its population shows also in the slow growth of levels of educational attainment. In 1979, 54 per cent of the population of El Salvador had only completed three or fewer years of education. In 1992, 13 years later, 4 2 per cent of the population w a s in this category. T h e proportion of the adult population with no schooling was reduced only from 31 per cent to 23 per cent. The proportion of persons with four to six years of education remained constant, while the proportion with seven to nine years of schooling barely increased from 11 to 15 per cent, the proportion of persons with 10 to 12 years of schooling increased from 9 to 13 per cent, and the proportion of persons with 13 or more years of schooling increased from 3 per cent to 7 per cent. In 1992, therefore, as in 1979, the adult population of El Salvador was basically a population with low levels of schooling.

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T h e distribution of students in the education system of El Salvador is like a low pyramid, the base of which is smaller than the total eligible population. That is, not all children enter grade 1, a significant proportion of those w h o enter do not pass from grade 1 to 2 , and so on. In 1992 only 76 per cent of children between seven (the official school-entry age in El Salvador) and 12 years of age was enrolled in grades 1 through 6 of primary school. Only 7 0 per cent of those between the ages of seven and 15 years w a s enrolled in grades 1 through 9 of basic education. Only one out of every two Salvadorans w h o enter grade 1 will reach grade 6, one student out of every three will finish grade 9, and one out of everyfivewillfinisha secondary programme. But the problem of the inadequacies of the education system goes beyond an insufficient number of graduates from each cycle. Behind this is the low quality of education that students receive, especially economically poor students, w h o are more likely to be 'pushed out' of the system. There is consensus that, across all levels of the system, students learn little. Repetition rates are one indicator of the low quality of education. M a n y students are not capable of learning the minimal requirements of each grade within one school year, and therefore are required to repeat the grade. M a n y repeat more than once and eventually drop out of school. Using official school statistics, the author estimates that only 47 per cent of those w h o enter in grade 1 of primary school ever completes grade 6, and only 33 per cent completes grade 9 . Because students repeat grades, 10 years of instruction are required on average to produce a grade 6 graduate, and 18 years of instruction are required to produce a graduate from grade 9. In El Salvador, as in other countries, the levels of education of the population are associated with levels of income. A m o n g the 2 0 per cent of the population with the least resources, seven of every ten persons have completed three or fewer years of schooling, and only 2 per cent have more than 10 years of schooling. In contrast, a m o n g the 10 per cent of the population with highest incomes, t w o of every five persons have 10 or m o r e years of education, and only one out of every four persons has completed three or fewer years of schooling. While in the poorest 20 per cent of the population only one of every two children is enrolled in school at age seven, in the wealthiest 10 per cent of households, nine of every ten children are enrolled at that age. For the poorest 20 per cent of the population, only three of every four children are in school by age nine years. This rate lasts until age twelve, w h e n enrolments start to decline. In therichest10 per cent of the population, three of every four children are in school

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by age five years, and nine out of ten are in school by age seven years. These high enrolment rates continue until age 14 years. Educational inequalities are also seen in the different levels of schooling achieved in urban and rural zones. O n average, m e m b e r s of the urban population w h o are 15 years of age or older have completed seven years of schooling. In contrast, people living in rural areas, on average, have completed only 2.8 years of school. A n u m b e r of factors explain the low performance of the education system. O n e of them is the w a y in which the system is administered and m a n a g e d . T h e education system operates in a highly inefficient manner. A graduate of grade 6 costs 7 0 per cent more than would be necessary if all students completed the cycle on time. A graduate of basic education (grade 9) costs at least twice as m u c h as would be necessary if all students finished the cycle within the prescribed time. T h e education sector lacks a process of defining policies. A t present the definition of policies is not forward looking, but instead is conditioned by the availability of resources, international cooperation, and available information. There has traditionally been no vision that guides the sector's development efforts, and that connects these efforts to larger objectives beyond those of the education system. In 1993 the government initiated an innovative process to engage multiple stakeholders in an open dialogue that led to the creation of this vision. This included public discussion of m a n y of the constraints identified in this chapter. Gradually this has led to improvements over s o m e of the features discussed here. For an account of the beginning of this process, see Reimers, 1996. This chapter does not deal with these recent developments as its purpose is to discuss general constraints of education systems, well illustrated by this case. T h e lack of information and of systems that permit the development of a broad vision translates into a budget process unconnected to planning. Next year's allocations are the s a m e as last year's, a mechanism that repeats the status quo more than it promotes change and educational innovation. Regulation of the system is excessive and out-dated, and it limits the possibility of connections between the education system and economic, social, and scientific development. The organization of the Ministry of Education is structurally complex and compartmentalized, with excessive responsibilities. This structure concentrates decision making and inhibits local initiatives that could increase efficiency in the use of resources. There is one administrator for every four teachers employed by the Ministry of Education, and administrators are located primarily in urban areas.

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There are serious problems in personnel administration, and in the lack of criteria for recruitment and evaluation. Differences in salaries for personnel with different amounts of training are small, which makes it difficult to attract and motivate high-level personnel. T h e regional organization of the Ministry promotes inequalities in the allocation of resources, and limits planning and follow-up. There is little co-ordination in the administration of extraordinary (capital) funds and in making the best use of international cooperation. These organizational constraints inhibit the ability of the system to deliver good-quality education equitably. In rural areas the school day is short and teacher absenteeism is reported to be frequent. Parents lack w a y s to voice their dissatisfaction with the education their children receive. The W a r further compounded these problems. Communication between the central ministry and schools w a s severed, supervision became very difficult, and teachers in m a n y communities had to flee from their schools. T o s o m e in the armed opposition, teachers were perceived as 'agents of the government'; to some in the armed and paramilitary forces, they were perceived as agents of social opposition. M a n y union leaders were killed during this period. B y 1988 37 per cent of the primary schools in the country had closed

down. W h e n new (and presumably good) ideas do not trickle down: the resistance of education systems to change. The case of

EDUCO. The peace agreements that ended the 12 years of civil war were signed during the administration of President Alfredo Cristiani, in 1992. The economic and social programme of President Cristiani emphasized poverty alleviation, reliance on strategies of direct targeting of subsidies, decentralization and promotion of participation. Within these principles, the Ministry of Education developed an innovation: Education with Participation of the C o m m u n i t y ( E D U C O ) . T h e promoters of the programme claim that they took their inspiration from a local solution developed by communities in response to the frequent closure of schools during the w a r . Communities hired someone in the vicinity to work as a teacher in the abandoned schools. T h e teacher was hired by an association of farmers w h o paid her or h i m a variable a m o u n t raised in the community. T h e Ministry estimates that in 1988 there were about 1,000 community groups, which contributed more than U S $ 1 3

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million, or 10 per cent of the education budget. This system w a s unstable in that there were n o formal contracts between the associations of farmers and the teachers hired, so that teacher assignments were frequently interrupted w h e n funds from the association became unavailable. E D U C O began in M a y of 1991 as an approach to expand access to pre-school education and to thefirstcycle of primary education in rural areas. This cycle consists of thefirstthree grades of primary school. In thefirstyear of the programme, six experimental projects were established (three sections of pre-school and three of first grade) in rural areas in three departments of El Salvador. Parents in each one of the six schools in the c o m m u n i t y were organized in C o m m u n i t y Associations for Basic Education ( A C E s ) . The A C E s are entities with legal recognition, they can therefore receive funds from the Government in exchange for the provision of services. The Ministry provides each A C E with enough funds to hire a teacher and buy limited school supplies. The role of the Ministry istohelp organize the A C E s , and to train teachers and supervise their performance. T h e Ministry has also established the criteria for teacher selection. All teachers in E D U C O must be college graduates. A unit was established in the Ministry of Education to co-ordinate the project. The objectives of thisfirstphase of experimentation were to design and test the procedures of the p r o g r a m m e and all training materials. In July of 1991 the programme began a phase of expansion to other localities in the s a m e three departments. Ninety-six classrooms of pre-school and 141 of first grade were established. In 1992 the programme was extended to all 14 departments of the country. In 1993 the Ministry of Education began a phase of generalizing of the innovation, expanding coverage in all 14 departments. The number of community associations increased rapidly from 237 in 1991 to 9 5 8 in 1992. T h e number of classrooms opened under the p r o g r a m m e increased from 263 to 1,126 in the same period, and the number of students from 10,520 to 45,040. Thirtyone per cent of the students are in pre-school education; the rest are in thefirstthree grades of primary education. T h e programme has been targeted at the poorest municipalities. In 1993, it operated in 78 of the 261 municipalities in the country, those with the lowest health and education conditions. T h e Government had planned to reach 72,832 students by the end of 1994. In 1993, 10 per cent of rural students in grades 1 to 3 were enrolled in E D U C O . T h e programme has been gradually expanded to cover higher grades. In E D U C O the community associations ( A C E s ) hire teachers with one-year renewable contracts, and they pay the teacher and

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manage the small fund for school supplies. Community associations in turn have one-year renewable contracts with the Ministry of Education. These specify that communities agree to hire teachers following guidelines from the Ministry and to use funds for teaching materials in the categories specified by the Ministry. T h e Ministry sets academic criteria for selection of teachers and the criteria to determine eligibility of communities for the project (which is aimed at the poorest rural regions of the country). Community associations are managed by an elected committee, including m e m b e r s of the community but primarily parents of students enrolled in the school. T h e physical space is normally provided by the c o m m u n i t y association, along with furniture and maintenance of the facilities. M e m b e r s of community associations are elected. A recent survey of 780 associations reports that 6 0 per cent of the associations had been elected by groups of 20 to 50 parents in the area (cited in World Bank, 1994). Ninety-five per cent of committee m e m b e r s are literate, although on average they have completed less than four years of primary school. This contrasts with the literacy rate of 7 4 per cent in rural areas, suggesting that the A C E s are staffed by the parents with more education. M o r e than nine out of ten m e m b e r s of the associations work for pay. Most are rural workers and they work an average of 4 3 hours per w e e k . O n c e elected, at least three members of the association are trained by supervisors. This training covers the responsibilities of the association, the legal implications of the agreement with teachers, basic accounting of p r o g r a m m e funds,filemanagement, and future training activities (World Bank, 1994). Management of the programme has changed over time. Until 1992, E D U C O was co-ordinated by a task force directly under the Minister of Education. This task force w a s supported by the Office of International Programmes in the Ministry, and by the central and regional supervision units. In 1993, the co-ordinating task force was replaced by a Co-ordinating Unit, accountable to the Cabinet of the Minister, and in the regions by a co-ordinating group under the Director of the Regional Education Department. T h e Office of International Programmes continues to handle financial operations, including transfers of funds to the community associations, but there is greater reliance on regular Ministry structures for implementation and supervision of other aspects of the programme. T h e Ministry of Education's Planning Office handles capacity-and institutionbuilding of the p r o g r a m m e — including modernization of information systems at the central and regional levels — and the appropriate offices handle curriculum development, textbook selection, teacher training and supervision.

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The programme has also established schools for parents to promote school community relations and participation, and to strengthen the community associations. Under this programme parents meet once a m o n t h with m e m b e r s of the community association and with E D U C O teachers. This component has not worked well. The number of community associations that conducted parent schools dropped from 50 per cent in 1992 to 25 per cent in 1993. Supervisors from the Ministry of Education visit the schools to provide ongoing training to teachers and to monitor h o w the programme is being implemented. During the war, the supervisory system collapsed, but it was re-established in 1991 and redesigned to support various programmes, including E D U C O . Supervisors were trained to understand and support the different aspects of the programme. Special training manuals were prepared that covered subjects such as promoting community participation, assisting community associations in management, assisting teachers in curriculum implementation, monitoring the progress of the programme, and facilitating the creation of schools for parents. In some of the schools of the project there have been coordinated efforts with the Ministry of Health to provide meals (consisting of a 'fortified cookie'). These are supplied to the community associations, which m a k e arrangements for their distribution to students. E D U C O has been implemented following two strategies: in areas where there is no school E D U C O teachers have opened up a school. In areas where there is already a school, additional E D U C O teachers have expanded the capacity of the school. Currently there are two mechanisms to establish E D U C O schools: in some cases communities have prepared their requests for assistance and, with support from local authorities, have approached the Ministry of Education to be included in the programme; in other cases, Ministry of Education supervisors identify areas that require increased access opportunities and promote the programme in those areas. Classrooms in E D U C O have between 28 and 35 students. If an eligible community asks to participate in the programme but already has teachers in thefirstcycle, these teachers are transferred to the second cycle (grades 4 through 6) and funds are m a d e available to hire teachers for pre-school and thefirstcycle. A n important component supporting the implementation of the programme has been mass-communication campaigns designed to inform the public about the p r o g r a m m e ' s benefits in terms of reaching disadvantaged students and creating job opportunities for teachers.

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The programme has been funded by a loan from the World Bank. There has been very rapid absorption of recurrent expenditures in the ordinary budget of the Ministry of Education. T h e communities have generally been receptive to the p r o g r a m m e . Actual enrolments in 1 9 9 2 exceeded planned enrolments by 77 per cent, and the number of classrooms opened exceeded planned targets by 4 2 per cent. Although salaries for teachers participating in the programme are slightly higher than salaries for the remaining teachers on the Ministry's payroll, the costs per student are similar in E D U C O and n o n - E D U C O schools (with the exception of both the time the communities invest in the programme and their contribution in physical infrastructure and maintenance of the school). Results There are questions about the consolidation of E D U C O due to the fast expansion. Several educators in El Salvador consider that the experience needs to mature and deepen, developing further the role of the community associations so that they can effectively influence delivery of high-quality education by the teachers. In an attempt to further the sustainability of the project, the Ministry decided in 1994 to reduce the role of the central co-ordinating unit and to rely moreon regional administrative units. It w a s also decided to add E D U C O teachers to the second cycle of primary education. There have been institutional constraints to the implementation of the programme. Financial procedures and regulations of the Ministry of Education and other government agencies (Ministry of Finance) have slowed d o w n transfers of funds to the communities. A s a result there have been serious delays in disbursing salaries to teachers. There are very high levels of teacher turnover. M o r e than 80 per cent of the teachers working in 1994 had been hired in 1993. The World Bank report attributes this high turnover to the desire of teachers for the job security that traditional appointments provide (World Bank, 1994). It is possible also that their massive transfer to M o E positions signals a desire for m o r e traditional job responsibilities, and a desire to be accountable to the bureaucracy rather than to parents. Whatever the explanation, the high turnover figures indicate that E D U C O teachers prefer not to stay jn the programme if they have a choice. Critics of the p r o g r a m m e point out that the c o m m u n i t y associations work better in the regions where communities had been organized in some form previously and had experience. In other communities the associations are formal, with limited influence on what goes on in school. A n early evaluation of the programme

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points out that community participation is limited to the members of the board of directors of the association, and that the rest of the community has little knowledge about this programme (Diaz, 1992: 58). E D U C O has contributed to the objective of increasing access to pre-school and basic education in the most disadvantaged rural communities. Pre-school enrolment rates in rural areas increased from 2 per cent in 1990 to 10 per cent in 1993. Enrolments also increased in the lower level of primary education. Pre-school enrolment rates for four- to six-year-olds increased from 15 per cent in 1990 to 22 per cent in 1992. In 1993 E D U C O supplied 37 per cent of all seats in pre-school education. Projections indicated that by 1994 E D U C O would constitute 52 per cent of all pre-school enrolments. In this sense the project is a successful example of targeting provision of educational services to the most disadvantaged groups. Results regarding participation are mixed. While community associations have successfully m a n a g e d the responsibilities delegated to them by the Ministry (receiving funds, hiring teachers) it is less clear that their participation has had a significant impact on school organization and management. In E D U C O sections that were opened in existing schools, anecdotal evidence suggests that community associations are to a great extent managed by school principals. T h e decline in the percentage of schools with a p r o g r a m m e for parents, designed to promote participation, also suggests that E D U C O teachers have not actively supported this objective of the programme. The performance in standardized achievement tests of children attending E D U C O schools is similar to that of children attending traditional schools (this comparison was based o n reading and mathematics tests administered to students in first and second grade and in pre-school readiness tests administered in a sample of 7 8 schools). There are n o significant differences in repetition rates between E D U C O schools and comparable regular public schools (World B a n k , 1994). In 1993, as part of an assessment of the education system that the author co-ordinated, a survey was conducted of primary schools to assess teaching conditions. Teachers and principals were interviewed in a r a n d o m sample of 140 schools. Schools were chosen using a stratified multi-stage method where departments and municipalities were sampled for urban and rural strata and for E D U C O and traditional schools. E D U C O schools were oversampled to allow comparisons between these and traditional schools of the Ministry. Thirty-three per cent of the schools in this sample were E D U C O schools.

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W h e n the interviewers reached each school, in the middle of the school day, they found 14 per cent of them closed because the teacher had not s h o w n up. The percentage of schools mat were closed was the same in E D U C O as in n o n - E D U C O schools. Interviewers were able to talk to teachers and principals in 122 schools, replacing s o m e of the schools that were closed with other schools nearby. Seventeen per cent of these schools were E D U C O schools. M a n y of the E D U C O schools that had been in the intended sample which were closed, were replaced by traditional schools, since the criterion for replacement was to visit the nearest school. This is w h y the percentage of E D U C O schools in the sample dropped from 33 per cent in the intended sample to 17 per cent in the actual sample. In most of these the programme 'expanded' an existing school, rather than creating a new one. Only 5 per cent had been created where no school existed; 12 per cent were E D U C O sections which had been added to an existing school. Principals reported that their schools were closed on average three days during the year, and that teachers of each grade were absent, on average, about seven days a year. There are no differences between E D U C O and n o n - E D U C O schools in thesefigures.O n the basis of information provided by principals, the amount of instructional time in a typical school day averaged two-and-a-half hours, with no differences between E D U C O and n o n - E D U C O schools. Thesefiguresare consistent withfindingsfrom another survey reported in a World B a n k study of the project. That study found no major differences in school or teacher characteristics and practices or student attendance. There are n o statistically significant differences in teacher absences (World Bank, 1994). O n the basis of teacher reports in the same study, the length of instruction in basic subjects is the s a m e in both types of schools. These findings are inconsistent with the expected effect of E D U C O . W h e n the project was launched, one of the concerns of the Ministry of Education was that m a n y school days were missed because of teacher absenteeism, particularly in rural areas. It was thought that a contractual relationship between teachers and parents would create a greater incentive for teachers to minimize absences. Apparently this theory was not correct. There is n o evidence that E D U C O has made a difference in the number of class days or in the length of instruction students receive. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the criterion that teachers had to be college graduates in order to be appointed, has resulted in few teachers w h o live in the same community where they teach. This should be expected because, on average, people living in rural areas have completed only 2.8 years of primary school. O f the almost three million people living in rural areas, only 9,922 have s o m e college education (4 per 1,000)

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(Gobierno de El Salvador, 1993), thus there are not enough college graduates living in rural areas to staff each E D U C O school with m e m b e r s of the community. A s a result, teachers have to travel long distances to reach schools and face the same constraints to reach school o n time every day as teachers from traditional schools. W h e n asked w h o contributed materials and supplies to the school, there were s o m e differences between traditional schools and E D U C O schools. T h e Ministry of Education w a s equally likely to be identified as a source of materials in both types of schools. The community association w a s identified in only 10 per cent of the traditional schools, but in 8 0 per cent of the E D U C O schools. T h e parents of the students were identified in 85 per cent of the traditional schools, but in only 5 0 per cent of the E D U C O schools. A s would be expected, E D U C O schools were more likely to receive either the 'fortified cookie' or to participate in a government-sponsored school lunch p r o g r a m m e , both of w h i c h targeted to the poorest municipalities. According to principals, supervisors visit the schools five days during the year, on average. This is the same for E D U C O and nonE D U C O schools. Supervisors do the same things in their visits to each type of schools, and principals in both types of schools give these visits similar rankings in terms of their usefulness (they are evaluated fairly positively in terms of helping to i m p r o v e administration and teaching effectiveness). Both types of schools are equally likely to have an association of parents and they meet about the s a m e n u m b e r of times (seven, on average) during the year. Most, but not all, of the E D U C O schools (80 per cent) report that there is an organized community association ( A C E ) . S o m e n o n - E D U C O schools also report the existence of this organization (18 per cent). W h e r e the community associations exist, most are involved with only one school section. O n e in five also works with other sections in the school. Given that most of the E D U C O schools reached in this survey were sections attached to a traditional school, this suggests that the community associations have very limited impact in the organization of the school as a whole, and focus primarily on selected aspects related to the section taught by the teacher hired by the association. W h e n principals or teachers in E D U C O schools were asked h o w m a n y times the 'schools for parents' had met during the year, most said none; only three of these schools had met once or twice with the parents during the year. It is apparent that the principal mechanism of the programme to promote community participation is not serving its purpose. In sum, while students in EDUCO schools perform at levels comparable to those of students in other schools, there is to date no systematic evidence that this innovation has substantially increased

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school quality, internal efficiency, or even community participation. It could be argued that, given the fact that E D U C O schools reach the most disadvantaged children, a comparable level of outcomes is a sign of the success of these schools. But with the existing evidence it is not possible to sort out the specific value added of each type of school from the contributions of social and economic conditions of families. Lessons about h o w ministries and schools learn, or d o not The experience with E D U C O in El Salvador shows that it is possible to alter the approach to delivering education services in a w a y that opens spaces for school a u t o n o m y and c o m m u n i t y participation. T h e Government of El Salvador, relying on such a strategy, was able to expand access to pre-school education and to primary education in rural areas. T h e programme has expanded rapidly, reflecting the great efforts m a d e by the Ministry and probably the growing acceptance by communities and parents. It is also a fact that the programme has been funded and has received a lot of attention from leadership at the top. The appropriate question, then, is not whether access expanded with E D U C O , but whether it expanded m o r e than w o u l d have been possible under m o r e traditional forms of schooling. It is not obvious that E D U C O did that. O n e could argue that the expansion in access is simply a function of the additional resources which were provided to the programme. The E D U C O experience also teaches us that school autonomy and local participation are not panaceas and that they are outcomes of insufficiently understood processes more than they are conditions that can be produced by decree. The fact that spaces are opened for participation does not m e a n that those spaces will be used effectively, and that the resulting quality of education will be better. This should not be surprising. Teachers, administrators and communities that have for centuries operated under a top-down model of school m a n a g e m e n t should not be expected to change overnight just because the Ministry has decided to begin a n e w approach to school management. It will take time, learning by doing, and training for the new model to show its true results. Since opening spaces for community participation can be a valuable goal in its o w n right, the fact that E D U C O students seem to be doing as well as students in traditional schools is an indication that it m a y be worth keeping this innovation until it can mature and show more impact. That is, there are no apparent trade-offs to the E D U C O experience either in terms of learning gains or in terms of costs. M u c h literature proposes that participation and people-centred approaches are essential to achieving sustainable development. According to O g u n , "sustainable

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development ultimately depends o n enhancing people's capacities as individuals and groups to improve their o w n lives and to take greater control over their o w n destinies" (Ogun cited in Shaeffer, 1992). In effect, E D U C O gave to beneficiaries of education the possibility of a greater role than do traditional schools. In the latter, teachers are primarily accountable to a bureaucracy; under E D U C O , in theory at least, they are more accountable to parents. But the E D U C O experience also teaches us the contradictions implicit in trying to implement a strategy to promote community participation relying o n a top-down strategy of educational change. There has been very little 'dialogue' of the type proposed in the beginning of this chapter, and further discussed in the last section about the E D U C O programme in El Salvador, even though there is an information system in place to monitor p r o g r a m m e implementation. The Ministry of Education can produce instantly reports about h o w m a n y children are enrolled in the programme, h o w m a n y n e w classes have been opened, which classes received the 'fortified cookie' or the nutritional p r o g r a m m e . This information system m i m i c s the t o p - d o w n paradigm, it relies heavily o n inputs, minimizing information about outcomes and about processes of implementing change. T h e information generated by this system, however, has not been used to help schools or communities improve quality or participation. Most of it has rarely been discussed at all by people beyond the top-level administration of the programme. This illustrates well that information systems are insufficient, though necessary, conditions for dialogue. Effective dialogue requires openness to examine s o m e of the central questions about the intervention: does it m a k e sense? should it be changed? N o n e of the information which flows in the information system about E D U C O is pertinent to address this question. A fruitful dialogue on this subject would require an explicit examination of the theory behind the programme, and then information generated to challenge the crucial elements of the theory. In fact, the theory behind the E D U C O p r o g r a m m e is fairly simple. It posits that students in rural schools do not learn because there is inordinate high teacher absenteeism, and that teacher absenteeism could be changed if parents couldfireteachers. This theoretical weakness is not just a weakness of the E D U C O programme, but of m u c h of the existing literature and research o n school autonomy and community participation. Missing in m u c h of this literature is an explicit discussion of h o w alternative forms of school organization and management would influence learning conditions in the classroom (Malen, O g a w a and Kranz, 1990; W o n g ,

1993).

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Since the theory behind E D U C O is w e a k and has not been critically checked against p r o g r a m m e results, p r o g r a m m e results have fallen below expectations. T h e y are based o n assumptions that prove to be simplistic or erroneous. The implicit model in the case of E D U C O was that more exposure to the teacher would result in significant learning gains for students, but the results so far suggest that ' m o r e of the s a m e ' m a y not be the answer. M a y b e the gains in exposure to teachers that can result from different contractual rules are too modest to have any impact o n opportunities for children to learn. Perhaps the key factor explaining teacher absenteeism is the distance between h o m e and place of appointment, rather than whether the employer is the M o E or the community. If this is the case, then E D U C O has m a d e things worse by requiring a college degree and therefore appointing m a n y teachers w h o live in cities to teach in remote rural areas. Perhaps the w a y teachers are trained makes them ineffective, in which case extending contact time with ineffective teachers m a y still not help students to learn. The experience of E D U C O illustrates the impact of ineffective formative evaluation systems to guide p r o g r a m m e implementation. It is not just that evaluations are missing but that what is missing, is a system, an environment, where the results of those evaluations can be integrated into an open dialogue discussing problems and options for solution. M a y b e the Ministry of Education was too invested in the innovation to allow feedback suggesting that the idea might not be good or that it needed to be refined. Perhaps there were n o conditions that allowed an open discussion of the true rationale of the change efforts and the tensions between improving learning opportunities and improving local participation as a goal in itself. Without such openness, attempts to evaluate the impact of the p r o g r a m m e are bound to be partial and of limited use for decision making, because they m a y be missing s o m e of the aspects of the p r o g r a m m e most pertinent to its attempted goals. In the event that the stronger motive for the E D U C O programme had been c o m m u n i t y e m p o w e r m e n t , then n o evaluation documenting the lack of impact of the programme on student achievement or o n repetition will matter. T h e recent World B a n k report on E D U C O which evaluates the p r o g r a m m e in terms of its impact on learning outcomes, shows that the levels of student achievement in language and mathematics tests are n o different in E D U C O than in traditional schools and that there are n o differences in repetition rates (World Bank, 1994). The leadership of the education system missed the opportunity to use these important findings to stimulate an open discussion of the E D U C O m o d e l a m o n g k e y actors, including principals, parents and teachers, to try to understand them and review the project assumptions.

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T h e author's experience in trying to share the results, which suggested that there were problems which needed attention with the E D U C O p r o g r a m m e , with k e y decision-makers in the programme, is that it was very difficult to discuss these in a frank manner. Those committed to the programme very quickly became defensive and found multiple reasons to deny the validity of the findings of our survey. W h e n it was mentioned to the programme director that no difference had been found in teacher and student absenteeism between E D U C O and traditional schools, she explained it as a result of the fact that the sample had primarily included 'expanded' E D U C O schools, as opposed to 'created' schools. Instead, she proposed that rather than using a random sample, visits should have been m a d e to schools selected by her. M a y b e she was right about the difference between expanded and created schools, but w h e n findings which are inconsistent with the theory of the programme begin to be explained in increasingly convoluted ways, one can wonder if what is going on is not denial or an attempt to force the evidence into the theory, rather than an attempt to gain deeper understanding. W h e n facts which challenge the theory are systematically dismissed then programme managers are left relying only on the type of information which is most neutral, that which tells them h o w m a n y schools have been opened, h o w m a n y children are enrolled, h o w m a n y 'fortified cookies' have been distributed. Relying on this information, they then continue managing the programme as if implementing a blueprint, they have inadvertently closed the loop of continuity and blocked the possibility for educational change. Postcriptum. W h y ministries need dialogue to learn. M a p p i n g the policy dialogue space In this chapter it was been argued that often education policies fail to alter the reality of schools because senior education officials espouse a traditional paradigm of educational change which is selffulfilling. T h e author has recognized that this paradigm is instrumental in helping education systems do more of the same, and m a n y education systems have m a d e remarkable efforts expanding their capacity, doing precisely that. The author has further argued that this approach is not adequate for all attempts at educational change, particularly for those w h o try to innovate. T h e experience with the E D U C O programme in El Salvador is discussed as a case where some senior decision-makers attempted to alter school governance, but went about it relying on a traditional topd o w n model of educational administration.

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T h e ultimate goal of this chapter is to stimulate reflection about the varied nature of the problems facing education systems. Such variation calls for a rich topography of policy responses and approaches. The author believes the most effective agents of change are those w h o have m a p s to appreciate the diversity of this landscape and w h o can call o n a rich repertoire of approaches to find appropriate responses. T h e kind of education dialogue which helps organizational learning m a y vary also. T h e author would like to propose the metaphor that such dialogue takes place in a space (Reimers 1996). This education policy dialogue space is defined by several vectors, several dimensions. Different types of issues are placed in different points in this space and call for different types of dialogue. It is important to recognize where an issue fits in this space in order to carry out an appropriate dialogue. T h e dialogue space is characterized by the following four dimensions or vectors: 1.

Is the problem to be addressed convergent or divergent?

This is a distinction m a d e by Schumacher (1977) about different types of problems for economic analysis. Whether a child can learn to read faster in her mother tongue than in a second language is a convergent problem, what to teach in the primary school curriculum is a divergent problem. Convergent problems have one solution, divergent problems have multiple solutions. Sometimes the same subject m a y be investigated as a convergent or divergent problem. A c a d e m i c disciplines can simplify problems, in order to find convergent answers, but it is important not to confuse the complexity of the real policy question with the simplification offered by technique. For example, whether the rates of return of primary education are higher or lower than the rates of return of secondary education is a convergent question. O n e can answer it in fairly precise terms. That answer, however, does not indicate what percentage of one's education budget should be devoted to primary and what percentage to secondary education, even if one chose to allocate the budget solely o n the basis of economic returns. 2.

Is the information provided by the tools of a specific discipline sufficient to solve the problem?

S o m e problems are fairly simple and can be solved within the domains of a specific discipline, other problems are not simple and have multiple dimensions which call for multiple forms of analysis

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and for evidence from multiple disciplines. A large body of knowledge has been generated within specialized domains such as experimental psychology, cognitive psychology, they define a fairly formalized theory or learning, or rather theories of learning, with emphasis on the plural. But most education policy problems have dimensions other than the pedagogical dimensions, and therefore cannot just be solved by resorting to learning theories, there are economic dimensions, political dimensions, organizational and bureaucratic dimensions, legal dimensions. This is w h y policy analysis needs to draw from analysis of evidence derived from multiple disciplines and approaches. 3.

Can the problem be solved by technical knowledge ?

All policy problems have a normative dimension, certain situations are perceived as problematic by reference to certain goals, which in turn relate to values, to desired states. Sometimes problem solving occurs in a context in which it is not necessary to address the normative, and the exercise can concentrate on the positive aspects of analyzing evidence. This would happen, for instance, if there was consensus on the normative dimensions of a problem, or if one were solving the problem from the perspective of a single decision-maker, in which case one could assume the normative value framework of the decision-maker and solve the problem within this framework. S o m e problems can be solved in this way, and the author will argue that for all problems, even those where solutions have to be negotiated a m o n g groups with conflicting values or normative frameworks, it is helpful for each party to identify a solution within his/her normative framework. This can clarify the options for negotiation and m a k e dialogue possible. But this exercise should not be confused with solving the problem as if scientific knowledge had intrinsic normative authority. Technical knowledge alone is rarely sufficient to inform the direction of educational change. In m a n y instances the process of policy dialogue consists precisely of attempts at reciprocal influence between political, normative frameworks and research-based evidence. The literature on school autonomy, for example, isfilledwith ambiguity regarding the rationale for change: is school autonomy/ community participation instrumental in improving service delivery, or is it a goal in itself? Is the main goal to improve service delivery or to redistribute power? h o w are possible trade-offs between both goals to be handled? W h i c h goal should carry the greater weight? These are obviously not technical questions and require m u c h dialogue a m o n g stakeholders of educational change.

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4.

Is there a single decision-maker or are there multiple actors who will influence the policy decision ?

Certain policy areas can be influenced by fewer actors than others; for instance, changing the exchange rate of a country, involves relatively f e w decision-makers; changing the curriculum as implemented in primary schools involves quite a few m o r e actors. 5.

What is the context in which the dialogue takes place ?

S o m e contexts are highly authoritarian and presume that decisions are m a d e by highly placed individuals at the top, other contexts value democratic exchange and discussion of options prior to decisions. S o m e approaches to policy dialogue link better with authoritarian contexts and others link more with democratic contexts, it is important to recognize the need for linkage. Having identified the space for policy dialogue as defined by these four vectors, the author n o w proposes one approach for certain dialogue on complex education problems. The author proposes that the analysis of divergent problems, in democratic contexts, requires the inclusion of multiple perspectives in the analysis. This enriches the quality of thefinalproduct. T h e techniques available for education policy analysis are not such that they can provide a single answer to the causes, and solutions to all education problems. Findings about education problems are bound by the methodologies used to investigate them, by the w a y in which the phenomena of interest are defined and measured, by the events, m o m e n t s or people w h o are sampled, and by the hypotheses of those w h o investigate. This does not m e a n that one should dismiss the importance of rigorous inquiry of education problems, but that one should be humble about what such inquiry can yield. M a y b e education policy analysts and researchers can take inspiration from the impact of chaos theory in physics, which speaks of the infinite complexity of even simple systems and m o v e s our understanding of science as 'truth' to understanding science as a process of discovery of patterns and probabilities. Furthermore, education problems, as they are faced by policymakers, lack the precision which m a y be found in a systematic study which can pre-specify all relevant variables. There are pedagogical, economic, legal, bureaucratic and other dimensions to the problems faced by decision-makers, and to the alternatives which can be considered. T o bring up highly specialized expertise in rational analysis to examine problems and identify solutions is a useful exercise, but one that by definition simplifies the dimensions of the problem. Therefore the consideration of alternatives should take

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place not within the simplified environment of the analyst, but in the real world where concrete persons and groups express these multiple interests. S o m e of the real problems faced by policy-makers have a complexity that defies easy answers. Policy analysis and strategic planning are therefore as m u c h an exercise of discovery through rational inquiry as they are processes of managing negotiations of competing views on the problem. T o conclude, the business of educational reform exceeds the best intentions of decision-makers, n o matter h o w highly placed. If an education system is to change its w a y s , what is needed is organizational learning, rather than learning by a single individual placed at the top. The type of learning which has been presented in this chapter is not one where one person, the information systems or the policy expert, teaches and others listen, but rather it is one of learning by discovery. Dialogue is an essential condition for that learning to take place. Education systems are by definition knowledge organizations. Strategies to help them change their ways should rely on effective knowledge management, rather than on ruling by decree. Educational change is fundamentally about changing behaviours, values and h o w people m a k e meaning of their roles in the largest organization in the public sector. In order to change, education ministries need to learn to learn.

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Reimers, F. (Ed.) 1995. Educación en El Salvador de Cara al Siglo XXI: Desafios y Oportunidades. San Salvador. U C A Editores. Reimers, F., and McGinn. N . 1997. Informed dialogue. Praeger: Connecticut. Reimers, F., and McGinn, N . 1995. " Using research in educational policy and administrative decision-making." In Reimers. F., M c G i n n , N . , and Wild, K . 1995. Confronting future challenges: educational information, research and decision making. U N E S C O . Schumacher, E . F 1977. A guide for the perplexed. N e w York: Harper and R o w . Senge, P. 1990. Thefifthdiscipline. The art and practice of the learning organization. N e w York. Currency Doubleday. Shaeffer, S. (Ed.) 1992. Collaborating for educational change: the role of teachers, parents and the community in school improvement. Paris: UNESCO/International Institute for Educational Planning. Wong, K . 1993. "Bureaucracy and school effectiveness." InHusen, T. and Postlethwaite, N . International Encyclopedia of Education. Oxford: Pergamon Press, pp. 589-594. World Bank 1994. El Salvador community education strategy: decentralized school management. Washington D . C . Report N o 13502-ES. World Bank 1995. Priorities and strategies for education. Washington D . C .

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