Improving Learning Outcomes and the Quality of Public Administration

Access to quality education is a critical way to reduce poverty and benefit local communities, especially in developing countries. In order to make improvements in education, it is important to determine what practices and policies in an education system are most impactful and in greatest need. Understanding this need, the World Bank collects data on various factors which would increase the quality of education in schools. The data collected is extensive, with over 100 variables ranging from teacher evaluations, standardized tests, and absence rates to specific classroom resources, such as the number of pens and textbooks, and school-wide resources such as functional toilets and access to the internet.

In order to single out some of the most important factors and their connections with one another, three students analyzed data related to practices, policies, and bureaucratic capacity in classrooms based on observations and on-the-ground surveys conducted in Ethiopia, Jordan, Peru, and Rwanda. The students used clustering and regression analysis but found the most success through linear regression and random forest regression models. With clustering, they found a consistent pattern across countries that schools that had low access to resources in one area tended to have low access to all resources across the board. For instance, schools defined as having low access to textbooks, tended also to have lower access to drinking water, infrastructure, etc., compared to schools labeled as having higher access. Through the regression method, students found that the top five most important features that influence learning outcomes were distance to office, student knowledge, early childhood development (ECD) knowledge, GDP, and infrastructure.