Data Must Speak: Ghana
Positive deviance reports and policy briefs
Highlights
The Ghana Ministry of Education (MoE) has developed the Education Sector Plan 2018–2030 (ESP) that establishes the vision for achieving equitable access to quality education and effectively managing education service delivery. In addition to traditional sector analysis, the MoE is deepening its use of existing data to improve education quality through various initiatives, including the Data Must Speak (DMS) research.
In Ghana, some schools demonstrate exceptional performance. These "positive deviant" schools perform better than their peers despite operating under similar conditions and resources. This research utilizes administrative data to identify these schools, explore their success stories, and understand their locally led solutions. The aim is to empower educators and policymakers with practical insights for broader implementation.
Data Must Speak (DMS) is a global initiative launched in 2014 to address evidence gaps and mitigate the learning crisis using existing data. The DMS positive deviance research is co-created and co-implemented with Ministries of Education and key partners. It employs mixed methods and innovative approaches, including positive deviance, behavioral sciences, implementation research, and scaling science, to generate knowledge and practical lessons. The research focuses on understanding 'what works,' 'why,' and 'how' to scale grassroots solutions for national policymakers and the international education community.
All DMS positive deviance research outputs related to Ghana are presented here:
DMS Stage 1: Understanding what resources and contextual factors are associated with good school performance
- Stage 1 report: Unpacking Factors Influencing School Performance (English)
- Policy brief 1: Exam performance over time (English)
- Policy brief 2: Teacher and head teacher characteristics and exam performance (English)
- Stage 1 Extension Report: Unpacking factors influencing early grade performance in Ghana (English)
DMS Stage 3: Discovering locally led behaviours and practices to improve quality education
- Stage 3 report: Research on the practices and behaviors of positive deviant schools in Ghana (English)
- Stage 3 executive summary (English)
