Data Must Speak: Zambia
Positive deviance reports and project briefs
Highlights
The Government of Zambia is committed to delivering high-quality, relevant education and lifelong skills for all children. Despite progress in reading and mathematics scores, learning outcomes in Zambia remain low.
In Zambia, 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.
On this webpage, you will find all the DMS positive deviance research outputs related to Zambia:
DMS Stage 1: Understanding what resources and contextual factors are associated with good school performance
- Stage 1 report: Unpacking Factors Influencing School Performance (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 (English)
- Stage 3 executive summary (English)
