IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/deveco/v177y2025ics0304387825000963.html

Improving school leadership in Rwanda

Author

Listed:
  • Lauterbach, Simeon
  • Crawfurd, Lee
  • Kirezi, Jocelyne C.
  • Nsabimana, Aimable
  • Peeraer, Jef

Abstract

Can effective school leadership enhance high-stakes test scores in low-income countries? To address this question, we examine the short-term impact of a school leadership professional development program that was implemented by VVOB across 525 primary schools in the six lowest-performing districts of Rwanda between 2018 and 2019. The program aimed to strengthen the leadership, management, and teacher support skills of school headteachers. We find that the program had small but statistically insignificant effects on Primary Leaving Examination scores within one to two years after the intervention. However, the program led to a five to six percentage point increase in teacher retention rates, with qualitative evidence suggesting that headteachers provided greater support to teachers, in particular during the onboarding process. Future research should focus on refining such programs and understanding which mechanisms are necessary to also improve learning outcomes of students.

Suggested Citation

  • Lauterbach, Simeon & Crawfurd, Lee & Kirezi, Jocelyne C. & Nsabimana, Aimable & Peeraer, Jef, 2025. "Improving school leadership in Rwanda," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:deveco:v:177:y:2025:i:c:s0304387825000963
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2025.103545
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304387825000963
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2025.103545?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or

    for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Romero, Mauricio & Bedoya, Juan & Yanez-Pagans, Monica & Silveyra, Marcela & de Hoyos, Rafael, 2022. "Direct vs indirect management training: Experimental evidence from schools in Mexico," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    2. McKenzie, David, 2012. "Beyond baseline and follow-up: The case for more T in experiments," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(2), pages 210-221.
    3. Renata Lemos & Karthik Muralidharan & Daniela Scur, 2024. "Personnel Management and School Productivity: Evidence from India," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 134(661), pages 2071-2100.
    4. Asim,Salman & Gera,Ravinder Madron Casley & Harris,Donna Oretha & Dercon,Stefan, 2024. "Does Effective School Leadership Improve Student Progression and Test Scores ? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Malawi," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10846, The World Bank.
    5. Anand, Gautam & Atluri, Aishwarya & Crawfurd, Lee & Pugatch, Todd & Sheth, Ketki, 2023. "Improving school management in low and middle income countries: A systematic review," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    6. Gérard Lassibille, 2016. "Improving the management style of school principals: results from a randomized trial," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(2), pages 121-141, April.
    7. Noam Angrist & David K. Evans & Deon Filmer & Rachel Glennerster & F. Halsey Rogers & Shwetlena Sabarwal, 2020. "How to Improve Education Outcomes Most Efficiently? A Comparison of 150 Interventions Using the New Learning-Adjusted Years of Schooling Metric," Working Papers 558, Center for Global Development.
    8. Crawfurd, Lee, 2021. "Accounting for repetition and dropout in contemporaneous cross-section learning profiles: Evidence from Rwanda," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    9. Blimpo,Moussa P. & Evans,David & Lahire,Nathalie, 2015. "Parental human capital and effective school management : evidence from The Gambia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7238, The World Bank.
    10. Andrew Zeitlin, 2021. "Teacher Turnover in Rwanda," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 30(1), pages 81-102.
    11. Anna Bruederle & Roland Hodler, 2018. "Nighttime lights as a proxy for human development at the local level," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(9), pages 1-22, September.
    12. Lee Crawfurd, 2017. "School Management and Public–Private Partnerships in Uganda," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 26(5), pages 539-560.
    13. Nicholas Bloom & Renata Lemos & Raffaella Sadun & John Van Reenen, 2015. "Does Management Matter in schools?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 0(584), pages 647-674, May.
    14. Uri Gneezy & John A. List & Jeffrey A. Livingston & Xiangdong Qin & Sally Sadoff & Yang Xu, 2019. "Measuring Success in Education: The Role of Effort on the Test Itself," American Economic Review: Insights, American Economic Association, vol. 1(3), pages 291-308, December.
    15. Rafael de Hoyos & Alejandro J Ganimian & Peter A Holland, 2021. "Teaching with the Test: Experimental Evidence on Diagnostic Feedback and Capacity Building for Public Schools in Argentina," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 35(2), pages 499-520.
    16. Karthik Muralidharan & Ketki Sheth, 2016. "Bridging Education Gender Gaps in Developing Countries: The Role of Female Teachers," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 51(2), pages 269-297.
    17. Torsten Figueiredo Walter, 2020. "Misallocation in the Public Sector? Cross-Country Evidence from Two Million Primary Schools," STICERD - Economic Organisation and Public Policy Discussion Papers Series 70, Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines, LSE.
    18. Miller, Ashley, 2013. "Principal turnover and student achievement," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 60-72.
    19. Mary A. Burke & Tim R. Sass, 2013. "Classroom Peer Effects and Student Achievement," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 31(1), pages 51-82.
    20. Harald Tauchmann, 2014. "Lee (2009) treatment-effect bounds for nonrandom sample selection," Stata Journal, StataCorp LLC, vol. 14(4), pages 884-894, December.
    21. Gregory F. Branch & Eric A. Hanushek & Steven G. Rivkin, 2012. "Estimating the Effect of Leaders on Public Sector Productivity: The Case of School Principals," NBER Working Papers 17803, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    22. Pablo Muñoz & Mounu Prem, 2024. "Managers' Productivity and Recruitment in the Public Sector," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 16(4), pages 223-253, November.
    23. Karthik Muralidharan & Abhijeet Singh, 2020. "Improving Public Sector Management at Scale? Experimental Evidence on School Governance India," NBER Working Papers 28129, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Anand, Gautam & Atluri, Aishwarya & Crawfurd, Lee & Pugatch, Todd & Sheth, Ketki, 2023. "Improving school management in low and middle income countries: A systematic review," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    2. de Hoyos, Rafael & Djaker, Sharnic & Ganimian, Alejandro J. & Holland, Peter A., 2024. "The impact of combining performance-management tools and training with diagnostic feedback in public schools: Experimental evidence from Argentina," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    3. Asim,Salman & Gera,Ravinder Madron Casley & Harris,Donna Oretha & Dercon,Stefan, 2024. "Does Effective School Leadership Improve Student Progression and Test Scores ? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Malawi," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10846, The World Bank.
    4. Emma Duchini & Victor Lavy & Stephen Machin & Shqiponja Telhaj, 2025. "Personnel policy in public sector organizations: evidence from England's academy schools," CEP Discussion Papers dp2129, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    5. Romero, Mauricio & Bedoya, Juan & Yanez-Pagans, Monica & Silveyra, Marcela & de Hoyos, Rafael, 2022. "Direct vs indirect management training: Experimental evidence from schools in Mexico," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    6. Lucas, Adrienne M., 2024. "Selection, training, and importance of school heads and supervisors across Africa," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    7. Isaac Mbiti & Karthik Muralidharan & Mauricio Romero & Youdi Schipper & Constantine Manda & Rakesh Rajani, 2019. "Inputs, Incentives, and Complementarities in Education: Experimental Evidence from Tanzania," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 134(3), pages 1627-1673.
    8. Lee Crawfurd, 2017. "School Management and Public–Private Partnerships in Uganda," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 26(5), pages 539-560.
    9. Susanti, Dewi & Anand, Gautam & Arifin, Firda Arianti, 2025. "Leveraging school principals to address learning loss in Indonesia through group and individual targeting," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    10. Gabrielle Wills, 2016. "Principal leadership changes in South Africa: Investigating their consequences for school performance," Working Papers 01/2016, Stellenbosch University, Department of Economics.
    11. Lambon-Quayefio, Monica & Peterman, Amber & Handa, Sudhanshu & Molotsky, Adria & Otchere, Frank & Mvula, Peter & Tsoka, Maxton & de Hoop, Jacobus & Angeles, Gustavo & Kilburn, Kelly & Milazzo, Annamar, 2024. "Unconditional cash transfers and safe transitions to adulthood in Malawi," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    12. Wills, Gabrielle, 2016. "Principal leadership changes and their consequences for school performance in South Africa," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 108-124.
    13. Zurab Abramishvili, 2017. "An Impact Evaluation of Mass Replacement of School Principals in Georgia," Working Papers 006-17 JEL Codes: H4, I21, International School of Economics at TSU, Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia.
    14. Kumar, Deepak & Choudhury, Pradeep Kumar, 2021. "Do private schools really produce more learning than public schools in India? Accounting for student’s school absenteeism and the time spent on homework," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    15. Piza, Caio & Zwager, Astrid & Ruzzante, Matteo & Dantas, Rafael & Loureiro, Andre, 2024. "Teacher-led innovations to improve education outcomes: Experimental evidence from Brazil," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    16. Elizabeth Dhuey & Justin Smith, 2018. "How school principals influence student learning," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 54(2), pages 851-882, March.
    17. Gabrielle Wills & Servaas van der Berg, 2018. "Measuring leadership and management and their linkages with literacy in rural and township primary schools in South Africa," Working Papers 21/2018, Stellenbosch University, Department of Economics.
    18. Derek Laing & Steven G. Rivkin & Jeffrey C. Schiman & Jason Ward, 2016. "Decentralized Governance and the Quality of School Leadership," NBER Working Papers 22061, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Verlaat, Timo & Todeschini, Federico & Ramos, Xavier, 2025. "The employment effects of a means-tested guaranteed income policy," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 248(C).
    20. Burgess, Simon, 2016. "Human Capital and Education: The State of the Art in the Economics of Education," IZA Discussion Papers 9885, IZA Network @ LISER.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • I22 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Educational Finance; Financial Aid
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:deveco:v:177:y:2025:i:c:s0304387825000963. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/devec .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.