In furthering my research into MIT's work in educational randomized trials, in the summer of 2009, a report entitled, "Showing Up is the First Step," was published. The results of this report point towards impersonal, direct incentives for teachers to improve attendance. As already reported, during my school visitations amongst the developing world nations in Africa and South Asia, simple abscenteeism can be seen as the biggest impediment to educational advancement, as is a key factor in some students sitting in classes for 7 years and not being able to read or write. Teacher effectiveness surely plays a role, but without their attendance (the report cites that on any given day, 27% of teachers in Uganda do not show up, and the figure is 23% in India; further, in India, only 2/3 of teachers who showed up were actually teaching!), there is simply nothing being learned, and this contributes to a further breakdown of the entire process, as absent teachers also lead to demoralization and behavior problems that do not end when the teacher shows up for work, eventually. The details from the report, on what works best:
"Seva Mandir, an NGO in Rajastan, India, introduced a simple mechanism that recorded teacher attendance and directly determined teacher pay. This combination of external monitoring with credible rewards (and punishments) cut absence rates in half. Moreover, providing incentives for service provider attendance improves outcomes for poor people without undermining providers’ intrinsic motivation."
"Seva Mandir, an NGO in Rajastan, India, introduced a simple mechanism that recorded teacher attendance and directly determined teacher pay. This combination of external monitoring with credible rewards (and punishments) cut absence rates in half. Moreover, providing incentives for service provider attendance improves outcomes for poor people without undermining providers’ intrinsic motivation."
