Key Insight F I N D I N G S O N S C H O O L L E A D E R S H I P B E H AV I O U R C H A N G E F R O M A 3 -Y E A R E D U C AT I O N Q U A L I T Y P R O G R A M April 2026
Introduction The Education Quality (EduQuality) program supports schools to strengthen leadership and improve learning environments. A key component of the program is the Pathways to Excellence guide, which supports school leaders in developing stronger systems across areas such as leadership, school management, teaching quality, safeguarding, and community engagement. The Pathways to Excellence (P2E) guide supports the EduQuality three-year holistic school development program by equipping school leaders with the tools necessary to assess and improve their school’s progress across 18 key domains. Ultimately, when school leaders commit to continued progress in these key areas, this will improve the learning outcomes for children who attend their schools. The P2E guide supports school leaders in improving three areas of school quality; school culture, school management, and teaching and learning – all of which combine to create a school environment that is most conducive to improving student learning outcomes. This report presents key insights from the School Leader Survey, one of the program’s key monitoring tools used to monitor changes in school leadership behaviour and practices during the schools’ participation in the EduQuality program. The survey data was collected from a sample of EduQuality schools across Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Tanzania, Zambia, and the Dominican Republic. School leaders from the participating schools were interviewed during Year 1, Year 2, and Year 3 of their participation in the program, allowing for comparison of changes within the same schools over time. The analysis focuses on understanding how schools develop across key dimensions of school quality, aligned with the three areas of the P2E Guide, school culture, school management, and teaching and learning: u
School Culture: behaviour management and mission
u
School Culture: Parent and community engagement
u
School Management: Leadership growth and professionalism
u
School Management: Safeguarding, child protection practices and inclusive education
u
Teaching and Learning: Teaching quality and teacher support