Review of the Literature

Community and cultural characteristics 
▪
community perspectives on the role/purpose of education (why they 
▪
are sending their children to school) 
▪
nature of the local or national job market 
▪
socio-economic status of the community 
▪
level of community support and involvement in the school 
▪
level of community understanding and support of reform initiatives 
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▪
appropriateness of reform ideas and approaches, understanding of reforms 
▪
community attitudes towards teachers
►
These factors, and many others, combine in complex ways, to shape
a teacher’s practice 
Teaching practices, as mediated by the 
above, are further mediated by student 
characteristics
●
Teaching practices, no matter how excellent and well 
supported by the above, combine with further 
mediating 
factors
in the form of students’ readiness to learn:
▪
students’ readiness for school and perseverance 
▪
abilities, motivation, and prior school experience 
▪
students’ time spent on learning in school and out of school 
▪
students’ gender and embedded traditional gender characteristics and roles 
▪
students’ socio-economic status 
▪
students’ and communities’ attitudes toward education 
▪
students’ reasons for being in school 
▪
students’ and their parents’ perceptions of the benefits of education, availability of 
jobs, impact of local role models
▪
students’ health and nutrition status 
▪
demands on students for labor in the family, household, community
►
These student characteristics combine with teacher characteristics
to influence student learning :