Beyond Assessment: Impact Evaluation of a Community-Based Education Development in Lao PDR

The study assessed the impact of community-based interventions (CBI) that the five-year Second Education Development Project in Lao PDR's poorest districts employed through a quasi-experimental design. Sampled Project village schools were compared with control groups. Control groups were determined using propensity scoring to simulate experimental schools. Treatment or interventions included community-based contracting, community grants, and teacher training. Results of these treatments showed that the CBI package led to positive and improved education outcomes such as increasing enrolment, increased promotion rates, decreased repetition rates, increased gender parity, and higher completion rates. There were significant positive changes in social capital, community development, gender participation, built capacities in village school management, better teaching-learning process and cheaper contracting costs. More significantly, CBI was not only cost-effective but ensured collective ownership as well. The evaluation concludes that effectiveness of one intervention increases in combination with others, making the CBI approach more appropriate.