Administrator Roles & Responsibilities
Defined roles for two administrators: Principal and Vice Principal of Instruction.
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Principal in charge of parent and student engagement, building maintenance, and all personnel; accountable for total management and performance of school, including instructional leadership.
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Vice Principal reports to the principal; supports teachers through instructional coaching and ensuring presence of Academic materials.
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Both administrators generally present.7
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Principal commonly absent.
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Vice Principal is a full-time role with specific trained duties.
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Vice Principal usually present – but teaching (due to staff shortage).
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All textbooks, homework and classwork books provided to students free of charge.
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In some schools, certain English and Math textbooks for some grades purchased through MoE GPE funds are available. At schools without GPE textbooks or for other subjects, textbooks are purchased by parents, or child does may not have access. There are no homework and classwork books.
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Administrator Attendance
School Materials
School Culture
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Principal and Vice Principal role unclear.
Student Body and Placement
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No selection for students.
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No selection for students.
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All previous students had priority; Bridge PSL public schools took any additional interested students from the community.
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No systematic evaluation; children placed based on Principal perception.
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All students evaluated for literacy; placed in appropriate grades by competency and age.
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Attendance tracked through school information management software.
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Attendance is rarely tracked in a systematic way.
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Attendance also confirmed through calls to principals twice a week.
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Teachers and principals encourage students to attend school, and hold PTA meetings to address challenges to student attendance.
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Support provided on Academics, Community Engagement, IT, HR, Supply Chain by central office.
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Monitoring provided by District Education Officers.
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Academic Field Team visits multiple schools daily, with the typical school receiving a visitor once every one to two weeks.
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Anecdotally, monitoring is low.
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Regional Instructional Managers and Academic Field Officers visit three times per month: Observe lessons, support Vice Principals for Instruction, and coach teachers.
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The typical DEO is assigned on average 44 schools to monitor across their district.
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School and Community Support Team visits two times per month: Support principals and engage in proactive outreach to communities and PTAs.
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IT Support Team Visits once per month, or whenever needed: Ensure that technology at schools is functioning, and fix any problems that arise.
Other Vice Principal roles also present.
Student Attendance
A daily “sign in book” is used to help monitor staff.
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Parents supply exercise books for notetaking and pencils.
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Parents supply exercise books for notetaking and pencils.
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In pilot year 2016-17, one free uniform was provided to every enrolled child.
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Parents purchase a mandatory uniform for each child.
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School administration trained to focus on positive discipline and student safety throughout the school.
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School culture is inconsistently defined; some schools have stronger school culture thanks to a strong principal, some do not.
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All schools start the day with a studentled devotion in which all children line up and prepare for classes.
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Some sort of devotion is often a part of school culture.
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Positive school culture reinforced through grand opening ceremonies, PTA meetings, Liberia-created energizing “cheers” and songs in each class, character boards, and student leaders.
Monitoring & Operational Support from Central Office
Attendance has averaged ~90% across all Bridge PSL public schools.
Learning in Liberia: Literacy and Numeracy Gains in Year 1
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Learning in Liberia: Literacy and Numeracy Gains in Year 1
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