Using Opportunity to Learn and Early Grade Reading Fluency to Measure School Effectiveness in Guatemala

Abstract

This study argues that to improve school effectiveness, schools and educators should focus on even more basic elements than those posited by other research. The focus should be on providing a basic opportunity to learn by having the school open every day; the teacher present; students present and ready to learn; and instructional time on task. The educational value of that basic opportunity then depends on how teachers and students use the time available during the day, whether materials are present and used by them, and whether class sizes are reasonable. The study further established an opportunity to learn (OTL) index based on 12 factors and measures the extent to which opportunity to learn is optimized in a sample of schools in Guatemala. The study answers the following questions: How well do schools provide opportunity to learn?, How does actual opportunity to learn compare to potential opportunity to learn?, How does opportunity to learn vary across schools?