An analysis of community involvement in primary schools in Malawi

Through a secondary analysis of standardised test data, the paper reviews community involvement in Malawian primary schools and examines the extent to which it explains variation in pupil test scores. In so doing, the study deconstructs the concept of community involvement, demonstrating that it is not a unitary concept but rather made up of multiple effects which can be categorised into different modes: “learner support”, “financing” and “networking”. The framework developed may help with future research and the results caution policymakers in Malawi on the current reality of community participation and how this relates to existing policy ambitions.

► Community involvement is not a unitary concept. ► Modes of community involvement are identified using Principal Component Analysis. ► A multilevel model is developed to analyse the effects of community involvement. ► Community involvement explains a limited degree of variation in test scores. ► “Financing” measures of involvement have the strongest effect on test scores.