Right to Play Mali Education Evaluation
The Right to Play (RtP) Mali Education Evaluation assessed the impact of the RtP Mali programming, which took place from 2017-2021. This project was funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) as part of the Education Quality Improvement Partnership Project (PAQE II), and implemented by local partners (OMAES, ALED, RARE and RED), with the support of the Malian Ministry of Education (DNP, DNEN, DNEF, DNEPS). The RtP Mali programming focused on using play-based learning models in classrooms in order to improve educational outcomes and learning environments in schools in Mali, especially in relation to underserved student populations.
The evaluation efforts supported by Notre Dame’s Pulte Institute for Global Development utilized a mixed-methods approach to evaluating the program’s process and outcomes by comparing schools that implemented RtP programming to local government-run or community-run schools with similar characteristics. Researchers were able to ascertain that students in Right to Play schools outperform peers in comparison schools across multiple assessment categories including literacy (fluency and reading comprehension) and life skills, such as teamwork and communication. While the RtP Mali program showed positive results in educational outcomes, the evaluation team also provided some suggestions for improvement, including a continued focus on positive discipline and support for underserved students.