Learning in Liberia: Year One

The Liberian Education Advancement Program (LEAP) is a public private partnership with eight non-state actors (in 2017) designed to improve school management in order to bring about improved learning outcomes for students across the government school system.

Learning in Liberia: Year One is a co-authored study by Pencils of Promise, World Reader, the Liberian Ministry for Education and Bridge Liberia. The study specifically focuses on the progress being made in Bridge Liberia supported schools during year one of the public private partnership.

The report revealed strong learning gains in Bridge Liberia supported public schools.

Key finding

• The learning gains made at Bridge Liberia supported schools in a single academic year are equivalent to almost three years of English instruction and nearly two years of math instruction at traditional public schools.

Further findings

• Non-readers were transformed into emergent readers. At Bridge Liberia supported schools, almost 80% of non-readers made this transition compared to less than 50% for traditional public schools.
• The number of proficient early grade readers doubled; more than twice the number of Bridge Liberia supported school students met reading fluency benchmarks compared to traditional public school students.
• First-year gains by Bridge Liberia students were significant when compared to traditional public schools.

* At the time of writing the report LEAP was known as Partnership Schools for Liberia (PSL).