Blue Butterfly
Executive Summary
Project Host:
Fellows:
Laura Outhwaite, Research Fellow
Laura White, Social Entrepreneur Fellow
Tzipi Horowitz-Kraus, Research Fellow
Introduction
Blue Butterfly is a nonprofit organization devoted to inspiring a generation of learners through the power of engaging educational media. In partnership with the Model School Network, Blue Butterfly is equipping teachers in Haiti to deliver “Apwòch Lekòl Vivan” (ALV), a learner-centered pedagogy to meaningfully engage children in learning. By developing Eksploratoryòm, a story-based STEM education program designed specifically for the Haitian context, teachers are able to engage students in science and improve student learning outcomes.
The Blue Butterfly LEAP project focused on A) strengthening Blue Butterfly’s theory of change through a literature review defining student engagement and its links to learning outcomes, and B) identifying tools to measure student engagement, including considerations for appropriate use and context.
Organization’s role & strength
Blue Butterfly’s Eksploratoryòm program is addressing the root causes of poor educational attainment in Haiti by creating innovative, culturally relevant tools, resources, and capacity to transform teaching and learning, ensuring that Haitian children receive the holistic education necessary to thrive and succeed. We are bringing evidence-based educational innovations to Haiti and customizing them to match the realities of life in Haitian communities.
Our core values are:
Cultural Relevance—Children deserve educational materials that feature settings and characters they can relate to.
Local Production—We are building the capacity of our team and partners in Haiti to produce high-quality educational materials.
Educationally Rigorous—Our Eksploratoryòm program meets educational objectives set by the Haitian Ministry of Education
Entertaining—We develop fun stories with engaging characters that appeal to children because learning can be fun!
Deep Local Connections—Blue Butterfly’s network of community partners help us test and implement our programs in Haitian schools and homes.
Home Language—Research shows that children learn best in the language they speak at home. Our Eksploratoryòm program is exclusively in Haitian Creole, the native language of most Haitians.
Need summary
Blue Butterfly’s theory of change states that by meaningfully engaging students in their learning, the Eksploratoryòm program leads to improved student learning outcomes. A pilot study of Blue Butterfly including 980 students indeed found that children in Eksploratoryòm classrooms
showed greater learning gains along the four curricular themes than those in the comparison
group. However, given the expense and difficulty in measuring student learning directly in Haiti, Blue Butterfly was interested in exploring a rationale for measuring student engagement. They wanted to know if there is strong evidence in the literature linking student engagement and learning outcome, justifying measuring student engagement as a proxy for learning. They also wanted to know what measurement tools were available to evaluate student learning, and under what circumstances those measures might be appropriate for Blue Butterfly’s use.
Recommendation summary & next steps
The LEAP project found that the literature does support a strong link between student engagement and student learning outcomes. The Fellows completed a literature review defining student engagement and its components, exploring the factors contributing to student engagement, and summarizing the evidence that high levels of student engagement are predictors of high levels of student learning. The literature review also explored the components of Blue Butterfly’s Eksploratoryòm program and their relationship to student engagement, including the program’s focus on cultural relevance, school context, joy, teaching quality, and quality curricular content and material. Blue Butterffly will use the literature review to support its rationale for evaluating its impact on student engagement, and for others hoping to advocate for the importance of student engagement in learning.
The second LEAP project deliverable is an analysis of the tools available for measuring student engagement. These tools include the PLAY Toolkit, LENA, TeachFX, and the Stallings Classroom Snapshot (a questionnaire measuring teacher engagement was also identified). The LEAP Fellows created a table describing the training, administration and cost requirements for each tool, as well as assessing its applicability to the Haitian context. In summary, the PLAY Toolkit, LENA, and TeachFX had potential for generating rich data-based insights on student engagement, although they varied in their respective financial and administrative cost required. This tool analysis will serve as a helpful guide to Blue Butterfly and others in deciding which tool to use to evaluate student engagement under a given set of circumstances.
The third LEAP project deliverable is a set of recommendations for further study. Drawing from the LEAP Research Fellows’ areas of expertise, these recommendations could further bolster Blue Butterfly’s theory of change.