Hope Pius Nudzor

2 Publications in AERD

Author Publications

Management Practices and Implementation Challenges in District Education Directorates in Ghana

By Michael Boakye-Yiadom

Background: Subnational actors and organizations are crucial mediators of policy implementation due to their proximity to schools. However, in low- and middle-income country contexts, little is known about their management practices and factors that shape the adoption of these practices to improve education delivery. Purpose: We explore the management context of five District Education Directorates in Ghana, and the factors that enable or constrain them to plan and implement policy. Participants: Forty-three interviews and focus groups with regional and district education officials, district political actors, and basic education school headteachers and teachers. Research Design: A qualitative study of semistructured interviews, focus groups, and education policy and planning documents. Analysis: To understand how policy implementation happens within complex, multitiered bureaucracies, our theoretical framework uses four management functions described in Williams et al. (2021) to explore two different paradigms of how to change public bureaucracies: target setting and prioritization; measurement and monitoring; accountability and incentives; and problem-solving. We coded and analyzed our data based on this framework and developed district-wide narrative memos to synthesize the findings. Findings: We identify three areas of (mis)alignment in management practices: across bureaucratic levels and among actors; around clear and consistent priorities for learning; in expected actions and availability of resources. These (mis)alignments can constrain or be leveraged by districts to improve education delivery in Ghana. Implications: We argue for better prioritization of goals toward learning and the efficient allocation of funds for management practices typical of effective organizations. © The Author(s) 2024.

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Enhancing post-graduate programme effectiveness through tracer studies: the reflective accounts of a Ghanaian nation-wide graduate tracer study research team

By Hope Pius Nudzor

Graduate tracer studies have come to represent one of the key approaches for enhancing study programme effectiveness in contemporary higher education. This has led to a surge in graduate tracer studies by Ghanaian higher education institutions. However, reflective practices on challenges and lessons from these studies are lacking. Through focus-group discussions and individual interviews with members of a research team that undertook a nation-wide data collection in connection with a graduate tracer study, this article distils challenges the research team struggled to surmount and lessons learnt for the conduct of future graduate tracer studies within the context of Ghana. Against the backdrop of the insights generated and discussed, it is concluded that reflective research exercises, such as the one reported in this article, are a scholarly imperative for continuous improvement in the conduct of graduate tracer studies, which is rarely undertaken in the Ghanaian higher education context. © 2020, © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

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