Methodological Foundations for Evaluating Secondary School Systems in Rwanda: A Randomized Field Trial Approach

Rwanda's secondary school system has undergone significant reforms aimed at improving educational outcomes in physics. However, empirical data on the effectiveness of these reforms is limited. The proposed framework utilizes a two-stage cluster-randomized trial design to measure yield improvements, with primary schools as clusters nested within districts. The study will employ statistical models to analyse data on student performance and educational inputs. The theoretical framework proposed herein aims to inform future empirical studies with robust statistical models designed for randomized field trials, thereby enhancing the evaluation of Rwanda’s educational reforms. Future research should focus on replicating this study across different geographical regions and subject areas within Rwanda’s secondary school system. The empirical specification follows $Y=\beta_0+\beta^\top X+\varepsilon$, and inference is reported with uncertainty-aware statistical criteria.