Program governance is important for effective Mastery Learning Program implementation.
We encourage our country partners to design systems and approaches to program governance that optimize the potential for collaborative action across government and nongovernment stakeholders.
We recommend the establishment of a program steering committee to provide oversight and guidance during program implementation.
Steering Committee Participation
- Ministry of Education: At a minimum, the steering committee should include national education ministry officials, particularly those responsible for standards, curriculum, pedagogy, assessment, technology, and general school operation.
- Ministries of Finance and Technology: We also advise that representatives from the ministries of finance and technology be included in ways that make the most sense for each country partner. As the Mastery Learning Program scales from the pilot phase to core program implementation, these two ministries will become highly instrumental in helping eliminate barriers that may prevent children from experiencing mastery learning.
- Age of Learning Foundation and implementing partners: At the discretion of the education ministry, representatives from the Age of Learning Foundation and various implementing partners may be invited either to be part of the steering committee, or be present during particular sessions as required.
- Other Stakeholders: At the discretion of the education ministry, the steering committee may also include representation from corporate, funding, civil society, and local community organizations and entities.
Steering Committee Responsibilities
Responsibilities of the steering committee should include (but not be limited to):
- Champion the mastery learning program by creating the policy, funding, and delivery “whitespace” for piloting, evidencing, and scaling of mastery learning in government schools.
- Facilitate program implementation, monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning processes.
- Encourage collaborative action across government and nongovernment sectors to create a conducive environment for mastery learning.
- Provide advisory and problem-solving support to Age of Learning Foundation, implementing partner organizations, and schools during the course of the program.
