Community involvement and students' learning achievements in public and private junior high schools in Senegal

Community involvement may play a role in improving education quality, but research does not show 'who' the community is and to 'what' involvement refers. This study investigates the association between community involvement and learning achievements and explores how the association varies by school type. It employed a three-level hierarchical linear model and Senegalese PISA for Development data. Results indicate that community involvement is not associated with learning achievements when the community is conceived as bodies around the school and involvement as contributions to infrastructure construction/ maintenance, teaching, or support in feeding programs. However, the association varies by school type for the first form of involvement. Moreover, community involvement (PTA and contribution to the construction/maintenance of facilities) is associated with mathematics achievements. The association between community involvement (PTA and involvement as contributing to teaching activities or as support in school feeding programs) and mathematics or reading achievements varies by school type.