In Zambia, although the Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) and the Net Enrollment Ratio (NER) indicate that education for all has mostly been achieved, there is an urgent need for improvement in quality. One of the means for improving student achievement is improving school management. In Zambia, the School Self-Evaluation Program (SSEP) has been introduced for establishing effective school management. However, research by Fukuta (2009) has shown that its impact was limited. She suggested that it was

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... the discipline of teachers that brought a change in student achievement, and the more effective schools exerted greater efforts. This research aims at clarifying the process of how a school becomes effective in Zambia. The pass rate of the National Examination was used as an indicator of student achievement. Two schools were chosen due to their continuous improvement in the pass rates from 2005 to 2008. In these schools, the researchers conducted interviews with the head teachers, teachers and the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) representatives in March, 2011. Results showed that in both School A and B, the actions of the head teachers to enforce discipline among teachers were effective in raising the pass rates. By showing the improvement of the pass rates, the head teachers tried to motivate teachers and persuade parents to raise the PTA fees. Teachers reported gains in motivation. The PTA fees were raised. However, their impact on the pass rates could not be clearly identi¿ ed. Lockheed and Verspoor (1991) point out that in the developing countries, there are some schools that produce higher outcomes, despites barren conditions. Lockheed and Vespoor (1991), and Harber and Davis (1997) suggest that the impact of better school management can be even larger in developing countries than in developed countries, though the depth of research is still limited. There are three reasons. First, in many correlational analyses, it is clari¿ ed that School improvement process of basic schools in Zambia Effective school studies in developing countries