Impact
Evidence of sustainable change in teaching quality and student learning
Educational impact is ultimately about people – teachers gaining confidence in their practice, students engaging more deeply with their learning, and communities recognising the value of quality education. These human stories form the heart of our work and represent the real measure of whether our approach is making a difference.
At the same time, we are committed to tracking our progress systematically. Rigorous monitoring and evaluation ensures accountability to our funding partners and the communities we serve, while helping us understand what works, what needs adjustment, and where we should focus our efforts. The data we gather informs our practice and demonstrates the tangible outcomes of sustained investment in teacher development.
This page shares both dimensions of our impact: the stories of individuals whose professional lives have been transformed, and the evidence base that documents our reach and effectiveness across Cambodia’s education system.
Impact Stories
Behind every statistic lies a story of transformation. These accounts from teachers, students, and education partners across Cambodia demonstrate how systematic professional development creates measurable change in classrooms and communities.
Our impact stories reflect the diverse contexts where TDSO works: rural and urban schools, foundation and advanced programmes, individual teacher development and institutional capacity building. They show what sustainable change looks like when teachers gain practical skills, students experience engaging learning, and education systems strengthen from within.
These stories emerge from our ongoing work across Siem Reap Province and our expanding national network. They represent the authentic voices of the educators and learners we serve.
TDSO – National University of Management | Student Learning Exchange
TDSO welcomed students from the National University of Management for a learning exchange focused on communication, confidence building, and English education. The visit created meaningful interaction between NUM students and TDSO practice school learners and opened the way for deeper cooperation. Both institutions are exploring future joint activities to strengthen educational practice and student development.
Test welcome to LAos
When TDSO began training English teachers in rural Cambodia, the goal was practical: help teachers work effectively with limited resources. Over 1,000 teachers later, that work has produced something unexpected—a pedagogical approach now crossing borders.
On 6 December, 20 Laotian teachers graduated from an intensive programme using Transferable Pedagogical Approaches (TPA), a framework built from Cambodian classroom experience. Officials from Cambodia’s Ministry of Education and Laos’s Department of Teacher Education attended, signalling this work is becoming embedded in regional educational infrastructure.
For TDSO, this represents proof of concept: methodology built for Cambodian classrooms can travel.
Nationwide rollout of Primary School Teacher Training Programme
TDSO has launched a new national programme to build English teaching capacity in Cambodia’s public primary schools. By training both teachers and teacher trainers across ten provinces, we are extending proven methods from Siem Reap into the wider education system. Working in partnership with MoEYS and provincial training colleges, the initiative aims to embed effective, scalable approaches that strengthen classroom practice and drive sustainable, system-wide improvement.
Impact in Numbers
Since 2017, TDSO has built proven depth and quality in Siem Reap Province whilst systematically preparing for national scale.
Deep Impact in Siem Reap Province
1,072 teachers
Completed foundation training programmes
(6-12 months)
45,000 Students
Learning with trained teachers
3,300 Teachers
Participated in continuing professional development programmes
280+ Schools
Served across Siem Reap Province
98% Completion Rate
Across all programmes
95% Attendance Rate
Demonstrating programme quality and
teacher commitment
Building National Infrastructure
10 Provinces
With active TEI partnerships (expanding to 18 in 2026)
18 Provincial Centres
English Teacher Centres and Regional Teacher Training Colleges in our network
Three-Year Model
Capacity building model ensuring sustainable handover to local institutions
2,000 to 10,000
Teachers trained annually, with systems in place to scale
Monitoring and Evaluation Framework
TDSO employs systematic monitoring and evaluation to ensure our programmes achieve measurable improvements in teaching practice and student learning. Our framework tracks impact at multiple levels whilst informing continuous programme improvement.
What We Measure
Teacher Development
We monitor changes in teacher knowledge, instructional practice, and professional confidence through standardised classroom observation rubrics, self-assessment surveys, and structured feedback from coaches and school administrators. Our Teacher Educator Competency Framework provides clear benchmarks for professional progression across four development stages.
We maintain comprehensive data on all participants through CiviCRM, our central data management system. This includes participation tracking across all training sessions and CPD activities, completion rates, coaching frequency and duration, and longitudinal professional development pathways. Regular tracking of programme attendance (currently 95%) and completion rates (98%+) provides quantitative evidence of programme quality and teacher commitment.
Student Learning
We assess improvements in student engagement and learning outcomes through pre- and post-testing, student portfolio reviews, and systematic classroom observation. By tracking the number of students taught by trained teachers (currently 45,000 in Siem Reap Province), we measure the broader reach of our programmes beyond individual participants.
Classroom observations using standardised rubrics allow us to document changes in student engagement, participation patterns, and learning behaviours. Focus group discussions and student surveys provide qualitative evidence of programme impact from the learners’ perspective.
System Capacity
We evaluate the development of Teacher Education Institutions through our three-year handover model, tracking their progression from observation through co-delivery to independent programme implementation with ongoing coaching. Partnership agreements and activity logs document collaboration quality and sustainability.
Quantitative indicators include the number of TEI staff trained, coaching sessions delivered, and independent training programmes successfully delivered by partner institutions. Qualitative assessments evaluate institutional readiness, facilitator competence, and programme fidelity as institutions transition to independent delivery.
Programme Quality
We systematically collect data on attendance rates, completion rates, participant feedback on training quality and coaching effectiveness, and resource utilisation. Standardised registration forms, attendance sheets, and feedback mechanisms ensure consistent data collection across all programme activities.
Coach-teacher interaction logs and periodic follow-up interviews provide ongoing insight into programme effectiveness and areas requiring adjustment. Regular staff meetings with standardised agendas ensure internal quality assurance and continuous learning.
How We Use Data
Our M&E framework serves three functions: accountability to stakeholders, continuous programme improvement, and evidence generation for Cambodia’s education sector.
Operational Monitoring
Monthly internal progress reports track key performance indicators including teachers trained and coached, schools served, student reach, CPD participation rates, and partnership development. Quarterly stakeholder updates communicate progress and challenges to funding partners and government counterparts.
Programme Improvement
Regular review of quantitative and qualitative data identifies areas for refinement in curriculum content, training delivery, coaching approaches, and materials development. Teacher feedback, classroom observation data, and student learning outcomes directly inform programme adjustments and resource allocation decisions.
Strategic Evaluation
Annual comprehensive evaluations assess long-term impact, sustainability indicators, and alignment with national education priorities. Impact evaluation tracks student progression rates, changes in teaching practice over time, and systemic changes in professional development delivery across Cambodia.
Stakeholder Engagement
Regular feedback sessions with teachers, coaches, school administrators, and partners ensure our programmes remain responsive to authentic needs. Annual partner review meetings and risk management processes maintain strong collaborative relationships whilst addressing challenges transparently.
All data collection maintains strict confidentiality and integrity standards, with regular data quality reviews ensuring reliable evidence of impact across Cambodia’s provinces.
Challenges and Learning
TDSO’s commitment to evidence-based practice extends to honest assessment of our own performance. Our M&E framework reveals not only successes but also areas requiring adjustment and ongoing learning.
Scaling Quality
Our most significant challenge lies in maintaining programme quality whilst expanding geographic reach. High completion and attendance rates in Siem Reap Province reflect intensive coaching support and proximity to our Centre of Competence. As we scale nationally through TEI partnerships, ensuring consistent quality across distant provinces requires systematic facilitator preparation, ongoing technical support, and regular quality monitoring. Our three-year handover model addresses this challenge, but demands significant investment in relationship building and capacity development.
Resource Development
Creating high-quality, contextually appropriate teaching resources requires substantial investment in curriculum development, materials production, and field testing. Our practice school provides essential validation settings, but adapting resources for diverse provincial contexts and subject areas beyond our English teaching foundation demands ongoing development work and partnership with subject specialists.
Staff Recruitment and Development
Building a team of over 50 professionals with the specialised skills required for systematic teacher development presents ongoing recruitment challenges. The combination of subject expertise, pedagogical knowledge, coaching capability, and commitment to evidence-based practice is rare in Cambodia’s education sector. We address this through significant investment in staff development, including our Talent Factory programme that builds internal capacity systematically. This approach transforms recruitment from seeking ready-made specialists to identifying promising educators and developing them into skilled teacher development professionals.
Measurement Complexity
Whilst we track teacher participation and practice changes systematically, measuring long-term student learning outcomes and attributing improvements to specific interventions presents methodological challenges. Student learning is influenced by multiple factors beyond teacher professional development. We continue refining our evaluation approaches to capture authentic impact whilst acknowledging the complexity of educational change.
These challenges inform our strategic planning and programme development. They demonstrate why sustainable educational improvement requires patient, systematic approaches rather than quick interventions.