From June 2011 to Dec 2012.

Obejectives:

Present Status of Pre Primary Education

Teaching Methodology

Carry out the Data Collection from Government Anganwadi’s, Private and NGO’s run ECE centers

Find out the Learning levels.

3 states: Andhrapradesh, Assam, Rajasthan

Sampling

60 villages per district: Population criteria from 2000 to 40002 Urban Sites : Snagareddy, Warangal

Sample child collection: All Catchment areas of sample villages as per ICDS survey

2 districts per state: Medak, Warangal

Age group: Children who born in between Mar-2007 to Feb 2008

Children Schools Classrooms Teachers HouseholdsMedak 1,210 60 117 159 994Warangal 2,073 60 118 167 1,636Total 5,099 180 355 501 3,864

Andhra Pradesh as per Baseline sample:

Conceptual map

INFLUENCES ON CHILDREN’S LEARNING

HOME & FAMILY

Household characteristics

Characteristics of family members

Child : caste, gender, age

CLASSROOMS

Organization of space

Teaching methods

‘Child friendly’ classrooms

SCHOOL FUNCTIONING

Inputs, facilities

Enrollment, attendance, grouping

Organization and use of time, and resources in the school

TEACHERS & TEACHING

Teacher background

Teacher capability to teach:• Content knowledge• Ability to spot & correct

mistakes• Ability to explain• Ability to devise problems

Assumption: Children in each class are fairly homogenous.Reality: Class composition is complex…

Assumptions and reality - 1

Education level of mothers

Assumptions and reality - 2

Expected in Std

1/2

% Std 2 students who can:

Assumption: Children have mastered previous year’s content. Reality: Most children are at least two grades

behind…

(Continued)

Assumption: Children have mastered previous year’s content. Reality: Most children are at least two grades

behind…

Assumption: Textbook content is age and grade appropriate.Reality: Textbooks are too difficult for most children…

Assumptions and reality - 3

Extract from the Std 2 language textbook in AP

Results of the language test in AP show that out of every 100 students in Std 2,

70 children could not read two-letter words with matras

24 children could read the two letter words but not more

6 children could read a short paragraph (5 short sentences).

Difficult content leaves children behind .. So the big question is how do build from what children can do towards where we want them to be.

(Continued)

Extract from the Std 4 math textbook in AP

Assumption: Textbook content is age and grade appropriate.Reality: Textbooks are too difficult for most children…

Results of the math test in AP show that out of every 100 students in Std 4,

60 children could not recognize a three-digit number

Of the 40 who could do so, 18 children could solve a 3x1 digit multiplication

Of the 18 children who could do the multiplication, 9 could solve a 3 digit by 1 digit division problem.

Results of the math test in AP show that out of every 100 students in Std 4,

60 children could not recognize a three-digit number

Of the 40 who could do so, 18 children could solve a 3x1 digit multiplication

Of the 18 children who could do the multiplication, 9 could solve a 3 digit by 1 digit division problem.

Basic conceptual and understanding skills need to be built in early grades. Once that is guaranteed then we can build on them in later years

Assumption: Anyone can teach primary classes, its easy.Reality: No, it isn’t…

Assumptions and reality - 4

State Question 3 (Percentage) Question 4 (Area)

Wrong Correct N.A. Total Wrong Correct N.A. Total

INDIA 35.5 58.2 6.3 100 19.6 70.8 9.6 100ANDHRA PRADESH 26.2 68.7 5.2 100 18.8 71.1 10.2 100

CUDDAPAH 20.8 76.7 2.5 100 15.7 78.6 5.7 100MEDAK 29.3 63.5 7.2 100 19.8 65.9 14.4 100PRAKASAM 28.0 66.3 5.7 100 20.6 69.1 10.3 100

Teachers were asked to do a

variety of tasks. Some Std 4 level

language and math questions

were asked.

In AP, 501 teachers from 180 schools participated in the study.

Assumption: Anyone can teach primary classes, its easy.Reality: No, it isn’t…

(Continued)

Teachers were also asked to:

Evaluate what children understand by looking at their work

Spot mistakes commonly made by children

Explain content in simple language or easy steps

Use local information to make content relevant to children

Teachers were also asked opinion questions on teaching-learning.

Assumption: Knowing theory is enough to change practice.Reality: AP classrooms are much friendlier than in

other states. But even here, more is needed…

Assumptions and reality - 5

Assumption: Knowing theory is enough to change practice.Reality: AP classrooms are much friendlier than in

other states. But even here, more is needed…

(Continued)

Even these simple indicators of child-friendly

classrooms have a very strong

relationship with children’s learning

outcomes.

Conclusions

Teaching and learning are fundamentally misaligned in our schools. RTE provides an opportunity to rethink what is needed in order to guarantee eight years of quality education to every child that results in satisfactory learning outcomes. Some critical questions:

What are achievable learning goals?

How should classrooms be organized?

How to provide teachers with needed skills/knowledge?

How to design better textbooks?

What sort of CCE will help teachers teach better?

How to explain children’s progress to parents?

(Continued) Classroom organization: How to take into account the

diversity in learning levels, home background, age, etc? New thinking on effective grouping of children by level should be studied closely.

Teacher recruitment and training: Specifying minimum qualifications is not enough to ensure good teaching. Serious thought needs to be given to developing systems to provide teachers with the abilities and skills they need in order to teach well.

Textbooks: need to be realistic, designed with clear learning goals and sequenced in developmentally appropriate ways. How best to achieve this?

Continuous comprehensive evaluation: Should be easy and doable for teachers, designed to help them assess and understand children’s abilities.

Involving parents: This is required under RTE. How best to explain academic progress to parents who haven’t been to school?

Thank you!

AssessmentSurveyEvaluationResearch

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