2023_PS_DWED-07

2023 Seed Grant Award Problem Statements

Decent Work and Education

Problem #7: Need Help with Real-time Data and Analysis on Student Learning and Classroom Performance to Improve Learning Outcomes using the Data for Decisions (DFD) Tool

Country/Region of execution:  India

Collaborating Organization:  Transform Schools, People for Action

Transform Schools, People For Action is focused on improving quality and equity in secondary education in India. We work with government school stakeholders through scalable and outcomes-focused models that transform Teaching, Learning, School Management, Transition, Retention, and Gender Parity. Programs are needs-based and tested through direct delivery projects, and proven models are scaled up through systems partnerships. We focus on improving systemic capabilities and capacities to implement and manage impactful learning enhancement initiatives.  This is achieved through a whole-school approach which ensures a multi-stakeholder collaboration to realize schools as outcome-focused, equitable institutions. 

To date, Transform Schools has reached 6.3M students, 68K head teachers, and 83K teachers. An evaluation by J-PAL has found that our flagship Transform Learning program adds up to 0.7 years of additional learning in just 50 hours of instruction per subject. This is 40-200% more than the control group learning gains.

Problem Statement Description:  Learning outcomes are a strong predictor of transition and continuity, and students who drop out are seen to have much lower learning levels than students who transitioned and remained in school1. Dropout rates for secondary grades in India are 14.6%2 with many states having rates higher than this3. Students in government school classrooms are at different learning levels due to a lack of remediation at lower levels, a lack of learning support at home, and the no-detention policy up to elementary grades. This heterogeneity in the classroom prevents teachers from effectively teaching class-level material to all students.  Global research finds that targeted instruction may help recover from worldwide learning losses and help realize SDG 4. It enables learning tailored to student needs, effectively accelerates learning and bridges gaps. Success requires relevant and regular data made available to decision-makers for planning and course correction.

Currently, the country’s public system educators are constrained by the absence of real-time data and insightful analysis. Traditional methods to process large data sets are cumbersome, time-consuming, and often top-down. The lack of classroom or school-level data makes educators and educational leaders unable to respond to current student needs or courses correctly.
 
Transform Schools is building the Data For Decisions (DFD) tool to help actors and decision-makers in low-resource environments collect and analyze relevant data for better planning and delivery of teaching-learning. DFD will use Machine Learning (ML) and predictive modeling to render live dashboards (disaggregated by gender and digital access) for tracking academic performance, participation, and engagement to aid Teachers in customizing learning basis class and student performance. DFD will also mine data to unlock unidentified patterns /correlations that contribute to or have a significant effect on the successful delivery of programs.
 
DFD will be built into our Accelerated Learning via Technology (ALT) solution - a blended learning platform for use by state governments to deliver, manage and monitor at-scale learning enhancement programs. Over the next three years, we will pilot, test, and scale the solution in collaboration with Transform Schools’ partner states, West Bengal, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh.
 
There is a clear need for a tool that can enable educators and decision-makers to make evidence-based decisions and ensure high-quality teaching and learning that can address learning outcomes. DFD is our powerful, proprietary tool to improve educators’ abilities, ownership, and leadership of student learning outcomes.
 
1 Study on Access, Transition, and Learning in Secondary Education, ASER (2016-2018)
2 Project Approval Board (PAB) Minutes ( June-July 2022) for, Samagra Shiksha, Ministry of Education
3 https://indianexpress.com/article/education/over-a-dozen-states-have-dropout-rate-at-secondary-level-higher-than-national-average-8173362/