Our Large Scale Assessment team worked collaboratively with the leading educationists in the country to develop Learning Standards for K-8. Learning Standards are a set of clear statements specifying key educational objectives broken up class-wise and subject-wise that must be achieved by students at the appropriate stage. These aim to ensure a minimum quality by clearly specifying expectations, while reducing ambiguity and disparities between schools and regions.

India does not have a comprehensive Learning Standards document, though some states and central agencies have educational objectives documents that lay down why and what should be covered, but not systematically and clearly. In the process of designing Learning Standards for KG- 8, a detailed review of what other countries do in K-8 education with what is being done in India (specifically, the textbooks of the Indian state boards, CBSE and ICSE; the syllabus document of the NCERT and the Anglo-Indian Board; the minimum Levels of Learning) was carried out by analyzing the documents and textbooks available.

Vigyan Kasauti is a unique test in Maths and Science conducted in English and Gujarati for students of class 8 in Gujarat. It is an initiative of the Gujarat Science Academy (GSA), with the aim of improving science education in the state and instill the scientific spirit in school children. The first Vigyan Kasauti was organised in 2002 with the professional help of Educational Initiatives and executed with the support of the Government of Gujarat. Read the rest of this article »

EI had undertaken a project with the microchip giant Intel Corp. to identify and list the skills to be taught in class 5 across the country. For compiling such a list, EI conducted a study of the topics and skills covered in class 5 (as well as class 4 and 6) in the various state board textbooks and NCERT. A comparison was also made with the topics and skills covered in other countries, particularly Singapore and the USA.

Municipal School Benchmarking Study 2007 (alias A Benchmarking Study of Student Achievement in Local Body Schools of Large Towns of Select)

This benchmarking study specifically aimed to establish a baseline of student achievement levels in 30 towns across 5 states in India. This study was funded by ICICI Bank. The study tested 35000 students from urban municipal (govt.) schools and 3000 students from low cost private schools with respect to specific skills and competencies that they were supposed to have acquired. The study was carried out in 6 towns in each of 5 states - Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Uttranchal . The sample for the study included students of classes 2, 4 and 6. The students were tested in 3 subjects – Language, Maths and Environmental Science (EVS).

Some very fundamental questions that the study tried to address were: ‘Children are going to schools and are being taught’ - but are they really learning and understanding what is taught to them? How much are they retaining? Is learning happening at a superficial level? And are our children learning mechanically? Is there a connection between the states’ textbooks and what the children are actually achieving? What do children at different levels of the attainment know and are able to do? Are children of some states and towns doing better than others, if so, how?

The results are interesting and show that apart from low learning levels, students harbor a number of misconceptions. Students may be learning from environment and not necessarily from formal instruction. States like AP are doing comparatively well overall at such low learning levels, possibly by the focus of state programs on rote/mechanical instruction. The study also reveals interesting insights into background variables such as being instructed by a female teacher improves one’s chances of doing well in language, etc.

The study also reported the misconceptions and common errors students make in Maths and EVS. Student and teacher interviews were conducted and video recorded for understanding issues related to reading difficulties and student misconceptions.

Write to us at info@ei-india.com to read the report.

EI also partners with Naandi Foundation, in Hyderabad and the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation (MSDF) for its initiatives in government schools of Hyderabad (a few mandals mainly covering the old city area) for understanding and assessing the quality of learning.

Under this project for “Ensuring Students Learning” - 30,000 students of class 2 to 5 are being tested for Language and Maths competencies year on year. Naandi made a few significant changes to their interventions based on the baseline assessment report and has since been tracking the improvement in student learning. Misconceptions and common errors are also being tracked by follow ups with student interviews and video recordings that add to the learning of all in the system. This project has been extended to cover 2 more languages – Marathi and Hindi and 5 more states in the second year.