The India Early Childhood Education Impact (IECEI) study conducted by ASER Centre and the Centre for Early Childhood Education and Development, Ambedkar University has been acknowledged as one of the three research projects for special recognition among the 10 finalists in the 'Best of UNICEF Research 2019' awards.

The large scale quantitative survey component of the study was anchored by ASER Centre while the Centre for Early Childhood Education and Development, Ambedkar University was responsible for conducting a quasi-experimental survey as well as a comprehensive assessment of quality. The study was conducted in two districts each of three states in India – Rajasthan, Assam and Telangana. 

In addition, 9 in-depth qualitative case studies were conducted of early childhood programs from across the country.

ASER has been selected as one of ten finalists for the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) Prize for 2014.

The objective of the DAC Prize for Taking Innovation to Scale is to support ideas that have been scaled up and that work in the real world. The DAC prize "recognizes people who have taken an innovative approach, instrument or mechanism beyond the pilot phase to wider application". 

Comments from jury member Homi Kharas, Senior Fellow and Deputy Director for the Global Economy and Development, Brookings Institution:

"ASER tackles the challenge of measuring learning outcomes and using this information to drive improvements in schools. The issue is critical and the ASER model, now 10 years old, is best-in-class. It has scaled successfully in India and provides important information at the district, state and national levels. However, it depends on citizen volunteers and philanthropists to achieve scale, something that may not be easily replicable in many other countries."

OECD DAC Prize jury comments on ASER 

OECD DAC Prize booklet 

'In celebration of scale', a blog post by Dana Schmidt, Hewlett Foundation