ASER Centre
Evidence for actionMAJOR RESEARCH AND ASSESSMENT STUDIES IN EDUCATION
ODISHA TRIBAL STUDY 2022
ASER Centre and Pratham Education Foundation collaborated with the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Research and Training Institute (SCSTRTI), Government of Odisha to conduct a research study in the five tribal districts of Mayurbhanj, Sundargarh, Gajapati, Malkangiri and Rayagada in Odisha from February to April 2022 (2021-22 academic year).The study focuses on understanding the status of children in terms of schooling (school enrolment) and learning and experiences related to learning opportunities during the pandemic, and providing recommendations for the way forward
The specific objectives of the study specified in the call for proposals released by SCSTRTI included:
- Ground Reality of school dropouts among tribal children in the study districts.
- To assess the impact of the Pandemic on the school dropouts among tribal children.
- To capture the field level information on possible numbers of tribal children school dropouts due to the Pandemic.
- To bring out theme wise recommendations to address gaps in providing realistic solutions and bringing back the dropouts into the education fold.
- Sharing models and experiences including best practices & innovations of alternate learning practices.
- Develop a road map for an alternate learning strategy
To know more, read the full report here
Pathways to Numeracy (P2N)
‘Pathways to Numeracy’ (P2N), a secondary data, mixed methods research funded by the UK Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF NGO Secondary Data Analysis 2019) is a collaborative project between academics and researchers at the University of Leeds, University College London and ASER Centre. This research aims to sharpen focus on early learning in India, specifically young children’s early numeracy and Maths acquisition in preschool and grade 1.
The project has several research strands, each with its respective set of questions and associated datasets:
1. Policy, curricular frameworks and curriculum materials: This strand examines how policy goals and frameworks reflect and translate into mathematics curricular materials (children’s books and textbooks) in preschool and grade 1. This strand entails the analysis of national policies and math books and textbooks for early childhood education and primary grades in Assam, Rajasthan and Telangana.
2. Association between early learning domains: This strand investigates associations between young children’s cognitive, pre-numeracy, and early language and literacy learning in preschool and early primary grades; how children’s Maths skills in the early primary grades reflect their early learning trajectories; and how these, in turn, differ by key background and socio-economic characteristics such as gender, SES, etc. We explore these questions through two large-scale quantitative datasets: The India Early Childhood Education Impact Study (IECEI study) and the ASER ‘Early Years’ Survey (ASER 2019).
3. Educator and parental perceptions of early learning: This strand explores the perceptions and expectations of rural parents, early childhood educators and primary school teachers towards learning in the early years, and the extent to which these perceptions align with broader aims and goals reflected in important national policies for this age group.
Duration: 2019-2021
Partners: the University of Leeds, University of London and ASER Centre
Evidence Brief: Download here
Assessment for All (AfA) tool released on World Disability Day
The latest census (2011) revealed that in India, 2.1% of the population have some disability; of which 45% are illiterate. Further, 600,000 children aged between 6 and 13 years are out of school. Learning levels of these children who are in the school or out of school remain unknown at the systemic level, since various national level surveys were not equipped to assess the learning levels of children with disabilities (CwDs), and there were no assessment programs that report on their progress or ensure their meaningful inclusion.
To address this concern and meet the various National and International commitments and recommendations, Assessment for All (AfA) Tool is developed by Pratham Education Foundation and CBM in India. The AfA tool assesses learning levels of children aged 6-14 years on their foundational skills in literacy and numeracy. These skills include competencies from Global Proficiency framework (GPF). The AfA Tool was released on the ‘World Disability Day’ (December 3, 2019).
At the launch, Dr. Rukmini Banerji addressed the gathering and spoke a few words. She said, "I hope when this tool releases, we will find a common platform to not only talk about the problem but find solutions to it. We must use this as a platform to help all children learn."
Purpose of Developing AfA tool:
1. To holistically measure children’s development in foundational literacy and numeracy skills
2. Gather cohesive and ongoing data and evidence about the children’s learning
3. Develop a holistic, rigorous, open source instrument that is feasible and easily adapted to different national and cultural contexts
4. Include every child in any assessment program through adaptations and accommodations
5. Facilitate flexible learning opportunities based on child’s learning level
The AfA Tool comes in a toolkit which comprises of:
1. Assessment tool in various Indian languages
2. Instruction Manual
3. Adaptation Guidelines
4. Material Kit
5. Data Collection Format
Adaptations in AfA Toolkit:
1. To cater to the needs of the children with visual impairment, the tool has been developed in Braille script and with that appropriate font size and colour contrasts have been selected.
2. For children with hearing impairment or deafness, a series of videos has been created in which all the instructions related to each task have been recorded in Indian sign language. In addition, subtitles are also provided in the videos so they also have an option of reading the script and understanding what is expected from them.
3. For learners with deaf-blindness, the toolkit also includes number cards, letter cards, number strips and related material, all in tactile form.
4. Lastly, for children with cognitive disabilities, the instructions for each task have been framed in simple and short sentences, in order for them to grasp and act upon them.
The adaptations in the assessment tasks have been developed in a manner that the integrity of the task is preserved, at the same time providing opportunities to children with disabilities to showcase their abilities through means that are accessible to them. The tasks have been adapted for CwDs based on the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles and been reviewed for all children, hence the tool has potential to be used to assess children with and without disabilities at the same time.
Here’s the link to know more about the AfA Toolkit: www.assessmentforall.org
International Common Assessment of Numeracy (ICAN) 2020 in India
International Common Assessment of Numeracy (ICAN) 2020, facilitated by The People’s Action for Learning (PAL) Network is a citizen-led household survey of children’s foundational Mathematics in 13 PAL Network member countries.
In 2019, with this objective, PAL Network designed a simple and basic mathematics assessment which was aimed to be implemented in 13 PAL Network member countries with its focus on the age group of 5 to 16.
ICAN was conducted over a period of two weeks by a local partner organization in 60 villages in Betul district, Madhya Pradesh.
ICAN was released in 2020. It is an open-source, robust and easy-to-use tool that assesses foundational numeracy and is available in 11 languages. When ASER started in 2005, the difference between schooling and learning was neither commonly accepted nor well understood, and Pratham’s consistent emphasis on foundational skills and the importance of simple, robust tools to measure them have been instrumental in changing this landscape, not only in India but across the world. The ICAN initiative is evidence of this trajectory.
Download your copy of the ICAN Report here
