Lessons from Learning at Scale: Findings from eight effective large scale literacy programs in LMICs

• In Event: Learning from research on implementation at scale: Implementing large scale instructional improvement programs in low and middle-income countries

Proposal

Learning outcomes are low and instruction is poor in many countries in the Global South (World Bank, 2018). While examples of successful small-scale interventions are growing rapidly, evidence is more limited on approaches that achieve learning at large scale, let alone across an entire national education system. Under a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation funded initiative called ‘Learning at Scale’, RTI International is studying 8 programs that have been selected as the most successful early grade literacy interventions in low- and middle-income countries. This research is designed to focus on the essential elements of effective instruction, as well the institutional and systems structures required for teachers to employ effective instruction at scale. More specifically, this work aims to address two key areas: (1) identifying instructional strategies that are essential for improving learning outcomes at scale in low- and middle-income countries; and (2) learning about the characteristics of the systems within which successful scaled-up programs operate.

In order to address these questions, we developed and piloted 28 separate instruments for data collection. These included both qualitative and quantitative instruments at all levels of the education system, including students, teachers, school principals, coaches, communities of practice meeting facilitators, district education officials and central Ministry of Education leaders. Data collection began in the first country (Tanzania) in February 2020. By March 2020 when COVID-19 made data collection difficult, we had collected student achievement and classroom observation data from 240 schools (and 3,716 students) in treatment and control schools for three of the eight programs (in Tanzania, India and Kenya). During that period, we also conducted 46 in-depth qualitative interviews with teachers and 69 interviews with district and central Ministry staff for four programs (in Tanzania, India, Kenya and Pakistan).

In this presentation, we will present results on the Learning at Scale interim report, which provides an initial examination of our findings from the Learning at Scale activity prior to final data collection in all eight countries. Our findings and implications for this report are drawn from two main sources of information: 1) program-level information obtained from country visits and interviews with program and donor staff (focused on key programmatic components and approaches across all 8 programs); 2) primary data collected thus far via Learning at Scale data collections (as noted above), and 3) cost analysis of program interventions in all eight countries.

Our presentation will provide an overview of high-level analyses and results for all 8 Learning at Scale programs on their design, characteristics and costs, as well as quantitative and qualitative analyses in four countries. The presentation will point to where evidence is strong that particular elements are essential to effective implementation as well as note where more research is required.

Authors

• Benjamin Piper, RTI International

• Jonathan Stern, RTI International

• Matthew Jukes, RTI International