Promoting holistic development in classrooms: Evaluating the impact of Teach For Pakistan on whole child development outcomes

• In Event: The impact of developing collective leadership: From student holistic outcomes to systemic change

Proposal

Teach For All recognizes the urgent need for classrooms, schools, and education systems to grow students holistically for a better future for all of us. To truly prepare students for the future, teachers must nurture students’ well-being, agency, self-awareness, and other essential social and emotional learning (SEL)skills that contribute to their ability to thrive in a changing, dynamic world. This focus is especially critical for students in underserved communities, where the challenges of disadvantage compound the need for both academic and SEL development.

While research on social and emotional learning for students and teacher development is expanding, significant gaps remain in how to effectively develop teachers to foster these holistic outcomes, particularly in the global south. In contexts like Pakistan, SEL is nearly absent in under-resourced government schools compared to better-resourced private schools that may emphasize SEL alongside academic development. This disparity highlights the urgency for context-specific teacher development approaches.
To contribute to this research and address the evidence gap, Teach For All and Teach For Pakistan (TFP) are collaborating to investigate how the TFP’s two-year leadership development program influences measurable holistic student outcomes, including SEL skills and competencies.

Over the past three years, TFP has realigned its program goals to prioritize and strengthen SEL alongside academic outcomes through comprehensive training and support of fellows. TFP recognizes that academic excellence alone is insufficient to create transformative life outcomes for children in disadvantaged communities, with the core understanding that SEL and academic development must go hand in hand. In 2022, TFP’s senior leadership co-created a theory of change for whole-child development, emphasizing four key areas: mastery of academic content (maharat), agency (khud-mukhtaari), grit, and collective responsibility. To understand the impact of TFP’s approach on student academic and SEL outcomes, teaching quality, and school-level contributions, the RAND Corporation is conducting a one-year independent quasi-experimental evaluation, complemented by qualitative data collection.

This study analyzes student and teacher-level data from 40 primary schools across Islamabad with TFP fellows and 40 comparison schools that do not have a TFP fellow placement. Qualitative data comprise key informant interviews and focus group discussions with fellows and school community members in 16 of the TFP schools. It seeks to answer three core questions: (1) What is the impact of TFP fellows on students' academic and SEL outcomes? (2) How do TFP fellows influence teaching quality and classroom environment? (3) What are the broader contributions of TFP fellows to the school community?

Baseline and endline data collection included surveys from headteachers, teachers, and students, assessing whole-child development and the factors influencing student growth. Students also completed grade-specific literacy and mathematics assessments aligned with Pakistan’s curricular standards. Additionally, key informant interviews and focus groups with school stakeholders will provide insights into TFP fellows' practices and their perceived impact on student development.
The results of this study will shed light on how concerted efforts to train and provide ongoing support to novice teachers in developing contexts can accelerate academic learning and support student social and emotional development.

Authors

• Robert Dean, Teach For All

• Tooba Akhtar, Teach For Pakistan