Designing Evidence for Reform: Embedding Student Learning Outcomes into India’s FLN Mission

• In Event: Improving foundational learning outcomes for diverse populations at scale: Evidence from India, Nepal, Tanzania, and Ethiopia

Proposal

With Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) at center of India’s education reform agenda (NIPUN Bharat), a core challenge is building evidence systems that measure progress and actively shape reforms. India’s FLN mission spans ~1.1 million primary schools and ~120 million children, making the task particularly complex. In such large, decentralized systems, student learning outcome (SLO) evidence has begun moving beyond measurement to generate political salience, strengthen accountability, and inform frontline practice. This presentation examines how different SLO evidence—ranging from experimental to quasi-experimental to year-on-year designs—are being embedded at national, state, and district levels, and how they are integrated into system reform.
At the national level, assessments are reshaping how FLN is prioritized within accountability structures. The PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan (PRS) - covering ~2.1 million children - has institutionalized system-wide reviews of foundational outcomes, while debates on extending the Foundational Learning Study (FLS) beyond its 2022 round sustain salience around early-grade outcomes. Similarly, the launch of SAFAL Foundational, an EGRA/EGMA-based census assessment in CBSE schools, signals a shift from episodic surveys to curriculum-aligned, systematized measurement. Together, these initiatives show how evidence at the national level functions as a norm-setting mechanism—anchoring FLN in review cycles and policy attention.
At state level, SLO evidence is operationalized through cascaded review mechanisms and EGRA/EGMA-based state-wide assessments. Paired with monitoring systems, these assessments provide actionable insights embedded into accountability routines. One thus sees that evidence influences reform when tied to decision-making forums, not treated as parallel technical exercises. At the district level, evidence demonstrates more immediate impact. In Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh (UP), combining monitoring data with SLO results revealed drivers of performance variation, directly shaping district magistrate reviews, rostering, and mentoring priorities - illustrating credible and actionable evidence shifting administrative behavior.
Parallely, ongoing research is expanding the evidence base itself. A three-year difference-in-differences study in Madhya Pradesh (MP) and UP, accompanied by qualitative process evaluations and examining district-level structured pedagogy interventions, revealed enablers and barriers to implementation, informing program design and fidelity. Evaluations of District PMUs (DPMUs) covering nearly 400 schools and >4000 students in Aligarh, Sitapur, and Gorakhpur (UP) combined monitoring data, SLOs, and process evaluations to examine how district-level support affects teacher practice and local problem-solving. Extending this, an upcoming three-year difference-in-differences (DiD) study in Basti (UP) will rigorously test whether embedding DPMUs improves FLN outcomes at scale. In parallel, a randomized controlled trial in 2 UP districts is assessing the impact of direct mentoring on teacher practice and student learning.
In conclusion, this presentation will contribute by showing how different levels of governance within a unified reform effort (NIPUN Bharat) demand distinct forms of SLO evidence—and how, once integrated into governance routines, is beginning to reshape the design of system reforms. Ranging from experimental to quasi-experimental to year-on-year designs, they are increasingly influencing reform inputs such as accountability frameworks, mentoring structures, and resource allocation. The discussion will highlight how one large-scale reform ecosystem accommodates multiple designs of evidence generation, and what this reveals about embedding evidence into governance to actively drive reform.

Author

• Akashi Kaul, Central Square Foundation