Early years & early grades .. Early learning

Early years & early grades .. Early learning Some thoughts from ASER & Pratham: Evidence & Experience

Background : ASER 2012 ASER 2012 in India (rural) 567 districts 16166 villages (30 randomly sampled villages per district) 14591 government schools with primary sections visited (A government primary school in a sampled village is also visited) ASER is a household survey 331,881 households surveyed 596,846 children in age group 3 to 16 surveyed ASER 2012 is facilitated by Pratham/ASER Centre teams. In each district a local institution or organization carries out ASER. Training, monitoring and recheck carried out by ASER teams.

Enrollment and schooling

Where are 3 and 4 year olds ?

RTE refers to the age group 6 to 14. When do children in India go to school ? More than half of all children age 5 are in school. Going to school “early What are implications? Are schools “ready”? Are families “ready”?

Teaching-learning

How old are children when they are in Std 1-2? Age grade distributions vary considerably across states. What are the implications of a wide band of age distribution in a grade?

Glimpse from Std 2 across India Each year in ASER, a government school with primary sections is visited in each sampled village. Basic school observations are done. This data is from the school observation. Multi-grade classrooms are increasing over time. What does this mean for teaching-learning in early grades? How are we preparing curriculum, materials, teachers for this situations.

Number of small schools is rising each year • Percentage of small schools (enrollment < 60 children) rising. • All India (rural): • 26.1% of all schools visited in 2009 were “small schools”. • 32.1% of all schools visited in 2012 were “small schools”. • Some examples : • GJ : 36.1 (2009) to 43.1 (2012) • MH: 29.7(2009) to 37.7(2012) • RJ: 30.9 (2009) to 41.3 (2012) • Kar: 75.0 (2009) to 84.5 (2012)

Basic reading and arithmetic – evidence for early grades and implications • “Steady state” till 2010. Declining trend visible since 2010. • If this is the current status – how can teaching-learning expectations and practices be built from this level onwards. • If foundations are not built well in early years, very little progress can be achieved later.

Example : Std 2 class in a govt primary school in BKT block rural Lucknowdistrict Most children in this Std 2 class could not read words or sentences. However after a good gapshap, every child could express on paper the key elements of what they discussed on the content of the story so far. For more (See link to Siddharth file)

Example: Std 1 children create their own print-rich environment This is a Std 1 class in a school in Maal block of Lucknow district. Children are enjoying the use of the wall “green board” after playing lot of oral word games. In the game, children had to think of rhyming words and say them. The teachers then invited the children to use the board and this is what the class began to do …….

Example: Std 1 & 2: Reading aloud-listening & then expressing on paper Std 1 & 2 class together in a rural school in Sitamarhi district in Bihar The story was read aloud, discussed and then immediately each child began to write and scribble and draw. Soon everyone had their own version of the story.

Example : Mothers and children How to involve mothers and others in the family ? Learnings from Purnia and Ajmer with mothers of children age 4 to 8. Intervention evaluated by JPAL

Twelfth Plan document & targets: Opportunity to define and set goals Twelfth Plan Targets Improve learning outcomes that are measured, monitored and reported independently at all levels of school education with a special focus on ensuring that all children master basic reading and numeracy skills by class 2 ……. Learning targets need to be translated into clear measureable learning goals and clear pathways for action. What “works” to be worked out with evidence. Here are examples for language ........ STATES MUST DEFINE GOALS FOR the current school year for the Std 1-2 phase. STAGE 1 Std 1-2 : Overall Goal: Children should be able to read a short simple story, retell the story in their own words, and express their thoughts about it at home or in class. They should be able to attempt to write their own thoughts about the story, in a few sentences.

For more information : www.asercentre.orgwww.pratham.org

Early years & early grades .. Early learning