About RiVER

1. About RiVER Rishi Valley Institute for Educational Resources (RiVER) Krishnamurti Foundation India Rishi Valley, India • Rishi Valley Institute for Educational Resources (RiVER) is part of the Rishi Valley Education Centre, Krishnamurti Foundation India and is located in Rishi Valley, in the rural interiors of Andhra Pradesh • RiVER has been active in developing and disseminating our unique MGML pedagogy for the last 30+ years • Education Projects in collaboration with RiVER and modelled on its methodology are active in southern Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Germany, Mozambique, Sri Lanka and Nepal in addition to 16 states in India

2. Key Challenges that RiVER MGML Pedagogy addresses • Majority of rural primary schools are Multi-Grade, Multi-level: A single teacher teaches children from multiple grades in one class-room • Inertia leading to slow or no progress in early grades • Teacher-directed teaching leading to an uninterested class-room • Government directed/ developed textbooks which fail to convey the nuances of the local context • Very Limited or no community stake in children’s learning • These systemic challenges lead to High-Drop out rates, for children • Who are not doing well • Whose families migrate for a few months every year leading to them missing school • Who work around their house/ farms as well as who get pulled into Child Labour, ultimately leading to missed learning opportunities • Who fall into the Special Needs category

3. RiVER Response – School in a Box 1993 – Through a series of designer’s workshops and action research initiatives, RiVER developed and published our pedagogical TLM, School in a Box Post publication, School in a Box was rigorously field-tested for 5 years in RiVER’s rural satellite schools; this first successful experiment resulted in - Reduced dropout rate, improved learning outcomes, increased interest in academics and increased enrolment. The results were further vindicated when children from RiVER satellites schools cleared the class 7 exams in regular schools with high percentages

4. RiVER MGML Pedagogy – Key Principles • A unique ladder approach (Certified by UN as a pedagogical innovation) • Comprehensively addresses the reality of multi-grade, multi-level classrooms • Gives children the freedom to learn at their own pace but also incorporates material that is pertinent to the child’s everyday life • Children from different grades and different learning levels can make use of the same material • Localised, Contextual, low-cost and easily adaptable Teaching Learning Materials • Reduced Teacher workload which allows them to provide individual attention to every child while focussing on the entire class

5. RiVER Model – FeaturesLearning Plan Continuum • Activity-based Learning through graded cards • Variety of Teaching learning Material (TLM) • Individual Ladder of Learning for each child • Learning is self-paced and caters to the need of the individual child • Removes comparison between children • RiVER methodology has an in-built mechanism for Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) as mandated by the Right to Education (RtE) act • This is manifested by regular assessment followed by either remediation or enrichment of the subject matter

6. RiVER Model – FeaturesLadder of Learning • Each graded activity card marked with a logo (rabbit, elephant, dog etc.) and mapped on to a subject-specific RiVER Learning Ladder • The Ladder is rich in details about the progress of every student and has spaces for evaluation, remediation and enrichment, at the end of each unit • A student identifies her own place on the ladder and works out her own trajectory • This allows students the freedom to learn at their own speed, and teachers time to attend to students • Students, after absence from school, can come back to where they left off, on the Ladder

7. RiVER Model – FeaturesTransforming Teachers • Close involvement of teachers and resource persons in TLM Development through curriculum integration with the RiVER Model • Extensive training of teachers on RiVER MGML Pedagogy and Monitoring & Support Supervision processes - Helping teachers to understand the methodology and address challenges related to the TLM • Training and Supporting teachers in establishing classroom routines, transactions and management processes • Strengthening MGML classroom processes - Based on periodic feedback received from teachers, RIVER provides suitable solutions to identified gaps and challenges • Sharing best practices at every level on a regular basis

8. RiVER Model – FeaturesEquity Consideration • In the Indian rural context, girl children are forced to stay back home while both parents go out and work. RiVER Model is focussed on drawing children, especially girl children back into schools • We often assume that before entering the classroom for the first time, children do not know anything relevant to school learning. In the RiVER Model, Children see some connection to their home life in the symbols and art work, which makes the school less of an alien space RiVER’s approach to education creates a seamless web of interaction, leading to: • Continuity, Sustained knowledge of the learner, Trust, Truly differentiated instruction, Personalized approaches to learning, Cooperative groups, Peer instruction, Self-directed learning, Rich relationships with families and communities It has been demonstrated that RiVER’s MGML model can help in the crucial goal of bringing about social inclusion in the classroom and bridging the gaps in learning achievement between children of different backgrounds

9. RiVER Model – FeaturesContextual to the Local Environment • Localized curriculum so that the child does not lose touch with their roots and their culture • Empty spaces interspersed throughout the learning process so as to allow the teachers to incorporate local stories, folk melodies, puzzles, nursery rhymes, puppetry into these gaps – the objective is to bring the learning right into the richness of the local experience • Focus on reviving the traditional culture so that the richness of the local culture and the teachers’ own creative impulses are present and active in the classrooms • Use of low-cost materials that are easily available and replaceable within the local environment

10. RiVER Model – FeaturesPhysical Class-room Organization • The Physical Class-room organization • Addresses the reality of multi-grade, multi-level classrooms • Allows children from different grades and different learning levels to learn in the same class-room Partly Teacher Supported Teacher Supported Peer Supported Self Supported

11. Independent Assessment of RiVER Model Numerous organizations have done an independent assessment of the RiVER MGML Model and its impact on educational intervention projects

12. Observations on the RiVER MGML pedagogy • UNICEF Report • ABL seems to be key in making teachers friendlier and making classrooms attractive and free from fear and anxiety • ABL improves social equity by reducing learning gaps among students, promoting social interaction, and reducing social barriers • ABL enables every child to participate in activities, games and songs, to interact within groups, to move at their own pace, and track their own learning progress • ABL provides a simple model of how to integrate continuous assessment into children’s everyday learning International Labor Organization report, 2006 No school improvement initiative has as successfully designed an operational model for scaling up its innovations, as RIVER • UNESCO Report, 2003 • RiVER Satellite Schools are a highly systematic and well performing cluster of Multi Grade Teaching schools with cultural inputs into the curriculum, well-established time and learning material based routines, vertical grouping and community participation • Offshoot programs of RiVER have the highest learning scores in language and math in the country DFID report, 2006 RIVER program is consistent with the idea of differentiated learning implicit in the Global Monitoring Report • World Bank Report, 2001 • RiVER's work has enormous potential for replication in the country. A majority of Indian rural schools are run by single teachers, thereby necessitating multi-grade teaching • RiVER has emerged as an important center for hands-on teacher training... It has experimented with alternatives to the traditional textbook. The educational kit "School-in-a-Box” is a major innovation in teaching/learning materials for multi-grade schools....

13. Pedagogy intervention in Tamil NaduBased on RiVER MGML Tamil Nadu was one of the 1st states in India to adopt the RiVER methodology, and scale it up to several districts within the state – It is known as Activity-Based Learning (ABL) there Improvement in Academic Levels Raising children’s Confidence Stakeholder Approval A study by a team from Kent State University on the confidence levels of children from marginalized communities, states one of the teachers – Previously, I had to plead with children to speak at assembly. But now it is different. A Grade 1 child will hold the mike and speak comfortably • Teachers displayed an overall positive feedback about ABL • 95% of the teachers felt that children’s learning skills had vastly improved • 92% opined that reading proficiency had particularly improved • Grade 2 • 61.63% in language (Tamil) • 74.45% in Mathematics • 70.62% in English • Grade 4 • 63.19% in Language (Tamil) • 63.01% in Mathematics • 52.33% in English

14. Partnerships AwardsMilestones RiVER has partnerships with universities and research institutions. We have also been recognized in the past several years for our work

15. International Partnership & Collaboration • In order to understand the implications of multi-grade education in diverse communities and to benefit from contemporary pedagogical theories and practices, we have initiated collaborative research projects with various universities • University of Regensburg, Germany • University of Wurzburg, Germany • University of St. Gallen, Switzerland • University of Cambridge, UK • University of Lorraine (formerly Paul Verlaine University, Metz, France) • Teachers College, Columbia University • Brookings Institution, Washington DC • Universities where RiVER methodology has been presented and recognized include: • Harvard Kennedy School • University of Oxford, UK • India School Fund of Harvard Business School • University of California • Kent State University, Ohio • City University of New York • University of New England, Australia • The Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok • Cape Peninsula University of Technology, South Africa

16. Awards & Recognition 2018 2019 Silver Award Winner for Arts & Humanities Discipline - Awarded by REIMAGINE EDUCATION; an international competition rewarding innovative initiatives aimed at enhancing student learning outcomes & employability 2016 One the 20winners of the National Contest on Social Innovation hosted by the Ministry of External Affairs –NITI Aayog – felicitated by the Prime Minister, Shri. Narendra Modi 2016 RiVER awarded the Millennium Alliance award (Round 3 Funding) under the education sector 2012 The Global Journal (published from Geneva & New York) ranked RIVER as one of the top 100 most influential NGOs in the world 2011 RiVER awarded the Jindal Prize in the field of Education, with emphasis on moral upliftment, with a cash award of USD 200,000

17. Awards & Recognition • 2011/2010 (RiVER representation at) • World Economic Summit in Davos, Switzerland • Visgrad Countries' Regional Meet(March 2011), Prague on Global Development Education • American India Foundation, New York • 2009 • RiVER Directors adjudged Social Entrepreneurs of the Year, India (2009) by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, World Economic Forum, Geneva • 2004 • RIVER awarded The Japanese Prize for the Most Innovative Development Project for 2004by the Global Development Network at the 6th Annual Global Development Conference held at Dakar, Senegal in January 2005 • Since 2003 • RiVER Directors have been Ashoka Fellows (Ashoka Foundation - Everyone a Changemaker) since 2003

18. RiVER MGML Dissemination Model (MDM) RiVER has a comprehensive MGML Dissemination Model (MDM), developed with support from Michael and Susan Dell Foundation. The RiVER MDM is employed in all our intervention projects Monitoring & Support Supervision forms an important part of any intervention project

19. RiVER MGML Dissemination Model MGML Dissemination Model (MDM) Overview RiVER deploys multiple variant of the following MGML Dissemination Model, which is a multi-phased, multi-staged process This Dissemination Model was developed in collaboration with the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation

20. Monitoring Framework • This process is undertaken • End of 15 days / 30 days / 45 days • Between 2-3 months / 4-6 months/ 7-8 months • Monitoring & Support Supervision • Classroom Observation • Feedback from stakeholders • Data Collection Classroom Observation & Support • Analysis • Analysis of indicators such as effective pedagogy dissemination, academic achievement, physical classroom environment, learning process, teacher and student relationships, social equity, continuous assessment and student’s all-around development Analysis Improvements & Refinement • Remediation • Improved On-Site Support • Additional Training • TLM Refinement • Peer sharing & Learning Review Meetings & Reporting • Decision Support • Identification of key classroom challenges • Analysis of reports at classroom, school, cluster, block and district level • Formulation action plans and corrective measures

21. Key Impact IndicatorsHow do we define success? • Proportion of students who are able to read and demonstrate understanding (by the end of the academic year) as defined by the standard curriculum and/or national experts (disaggregated by gender and by grade level) • %age of students that attended school at the beginning of the reporting period but dropped-out during the reporting period (disaggregated by gender) • Primary Net Enrolment Rate (NER) (disaggregated by gender) • Number of teachers who successfully completed in-service training or received intensive coaching or mentoring • Total # of person hours of teachers/educators/ teaching assistants who successfully completed in-service training or received intensive coaching or mentoring • Number of students per teacher during the reporting period • Number of students per classroom during the reporting period • Student satisfaction score on a student engagement index • No. of parent-teacher meetings held on a monthly basis

22. Case Studies

23. Presence in Different States

24. Interventions for Primary Schools • Activity Based Learning, Tamil Nadu, since 1998 • Tamil Nadu became the first state in India to scale up the RiVER model – this is active in 37,500 govt. & govt. aided schools covering approximately 5 Mn+ children • In Tamil Nadu it is known as Activity Based Learning (ABL) • Government of India - UNICEF project, 2003-2006 • In cooperation with GoI and UNICEF, RiVER launched a project with an aim to provide an integrated package of quality education to children in approximately 1000 schools in 12 Indian states, totalling 12,000 schools • Chhattisgarh, 2007-2015 • The Srujana initiative comprised 36,000 schools in the state where RiVER model was employed; this program became a grass-roots movement there • Teachers, in conjunction with RiVER, developed the TLM • Nalli Kalli, Karnataka, since 1994 • Teachers from Karnataka were invited to observe RiVER Satellite Schools • Under RiVER’s guidance, a Core Group developed its own material in Kannada, and trained their teachers • Currently, the methodology covers 45,000 schools across the state and 90,000 teachers • Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA), Andhra Pradesh, 1995-1999 • A TLM kit (in the local dialect of Telugu) was used in 2200 schools across 2 ITDA districts • Enthused by the positive response, the Department scaled up the programme to 9000 tribal schools • Kerala, 1996 • RiVER and DPEP Kerala collaborated to recreate the MGML materials in the local language of Malayalam • Their resources/ and teachers were trained at Rishi Valley post which they ran 30 pilot schools in 3 remote districts • Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh • In cooperation with SSA and UNICEF, RiVER collaborated with teachers in 2 districts in each of the 2 states, in designing multi-grade teaching/learning materials focusing on quality reading programme

25. Interventions for Bridge Program • Andhra Pradesh, Bridge Program for Out of School Children, 1994 • 2000 girls who had either not enrolled or dropped out of school in grade 1 were tutored using the School-in-a-Box materials for a 12-weeks in the summer in Mahbubnagar District • According to official data, about 96% of the students who were administered a test were found to have mastered MLLs (Minimum Levels of Learning) • Uttar Pradesh, Bridge Program for Non-Formal Education Centres, 1997-2000 • District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) in UP worked with RiVER to develop materials in Hindi in order to build MGML teaching capacity • Teacher training and field support was implemented in 60 Non-Formal schools 2 districts • Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM), 2008 - 2010 • The programme known as the School Enhancement Programme was initiated with a team visiting RiVER for training • Post the TLM development, pilot implementation happened in 42 MCGM schools (Grade 3). After a year, this was scaled up to 84 schools for all grades • North Arcot Education Project, Tamil Nadu • The North Arcot district admin, in order to wean children away from child Labour, opted for the RIVER bridge program for their 47 NFE Centers and 9 primary schools (on an experimental basis) • Success of the program encouraged the govt. to scale up the program to other districts • Pondicherry, 1990 • The village action group of Sri Aurobindo International Institute at Pondicherry worked with RIVER for 2 years in developing TLM in Tamil • Teacher training and field support was also provided by RiVER for implementation methodology in the village schools of Isaiambalam • Child Labour Project, DPEP, Andhra Pradesh • DPEP initiated a program in 800 transitional or bridge schools spread across 15 districts with the specific aim of preventing child labour and bringing working children back into the educational mainstream • A revised colour version of the RiVER Telugu kit was used for this program

26. References • 2018: Teaching Children Regardless of Grade, New York Times, Dec 4, 2018 - Link • 2018: Pragya Project in Gujarat – Inshodh, Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad - Link • 2018: AP government to introduce RIVER system in 100 schools, Deccan Chronicle - Link • 2018 (Jan 26): This river flows across the state, The Hindu - Link • 2017: Nalli Kali 2.0: Government to sharpen its focus on writing skills in elementary schools, The Economic Times – Link • 2016 (Feb 15th – 20th): International Discourses on Dissemination of Multi Grade Multi Level (MGML) Methodologies, 15 to 20 February, Rishi Valley & IIT Madras- Link • 2015: Activity-Based Learning: A Model for Child-Friendly Education – Policy Brief by UNICEF - Link • 2014: Multi-grade Schools and Increasing Access to Primary Education in India: National Context and NGO Initiatives (Consortium for Research on Educational Access, Transitions and Equity (a Research programme consortium supported by the UK DFID) – By Nicole Blum, Rashmi Diwan - Link • 2013: The Global Scope of a Local Response: SCHOOL-IN-A-BOX AND THE RIVER METHODOLOGY – By Gopalakrishna Krishnamurthy, Gevirtz Graduate School of Education, University of California, Santa Barbara - Link • 2013: Child Centered Learning in Praxis: Issues and Challenges in Context of Rural Schools of Rishi Valley, Working Paper Series, D.S. Kothari Centre For Science, Ethics and Education, University of Delhi - Link • 2012: A History of the Activity Based Learning Movement in Tamil Nadu: An Independent Report submitted to Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Tamil Nadu – By Tricia Niesz with Ramchandar Krishnamurthy and Vaishali Mahalingam, University of Kent – Link • 2011: Municipal Schools in Mumbai Focus on Better Learning, Forbes India - Link • 2010: Activity Based Learning (ABL) An evaluation of the pedagogy, impact on learning outcomes, political economy of adaptation and subsequent scale-up of the programme in Tamil Nadu, India – Report funded by UKAID - Link • 2009: Small NGO Schools in India: Implications for Access and Innovation – University of London – By Nicole Blum - Link • 2008: Size Matters for Education for All (EFA) – (Consortium for Research on Educational Access, Transitions and Equity (a Research programme consortium supported by the UK DFID) – By Angela Little, University of London - Link

27. References • 2008: Activity Based Learning: Effectiveness of Activity Based Learning under SSA – By Amukta Mahapatra - Link • 2007: Initiatives to improve the quality of teaching and learning - A review of recent literature (Background paper prepared for the Education for All Global Monitoring Report, UNESCO, 2008) – By Angeline Barrett et al. - Link • 2007: Enabling most deprived children to learn Lessons from promising practices (Report commissioned by Department of Elementary Education, MHRD, GOI and International Labour Organization, New Delhi) - Link • 2007: Activity Based Learning: A Report on an Innovative Method in Tamil Nadu – By S. Anandalakshmy – Link • 2007: An elite school helps poor climb school ladder, Tamil Nadu – LiveMint - Link • 2007: Religion, Education and Peace, Journal of Indian Education, NCERT, Government of India – By Radhika Herzberger - Link • 2006: Activity based learning- A radical change in Primary Education, UNICEF - Link • 2005: UNICEF-supported workshop in Rishi Valley hopes to bring children back in classrooms in The Andaman & Nicobar Islands - Link • 2005: Short Report on RiVER MGML Reach and Impact - Link • 2003: A Promising Start: Processes and Interventions of the Janshala programme (Joint Govt. Of India-UN System Education) Programme - Link • 2003: Convention on the Rights of the Child, COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD, United Nations - Link • 2003: Education for All in India: going up the down staircase (Background paper prepared for the Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2003/4, Report commissioned by UNESCO) – By Menaka Roy, Maria Lourdes A. Khan - Link • 2000: The Role of NGOs in Primary Education – A study of 6 NGO’s in India – Shanti Jagannathan, Robert McNamara Fellowships Program, The World Bank - Link • 2000: Smiles in the Classroom (Nalli Kalli program), The Hindu - Link • 1995: Learning at One’s Own Pace, UNICEF (Nalli Kalli program, Karnataka) - Link

28. Thank you!