Learning in the Early Years For Sustainable Futures: Results, methodologies and standards

What can recent early grade learning assessments teach us about measuring learning for sustainable futures? Thousands of young children in Tanzania and Nigeria have taken part in large-scale learning assessments in the past... [ view full abstract ]

What can recent early grade learning assessments teach us about measuring learning for sustainable futures?

Thousands of young children in Tanzania and Nigeria have taken part in large-scale learning assessments in the past few years, as part of efforts to assess the impact of various education quality improvement programmes, and to monitor the effect of quality improvement policies. This paper presents early learning assessment results, contrasting different early grade learning assessment approaches and finds some important implications, given the goal of sustainable futures.

At the heart of learning for sustainable futures is the equity imperative that all young children, regardless of personal characteristics or background, need to acquire critical foundational skills so they can benefit from future learning opportunities, realise their potential and contribute to sustainable societies. Tracking equity in early grade learning is essential for monitoring progress towards sustainable future goals, but it is not straightforward. The early grade learning assessments in Tanzania and Nigeria provide useful information on learning levels, but there is scope to strengthen both measurement approaches and the use of assessments to inform policy. The current assessments provide little information on the skills of large groups of learners who are struggling to keep up with the curriculum, and they can result in deficit approaches by focusing on what children cannot do, rather than what they can do. The paper also highlights an opportunity to broaden the evidence base on equity in early grade learning by increasing within and across country comparability.

Are all tests created equal? Methods, measures and proprietary in the assessment of learning outcomes. The growing impetus on achieving education quality, rather than attendance or enrolment alone, has inevitably led to an... [ view full abstract ]

Are all tests created equal? Methods, measures and proprietary in the assessment of learning outcomes.

The growing impetus on achieving education quality, rather than attendance or enrolment alone, has inevitably led to an increased focus on measuring learning outcomes. The quality of such assessments are varied and often the test scores they produce are uncritically accepted as variables in otherwise ‘robust’ randomised control trials and impact evaluations.

This paper proposes methodologies to address the three weaknesses in measuring early grade learning identified in paper one. The paper advocates for increasing the quality and the comparability of early grade assessments through well targeted tests, the use of Item Response Theory, the benchmarking of learning levels and the development of a common scale. Using evidence from Nigeria, the paper demonstrates how these methodologies can support national and cross-country comparability and how learning outcomes can be reported, cognisant of equity imperatives. These known methods have been applied in ‘gold standard’ international learning assessment programmes but their use in low and middle income countries has been constrained due to proprietary rights, intellectual property agreements and value for money concerns.

The paper concludes by outlining the work Oxford Policy Management and partners are undertaking to increase the quality, comparability and public ownership of assessments across the sector, including the development of a common learning metric and the development of a bank of released items to be shared with agencies and organisations.

Benchmarking concepts in early grade learning and their application. The development of minimum learning standards and the tracking of pupils against these standards can inform citizens, policy makers, donor agencies and... [ view full abstract ]

Benchmarking concepts in early grade learning and their application.

The development of minimum learning standards and the tracking of pupils against these standards can inform citizens, policy makers, donor agencies and global monitoring bodies on the number of pupils who are not learning the basics at school and provide an indication of the effectiveness of education systems. The Learning Metrics Taskforce has identified the need to ensure that every child, regardless of circumstance, completes primary education and is able to read, write and count well enough to meet minimum learning standards. However, often minimum standards at country level are defined based on the available measurement options and there remains limited international agreement on what constitutes this minimum level of learning. Various actors have defined minimum standards in different ways, including grade level standards as set by the national curriculum, proficiency standards benchmarked in a number of international assessment programmes and reading standards based on reading fluency.
This paper draws on a variety of learning frameworks in the early years in Nigeria as a case study to qualitatively compare various ‘minimum standard’ benchmarks. The paper reviews the advantages and disadvantages of each minimum standard benchmark, assesses the pedagogical assumptions underpinning various definitions of minimum standards, examines the gaps between these standards and presents an integrated learning framework.

As we move towards a new generation of education goals, much remains to be discovered about what children need to learn to realise their potential and contribute to sustainable futures, and how to measure this learning. Within... [ view full abstract ]

As we move towards a new generation of education goals, much remains to be discovered about what children need to learn to realise their potential and contribute to sustainable futures, and how to measure this learning. Within this symposium, research results on the acquisition of critical foundational skills in the early years will be presented, using evidence from ongoing large-scale surveys in Tanzania and Nigeria. The papers identify gaps in the evidence base, focusing particularly on measurements of equity in early grade learning, propose methodologies to address these challenges and explore the functions, comparability and pedagogical assumptions underpinning learning standards currently applied within the sector. Collectively, the papers critically engage with the assumptions underpinning available approaches; remaining cognisant of the ever-present risk of defining learning goals by what can be measured.