Classroom observation sub-study, 2017-18: evidence from India

There is considerable evidence for declining levels of learning in India in recent years, despite increased enrolment, declining class size and greater teacher availability, but a lot less is known about the cause of this ‘learning crisis’. In this context, understanding the impact of what effective teachers do in the classroom, and how teachers and students interact with and relate to each other in ways which lead to learning, is of huge importance. During 2017-18, Young Lives undertook a classroom observation study in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, India, with the aim of helping to unlock the ‘black box’ of the education production function and explore some of the classroom factors associated with differences in student learning outcomes. Building upon estimates of teacher ‘value-added’ generated from the Young Lives 2016-17 school effectiveness survey, the classroom observation study offers the opportunity to understand more about what is happening in the classroom, and how this is associated with variation in student learning gain. The classroom observations were conducted using the CLASS-Secondary (Classroom Assessment Scoring System) tool for classroom observation. The comprehensive teacher-level data generated by use of the CLASS-S methodology provide detailed aggregate information of some of the teaching practices which make a difference to student learning. This report details some of the key findings from this study, along with a discussion of some of the implications of these.