Using evidence to improve children’s foundational skills: a successful teaching and learning approach expands in India and beyond

Pratham, a large education NGO in India, developed the Teaching at the Right Level (TARL) methodology to improve learning outcomes in India. For more than a decade, Pratham and the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab have contributed to the recognition of this methodology as an evidence-informed approach for improving children’s learning outcomes.

This brief tells the story of how impact evaluation evidence informed the scale-up of a government-led TARL model in India and other countries. It also delves into the numerous factors that influenced evidence use in decision-making. This example offers some instructive reminders: (1) evidence of effectiveness does not automatically lead to use; (2) evidence use is not linear or driven by evidence alone; and (3) multiple studies that build from one to the other and are implemented in a variety of settings facilitate decisions to adopt, pilot or scale-up.