Session 1 - Teaching at the Right Level - Recommendations

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Recommendations
Programs focusing on teaching and learning in the classroom should integrate the following components (where applicable): 

• A focus on basic skills, including a designated time each day devoted to reading activities 
• Programs can be implemented in school or after school hours 
• Testing children to determine their current level and adapting lesson plans to fit this level 
• Additional materials (textbooks, reading books, interactive charts, etc.) are beneficial if targeted at the right level and supplemented with adequate teacher training on how to use them effectively 
• Tracking or grouping students by initial learning level, rather than age or grade level, or pulling out the lowest performing children for more focused instruction 
• Classes may be divided using some combination of regular (government) teachers, contract teachers, and volunteers. Volunteers can be effective, even with very little training, at least in early grades 
• A strategy for integrating lesson plans focusing on basic skills into the current, standard curriculum 
• If a focus on basic skills cannot be fully integrated into the regular curriculum, regular learning camps (after school, weekend, summer) can provide opportunities to focus on developing basic skills for weaker performing students 
• Training teachers to integrate changes in materials or lesson plans to accommodate students’ need for training in basic skills

Room for Innovation

• How can a focus on basic skills be integrated into the current government curriculum?
• What is the best delivery model for basic skills instruction? In school or after school hours? Using contract, para-teachers, or volunteers?
• How do we persuade parents to demand that the education system focuses on teaching children the skills they need to learn rather than what the curriculum dictates? How should we design information campaigns for parents? Do conditional cash transfers have a role to play?
• Should teachers have specific lesson plans? How much freedom should they be given to determine the teaching plans?
• How can learning camps best be used to supplement the regular school year? What is the ideal duration, age-group/class, subject? Do regular weekend learning camps more effectively sustain any improvements in learning than camps during summer vacation?
• How can technology be used more effectively to facilitate a focus on basic skills and learning at an individualized pace?
• Does it help to provide children with more enjoyable (but perhaps less “educational”) reading materials?

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