Annual Report - National Council Of Educational Research And ...

NCERT
20
questions: to what extent has Aadhar been implemented as intended in the state?
what has been the impact of Aadhar in improving the learning levels in language
and arithmetic of primary school students; and are there any unintended
outcomes attributable to the programme? Total number of 210 schools were
randomly selected from 7 out of 12 districts in the state. From these schools all
the children studying in Class III comprised the sample of the study. Qualitative
data was collected from a sub sample of 70 schools and focus groups with the
community from 21 school sites. A number of instruments such as questionnaires,
interview schedules, focus group discussions, rating scales for document review
and field notes were developed to collect data from various groups of respondents.
The findings indicated that many components of the programme were
implemented. However, results also indicated that delay in distribution of material
to schools led to late start of the programme in a number of schools. Evidence
indicates a consistent improvement in learning levels of Class III students,
including the year of 2008-9 in which Aadhar was not offered. These gains may
be largely attributed to maturation of children and regular classroom teaching.
Feedback from teachers, BRCs and CRCs indicates that the Aadhar strategies
were perceived to have contributed to improving the learning levels of students.
number of unintended gains and benefits were attributable to Aadhar. Positive
outcomes reported included: behavioural and attitudinal changes in students,
improved teacher-pupil relationships, pedagogical shifts in classroom practices,
and increased parental preference for government schools. A few functionaries
highlighted some negative outcomes, including reports that grouping older
students with younger ones led to inferiority feelings in the former, and
implementation of Aadhar resulted in less time for completion of the state syllabus,
regular teaching and preparation of students for examinations.
Activity Based Learning (ABL) in Tamil Nadu
Activity Based Learning is a major quality initiative introduced by Tamil Nadu
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. It is based on the pedagogical principle of learning
through activities. ABL is implemented in Classes 1 to 4. Students in ABL classes
use a variety of learning materials such as learning cards, learning ladders, Science
and Mathematics kits and supplementary reading materials. Teaching-learning
in ABL is meant to be child-centred. Teachers act as facilitators and children
work with learning cards in six groups and move from the teacher supported
group to the self evaluation group. In ABL, each child monitors his/her learning
himself/herself and gets support from peers. The initiative was introduced in a
phased manner. In the first phase, pilot test was conducted in 13 schools of
Chennai Municipal Corporation in 2003-04. During the second phase, all 264
schools of Chennai Corporation were brought under the purview of the ABL
programme. In the third phase, in the year 2006-07, ABL was expanded to 4100
schools; 10 schools in each block of Tamil Nadu. During the last phase, the ABL
initiative was up scaled to about 37,500 schools, i.e., all schools run by Tamil
Nadu State Government and the aided schools. study aimed to answer the four
evaluation questions: Is ABL being implemented as intended? To what extent
are ABL support systems (curriculum, teacher training and support and
monitoring) effective in improving classroom practices; has ABL improved student
achievement in different subject areas? And, what other (non-academic) outcomes
are attributable to ABL?
The study was conducted in 280 sample schools drawn from 13 districts in
Tamil Nadu. The research data were collected from various stakeholders including
Annual Report 2010-11