Pathways to numeracy in rural India: policies, patterns and perceptions

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The early childhood years are crucial to child development. Provision of quality early learning is a central focus of worldwide efforts to improve educational outcomes, and is specifically targeted in SDG 4.2. Empirical evidence globally, including in low and middle-income country contexts, demonstrates that programmes improving the quality of early childhood education (ECE) benefit not only children's cognitive and social skills, but also their longer-term education, health, and employment outcomes.Widespread adoption of ECE provision by governments in many LMICs reflects a growing recognition of these advantages. Yet how ECE policy directives relate to actual conditions on the ground, especially among children from the most disadvantaged households and in relation to numeracy, remains inadequately researched. Addressing this gap will help bridge the divide between the model forms of ECE provision that policies envisage and those that millions of children currently experience. Against this background, the project's overarching research question is: 'How do children's maths skills in the early primary grades reflect their early learning trajectories, and in what ways do these trajectories, in turn, reflect curriculum, educator, and parental expectations regarding children's learning in the early years?'. In order to answer this question, this study offers an innovative mixed-methods approach which draws on both qualitative and quantitative sources of secondary data that are of high quality, thus enabling sophisticated inferential statistical analysis to be embedded within a genuinely mixed-method research design. The research is structured by four sub-questions, which guide the analytical approach as follows: 1. What are the key policy and curricular expectations regarding the development of early numeracy in pre-primary and early primary grades? (Qualitative) This will comprise a mapping analysis of pre-primary and early primary math textbooks used in 3 states of India (Assam, Rajasthan and Telangana). 2. Are children in early years education (ages 4-8) reaching these expected numeracy levels, and how does this vary by (a) child gender, (b) home conditions, and (c) form of ECE (early childhood education) and school provision? (Quantitative) This will comprise descriptive statistical analysis of an early years learning assessment (combined with household, ECE-centre and primary-school questionnaires) of approximately 35,000 children aged 4-8 across rural India. 3. To what extent does early numeracy depend upon (a) earlier markers of pre-numeracy and cognitive development, (b) child gender, (c) home conditions, and (d) ECE/school trajectories? (Quantitative) This will comprise inferential statistical analysis of a longitudinal survey following 11,828 children of ages 4-8 in 3 states of India (Assam, Rajasthan and Telangana). 4. What are key gaps between the purpose and objectives of ECE as visualised by policy and curriculum on the one hand, and key stakeholders on the ground (i.e. parents and early years educators) on the other? (Qualitative) This will comprise analysis of transcripts from interviews with 180 parents and 39 early years educators (all of whom were also part of the longitudinal survey mentioned in question 3, above). The study findings will interest national and global practitioners, policy audiences and scholarly communities who are engaged with promoting high-quality early childhood education. The project will address SDG 4.2 and provide insights that support the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda's effort to Leave No-One Behind. Impact will be achieved in India and beyond by drawing on Pratham/ASER foundation's existing NGO and donor networks of influence, which extend to international donor agencies and the UN Global Education Monitoring Report team. Outputs will include an Evidence Brief, training workshops and materials for teachers, and two academic papers.