Bihar is in the process of implementing a series of far reaching changes to its elementary education system, aiming to address issues of both access and quality. Given the ambitious scope of interventions to increase both the quantity and the quality of teachers in the system, it is important to develop methods and measures to provide timely information about whether intended objectives are being achieved. The objective of the study is to identify specific teacher, classroom and school characteristics that are currently associated with better student learning. It covers a sample of about 2,200 teachers and 4,250 children from 400 randomly selected schools in the 4 districts. These schools, teachers and students were tracked three times over the course of one academic year in order to document teacher attributes and performance characteristics as well as indicators related to school organisation and functioning; and subsequently to assess the relationship between these indicators and student learning outcomes.

Duration: 2014
Partners: Government of Bihar, The World Bank
Location: Purnia, East Champaran, Jamui and Rohtas districts