Designed and implemented by ASER Centre in collaboration with the University of Cambridge, ‘Accountability from the grassroots’ is a mixed-methods longitudinal evaluation investigating the potential for community-school partnerships in India. The study was supported by a grant from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Department for International Development (DFID), UK, under Call 3 of the Raising Learning Outcomes in Education Systems program. Designed as a Randomised Control Trial (RCT) with embedded qualitative case studies, it evaluates a Pratham intervention in Sitapur district, Uttar Pradesh, that aimed to raise learning outcomes by facilitating local, community-led action, notably by strengthening school actors’ engagement with, and accountability to, local communities. The study covered 400 villages and about 24,000 children in grades 2, 3 and 4 in Sitapur, divided into a control group and two treatment arms.

Duration: 2018 – 2022
Location: Sitapur district, Uttar Pradesh
Partners: University of Cambridge, ASER Centre and Pratham Education Foundation