ABL Methodology
Effectiveness of Activity – Based – Learning Methodology for Elementary School Education
Paper Submitted for National Child Rights Research Fellowship 2010
CRY
Dr. Prabha Hariharan
Coimbatore Tamil Nadu India April - 2011
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ABL Methodology
Abstract
The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) has brought about numerous innovative methods to bring about changes in the educational practices. In the state of Tamil Nadu, the elementary schools have started using the methodology called as activity based learning (ABL) through the SSA. This study investigated the educational experiences and attainment of learning outcomes of students in class IV who have gone through the ABL methodology. Classroom observations showed that a good deal of student time is spent on non-learning related activities for a majority of students. Certain social, emotional and psychological aspects of classroom behaviour have been seen to be positive in ABL classes although certain problems were also seen consistently. Students with disabilities who are included in the regular classes have shown improvements in communication and certain life skills but not in cognitive skills. Various aspects of the methodology have been explored to analyze how the activities in the methodology address the issue of individual differences in learner needs and the cognitive needs of the age group of elementary school. Learning achievements were seen to be moderate for basic language and mathematical skills and low for advanced language and mathematical skills. Further the levels of learning outcomes of public school students was found to be significantly lower than that of private school students even at basic levels of skills. A set of recommendations arising out of the study has been presented.
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ABL Methodology Acknowledgement
I would like to thank the Child Rights and You (CRY-India) and their National Child Rights Research Fellowship (NCRRF) for their funding and support to this research project.
I would also like to thank the NCRRF team of CRY for the enabling workshop and mid year workshops they conducted as these were time when I was able to interact with senior scholars, the selection committee professors and co-fellows whose inputs, feedback and direction was invaluable for my study.
I am grateful to the State Project Director, Thiru R. Venkatesan, IAS; Joint Director, Tmt. N. Lata, and the Research co-coordinator, Ms. Nagamani of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan – Tamil Nadu for their permission and guidance for conducting this study. I am grateful to the District Program Coordinator – Coimbatore, Ms. Kalaivani; Block supervisor, Ms Gita; the Block Resource Teacher, Ms. Pushpalata; Head of the Integrated Education Department, Ms Pushpalatha and their staff, and the headmistresses and teachers of all the participating schools for their co-operation during my study.
I also thank Ms. Kalaiselvi, who worked as my research assistant for her timely assistance in this project.
My sincere thanks to the documentation center of CRY-Mumbai and Mr. Keith for providing me necessary documents and reference articles.
Last but not the least, I would like to thank my family for their unstinting support that enabled me to work towards this project.
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ABL Methodology Table of Contents 1. Introduction a. Background and significance of the study b. Framework of „best interest principle‟ for education of the child c. Research questions .
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2. Literature Review a. History of elementary education in India b. Activity-based-learning c. Insights into individual differences d. Learning outcomes at end of class IV e. Inclusion of students with disabilities in regular education
13 17 18 23 24
3. Methodology
25
4. Data Analysis and Results
30
5. Discussion and Conclusion
68
6. Recommendations
78
7. References
81
8. Appendix
83
9. Photos
84
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ABL Methodology INTRODUCTION
Background of the study
The Indian Education System has set high constitutional goals of Universalization of Elementary Education and Education for all. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act of 2009 specified certain aspects of the curriculum and evaluation procedures in elementary education in its section 29, sub-section (2), clauses (a) to (h). Of these, it says, in clause (b), that curriculum should take into consideration „all round development of the child‟, in clause (c) „building up child‟s knowledge, potential and talent‟, in clause (d) „development of physical and mental abilities to the fullest extent‟, in clause (e), it says “learning through activities, discovery and exploration in a child-friendly and child-centered manner” and in clause (g) „make the child free of fear, trauma and anxiety and helping the child express views freely‟. This Law has provided the policy direction for implementing high quality education for children at elementary level (Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009). The right to education is a major right that children in our country have (National Policy on Education, 1986, 1992; Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009). Unfortunately, in reality, this fundamental right is denied to the most underprivileged and needy children many times. This denial comes either from the students‟ own families through negative parental attitudes and/or from the types of schooling facilities provided to them (De et. al., 1999). Poverty, caste structure and disability are three main bases that marginalize children leading to their reduced access to quality education and their exploitation through child labour. Our government schools are typically tasked with the job of providing education to students at low costs and are the main place of education for children from the lower socioeconomic classes who constitute a major proportion of children in our country. Children from dalit, tribal, female headed and landless families, girl children, and children with disabilities, form a majority among these marginalized children (De et. al., 1999; Sainath, 1996). Private schools try to provide better education, but it is only the lesser percentage of children
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ABL Methodology from middle to higher socio economic classes that can avail of them. Even these schools are plagued with problems such as over focus on examinations, high school bag weights and diminishing but yet omnipresent corporal punishments by teachers. One major aspect of high quality in education is attainment of high learning outcomes in the various academic skills and knowledge and when such education is able to include students with disabilities as much as students without disabilities irrespective of their socio-economic and cultural backgrounds. Elementary education is the first stage of the school education ladder, which sets the foundation for the rest of school education and all higher education. Our education system, therefore must build in students the essential skills and knowledge base that will enable cognitive growth and development through using these essential skills. These basic skills are reading, writing, listening, communication, mathematical skills and observation skills (NCF-2005). Figure 1 conceptualizes our education system as concentric circles where the outermost circle is the entire system, the second inner circle is the school, the third inner circle, the classroom and the innermost circle is the student. At each level, philosophies of education guide curricular decisions and practices. Further, personal philosophies of teachers and school heads and other individuals at the various hierarchical levels of the government departments of education also have impact on various decisions taken at the classroom, school and system levels of education. These in turn have their final impact on the educational experiences of the child. Children in our schools, especially government schools, differ in multiple ways not only from each other but also from students studying in private schools. These differences arise from their socio-economic backgrounds, cultural backgrounds, ability levels and their natural learning styles. Traditionally, our pedagogical practices have involved the „one size fits all‟ idea where there is a lecture method and students who follow the teacher within the time frame stipulated in the timetable progress while those that don‟t get left behind. Further, those who get left behind would be detained in the same class leading to negative social, emotional and psychological effects.
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ABL Methodology
Figure 1: Our Education System – a diagrammatic conceptualization
System
School
Classroom
Students
The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, the flagship program of the Indian Government, has taken up the task of achieving universal elementary education in our country. With its conception in order to achieve the promise of the 86th amendment of the Constitution, it has aimed at bringing back to school all those children who have not been able to avail education and to improve the quality of education provided to all students. It has been instrumental in bringing about many important reforms and improvements in our education system through new initiatives. One such new initiative is the teaching methodology in elementary schools. This methodology is the activity – based learning (ABL) method for teaching students at the elementary schools. This method has its origins in a multi-grade, multi – level methodology created by the Rishi Valley Institute of Educational Research and the Montessori methods of teaching.
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ABL Methodology The ABL method seeks to address some major problems of the traditional lecture method of teaching. In doing so, it has brought about a paradigm shift in some key classroom processes such as the role of the teacher and instructional materials and methods. It was started in Chennai in 2003, first in 13 corporation schools, then in all 264 corporation schools and in 2007 it was upscaled to nearly 37,000 schools across the state of Tamil Nadu. Its implementation has been made possible with a lot of effort and resources. Key effectiveness studies, comparing the method with the traditional method should have been taken up before upscaling but unfortunately, were not done (V. Vasanthakumari, Dr. S. S. Rajagopalan and Dr. R. Jayakumar, 2008). Further, any instructional methodology always presents challenges once set out into the field and needs a lot of research that can provide good evidence of its effectiveness and /or provide ways to improve its effectiveness. The SSA has been undertaking studies assessing its impact on various aspects of schooling recently. However, it again seems to use the „one-size fits all‟ thought. It is important to address this issue, as any innovation that does not take care of individual student needs cannot be truly child-centered. Further, it has been noted that the anti-detention policy, where students are promoted to the next class whether or not they have progressed cognitively, is adversely affecting the quality of education (EdWatch, 2008). In addition, previous studies and the nation-wide Annual Survey of Education Report (ASER 2010) have shown low levels of achievement among government school students. This has been reported even in the state of Tamil Nadu where the educational innovation of activitybased-learning (ABL) has been upscaled by the SSA through out the state. The results of ASER-2010 contradict the reports of the evaluations of ABL done by the SSA (Nehru and Raghupati, 2011). Many reasons could underlie these discrepancies in assessed outcomes. These findings underscore the need for independent research to investigate the quality of learning in our schools. Such research is of extreme importance as it can generate specific evidence that can form the basis of effective educational reforms. . This research proposal aims at studying the educational experiences of the children studying in the ABL methodology and evaluating their learning outcomes towards the end of fourth standard. It also attempts to assess the quality of learning
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ABL Methodology outcomes in comparison to private schools reputed in the society to provide good quality education. As of now, educational commission reports and national debates form the basis of education reform and unfortunately educational research remains an underutilized area. Educational research is being undertaken by apex bodies of educational research such as NCERT and NUEPA or by the government itself such as the SSA and there is less of independent research in the field. Further, student achievements are studied more in terms of low levels of attainment such as ability of class V students to read class I or class II books (ASER, 2010). While it is disappointing that even at such low levels of expectations the results are so abysmal, they also allude to the fact that low expectations at all levels begets low quality at all levels. If after 93 amendments to our constitutional law, two major centralized programs and so many innovations, we are still far from the goal of high quality of education for all India‟s children, there needs to be a major reconsideration of our philosophies and practices of pedagogy as has been pointed out by educationists (Sinha, 2006). It is the researcher‟s belief that if India must serve its children‟s educational needs with high quality, the education system‟s reforms and innovations should be subjected to rigorous research. The evidence thus produced must serve with greater weightage as the basis for reforms in our education system. A shift in instructional methodology from traditional to any other method will be effective only if the methodology attends to certain important factors that can positively impact the education of the child and be in the best interest of the child. A framework of „best interest principle‟ has been proposed in the following section that can serve as a guide for any reform or innovation in the education system. Framework of „Best Interest Principle‟ for education of the child
The best interest principle for the education of all children can be conceived of as one where students‟ have successful educational experiences in the class and school. Here the class time should be used in fruitful and effective learning activities. This will lead to growth of knowledge and skills resulting in all round development of our
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ABL Methodology children. This can in turn create knowledgeable and conscientious future citizens who are intellectually and economically productive and can contribute fruitfully to our society and nation. Most important of all, such education should be accessible to all our children irrespective of caste, social class, gender and ability. To understand the educational experiences of the child, it is very necessary to identify and understand the factors that influence the educational experiences of the child. Three such important factors are philosophy guiding the educational system, ideology that directs curricular practices and knowledge about the students‟ learning needs. Successful educational experience for a child is like a three-legged stool that is supported by these three factors as each leg or three vertices of a triangle with the successful education experience of the child in the center (see figure 2). It can be achieved by making sure that the curriculum, which includes the goals, instructional materials and methods and assessments are all guided by these factors and they form the framework of „best interest principle‟ for education of the child. Figure 2: Framework of „Best Interest Principle‟ for education of a child Philosophy of critical pedagogy to guide the educational system and curriculum development
Successful educational experiences for the child
Ideology of constructivist pedagogy to guide instructional practices
Knowledge of individual differences among students to effectively address each child‟s learning needs
Critical Pedagogy is a science and art of the teaching learning process, which enables development of attitudes and values of social consciousness, and responsibility through development of cognitive skills of critical thinking (Panda, 2006; Ramesh Babu,
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ABL Methodology 2007). These skills are in the higher cognitive domain and include analysis, inferences, application, revisiting and reconsider existing unjust and improper practices in the society. Attitude of society reflects attitudes of people in schools and vice versa. In doing so, education acts either as an agent of status quo maintenance or an agent of change through social transformation. Since critical pedagogy, as a philosophy, has multi dimensional potential, leading to creation of reflective and responsible democratic citizenship, it has to be the main guiding philosophy in our education system. Constructivism is an ideology that originated in the 1700s and has been shown to be concerned with understanding of what is knowledge and how it develops. According to constructivism, knowledge is constructed by the knower using the society and the student‟s own experiences as the reference points for construction of knowledge. Such learning leads to purposive solutions for meaningful problems (Aggarwal, 2007; Pandey, 2007). Knowledge of individual differences has been increased owing to the increases in information in the fields of cognitive developmental neuroscience (Munakata, Casey & Diamond, 2004) and the realization that neuroscience research can actually help education of children by understanding how the brain works at different ages and for different activities (Goswami, 2004). Further theories of multiple intelligences (Howard Gardner, 1983) and Universal Design for Learning (Rose, Meyer, Rappolt & Strangman, 2002) have shown that students actually vary in their intelligences and learning needs respectively. Further, socio-economic and cultural backgrounds also predispose children to differences in learning readiness and privileges, all of which contribute to individual differences among students. The framework of best interest principle proposed here is based on these three fundamental factors that impact the successful educational experience for a child.
Research questions
This research project aims at studying the prevalent instructional practices at the level of elementary education. Using the framework of „Best Interest Principle”
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ABL Methodology constructed in the previous section, the research questions have been framed to address two important issues – educational experiences and learning outcomes. Part A: What are the educational experiences of elementary school students being educated using the ABL methodology? RQA-1: What kinds of activities are planned for in the ABL methodology to address individual differences in learning needs? RQA-2: How much time is actually spent on learning related activities in the classroom in different subject areas? RQA-3: What are the experiences of students with disabilities who are included in the government schools? Part B: What are the learning outcomes at end of class IV of students educated using the ABL methodology? RQB-1 What has been the progress of students in class IV in the ABL levels as the school year progressed? RQB-2: What are the learning outcomes of students in public schools in the learning outcomes assessment test? RQB-3 What are the differences in learning outcomes in basic and advanced cognitive skills among the public schools and are there gender differences in these outcomes? RQB-4 What are the differences between learning outcomes of class IV students in ABL level four and private school class IV students in basic and advanced cognitive skills? RQB-5 To what extent does ABL level effect learning outcomes in English and Maths?
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ABL Methodology LITERATURE REVIEW
The present literature review will address the key issues that relate to understanding and implementing effective instructional practices for elementary education in India. First, the history of elementary education in India will be traced with reference to policy, pedagogy and quality issues. Then, recent understandings about individual differences will be reviewed. Third, the methodology activity – based – learning will be reviewed. Fourth, learning outcomes at the end of class IV will be reviewed to identify reasonable expectations of learning outcomes at that level. Finally, the practice of inclusion of students with disabilities in regular education with special focus on government schools in India will be reviewed.
History of elementary education in India
Education in India was through the Gurukul system up to a few centuries ago till the beginning of British rule in India. During the British rule, the British brought in their education system and started schools with the aim to prepare local Indian people for jobs in the British government in India. In 1947, when India got freedom, the British left India but left behind certain changes they had made in the country, one of them being the education system. On January 26th, 1950, our constitution was formulated and educational goals for Indian people were rewritten. The first government of free India had wanted to make sure all children in the age group 6-14 will be educated – Universal Elementary Education (UEE) with in ten years. Since then, the goal to educate all children in our country has been attempted in many ways but the deadline of „in the next ten years‟ has somehow been elusive (EdWatch, 2008; Kingdon, 2007; Yadav, 2007). Further, education has been confined to literacy and not gone beyond that to educate the mind and therefore, for generations, our Indian society, is plagued with a multitude of problems. The National Council of Educational Research and Training report entitled “India: Educational policies and curriculum in upper primary and secondary education levels” details the processes that have gone into formulating revisions to the curriculum through
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ABL Methodology out our country. Many processes such as committees and commissions, national debates and consensus have been used to formulate our educational policies. Unfortunately, research has not got a mention in being used to guide educational policy. Secondly, although the National Curriculum Framework (2005) emphasizes development of skills and knowledge development, our syllabus does not address skill development as primary areas of focus in the elementary stages. The skills of literacy and numeracy play an important role in individual productivity and economic productivity (Hanushek, 2005, cf. Kingdon, 2007). Table 1 summarizes the major educational policies and programs of the Government of India. Initially, post-independence, education was put in the State list while deciding whose responsibility it would be to plan the educational services. At that time, it was observed that many problems existed in the way education was provided in the different states. After the Education Commission (1964-66) and the report for the National Policy on Education (1968), it was decided that education would be moved to the Concurrent list from the State list so that both the Center and the States would take the responsibility of providing education to its children (Yadav, 2007). Subsequently, the National Policy on Education (NPE) Act was passed in 1975 and further revised in 1986 and then in 1992. At these times, education and employment for students and people with disabilities was also getting increasing importance and in 1975, the Indian Government passed Persons with Disabilities (PWD) Act. In spite of all these efforts, the goal of Universal Elementary Education (UEE) and Education for All (EFA) seemed elusive, Hence the Indian Government passed the Right to Education (RTE) Bill in 2010 with a view to achieve our Constitution‟s goal of UEE and education for all (EFA). In 1975, for the first time, a school curriculum framework was set up that would guide the state education agencies in planning the curriculum, syllabus, instructional methods and other schooling practices. This was the Ten-year school curriculum framework and got revised in 1086, 2000 and 2005 subsequently. Presently, it is the National Curriculum Framework-2005, which is the center‟s curriculum guide to all states. Yadav (2007) has found that although the Nation Curriculum Framework (2000 and 2005) is the Center‟s guidance providing framework, its implementation varies
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ABL Methodology largely among the States and Union Territories, regarding the subject areas, number of hours of school, duration allotted to each class period, number of working days etc.
Table 1: Policy and programs guiding elementary instruction in India Time Line
Policy
1950-1959
Framing of the Constitution of India, and
Practice
first five-year plan 1960-1969
Education Commission (1964-66), National Policy on Education (NPE) (1968) Education moves from State list to Concurrent list hence becomes the responsibility of both the center and the states.
1970-1979
Persons with Disabilities, Act (PWD)
Ten-Year School Curriculum Framework
1980-1989
NPE-revised - 1986
School curriculum framework revised -
PWD-revised
1988
– 1975
1990-1999
District Primary Education Program launched in 1994
2000-2009
Right to Free and Compulsory Education
School curriculum framework revised –
Act – 2009
2000, nation curriculum framework-2000 and 2005. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan – 2001 came into being to make operational the goal for Universal Elementary Education. initiation and pilot of ABL through SSA in TN during 2005-6 and upscaled to entire state in 2007.
2010-2011
Different states implement school curriculum in a different way.
The need to improve access and quality of education was felt and hence the District Primary Education Program was set up by the Government in 1994 followed by the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), which was set up in 2001, and was considered as the flagship program of the Government in order to realize the goals of UEE and EFA. Under the SSA, many innovations in educational practices were being initiated. The multifold goals of the SSA included quality improvements in infrastructure and educational practices in schools. For example, improvement in quality through community ownership, improvement in student-teacher ratio, teacher training, facilitating 15
ABL Methodology development of teaching-learning materials, and providing textbooks and introducing innovative methods of instruction (http://www.indiaedu.com/education-india/elementaryeducation.html). All the same, evaluation of the innovative programs is still at its infancy and needs much more research based data, which is heavily lacking (Kingdon, 2007). In 2005, a Mumbai-based NGO, Pratham, began an independent national level rural education status survey called the ASER (Annual Survey of Education Report). According to, Nehru and Raghupati (2011) the latest ASER report (2010) shows that primary education standards have not shown many improvements in learning outcomes in reading and mathematics in spite of the many innovations and changes brought about by the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan since 2001. There have however been improvements in enrolments, reduction in drop out rate, improvements in infrastructure facilities in schools but there has also been a reduction in already low standards due to the well-intentioned anti-retention practices followed by the RTE Act, 2009. The need for clear delineation of learning outcomes and better pedagogical practices and assessments has been emphasized by educationists (Kingdon, 2007; Yadav, 2007). Pedagogy, the science of teaching, involves instructional methods, materials and learning activities directed by these. Just as the national policy and programs have been constantly reviewed to improve educational services to India‟s children, the pedagogical practices too have undergone radical transformations recently. Traditionally, the lecture methods of teaching were in use at all stages of schooling where the teacher was considered the giver of information and students as the passive recipients of information. The major instructional materials were textbooks that were written for specified age groups and for particular subjects. The major learning activity was listening and writing from the textbook or from the blackboard. This paradigm has been changed in the newer methodology of activity – based learning which was piloted in a few schools in Chennai and in now being implemented in the entire state of Tamil Nadu. Here the teacher is considered as the facilitator and the students are self-learning through the medium of a detailed array of learning cards (Anandalakshmi, 2007). Other methods such as cooperative learning have also been suggested as alternatives to lecture method (Sirohi, 2006). Insights into the developing
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ABL Methodology brain‟s learning processes and the growing child‟s learning needs provides great potential to create effective pedagogical practices. Quality issues in our education system have been raised by many educationists (De et al., 1996; Kingdon, 2007; Yadav, 2007). These include poor infrastructure facilities, motivation and commitment of teachers, respect for the child‟s time in school. In addition, the philosophies that guide our pedagogical practices also need to change. According the Ramesh Babu (2007), presently, conformist pedagogical practices are being followed and these just reinforce a status quo among the younger generation. What is needed for education to be an agent of social change is a philosophical change from conformist to critical pedagogy and this can improve quality of education.
Individual differences and cognitive needs
Individual difference among students in a classroom is a well-known fact. Understanding of these individual differences has increased tremendously due to advances in the fields of psychology and cognitive neuroscience. In addition, cultural backgrounds and socio-economic backgrounds pre-dispose students to different privileges and create differences in academic advantages. Some of these factors are parental education, attitudes towards education, and parental support to academics, all of which determines student‟s time spent on academic activities at home and influence their overall academic achievement. It has been shown that students from „other‟, „OBC‟, and „SC‟ categories differ in their learning achievement at each of the elementary grades using ABL methodology (Vijay Kumar, Venkatesan, Kannappan & Sekhar, 2009). Further, different learning behaviours such as active, passive and off-task have shown differences in learning achievements at different grades (ibid). In addition, there are natural attentional and learning ability variations in the developmental stages of 5-11 years of age. The cumulative effect of these factors leads to differences in individual needs for learning effectively. It has been shown that there are sensitive periods in learning during development. During these times, learning is high. It is important to be able to provide rich learning environment during this period. Howard Gardner (1983) has described that students differ
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ABL Methodology in their intelligences and that there are at least seven different types of intelligences. Further, according to the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST, Inc), students belong to a range of abilities for learning different skills. This understanding was based on information gleaned from the fields of neuroscience and psychology. Based on this, the center promoted the paradigm of universal design for learning, which asks educational planners to proactively plan for this wide range of learning needs. They say that by doing so, it is possible to include students with disabilities and also serve the individual needs of the student population (Rose, Meyer, Strangman & Dalton, 2002). The process of learning comprises of three components – information input, information processing and expression of information or knowledge. In each of these components, students show differences. For example, in information input, which also means the way students receive information to be learnt, some students could be visual learners while others could be auditory or kinesthetic learners. In terms of information processing, some students may use top-down processing or bottoms-up processing. This depends both on the learner as well as the nature of skill or knowledge to be learned. With respect to expression of knowledge or skill learned, some students may be better at writing, some at drawing or verbalizing (Rose, Meyer, Strangman & Dalton, 2002). It is important that the instructional methodology proactively plans for such differences to achieve high quality educational experiences and learning outcomes for all students.
Activity-based-learning According to the Wikipedia, “learning is acquiring new knowledge, behaviour, skills, values, preferences or understanding, and may involve synthesizing different types of information”. Further, it is a ” process that brings together cognitive, emotional and environmental influences and experiences for acquiring, enhancing or making changes to one‟s knowledge, skills and world view (Illeris, 2000; Ormorod, 1995)”. For learning to take place, it is necessary that the student understands and engages with the information to be learnt. It is also important that the student processes the information with higher level thinking such as comprehension, analysis, synthesis, application, and metacognition. When this happens, the student is able to relate the
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ABL Methodology information to any life situation, connect it with past learning, build his or her own knowledge (Garner, 1987) and become a knowledgeable and contributing citizen as an adult. One important method of facilitating such engagement with information is through activity. The dictionary definition of „activity‟, especially for elementary school students is „work that involves direct experience by the student rather than textbook study‟. Thus, activity-based learning, should allow students to engage with and process information in such a way that he understands and builds his knowledge about a particular subject. An outcome of successful learning would be that the student has acquired the basic literacy skills and is able to apply this knowledge or skill learnt in a relevant situation. The idea of activity-based learning follows the constructivist educational theory and is child-centered pedagogy. Activity-based learning may be defined as a method of instruction, where activities of different types, suitable and relevant to specific subjects are integrated seamlessly into the regular instructional materials and methods to involve students in the teaching – learning or instructional processes and engage them fruitfully (Suydam and Higgins, 1977). In the state of Tamil Nadu, the activity – based learning method of instruction in elementary schools was introduced as an innovation by the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan of Tamil Nadu to improve the quality of teaching in government schools and promote universal education in India. It began as a pilot project with 13 Chennai corporation schools in 2003, was extended to 264 corporation schools in Chennai in 2004 and then upscaled to nearly 40,000 government schools in the state of Tamil Nadu (http://www.ssa.tn.nic.in/CurrActivities-A.htm). This method proposes to enable students to learn at their own pace and engage in self learning, group learning and mutual learning to a greater extent. Traditional classroom practices have been known to have many limitations such as large student-teacher ratio, teacher‟s role as giver of information rather than as a facilitator of learning, fear of the teacher‟s rod, problems due to student and teacher absenteeism, heavy schoolbags, central role of textbooks as the source of information. Further, many rural and urban schools function with just one teacher so all students have
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ABL Methodology to be combined into a single or few numbers of classes resulting in multi-grade classrooms. This inadvertently posed major challenges for the teacher as to which groups of children would she teach and when and how. The ABL methodology has been able to overcome many of these barriers. Initial studies by SchoolScape and SSA (2008) have shown the physical, emotional and social environment of the schools have improved compared to prior to ABL introduction. Improvements were also seen in the ways students were assessed and given feedback about their academic work periodically. It is also expected to modify the role of the teacher from that of a giver of information to facilitator of learning. It is expected to allow teachers use their time judiciously for students in different learning levels so that all types of learners are equally benefited. This method has been tried out in certain other states such as Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh In this method, the textbook is replaced by cards. These cards are prepared from units in the textbooks. There are cards for introducing the topic, learning it, reinforcing it and testing it. These cards include activities, both individual and group. (Anandalakshmi, 2007). The cards are arranged in order of milestones. Four sets of milestones have been grouped into four ladders called levels 1-4 and each ladder or level is colour coded. Each milestone and each activity within it is represented by icons. Each ladder for each subject is displayed on a chart in every classroom. Students are expected to know which card they are on and get the appropriate cards from the card boxes, which are systematically arranged with the relevant icon labels, in the classroom. Students work either individually or in groups. Sometimes, students in higher levels help students at lower levels. The teacher-student ratio is reduced to 1:1 where the teacher attends to only one child at a time. A teacher-student ratio of 1:1 was found to be most beneficial for students in summative achievement tests as compared to conventional instructions with 1:30 and mastery learning method which also has the same ratio but a more aggressive formative evaluation regime (Bloom, 1984). Students who are absent need not worry about portion missed during their absence since they can continue from where they left when they return to class. This methodology has been much appreciated and largely implemented within a short span of time and its effectiveness on student learning needs to be studied
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ABL Methodology more extensively. Further, although the impact of this method on students‟ learning has been reported as successful (Anandalakshmi, 2007; SchoolScape, 2008), certain problems were seen to exist. Some of these were that teachers were not able to give enough time to slow learners, and class management (V. Vasanthakumari, Dr. S. S. Rajagopalan and Dr. R. Jayakumar, 2008). Activity based learning entails different types of activities in different subjects as the nature and types of learning differs for different subjects. For example, science instruction at elementary level has been shown to involve direct experience and observations and these have been called „activity‟ (Bredderman, 1983). But in our system, traditionally and recently, the same methodology is used for all subjects. Before it was textbooks and the lecture method while now it is cards and the ABL method. TO what extent do the activities specified in the ABL methodology address the individual differences in learning needs of students, however, has not yet been studied. A research project was undertaken as the need for independent research in ABL was felt by the SSA-TN (Prema, Subbiah, Ramnath & Subramanian, 2009). In this study, the different aspects of the ABL methodology have been investigated using percentage analysis from questionnaire that aimed at investigating the overall impact of key dimensions of the ABL methodology. Student, teachers‟ and parents‟ views about the merits and demerits of the method were also analyzed. According to the study, the main tenets of the method, which were to make the classroom more student-friendly and reduce the intimidation and domination of the teacher, were fulfilled most of the times. The study reported on logistic aspects such as students' frequency of replacing cards, knowledge of their card and level in the ABL chart, learning levels, sitting according to cards, and knowing their group. It reported that rote memorization was discouraged and children learn happily. It also found that students were singing well and were able to dramatize well. The study applauds ABL methodology's requirement of making students sit on mats as "Most of the children sit on mats. Thanks to ABL approach which has helped in providing this simple cost-effective seating arrangements.” The skills assessed through an observation schedule were reading, writing, narrating stories, dramatization, singing, collecting information, using low level black board, indoor and outdoor play activities, general personal hygiene and
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ABL Methodology knowledge on weather condition. The study also raised important concerns which were that nearly 46% students did not perform at their grade level, memory of student's learning was less, dull students don‟t get attention of the teacher, advanced mathematical abilities are not given enough attention in the method teachers found it difficult to sit on the floor all day. Another research study on time spent by students and teachers on specific tasks, conducted by the SSA-TN (Vijay Kumar, Venkatesan, Kannappan & Sekhar, 2009), showed that 63% of teacher's time was spent on interaction with students and 50% of their time was spend giving individualized attention, one third of their time was spent with group of children and about 10% of their time was spent address the whole class. Teacher's time was categorized as student-centric activities and this included - 'replying questions and providing clarifications‟, „asking questions, providing feedback to individual students', 'demonstration and use of TLM/TLE materials and helping students with 'project work/creative work'. Of the 57% time students spent on the student-centric activities, only about 6-7% of the time was spent on learning related activities of demonstration and use of TLMs and help on project and creative work. Rest of the time was spent on all other activities mentioned above. This, according to the authors was in line with the specifications of the ABL methodology. The authors classify 'observing and supervising student activities', 'lecturing and explaining verbally', 'writing on the blackboard and explaining' and 'giving dictation' as 'teacher-centric activities' however it is not clear why these would be teacher-centric as they are as important in students' learning as „demonstrations and projects‟. The study showed less time being devoted for the 'teacher-centric activities'. Supportive instructional activities were 'correcting homework or test papers' and 'giving homework or assignments'. Student activities were classified as active, passive, mechanical, class management and off-task activities. Of these maximum time (57.91%) was spent on active learning activities. These activities included - studying on their own, doing assignments, peer learning, seeking clarifications, use of TLE/TLM materials and project and creative work. Of these, only 0.5% time was spent on project and creative work and most time (24%) was spent on studying n their own. Based on composite score of grade level, number of milestones completed in the ladder, current milestone and percentage of
22
ABL Methodology marks in the latest milestone, student achievement was evaluated. A satisfactory score was decided to be when a student achieved at least 50% score on the composite score. It was seen that progress of learning was not much in grade one but improved tremendously in grade 2,3 and 4 and was best in grade 4.
Learning outcomes at end of class IV
Learning outcomes has been a very unclear area and it has been studied differently in different studies. While the National Curriculum Framework, 2005, specified that assessment of language must be skill based and not syllabus based, it also points to the need for national benchmarks for language proficiency. The skills mentioned in the NCF-2005 are reading, writing, listening and speech. Similarly, in mathematics, the narrow aim is to develop „useful‟ capabilities relating to numbers and numeracy e.g. operations, and measurement. The higher aim is to develop mathematical thinking and reasoning ability, for logical problem solving using appropriate assumptions and to develop the attitude for problems solving. In order to be more specific about learning outcomes, our education system came out with specific Minimum Levels of Learning (MLLs) for each subject, at end of each class. In the ABL methodology, learning outcomes have been conceptualized based on amount of instructional material covered using a composite score as a function of card and milestone reached in the ABL methodology (Vijay Kumar,Venkatesan, Kannappan & Sekhar, 2009). The Annual Survey of Education Report, however, considers ability to read class I and class II textbooks as the benchmark for learning achievement (ASER, 2007). Assessments done by EdInitiatives are by far the most skill based and well tested assessment of learning outcomes so far (Education Initiatives, 2006). But this is not free hence is mostly used by private schools in different parts of the country.
23
ABL Methodology Inclusion of students with disabilities in regular education
Inclusion of students with disabilities is a relatively new idea in India and although it has found place in the nation‟s law (National Policy on Education, 1992), efforts at many levels need to be undertaken to make it a reality for students with disabilities. All the same, for students with cognitive disabilities, inclusion has been the automatic (Mani, 2005) partly due to ignorance of such problems and partly due to existing low standards of public education. Inclusive education basically refers to inclusion of students with disabilities in general education classrooms. In inclusive education, the education system and the school makes adaptations in the educational practices to include the student with disability whereas in an integrated education system, the child is mainstreamed into the regular classroom and expected to make adaptations to learn there (Swarup, 2006). An example of how learning difficulties can be addressed by adapting instructional materials is in reading difficulties. Different adaptations such as providing shortened passages, more detailed passages and graphically organized text can help students with different types of difficulties in reading (Dyck and Pemberton, 2002). Further, assistive technology can be used in different ways to address the varying difficulties in reading in the classroom (Edyburn, 2003). The concept if inclusive education originated in west and has been brought to India through international laws and presently forms an important aspect of education of students with disabilities in our country (Das and Kattumuri, nd). According to Das and Kattumuri (n.d.), an educational service for students with special needs in inclusive settings requires one special education teacher per school. All the same, the concept of inclusion seems to be very different in our country and not properly understood by all the stakeholders of our education system (Singal, 2006).
24
ABL Methodology METHODOLOGY
The present research study was conducted in order to understand the ABL methodology used in Tamil Nadu government schools with respect to the nature of activities, nature and use of classroom time for children and teachers, inclusion of students with disabilities in the classroom, and learning outcomes. It also aimed at studying the learning outcomes in relation to the traditional methods of instruction at elementary school level used in private schools.
Research questions
Part A: What are the educational experiences of elementary school students being educated using the ABL methodology? RQA-1: What kinds of activities are planned for in the ABL methodology to address individual differences in learning needs? RQA-2: How much time is actually spent on learning related activities in the classroom in different subject areas? RQA-3: What are the experiences of students with disabilities who are included in the government schools? Part B: What are the learning outcomes at end of class IV of students educated using the ABL methodology? RQB-1 What has been the progress of students in class IV in the ABL levels as the school year progressed? RQB-2: What are the learning outcomes of students in public schools in the learning outcomes assessment test? RQB-3 What are the differences in learning outcomes in basic and advanced cognitive skills among the public schools and are there gender differences in these outcomes? RQB-4 What are the differences between learning outcomes of class IV students in ABL level four and private school class IV students in basic and advanced cognitive skills? RQB-5 To what extent does ABL level effect learning outcomes in English and Maths?
25
ABL Methodology Since the research questions seek to investigate experiences of children in the classroom implementing a prevalent instructional methodology and the learning outcomes of students in class IV, both qualitative and quantitative research methods have been used in this study. Therefore this research study uses a mixed method approach. Qualitative methods used are classroom observations, study of instructional materials, collection of achievement data from school records, and case studies (Morse and Richards, 2002). Learning outcomes were measured by constructing a simple oral and written test designed to evaluate specific skills and knowledge levels. The scores obtained from these tests were used to conduct ANOVAs to test differences and understand the patterns of learning outcomes (Maxwell and Delaney, 2004).
Sample selection A sample of 10 Panchayat Union Schools under one cluster resource center (CRC) of Thondamuthur Block in Coimbatore District in Tamil Nadu was chosen for this study. The researcher acquired required permission to conduct the research study from the State Project Director (SPD) of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan – Tamil Nadu, Chennai and subsequently from the Chief Education Officer, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan – Coimbatore (see appendix A). Data Collection Demographic data Demographic data regarding school, teachers and students was collected from these schools in the month of October. During this visit, the researcher introduced herself and the research project to the school heads, gave a copy of the letter of permission from the SPD, and planned a schedule for classroom observations and tests. Classroom observations In the month of November, classroom observations were started. Five sessions of 45 minutes each, one for each subject, were done in each school. Initially, three classroom observation sessions for the whole of one class session was done. One ABL class was from 9.40 – 12.40 with a ten-minute break at 11.00. During this time, the different activities in the class were noted and it was observed that these activities were repeated throughout the ABL class. A study conducted by SSA (Vijaykumar,
26
ABL Methodology Venkatesan, Kannappan & Sekhar, 2009) used a duration of 40 minutes for classroom observation, which was broken down into ten 4-minute blocks during which observers were asked to observe for 2 minutes and note down observations for 2 minutes. This was a highly structured way of observation but couldn‟t gather data on the subjective experiences and phenomenon in the classroom. Hence, the researcher decided to make three – four slots of 15 minutes each, during which she would observe and note down essential data as well as note down other processes in the classroom. The duration of the observation session reduced for another five sessions to one hour and then to 45 minutes as it was reasoned that one session of three 15-minute slots would reasonably capture the happenings in one ABL class. The activities in 45 minutes of a two and half class period would be representative of educational experience of the child in these classes. So if students are not attentively working on their learning activity for even 15 minutes during a 45 minute period of their class, then their active engagement in learning in their class would be questionable. As a corollary to this, if on average, students spend more time being distracted in a 15-minute period, this would mean that the method used is unable to keep students actively engaged in learning for even 15 minutes. A detailed description of the method of classroom observation used in this study follows. Each classroom observation session of 45 minutes was divided into three 15minute slots. Three columns were made such that one column was for each 15 minute slot. Here, the number of students who were working with cards (reading from cards, writing in their slate, notebook or blackboard from the card), number of students who were keeping the card in their hand but not working with it, the number of students who were not working with cards at all (talking, walking around, fighting, sitting simply without doing any thing), the number of students who were at the card stand for a long time, the number of students who were with the teacher, the number of students who were waiting for the teacher‟s attention were noted. With regards to the teacher‟s activities, teacher‟s attention to students who needed her guidance, to students who were away from her but were making noise and being distracted, or not attending to their cards, the methods used by teachers for class control were noted. In addition, the use of group time as per the ABL ladder charts and supplementary readers provided by the SSA were also observed.
27
ABL Methodology A total of 50 classroom observations were planned out of which 43 were completed and 7 could not be done due to scheduling conflicts. The data analysis was done for data from the 43 sessions, which is 86% of the planned observations. ABL level progress data In the month of October, the researcher visited all the ten schools and obtained the distribution of class IV students in each ABL level in each subject from each school. This data was collected again at the end of January and finally at the year end (end of April). This data was from the achievement records that the teachers maintain as per the ABL methodology. It is in the form of a huge chart that has the milestones in the columns and a set of four rows for each child, each row for each ABL level. Teachers have to make a tick mark in each corresponding square for a child and the milestone completed by that child in the row corresponding to the ABL level he or she is in. The levels are indicated by using different colours - red is for level 1, green for level 2, blue is for level 3 and yellow is for level 4. ABL materials data The data for analysis of ABL materials was made by analyzing the instructions and activities in 10 cards each in milestones 0-5 in ABL ladder or level 4, milestones 6 – 10 in level 4, milestone 11 and above in level 4 for each subject. These activities for information input, processing and expression for each card were identified. These were then analyzed to find the pattern of types of activities used for each stage of learning Learning Outcomes assessments An oral and written test was administered to all students in class IV who have reached ABL level 4 in at least one subject. The same written test was also administered to class IV students of two private schools following the CBSE syllabus and who were using the traditional methods of instruction to a large extent. In addition, the private schools were chosen because these schools offer syllabus and curriculum, which has a reputation in the society as being the best in our country. The learning outcomes assessment oral test was for Tamil and English and written test had separate sections for each subject – Tamil, English, Maths and Environmental Science. Each section carried a total score of 24 points (inclusive of orals in the languages). The questions were made such that they were to assess specific skills. In the
28
ABL Methodology oral tests (Tamil and English) the skills tested were reading words, simple sentences and speaking skills of questioning and sharing ideas. In languages, in the written tests, vocabulary, simple and higher-order comprehension and writing skills were assessed. In maths, number concept, basic arithmetic and advanced maths in terms of word problems, application of arithmetic to time and money were assessed. In environmental science, basic and common knowledge in science and social science were assessed. The tests were prepared in Tamil and in English. The Tamil version was for public schools and the English version was for the private schools. While evaluating the test responses, care was taken to make sure the skill tested in each question was kept in mind. The test was first created and piloted with two public school students from another block and the tests were shown to their tuition teacher and one public school teacher from the block where study was conducted. The test was revised based on the pilot responses and inputs received from the teacher and tuition teacher. Oral tests were conducted in Tamil and English in the public schools. These tests were not conducted in the private schools due to time restrictions, but a random sample of five children from both the private schools were given the oral test just to see how these students do in these tests. Case studies In order to address the research question on inclusion of students with disabilities in regular classrooms, five case studies were conducted. Of these, four students attended government schools and one student attended a private school. Of the four students two were diagnosed with mental retardation (MR), one with Down‟s syndrome and the fourth with muscular dystrophy. The one student in private school had visual impairment. Data from records, if available, was obtained for each of these students. Informal interviews with the regular education teachers in schools, special education teachers at the Integrated Education Department (IED) center, peers and parents where possible were done.
Data Analysis Research questions in part A were analyzed using qualitative research methods while those in Part B, were analyzed using quantitative methods. The analyses and the results are presented in the next section.
29
ABL Methodology DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS
Analysis of demographic data obtained showed that 80%y percent of the schools in sample that participated in this study were rural and 20% were urban. All of the schools served students from lower socio economic backgrounds, few of them including students from lower middle socio economic backgrounds. The caste-wise distribution of the student population in the sample in this study was BC-43.78%, MBC-21.12%, SC20.19%, ST-1.55% and DNC-0.3%. On an average, about 55% of the total number of students in the schools, availed of the mid-day-meal scheme while about 68% of students in class IV availed of the mid-day-meal scheme. The average age of students in the sample was 9years. Parental education levels on an average were upto 6 th standard for both mothers and fathers. It must be noted here that there were few cases where students were not able to provide their parents‟ levels of education. This has been treated as missing data and hence those cases were excluded for obtaining the averages. Further, on an average, 23% students in class IV attended preschool programs of LKG and UKG, while most of the rest attended balwadis and directly went to class I. The research questions in this study address two major aspects of our education system in relation to the ABL methodology. These are educational experiences in the classroom and learning outcomes. Part A: What are the educational experiences of elementary school students being educated using the ABL methodology? Classroom time constitutes the most important time for a child in the classroom. Learning experiences in the classroom are therefore extremely important experiences for the child as they directly and indirectly influence their learning and their motivation and ability to learn. The direct influences of classroom experiences are those facilitated by the instructional methods used while the indirect influences are the social, emotional and psychological aspects of the classroom that influence learning in the classroom. Part A is addressed using a set of research questions that seek to understand the educational experiences in the classroom through analysis of the instructional materials used by the ABL method and direct observations of the ABL classes.
30
ABL Methodology RQA-1: What kinds of activities are planned for in the ABL methodology to address individual differences in learning needs? For this research question, first, activities in ABL cards were identified, for e.g. „do‟, „read‟, „talk‟ or listen‟ etc. Since learning is understood as comprising of three essential aspects, information input, information processing, and skills/knowledge expression, the activities were categorized into which aspect they fell. Thereafter, percentage analysis was done to study the types of activities that supported each aspect of the learning process. Each milestone has a group of 9 – 14 logos each of which represented a particular type of activity and is given in a ABL card. These logos were repeated in the milestones and new logos were introduced as the milestones proceeded upwards. A chart for each ABL ladder or level for each subject was hung on the walls of the classroom. In these charts, the ladder began from the bottom, with milestone 0 or 1 and went upwards using the logo icons with the last milestone on the top of the chart. The total number of milestones in each ladder in each subject is given in Table A1-1. There are totally about 260 milestones and a corresponding approximate 2600 ABL cards.
Table A1-1: Number of milestones in each ABL ladder or level in each subject. Subject
ABL level 1
ABL level 2
ABL level 3
ABL level 4
Tamil
16
16
16
18
English
12
12
12
12
Maths
12
16
19
17
Science
13
13
13
14
Social Science
-
-
14
15
The activities in each level or ladder incorporated games, drawing and colouring, and interesting stories, which could help engagement of students in the learning activity. Students and teachers in eight of the ten schools sat down on floor mats while in two of the schools there were little tables and chairs for students (donated by some people or agency) and chair and a table for the teacher. In one of the eight schools where students
31
ABL Methodology sat on the floor, short tables were provided for writing and the teacher had a table and chair. In order to understand the types of activities that supported and facilitated learning in each subject, the activities in level 4 were categorized into according to the those that supported receiving information or information input, processing information and expressing information. This is shown in table A1-2 below.
Table A1-2: Activities in the ABL methodology according to how they support learning. a. Tamil Output Input activity Processing
activity
60.00 50.00
Subject
Activity
percent
activity percent
percent
40.00
input activity percent
Tamil
act
0.00
3.33
0.00
30.00
processing activity percent
do
0.00
16.67
0.00
20.00
output activity percent
10.00
0.00
0.00
play
3.33
0.00
2.50
read
56.67
20.00
12.50
search
0.00
3.33
0.00
see
20.00
3.33
10.00
show
0.00
0.00
10.00
talk
10.00
16.67
37.50
think
0.00
13.33
0.00
write
3.33
10.00
2.50
write
0.00
talk
observe
think
5.00
see
0.00
show
0.00
search
not clear
0.00
play
0.00
read
6.67
not
10.00
observe
listen
listen
7.50
do
10.00
draw
10.00
act
draw
Tamil
32
ABL Methodology b. English output input activity processing
activity
subject
activity
percent
activity percent percent
English
act
0.00
0.00
3.23
total = 31
do
0.00
3.23
0.00
draw
0.00
0.00
0.00
listen
6.45
6.45
0.00
not clear
0.00
0.00
3.23
observe
0.00
0.00
0.00
play
3.23
3.23
3.23
read
80.65
45.16
0.00
search
0.00
0.00
0.00
see
16.13
12.90
0.00
show
0.00
0.00
0.00
talk
0.00
6.45
54.84
think
0.00
19.35
0.00
write
0.00
3.23
35.48
90.00 80.00 70.00 60.00
input activity percent
50.00
processing activity percent
40.00
output activity percent
30.00 20.00 10.00
English
write
talk
think
see
show
search
play
read
not
observe
listen
do
draw
act
0.00
total = 31
c. Maths. output 70.00 60.00
subject
activity
percent
activity percent percent
Maths
act
0.00
0.00
0.00
total = 29
do
34.48
20.69
34.48
draw
0.00
0.00
0.00
20.00
listen
0.00
34.48
0.00
10.00
not clear
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
observe
0.00
0.00
0.00
play
0.00
0.00
0.00
read
41.38
3.45
0.00
search
0.00
0.00
0.00
see
20.69
0.00
0.00
show
0.00
0.00
0.00
talk
0.00
0.00
0.00
think
3.45
41.38
0.00
write
0.00
0.00
65.52
50.00 input activity percent
40.00
processing activity percent 30.00
Maths
write
talk
think
show
see
search
play
read
observe
not
listen
draw
output activity percent
do
activity
act
input activity processing
total = 29
33
ABL Methodology d. Science input activity processing
output activity
subject
activity
percent
activity percent percent
90.00
Science
act
0.00
0.00
0.00
70.00
total = 29
do
0.00
27.59
10.34
draw
0.00
0.00
0.00
listen
0.00
0.00
0.00
not clear
0.00
0.00
0.00
observe
0.00
6.90
0.00
play
0.00
0.00
0.00
read
82.76
37.93
0.00
search
0.00
0.00
0.00
see
13.79
13.79
0.00
show
0.00
0.00
10.34
talk
0.00
0.00
55.17
think
0.00
10.34
0.00
write
0.00
0.00
20.69
80.00 60.00
input activity percent
50.00
processing activity percent
40.00
output activity percent
30.00 20.00 10.00
Science
write
talk
think
see
show
search
play
read
not
observe
listen
do
draw
act
0.00
total = 29
e. Social Science
0.00
draw
0.00
6.67
0.00
listen
0.00
0.00
0.00
not clear
0.00
0.00
30.00
observe
0.00
0.00
0.00
play
0.00
0.00
0.00
read
30.00
0.00
0.00
search
0.00
0.00
0.00
see
16.67
13.33
0.00
show
0.00
0.00
16.67
talk
16.67
43.33
26.67
think
0.00
6.67
0.00
write
0.00
3.33
3.33
processing activity percent output activity percent
Social Science
think
16.67
write
23.33
talk
do
show
total = 30
input activity percent
see
20.00
search
percent
0.00
play
percent
0.00
read
percent
act
observe
activity
Social Science
not
subject
50.00 45.00 40.00 35.00 30.00 25.00 20.00 15.00 10.00 5.00 0.00
listen
activity
draw
output
activity
do
processing
activity
act
input
total = 30
Data in the tables (a-e) in Table A1-2, have been collated to present the activities in the decreasing order of occurrence as shown in table A1-3. In table A1-3, the activities in italics are those that occur less than 10.5 percent times which amounts to 3 to 4 cards
34
ABL Methodology in this sample of 29-31 cards per subject at ABL level or ladder four. The activities that occur between 10.5 and 50% times (about 4 to 15 cards out of ~30) are shown in regular font. Activities occurring between 50% and 75% (about 22-23 cards out of ~30) are shown in bold font and those occurring more than 75% times are shown in bold and underlined fonts. It can be seen from this table that „reading‟ is the most used activity for input of information for English, Science and Tamil and is used moderately in maths and social science. Most of the activities are used moderately for processing while for output of information, „talking‟ and „writing‟ are mostly used activities.
Table A1-3: Activities in descending order of occurrence for the three processes in learning in each subject. Subject Input activity Processing Output activity activity Tamil
English
Maths
Science
Social Science
Read, see,
Read, do/talk,
Talk, read,
draw/listen/talk*, think,
see/show, draw,
play/write.
draw/write,
not clear,
search/see
play/write
Read, see, listen,
Read, think,
Talk, write,
play
see, listen/talk,
act/not
do/write
clear/play
Read, do, see,
Think, listen,
Write, do
think
do, read
Read, see
Read, do, see,
Talk, write,
think, observe
do/show
Read, do,
Talk, do, see,
Not clear, talk,
see/talk
draw/think,
act, show, write
write Note: * activities occurring in the same percentage are separated by „/‟. Activities that occur less than 10.5 % times are shown in italics, 10.6% - 49% as normal font, 50% 74% in bold font and those more than 75% times are shown in bold font and underlined.
35
ABL Methodology Many times, the output activities was „not clear‟ and this was because the card required the student to read and understand the card and did not have any specific expression of learning. Many cards related to the life experiences of the children and the milestones included drawing and story dramatization cards etc that supported engagement of students in the learning activity.
RQA-2: How much time is actually spent on learning related activities in the classroom in different subject areas? This research question was investigated using classroom observations. The ABL classes were of four student compositions. In the first one, all four classes (I-IV) would be combined. In the second, classes I and II would be combined and classes III and IV would be combined. In the third, classes I and II would be combined and classes III and IV would be separate. In the fourth composition, one and a half classes would be combined into one ABL class. That is, class I and half of class II, second half of class II and half of class III, second half of class III and class IV would be combined together. Although the plan of composition of ABL classes would be done based on the number of teachers and the class strengths in classes I to IV, many times this composition would default to students from all classes in one ABL class due to teacher absence. A total of 50 classroom observations were planned such that five observations, one in each subject, could be done in each of the 10 schools. But due to scheduling conflicts, only 43 observations could be done, which is 86% of the total number planned (see table 2A-1). The data presented here, comes from this 86% of classroom observations conducted. The general classes observed were done, as at that time, teachers were absent on account of census and election duties.
Table A2-1: Number of classrooms observations done in each subject area. Tamil
English
Maths
Science
Social
General
Total
2
45
Science Number of observations
9
8
10
9
7
36
ABL Methodology The ABL classes were similar in all subjects except in one case where the students worked on math games in math class. In general, the phenomena seen in the ABL classes were that of student independence and teacher guidance to single or small groups of students. It was expected that the students would note down in their notebooks the logos for a milestone at the start of that milestone. Then the student would go up to the card bins shelves and pick the appropriate card, and work on it. The student was supposed to study the card himself or herself first. Teacher‟s help could be sought if the student needed it. Then, the student was supposed to write what he/she learned in the slate first and show their teacher. The teacher corrected the students‟ work and then they wrote it on the black board and then the notebook. Students showed their work in their notebook to the teacher. After the teacher checks and signs the notebook, the student would move on to the next card. The class strength of the observed classes ranged from 14 to 36,which typically included at least two classes. In seven of the schools, the students sat on the floor on mats, in one school there were only short tables for the students who sat on the floor and in two schools, there were small tables and chairs. Either way, they sat in groups of 3 to six or seven students spread around in the classroom. The group closest to the teacher was always the younger ones who were in the initial milestones while those at the corners of the class were the students who were in the higher milestones. The assumption was that at the higher milestone stages, students would be able to work and learn independently. Student related phenomena In any ABL class, a typical 45-minute observation saw on an average of about one-third of the students „working‟ on their cards and engaged in learning, either directly or indirectly for about 10-15 minutes. Very few students, (about 2-6) per class were seen continuously writing from their card during most of the 45-minute session. This „working‟ was either, reading, reading to peers, listening the card being read by peers, writing from the card to a slate, or notebook or blackboard, listening to the teacher explain the card either individually or with a group of peers or writing in their workbook. Some students, (about 3-5) in most classes observed, were continuously searching for their card. When the student takes more than 5 minutes to nearly 15 minutes, it was seen that the reason was that the required card was missing from its place. So, the student was
37
ABL Methodology searching for it. When the student had taken more than half hour at the card stand, it was learnt from the teacher that the student was one of slow learners, who showed no interest and had to be reprimanded and reminded to start his or her work. It was seen that sometimes the teacher was able to notice such students while sometimes the teacher would not notice them. Yet other times, the teacher would notice, yell at such students and then both would just continue what they were doing. A third category of students would keep the card in their hands, but would be doing some other things instead of learning. A look at the students‟ eyes and actions would indicate that the student was not at all engaged in card. These actions were looking around, looking at the neighboring student‟s work, fiddling with the card, speaking to a friend or two in extremely low voice, drawing in note book, slate or work book even if the card didn‟t say to draw. The fourth category of students would be standing and walking around trying to get their cards from friends, get some stationary etc, or waiting for the teacher‟s attention. In some classes, it has been observed that a queue of at least 10 students were waiting for nearly 10 – 15 minutes for the teacher‟s attention. While in queue, they tend to get distracted and they tend to distract other students who work with their cards. At such times, the general noise in the class was observed to increase and needed the teacher to intervene. About 5-7 students write on the blackboard and a similar number of students write on their slate. These students were seen to be typically copying from the cards. On a couple a sessions, when such students were asked by the researcher to read out what they wrote, the students were not able to read. This was seen especially in English. Sometimes it was seen that the teacher reprimanded and told the student to rewrite what he or she had written on the blackboard just because it was small and not visible from across the room. Often students (about 1-3) were found at the ladder chart, writing down the logos for the milestone they were to start. This would take them between 5 – 15 minutes. Many times, during school visits, it was seen that students were tasked with sweeping the corridors and classrooms, watering the plants, cleaning the premises after short break or lunch break, washing of teachers‟ lunch boxes and even washing urinals and water tanks. Other distractions for students that were seen was bad smell from urinals that were close to the classroom, due to which the windows would be kept closed
38
ABL Methodology reducing the light in the class. This was difficult especially as there would be power cut in the middle of the school day. Sometimes, the smoke from the kitchen was blown towards the classroom filling the classroom with smoke, making it difficult for the students to concentrate. Yet another time, there was a college function held in the school playground, which was not very big and was in between the classrooms. The mikes were loud and the teacher got called to be an audience for the function. Hence the class went without any lesson and the students were all looking out of the window. All of the schools in the study had supplementary readers but they used them in different ways. Some teachers would give the books during the blank card time, some after lunch before the start of the afternoon session, some would give when ever convenient. There seemed to be no specific pattern of use followed although the teachers claimed that they give them to the students. At certain times, the students read out the books to the researcher. All the books were colour coded according to the ABL levels. In Tamil, students could most of the time read according to their level but in English, students in level 4 were not able to read even level 2 or sometimes even level 1 book. The social values supported in the ABL classrooms seen were ability to communicate with peers and teachers. There were incidences of class control and lack of tolerance for simple chatting noise in the class, but on the whole, the class seemed to be more of a lively enterprise were all students could talk to express their needs to peers and the teacher. The students seemed to be free with their teacher and friendly in most cases although corporal punishments such as hitting the child with a stick were also present. Psychologically, the students seemed to be engaged in learning activity when in a group than individually although few students always worked from their cards continuously. Whether this is more than in the traditional method used before is hard to say, as there is not data from the latter to compare with. Students who were in ABL level IV cards also were seen to seek help from the teacher to read and understand instructions especially in Maths and the Sciences. This indicates that their reading abilities were not ready enough to expecting independent study from them. Many students who were idling in the class seemed to be disengaged except when the teacher would call out to them or ask them some question. This is indicates a lack of challenge or interest or sense of direction and motivation that is much
39
ABL Methodology needed for learning. At the emotional level, the students seemed to be happy to be in school. Some students were playing throughout the time of the observation session. At the elementary age level, student‟s love to play and when there is not much restriction from the teacher (for a variety of reasons) they get to play continuously, they are happy. Teacher-related phenomena The teacher would typically be seated on the floor on a mat as the students, except in three schools where the teachers also had desks and chair. The teacher was seen to attend to one or a small group of students at a time. In some classes, it was seen that the teacher was repeatedly teaching the same thing to many students. The teacher seemed to be aware of the queue of students waiting for her attention but due to time taken for each student, she was not able to immediately address each student‟s query. Further, the teacher was mostly occupied with students close to her and was not able to give attention to students in the back of the class. In some observation sessions, it was noted that for the whole 45-minute period of observation, the group of students at the back, who were busy playing or making noise went unattended. Distractions that were noted for the teachers included being called by another teacher for some collection-related matter, any other lesson unrelated matter, cell phone calls and subsequent phone conversations, clerical work required to be completed in limited time. Many times the teacher would be busy with some clerical work to be completed and attend to students on an ad hoc basis. Whenever the classroom got noisy, which was a common phenomenon, the teacher would try and control the class by yelling, beating the child who gets caught and in some cases threatening to send the child to the principal. The different activities and phenomenon that were observed in the various classrooms observations were classified into three categories of (i) directly learning related activities, (ii) indirectly learning related activities, and (iii) learning unrelated activities (see table A2-2).
40
ABL Methodology Table A2-2: Types of activities and phenomenon observed in the ABL classrooms Learning unrelated Activity
Directly learning related activity Indirectly learning related activity activity.
Student
Reading, writing in slate, note
Talking with teacher regarding
book, black board, work book, card, talking about the card
Searching for card, talking, looking around,
activity in the card such as
related topic, motivated to learn talking with friends,
counting, observing picture,
in class, searches for card, gets fighting, standing and
drawing, reading
the correct card and follows the
walking around, sitting
supplementary reading
steps of completing each card
simply,
materials.
and moving to the next by oneself, reading supplementary reading materials.
Teacher
Teaching or instructing one
Speaks nicely, and welcomingly Shouts, hits the child,
student or a small group,
to students, makes students feel bangs desk, speaking on
teaching a topic.
comfortable, asks students about the phone, speaking to what breakfast they had, doing
another teacher about
group activities, quizzes before
something unrelated to
beginning the class.
the class, doing clerical work.
RQA-3: What are the experiences of students with disabilities who are included in the government schools? Here, the accounts of experiences of students with disabilities will be presented through the case studies that were conducted. Each of the case studies includes informal interviews of parents, students them selves, siblings where possible, peers, and teachers. Four students‟ case studies were conducted. The details of students are shown in table A3-1.
Student 1, who attends private school, was identified with severe visual impairment when in kindergarten. She belongs to the middle class household. She had had a sudden retinal detachment that went undetected and was not operated in time due to which she lost her vision. She can only see extreme shades of light now. Since she went to a private school, she was referred to the Avinashilingam University Department of Special education and
41
ABL Methodology went to the special school there for some time. Here she learned Braille and to use screen readers. She returned back to private school at class V and had a scribe help her with homework and studies at home. At school, she has a friend who is always by her side and she pays attention to everything that is being taught in the class. She has above average intelligence and a good memory according to her teachers. She is included in the classroom activities and her teachers and peers are very supportive of her. Her parents are able to help her come to school and return home everyday and also support her studies in a variety of ways at home.
Student 2 attends a public school. He was studying in a private school. He belongs to a lower middle class household. His education in the private school was supported financially by his grandmother‟s pension money. When his grandmother died, the money stopped coming and therefore, he started attending public elementary school from class 3. He was identified by the teachers as not being normal in his walking and was referred to the Integrated Education Department (IED) at the block center of the SSA. There he was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy (early stages) and was recommended to come to the center two times a week for physiotherapy treatment. He attends school in class V during all days except two days in the afternoons when he goes to the center for treatment. He is cognitively normal and is able to understand and learn well. His parents, teachers and peers are very supportive. His peers help him in school by sharing with him notes and other information he misses when he goes for treatment.
Student 3 started attending public school from age 5. She belongs to a lower class household. At birth, she did not cry and was kept under observation in UV box for about 2 weeks. Then after a lot of medication, she started crying. Her mother feels that the many medicines that she was given just after birth has caused some problems in her brain. She was identified as not have the normal course of development during her first and second standards and was referred to the IED. Here, she was diagnosed as having mental retardation and recommended to go for two days to the block IED center every week. Due to lack of direct transport facilities for the students and as the parents have to go to work daily to support the family; she is not able to go to the center. She gets special
42
ABL Methodology education services from special education teacher only when the special education teacher for her school visits her school once in two or three weeks. Nevertheless, due to counseling provided by the special education teachers to the regular education school teachers and peers, she has started talking properly, communicating her needs. But she is unable to read and write. She can copy and write letters but she cannot even write the alphabets of the language in the correct order on her own.
Student 4, also diagnosed with mental retardation, joined a public school in class I. When she was in class II, she was identified as requiring assessment by the teachers and was sent to the IED. Presently in class V, she has been in IED for three years now. She is the class the entire school day, she talks to other children, writes in Tamil. She writes the alphabets when seen but when asked to reproduce on her own, she is unable to do so. She can communicate her needs. She has a brother in her same class but different division and he helps her with her homework. Her parents married with-in the family. Her major cognitive problems are in attention & concentration, command & request, memory and eye-hand coordination. Informal interviews with the peers, teachers and parents (when possible) revealed that the students were supported to the extent possible. The special education services provided by the IED was during two days in the week when the students identified with a disability were recommended to visit and spend their day. Here, the special education teacher would work with the student or physiotherapy would be provided as needed. Presently, there are five special education teachers for the entire block, which has nearly 55 schools. With two days to be spent in the IED center, the teachers have three days for school visits. Thus one special education teacher visits one school‟s student/s once a month or once in fortnight.
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ABL Methodology Table A2-1 Student
Type of school attended
Nature of disability
Present age group
Educational services availed Yes, privately
Student 1
Private
9-12
Student 2
Public
Severe visual impairment Muscular dystrophy
9-12
Through IED center, SSA
Student 3
Public
Mental retardation
9-12
Through IED center, SSA
Student 4
Public
Mental retardation
9-12
Through IED center, SSA
Part B: What are the learning outcomes at end of class IV of students educated using the ABL methodology? In order to assess the learning outcomes at the end of fourth level or ladder of ABL, first, the progress of students to ABL level four during the academic year was seen using three time points of October, January and April (research question B-1). Then, learning outcomes in specific skills and knowledge areas was assessed using a learning outcomes assessment test (see appendix B) and the results in this test was analyzed to study the patterns on achievements of students public schools (research question B-2 and B-3). The test was also administered to students from two private schools that followed the CBSE syllabus and are considered among the best schools in the area. This was done to understand how students in ABL level four achieved in comparison to private-CBSE board students and the results are studied in research question B-4. Finally, in order to study the effect of instruction in the different ABL levels on the learning outcomes in English and Maths, the differences in scores of students at each ABL level found in this population of students who took the test were studied in research question B-5.
Research Question B-1 What has been the progress of students in class IV in the ABL levels as the school year progressed? 44
ABL Methodology
To address this question, data on distribution of class IV students across the four ABL levels (ladders) in each subject was analyzed to see the trend of progress of students from one level to the next at three time points during the academic year. Teachers keep records of student‟s progress in ABL cards from milestone to milestone and ladder to ladder at the end of each month. Table B1-1 shows the percentage of class IV students (N=317) who reached ABL ladder or level at three time points in the year – October, January and April. The percentage of students in ABL level four at these three time points was calculated and compared to see the progress of students to ABL level 4. It must be mentioned here that most of the students who were reported to be in ABL level four had just began level four or were in one of the first few milestones (out of nearly 12) even at the end of the year.
Table B1-1: Subject
Boys (n=148) Oct
Jan*
Girls (n=169) April
Oct
Jan*
Total (N=317) April
Oct
Jan*
April
Tamil
50.68% 64.57% 64.86% 57.40% 68.79% 71.01% 54.26% 66.79% 68.14%
English
22.97% 36.22% 37.84% 18.93% 33.33% 42.01% 20.82% 34.70% 40.06%
Maths
42.57% 62.20% 56.08% 29.59% 63.83% 55.62% 35.65% 63.06% 55.84%
Science
55.41% 70.08% 66.89% 47.93% 70.92% 72.78% 51.42% 70.52% 70.03%
Social Science 51.35% 70.08% 60.81% 39.64% 69.50% 65.09% 45.11% 69.78% 63.09%
* - Data for one school (n=49 – boys 21, girls 29) was not available hence the percentages have been calculated on the total number of boys, girls and total for that time point.
Figure B1-1 is a graphical representation of the progress in the number of students reaching level four of ABL. Here, the blue bars represent percentages of boys, pink bars that of girls and the green bars show the percentages of the total numbers of students. Light, medium and dark shades for each of these colours are for the time points of October, January and April respectively.
45
ABL Methodology
Figure B1-1: Graphical representation of progress of students to ABL level IV at three time points of the year 2010-2011.(blue bars –boys, pink bars – girls and green bars – total) 80.00%
70.00%
60.00% Boys Oct Boys Jan
50.00%
Boys April Gilrs Oct 40.00%
Gilrs Jan Gilrs April Total Oct
30.00%
Total Jan Total April
20.00%
10.00%
0.00% Tamil
English
Maths
Science
Social Science
It can be seen from this data, that the numbers of student in ABL level IV is increasing steadily for the languages from October to January to April. In general, the percentage increase reduces from Jan to April as compared to Oct to Jan. Secondly the initial percentage of students in level IV is low for English as compared to Tamil. For Maths, however, it was seen that, while the percentage of students in ABL level IV increased from Oct to Jan, it reduced during Jan to April. This pattern was also seen for science and social science although for girls, the percentage did not drop in science.
Research Question B2: What are the learning outcomes of students in public schools in the learning outcomes assessment test? The overall sample size with respect to school type and gender is shown in table B2-1 The number of students in each of four ABL levels in each subject at the time of testing are shown in the table B2-2. This is the sample of students who were tested because they have reached ABL level 4 in at least one subject.
46
ABL Methodology Table B2-1: Distribution of students by gender and school type. Boys
Girls
Total
Public
84
117
201
Private
55
25
80
Total
139
142
281
Table B-2: Subject wise and ABL level wise distribution of students who took the test. ABL Tamil Level
English
Maths
Science
Social Science
B
G
T
B
G
T
B
G
T
B
G
T
B
G
T
1 2
5 0
1 4
6 4
2 8
0 19
2 27
0 0
0 2
0 2
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
3
5
9
14
33 52
85
13 23
36
9
17
26
13 34
4
74 103 177 41 46
87
71 92
163 75 100 175 71 83
47 154
Total 84 117 201 84 117 201 84 117 201 84 117 201 84 117 201
Table B2-3 shows the mean scores for each area of learning outcomes tested. Here it can be seen that the highest mean score was in Tamil, followed by environmental sciences and then Maths. The least mean score was in English. The percentage of grand total for all public school students who took the test was 49.33%.
Table B2-3: Mean scores and standard deviation for each subject and total on learning outcomes assessment test for public school students.
N Mean Mean Percentage Standard Deviation
Tamil total (out of 24) 201 14.08 58.67%
English total (out of 24) 201 8.38 34.92%
Maths total (out of 24) 201 12.14 50.58%
EVS total (out of 24) 201 12.75 53.13%
Grand total (out of 96) 201 47.36 49.33%
6.1
5.63
6.39
8.71
23.5
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ABL Methodology RQB3 What are the differences in learning outcomes in basic and advanced cognitive skills among the public schools and are there gender differences in these outcomes? Since it was seen that each public school differed in the ways they implemented the ABL methodology, the achievement patterns in the schools was analyzed to see it there was any significant differences among schools. Gender differences were also tested. The sample used for data analysis in this research question was students in public schools only. Further, for each subject area, only the test scores of those students who were in ABL level 4 in that particular subject were used. The mean scores for each skill category and their standard deviations are shown in table B3-1
Table B3- 1: Learning outcomes of ABL level 4 students in each skill area tested Skill
N
Mean
Total score
Std. Deviation
12
Mean Percentage 74%
Tamil_BRS
177
8.901
Tamil_AVS
177
1.12
4
28%
1.310
TAM_WR
177
1.60
4
40%
1.544
TAM_SP
177
2.93
4
73.25%
1.291
Eng_BRS
87
6.48
14
46.29%
4,36
Eng_ARS
87
0.44
2
22%
0.831
Eng_Wr
87
0.28
4
7%
0.67
Eng_Sp
87
1.33
4
33,25%
1.420
Maths_BS
163
8.51
14
60.79%
3.920
Maths_AS
163
3.54
10
35.4%
3.232
SC
167
6.37
12
53.03%
4.619
SS
149
7.25
12
60.42%
4.437
2.9257
There were 177 students in ABL level 4 in Tamil out of a total of 201 students who took the tests. The mean score in basic reading skills in Tamil (reading words, simple sentences, vocabulary and simple direct comprehension) was 8.901 (+/- 2.93) out of a total score of 12. In advanced reading skills (inferential comprehension) the mean score was 1.12+/-1.31 out of a total score of 4 (table B3-1). To analyze these learning outcomes further by seeing if there is any difference between boys and girls and between schools, two way ANOVAs, first with Tamil-BRS as dependent variable and then with Tamil-ARS as dependent variable were performed.
48
ABL Methodology Figure B3-1. Graphical representation of mean scores basic reading skills in Tamil of
Estimated Marginal Means of Tamil_BRS
boys and girls in each school
13 12 11 10 9
GENDER
8 7
F
6 5
M 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
PU SchoolPcode U School code Non-estimable means are not plotted Table B3-2 shows the results of the two way ANOVA using gender and school as the two factors and score on Tamil_BRS as dependent variable indicate that there is a significant interaction of school and gender indicating that the differences in mean scores for boys and girls is statistically significant across the schools (F8,158 = 2.56, p
