To transform schools and empower a generation, one step at a time

[ our journey so far ]

The ‘School Transformation and Empowerment Project’ (STEP) is an initiative of MANTRA Social Services – Bangalore

Our Belief

FOREWORD

MANTRA Social Services, Bangalore is a social enterprise registered under Section 25 of Companies Act. Founded by a team of committed and passionate individuals in 2012 and growing in strength, MANTRA believes in the need for an association of like-minded people and organizations/movements to inspire action and sustain change efforts. Through the School Transformation and Empowerment Project(STEP), we strive to promote quality education in schools serving the socio-economically disadvantaged population of the country. This report captures our work on the ground hitherto – highlighting the first stage of STEP, our key learning and strategic intent going forward. The journey so far has only strengthened our conviction in the cause and enabled us to evolve STEP into a potentially scalable solution. Hope you find the report insightful. Regards Team MANTRA

“STEP is what its name promises; it helps you take step after step the long staircase to an excellent school. It promises to listen to the needs of a school community, to work tirelessly to develop each person in the school ecosystem to work with sincerity towards an excellent education for all children.”

Shaheen Mistri Founder & CEO, Teach For India

Founder, Akanksha Foundation

Social Activist and Educator

• STEP – Vision, Mission and Goals

• STEP Project Details (June – September 2014)

• About MANTRA

IN THIS REPORT

“I gave Mantra4Change 3 schools for their study. The Head Mistresses(HMs) and the Cluster Resource Persons(CRPs) were very happy with their vision and agreed wholeheartedly. They came to me with a detailed report(of stage 1 of STEP) with pictorial representation of the observed statistics. I am impressed with the work they have done and hope that we can work together to bring substantial changes into the current education system in government schools. They have all my support related to this effort and I wish them all the very best.”

Mrs. Nagarathnamma D Block Education Officer(BEO),

Bangalore South Block -2,

Department of Public Education, Karnataka 03 October, 2014

The Opportunity

Government run schools and affordable-private schools make education accessible and affordable to children from socio-economically disadvantaged localities, however these often fail to provide quality education that can bring every child on par with his well to do peers across the country. While there are many initiatives and efforts addressing the issue of quality learning outcomes, at the school level there is a need to address challenges at varying degrees of cost, human capital, capacity, political will and stakeholder efficacy. This calls for a fundamental change in approaches to building school culture, developing and prioritizing solutions AND personalizing plan delivery and evaluation. STEP intends to do address this gap. The imperative for our team is to create conditions that aid innovation and integration of tools/processes at each school site.

- ASER 2012,

The 8th Annual Report on the Status of Education in India

Enrollment in

Primary schools

is at its highest in India at

96% or more

Only

35% go on to complete

Grade 12

Over

41% enrollment is in

private schools

Various reports indicate consistently

poor Reading Levels & Math

Skills among students across

the country

The BIG Picture

To engage with underachieving schools(and it’s stakeholders) through a multi-stage school improvement framework that enables successful outcomes and empowers such schools to serve as pathway of opportunity for every child Innovate and integrate system-wide processes and tools that equip stakeholders(school leaders, parents, teachers and students), enhance existing improvement activities and sustain change efforts to ensure successful outcomes beyond the two-year intervention cycle

STEP VISION

Every school delivers what a child deserves - quality education

STEP MISSION

Snapshot of Schools in URBAN BANGALORE

*APS - Affordable Private Schools (also called low-fee private schools) provide education at a low cost of 200-800 INR tuition fee per month. There is no reliable data on the exact number of such schools in Bangalore; however various studies estimate 2-3 lakh such schools across India., and they are particularly concentrated in urban areas.

The government run schools, with various schemes, fairly good infrastructure, trained teachers and adequate resources, provide free education to serve the poorest of poor

A good proportion of Affordable Private Schools*, often under-resourced, fill the gap

for children from middle and low-income families settled in urban areas

- Data source: DISE Report 2013-14 data (http://www.schooleducation.kar.nic.in/)

What is STEP?

School Transformation and Empowerment Project (STEP) is an initiative of MANTRA designed to improve and promote quality in existing schools serving the socio-economically disadvantaged localities in the city. Through a multi staged School Improvement Framework and holistic approach, STEP intends to bring in coherence to school-wide activities aimed at re-defining and improving the quality of outcomes expected at partner schools.

In the current academic year (2014-2015), MANTRA engaged with 9

schools for the first stage of STEP with a need assessment and report for clarifying and aligning to school’s purpose. Following this we entered into a two year learning focused partnership with 4 low-fee private schools and 3 government run schools to plan and implement the next stage of STEP over the next 18 months.

The framework* is flexible and first stage of STEP will determine if the partner school will go through each stage and module or if it will pick particular tools that are relevant to their needs. Each of the school profile presents varying degrees of advantages and challenges(of cost, human capital, capacity, political will and efficacy), in turn aiding innovation and integration of tools/processes that will enable cost-effective implementation of STEP into similar schools in coming years.

* MANTRA currently refers to the ‘School Improvement Planning Framework’ (© TDA) which is the developed by the TDA - Training and Development Agency for Schools-UK

Project Framework

The project framework* sets out STEP planning process in three stages - Prepare and engage, Identify objectives and Ensure successful outcomes – with modules in each stage focusing on particular aspects of school transformation.

To impact 16 schools and 6400 children through STEP by 2017, ensuring that each school

– delivers quality affordable education in the face of demanding environment and constraints, through better processes, tools and school-wide systems

– guarantees improved learning outcome that rely less on curricular or infrastructural change and more on teacher efficacy and methodology

To be engaged with a wide array of schools and sustain a passionate core team in a school-site based work environment that leads to

– a conducive environment for innovation and radical augmentation of solutions at school and systemic levels

– replicable and cost-effective implementation, enabling STEP expansion to impact 92 schools(and in turn 36800 children) by 2020

– creating proof points and raising the bar for quality of outcomes across similar schools, in turn driving system level changes for affordable education

Project Goals: 3 years

The given flow chart is a representation of interconnection between the data

points collected as part of Need Analysis and also indicates where STEP

intervention comes into picture

* The Teaching As Leadership(TAL) Impact Model informs our understanding of the relationship between various observable actions and learning outcomes

Stage-1: Components

of Need Analysis

To ‘Prepare and Engage’, stage 1 involved a need analysis focused on gathering qualitative and quantitative information across the following components in the framework* shown

STEP Stage-1 Fact File

Stage 1 - Private Schools Data Highlights

* A sample size of 4-5 students from each class were administered the ASER test on random, which tests for basic reading level and Math skills * Each classroom was observed two or three times over a period of two weeks. The data was compiled after 80 instances of observations across 30 classrooms in three schools. Each observation instance involved recording, on average 6 different observable actions inside the classroom. The observation check-list was non-judgmental and objectively kept track of teacher and student actions independent of grade levels and subject taught.

Stage 1 - Government Schools Data Highlights

* A sample size of 4-5 students from each class were administered the ASER test on random, which tests for basic reading level and Math skills * Each classroom was observed two or three times over a period of two weeks. The data was compiled after 80 instances of observations across 30 classrooms in three schools. Each observation instance involved recording, on average 6 different observable actions inside the classroom. The observation check-list was non-judgmental and objectively kept track of teacher and student actions independent of grade levels and subject taught.

Fact File – Govt Schools

Stage 1: Key Learning at School Level (all schools)

1. VISION &

MISSION

2. TEACHING-

LEARNING

PROCESS

3. PARENT

ENGAGEMENT

Schools do not have a

defined vision-mission that

drives day-to-day activities

Teachers pre-dominantly

use text-book based and

rote methods for teaching

Schools have some form of

interface with the parent

community

However, the parent

community is low on self-

esteem; they lack clarity

regarding student's

learning outcomes and

quality in teaching

However, in reflection,

School Leader is able to

share in a compelling way

his/her vision for quality

education and is self-

driven

However, School leader

and teachers believe that

with adequate space,

resources and additional

support, new methods

can be implemented

Our interviews and observations highlight significant gaps that must be addressed to enable any plan for improvement in the school system. There are six factors that have been identified and prioritized.

Stage 1: Key Learning – Government Vs Private School

5. ONGOING TRAINING

& SUPPORT

Skilled teachers capable of imparting quality lessons are a part of the school system. There is still a gap in the effectiveness of teaching-learning experience process for students

Government schools have formal feedback mechanism to analyze need for improvement, however there is no process for setting goals or tracking progress.

There is adequate training and support in government schools. However there is a lack of follow-up and follow through mechanism for successful implementation

6. TEACHER

SKILL Vs. WILL

4. QUALITY &

IMPROVEMENT PLAN

The private schools lacked any formal feedback mechanism to analyze school’s current status and need for improvement.

Private school teachers received minimal or no training support. Apart from candid feedback from HMs there wasn’t any additional support relevant to their needs

Most schools place untrained teachers on roll, who lack strong teaching skills. They seemed willing to learn but the pressure of completing syllabus overpowers their will

“Report(from stage 1 of STEP) was very clear. Got the real fact about the schools' performance in terms of teachers' skills, will factor and reasons for the teachers' positive attitude and otherwise. It helps the department to set up a minimal(learning level) goal for schools and teachers to be achieved in a fixed time span. Helps in motivating teachers, executives of the department to bring in the expected quality in children's education and all round development.”

Mrs. Amudha Cluster Resource Person (CRP)

Binnypet, Bangalore South Block -2

Department of Public Education - Karnataka 01 October, 2014

Stage 2: Identify objectives & Ensure successful outcomes

The next stage of STEP in each of the schools started with ‘Identifying Objectives’ and ‘Prioritizing Solutions’ Based on the first stage of STEP and the key factors identified, MANTRA and school team determine activities in each module or will pick particular tools that are relevant to their needs.

Stage 2: Key Activities in Private Schools

School Level Change For School Leadership and School Team

Initiate conversations with school leader, coach and advice to ensure he/she has the will, skill and authority to drive a positive school culture in demanding environment Engage in a series of interactions and knowledge building sessions with school team to co-create vision, goals and action plan for quality improvement and collective action

Instructional Change For Teachers and Students

Training and workshops to equip teachers with strong classroom & teamwork skills focusing on collaboration at planning level and teaching-learning practices within classrooms. Facilitate meaningful professional development for teachers, building up on their current knowledge-skill-mindset

Stage 2: Key Activities in Government Schools

Process and tools For MANTRA and School Team

Provide additional support with personalised processes and tools to build accountability, track progress and inform critical decisions at school and classroom level Plan forums for innovation, research and knowledge sharing among school leaders and teachers, across partner schools

Community engagement For Parents & External Stakeholders

Interface with and involve parents and community/external stakeholders to drive accountability and catalyse change efforts Integrate best practices and processes that will create ‘conditions for effectiveness’ across key levers to sustain long-term change efforts

“Mantra- NGO, is working with us since one month. I was really surprised to see that within such a short span of time they collected so much of information and suggested us in a positive way what best can be done for the school. Usually we think that some external body entering into school will result in interruption but in this case it was not. I am really thankful to them for taking an approach which not only suggests areas of improvement but also shows where the system is doing right. I welcome such organizations are willing to be part of the system to improve education.”

Mrs. Veena Naik Head Mistress(HM),

Government Model Primary School – Attiguppe

Bangalore South Block -2 29 September, 2014

Strategic intent: Year One

For Partner School For MANTRA

100% STEP school leaders should be able to invest school team in crafting vision-mission and goals for their school AND every school team should display the will, skill and ownership to drive a positive school culture in demanding environment

90% of all teaching staff at STEP partner schools should participate in activities and sessions aimed at building capacity and creating conditions of effectiveness for implementing a school improvement plan AND 70% of participants(at the least) should find activities useful and follow through with the action items

Design and contextualise an effective School Improvement Framework* for underachieving private/government schools, based on proof points and ‘conditions for effectiveness’ of STEP activities in partner schools Develop personalised tools and processes that enables similar schools to meet quality standards and outcomes indicated by national or state level quality accreditation frameworks** Benchmark academic outcomes for students and competencies for teacher effectiveness in similar schools through ongoing evaluation and analysis of teaching-learning process in partner schools

*MANTRA currently refers to the ‘School Improvement Planning Framework(‘© TDA) and suite of tools developed by the TDA - Training

and Development Agency for Schools,UK for designing various stages of intervention.

* * The SQAAF( School Quality Assessment and Accreditation Form) and KSQAAC (Karnataka School Quality Assessment and

Accreditation Council) list various indicators and sub-indicators for quality through measurement rubrics

Skill Vs. Will Gap

Setting vision and quality improvement goals (at school level and classroom level) to drive everyday actions

through collective of school team on ground

Process & Tools

Support school leadership (and CRPs) with process and tools required for tracking, analyzing and making tough

decisions that enables improvement

Parent/

Community

Create awareness of need for improvement in ‘learning levels’ of students among parents and policy makers to

mobilize actions targeted towards bringing in accountability at school level

Gaps Action Items

KEY GAPS & ACTION ITEMS

Quality & Improvement

Goals

School Leadership’s

Will

MANTRA’s Tools and Processes

KEY LEVERS IN IMPLEMENTATION

Develop Strategic Plan and begin STEP intervention in 4 partner schools Approach external stakeholders, including NGOs, Universities and government bodies for strategic partnership

Annual report and Team MANTRA step-back to review strategy Pre-work for STEP partner schools(2015-2016)

An overview of MANTRA’s timeline for the current academic year

(May 2014 – April 2015)

Pilot STEP intervention in 3 Government schools Ongoing intervention in 4 private schools

WE ARE HERE

CURRENT TIMELINE

Pre-work for STEP project NEED ANALYSIS of identified schools (Stage 1)

Partner with government schools Raise funds for Stage 2 of STEP Expand team and streamline operations

Charag Krishnan

Rishi Singhal Khushboo Awasthi

Anoop Erakkil

Santosh More

Medha Krishnan

OUR TEAM

Sanjay Purohit, CEO and Managing Director at

EdgeVerve Systems Limited,

a wholly owned subsidiary of

Infosys Limited

Sudhir K Joshi, Ex-Director, Finance,

Bharath Petroleum Corp. Limited

Swati and Ramesh Ramanathan, Founders, Janaagraha Centre

for Citizenship and Democracy,

a non-profit focused on

transforming quality of

life in Urban India

OUR SUPPORTERS

Adopt Two Schools (for 2 years)

INR 20,00,000

Ways,

you can help Connect us with like-minded people

Create corpus Fund > INR 50,00,000

Adopt One School (for 2 years)

INR 10,00,000

Do you believe in the social impact of quality education?

Do you think that an association of like minded people can actually change the course of history?

Do you feel that the time and the opportunity is right here and now?

Join our movement to ensure that every child in this country gets access to quality education. Share our vision. Help us grow & function and help us keep our momentum.

Raised INR 10,00,000

Goal INR 32,00,000

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

santosh@mantra4change.com khushboo@mantra4change.com (91)-810 586 1047 (91)-9731 789 611

For feedback and further details

Lets talk about solutions..!

facebook.com/mantra4change