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“We went in favor of rebellion”: The decisions that made India’s Annual Status of Education Report (ASER)

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  • Goodnight, Melissa Rae

Abstract

The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) is a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) effort that examines primary education and children’s learning across rural India. ASER has become an influential M&E model, especially among civil society organizations in Global South countries. Created by the Indian non-governmental organization Pratham, ASER’s dual origins in grassroots educational programming and national policymaking have distinctly shaped its methodology and goals. This study examines the cumulative decisions that produced ASER’s innovative design through the narratives of ASER’s three main architects. The architects tell stories that highlight their design decisions—decisions that reflect not only their expertise in the technical aspects of data collection, but also their knowledge of India's context, cultures, and politics. The study concludes that examining the history of M&E regimes is valuable in assessing their data’s validity and usefulness for achieving educational equity and quality goals.

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  • Goodnight, Melissa Rae, 2022. "“We went in favor of rebellion”: The decisions that made India’s Annual Status of Education Report (ASER)," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:injoed:v:94:y:2022:i:c:s0738059322001067
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijedudev.2022.102656
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Abhijit V. Banerjee & Shawn Cole & Esther Duflo & Leigh Linden, 2007. "Remedying Education: Evidence from Two Randomized Experiments in India," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(3), pages 1235-1264.
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    6. Geeta Gandhi Kingdon, 2007. "The progress of school education in India," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 23(2), pages 168-195, Summer.
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    Cited by:

    1. Richards, John, 2023. ""Schooling without learning is a terrible waste of precious resources and of human potential" – The South Asian paradox," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).

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