Our projects

The World Bank Group

ACER India conducted a series of workshops to build the capacity of Nepal’s Education Review Office (ERO) in charge of the National Assessment of Student Achievement (NASA) in data analysis of large-scale assessments.

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Ministry of Education (MOE), Republic of the Maldives

ACER India designed the curriculum and developed course content for two Masters level courses offered by Maldives National University, and provided training on large-scale assessments to University staff and Ministry personnel.

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UNICEF

ACER India conducted regional workshops to strengthen capacities of state education officials representing 17 UNICEF targeted states on robust learning assessment.

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UNICEF

ACER India built capacities of Rajya Shiksha Kendra (RSK), Madhya Pradesh, and provided Technical Assistance (TA) to develop a technically robust and statistically reliable learning assessment system that can accurately inform educational practice and policy.

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Chhattisgarh State Council of Educational Research & Training (SCERT)

ACER India built capacities of education professionals (education officials, teacher trainers, school teachers, and subject experts) from across Chhattisgarh in high-quality assessment development.

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Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD) Canada

ACER India conducted a mid-term evaluation of the Teacher Professional Development for Quality Education (TPD4QE) project implemented by the Queen Rania Teacher Academy in schools across Jordan.

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CKS Consulting Pvt. Ltd.

ACER India administered Early Grade Reading Assessments in Read Alliance intervention schools in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and Rajasthan to evaluate and determine the percentage of Class 2 students who can read fluently and comprehend simple reading texts. CKS Consulting Pvt. Ltd.CKS Consulting Pvt. Ltd.

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UNICEF, RTM International, Department of Primary Education (DPE)

This project investigated interactive teaching in primary school classrooms in Bangladesh.  It focused on the effects of training programs provided under the Second Primary Education Development Program (PEDPII), which in turn focused on quality improvement in classrooms through the use of interactive teaching techniques. The study examined the extent to which these techniques are understood and used by primary school teachers.

This sample-based study surveyed teachers from 600 schools and conducted classroom observations across the country seeking to evaluate the extent to which teachers understand and use interactive teaching. The study was designed to investigate the understanding and use of interactive teaching practice techniques in primary school classrooms in Bangladesh, and the contribution of PEDPII training in increasing this usage. The outcome of the study included recommendations for modification/ further improvement of interactive teaching approaches under PEDPII, with a view to informing the design and planning of future program iterations. Through using classroom observers, this study was able to get inside the classrooms of a sample of Bangladesh schools and thereby provide direct evidence of teaching practices. The careful sample design and the very high response rate provide a valuable and sound baseline for comparing the impact of PEDPIII on teaching practice.

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Cambridge Education, World Bank, National Curriculum Development Centre (Uganda)

ACER worked with the National Curriculum Development Centre of Uganda to develop sample assessment items for an initial Year 4 Uganda Certificate of Lower Secondary Education (UCLSE) item data bank and a sample UCLSE examinations paper for eight learning areas in the curriculum. The new curriculum required assessment approaches that were new to the Uganda education system, in particular: criterion-referenced testing; inclusion of generic skills; and higher order thinking. ACER also contributed to Cambridge Education’s Three Month Completion Report for the World Bank focusing on assessment, highlighting achievements, and guiding subsequent work in this area. ACER’s team worked with panel members from Uganda to produce sample examination papers identifying learning areas including: Creative Arts, Techonology and Enterprise, English, Mathematics, Kiswahili and Religious Education.  The examination papers and item data bank developed through ACER support were a significant part of the Curricula, Assessment and Examinations (CURASSE) Reform Phase 2.

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Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and Wallis Strategic Market & Social Research

Facilitated by the Australian Council for Educational Research, the Australia Awards Global Tracer Facility exists to connect with previous recipients of the Australia Awards and to measure the ongoing impact and benefit of the awards in the lives and contexts of these recipients.

The Australia Awards Global Tracer Facility is a cooperative initiative between the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) intended to assess the development contributions and public diplomacy outcomes of Australia’s investment in the Australia Awards.

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Afghanistan Ministry of Education

ACER’s Monitoring Trends in Educational Growth (MTEG) program is a flexible, collaborative service designed to monitor the learning growth of students from early to middle years of schooling. The MTEG study was designed as an ongoing monitoring program with a focus on growth throughout the school years, in order to inform policymakers of the progress of educational development and to help target resources. Through this project ACER established a national assessment system for conducting national assessment of reading, writing and mathematical literacy for children in grades 3, 6 and 9 of schools in Afghanistan.

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UK Department for International Development, Cambridge Education, National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), ACER India

ACER is continuing to provide technical support to the Indian RMSA National Achievement Survey at Grade 10 beyond an initial consultancy. This work includes providing workshops for national staff of the National Council Of Educational Research And Training (NCERT), ongoing liaison between ACER India and NCERT. Follow on work from this consultancy involves developing a handbook on large-scale assessment in India and a series of How-to-Guides to support the National Achievement Survey.

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UNICEF

ACER reviewed existing analytical frameworks for conceiving the impact of social norms on education, and literature pertaining to empirical research findings concerning social norms and education. The project reviewed existing frameworks of Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Nepal and Zimbabwe. ACER developed a conceptual framework and recommended a program strategy to identify characteristics of UNICEF programmes that have successfully addressed cultural practices affecting educational outcomes, lessons learnt and good practices. The project incorporated a Design of Inquiring Approach that has potential to apply in different settings to address educational challenges concerning social norms and student equity.

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ACER Foundation

The study sought to establish the Sub-Saharan African refugee students’ high school experiences by identifying the complex and interrelated conditions that support or undermine positive learning outcomes. The individual responses from students offer considerable insights into how these students can be supported in reaching their educational goals. The study confirms that refugee students have many odds to overcome, such as low literacy in their mother language and English, and being in a new country with an unfamiliar education system. The study highlighted refugee students’ wealth of knowledge that they bring into the learning environment, including resilience, self-efficacy, high career aspirations, family expectations and high value for education. Recognising and valuing this knowledge would lead to more engagement and participation of the refugee students. These could help to leverage learning experiences and consequent learning outcomes for refugee students from Africa. The study proposes “a strengths-based model’ rather than a deficit model teaching refugee students. A strength based approach validates what students know, offers respect and confirms that they have something to offer within the learning environment. 

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UNICEF, South Africa Department of Basic Education (DBE)

ACER carried out an independent formative evaluation of workbooks and textbooks in South Africa for the Department of Basic Education (DBE), with support from UNICEF. The evaluation aimed to: contribute towards the improvement of both the effectiveness (including quality) and utilisation of workbooks and textbooks in schools in South Africa; and provide feedback on the performance of language and mathematics workbooks, to guide adjustments to future editions. The project activities comprised of three components:

1. a large-scale study drawing on a representative sample of school  looking at the utilisation and effectiveness of the workbooks and textbooks.
2. three school case studies for indepth study on the utilisation and  factors that impacted on the utilisation of the workbooks and textbooks. 
3. a literature review leading to the development of a quality rubric used for a desk review of workbooks and textbooks.

All three components of the study focused on Grades 3, 6 and 9 for the workbook evaluation. Data related to the Grade 10 textbooks came from classroom observations and the desk review. The findings of the project particularly the quality review of workbooks and textboooks, informed future publications of these resources.

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Results for Development Institute Inc (RDI)

ACER through the Centre for Global Education Monitoring (GEM) worked with Results for Development (R4D) to conduct a broad evaluation of the testing tools and processes of four citizen-led learning assessments - Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) in India, Beekunko in Mali, Jangandoo in Senegal and Uwezo in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Field studies were carried out in Kenya to investigate the concurrent validity and inter-rater reliability of Uwezo. Both quasi-experimental studies were conducted in Kenya with the support of Qdata Enterprises (the local implementation partner), the Uwezo regional office, Uwezo district coordinators and volunteers, RTI-Kenya personnel and individuals who had been involved in previous RTI-led implementations of EGRA/EGMA. 

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UNICEF, Malawi Ministry of Education Science and Technology (MoEST)

Supported by UNICEF, ACER is conducting an overall education sector review of girls’ education in Malawi, focusing on basic and secondary education.  It involves undertaking a situational analysis via desktop research and consultation with state and non-state stakeholders, to identify and document who is doing what in girls’ education. The objective of this research is to gain insights to inform future government planning and guide priorities for girls’ education in the country.

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Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Myanmar Ministry of Education (MoE)

Through a consultancy for DFAT, ACER research has helped to strengthen the Myanmar MoE National Education Sector Plan (NESP). Activities included consultations with senior advisers and MoE personnel to identify ways to strengthen the NESP, updating the situation analysis chapter and reviewing the public expenditure review report. ACER facilitated technical review meetings among key stakeholders to ensure that the process of developing the NESP was participatory and MoE led.  

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UNICEF, Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO)

ACER is providing technical support for the Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics (SEA-PLM) project.  This innovative program which covers all countries in the ASEAN region is led by SEAMEO and UNICEF and implemented by the in-country government supported technical teams. The program aims to measure Grade 5 student abilities in reading, writing, mathematics and global citizenship and establish a common approach to assessing learning outcomes of Grade 5 students across the region. SEA-PLM will contribute towards improving and redefining learning outcomes by providing culturally appropriate metrics and thereby towards a more equitable and meaningful education for all children across the region. 
SEA-PLM is being designed so that it can link to other international assessments as well as form part of the work towards the development of the Global Learning Metrics being championed by the UNESCO Institute of Statistics as part of its mandate to measure progress against the Sustainable Development Goals.

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