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In recent years, much attention has been given to extremely poor levels of learning outcomes in low-and lower-middle income countries. Citizen-led assessments have played a vital role in highlighting this "learning crisis." Having developed these citizen-led assessments, members of the People's Action for Learning (PAL) Network are now increasingly devising and implementing actions aimed at tackling the learning crisis in different country contexts. This article documents the process we undertook of developing theories of change with PAL Network members across 10 countries to inform their shift from assessment of children's learning to action aimed at raising learning outcomes. The article highlights, in particular, the importance for theories of change to take account of context in identifying appropriate actions. Based on their country circumstances, the actions identified by PAL Network members vary, for example, from using assessment data to influence national government reform, to more localized activities associated with "teaching at the right level." For appropriate actions to tackle the learning crisis to be identified and successfully implemented, an important lesson from the PAL Network experience is the need to enable South-to-South learning and adaptation. As such, the article highlights a pressing need for flexible and iterative theories of change that reflect contextual realities.

A contentious debate in academic as well as policy circles relates to the growth in private schooling in the Global South. While proponents highlight the superior learning outcomes of pupils in private schools, others have argued that this is merely a reflection of the more advantaged family background of private school pupils, rather than an effect of private schooling itself. We contribute to this debate by providing estimates derived from household fixed-effect models, which control for any observed or unobserved differences between government and private school pupils at the household level. We argue that these can be interpreted as an upper bound estimate of the effect of private schooling on learning. We rely on large-scale, comparable household survey data from Kenya, Uganda, India, and Pakistan, focusing on children enrolled in grades 2-6 of primary school. Private school attendance ranges from 12 percent in Kenya to 33 percent in rural India, with substantial within-household variation. The findings show that controlling for family background almost eliminates the positive effect of private schooling in rural Pakistan and reduces it by around half in rural India, Kenya, and Uganda, to about a quarter of a standard deviation. Subgroup analyses show that the effect of private schooling is similar for children from poor and wealthier families. We argue that the benefits of private schooling are unlikely to outweigh its social costs.

Globally, access to higher education has increased, but inequalities by socio-economic background remain. This article explores the relationship between early schooling opportunities (and learning) and progression into higher education in four low and middle-income countries. We analyse data from the Young Lives longitudinal study, following cohorts of young people from age 5 to 22 in four country settings: Ethiopia, Peru, Vietnam and India. We reveal wide variability in higher education participation between the four countries, with a common pattern of a very strong association between early learning and later higher education participation, even after allowing for a range of demographic characteristics. Whilst early learning is important in predicting later higher education participation, we also find that significant barriers to higher education participation remain for low socio-economic status groups, even if they initially show good levels of learning. We track the trajectories of children who have initial good levels of learning, and hence arguably the potential to progress to higher education, and assess the extent to which socio-economic background plays a mediating role in these trajectories. Pupils with initially good levels of learning at primary school age, but who are from poor backgrounds, fall back in terms of their relative attainment during secondary schooling years. This implies that socio-economic status continues to be a barrier to educational attainment throughout these children's lives. We discuss the implications of these findings for policy initiatives aimed at narrowing inequalities in higher education access in poorer countries.

Quantifying the impact of teaching quality on pupil learning, and understanding what teacher characteristics or practices are likely to improve student achievement, are pressing research questions in all countries. Empirical evidence also needs to be context specific since different education systems are likely to have different facilitators and barriers to good teaching. Existing evidence, largely from the US, suggests a number of strong research designs that enable researchers to model the impact of teaching on pupil achievement. However, operationalising these models in more resource-constrained contexts is challenging. In this paper we describe our attempt to model the impact of teachers and their practices on pupil achievement using the quantitative data generated for this research (household and school surveys with a teacher survey and an attempt to assess teacher knowledge). We describe the challenges when trying to implement this approach in the Indian and Pakistan context and the methodological adaptions needed. We reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of our approach. We note that existing literature tends to provide relatively minimal descriptions of the specific research design and instruments used to model teacher quality and hence provides a partial picture of methodological considerations. In this paper we contribute a detailed and frank account of developing a workable research design and the challenges we encountered.

It is increasingly recognized that there is a global learning crisis. This article investigates this learning crisis through a comparative analysis of rural India and Pakistan. Using data from each country's Annual Status of Education Report, it demonstrates that socioeconomic status and gender are important determinants of whether children are in school, the type of school they attend, and whether they are learning. While learning varies across schools, socioeconomic disparities predominate: disadvantaged children in private schools are learning less than more advantaged children in government schools. Gender also plays an important role, with disparities between boys and girls most pronounced among poorer children in Pakistan. In addition, while private tuition improves learning for all children, it does not resolve socioeconomic and gender disparities. The study indicates that policymakers need to focus on government schools since that is where most of the poorest children study and where learning levels are lowest. The fact that more advantaged children are learning in government schools indicates the role that such schools can play in education.

This paper focuses on approaches by non-government organisations (NGOs) to reach primary school-aged children excluded from access to the conventional state education system. It highlights recent shifts in international literature and agency priorities from the portrayal of NGO provision as a (non-formal) "alternative" to (formal) state schooling, towards developing approaches for "complementary" provision. This shift is occurring as a means of making progress towards achieving Education for All (EFA) goals. The paper then compares these international trends with attention paid to NGO provision in national education plans across four countries (Bangladesh, India, Ethiopia and Ghana). Based on the analysis of international and national approaches, the paper argues that NGO provision continues to be seen as "second-best" to state schooling, with state schooling remaining the focus of attention for EFA. (Contains 3 tables and 4 notes.)

Using a large-scale household survey, we investigate how disparities in learning change over the primary school cycle. Even controlling for other factors, household wealth and parental schooling drive sizeable gaps in learning, increasing in magnitude over the school grades. Gender gaps also widen, although only among the poorest. In contrast to other countries, overage status is positively associated with learning early on, but its importance dissipates by later grades. While the importance of factors varies across states, household wealth predominates. The analysis highlights the importance of tackling disadvantage associated with poverty early, to avoid its effects on learning becoming entrenched. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is increasingly recognized that there is a global learning crisis. This article investigates this learning crisis through a comparative analysis of rural India and Pakistan. Using data from each country's Annual Status of Education Report, it demonstrates that socioeconomic status and gender are important determinants of whether children are in school, the type of school they attend, and whether they are learning. While learning varies across schools, socioeconomic disparities predominate: disadvantaged children in private schools are learning less than more advantaged children in government schools. Gender also plays an important role, with disparities between boys and girls most pronounced among poorer children in Pakistan. In addition, while private tuition improves learning for all children, it does not resolve socioeconomic and gender disparities. The study indicates that policymakers need to focus on government schools since that is where most of the poorest children study and where learning levels are lowest. The fact that more advantaged children are learning in government schools indicates the role that such schools can play in education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY It is often assumed that non-government education providers prefer to operate without 'interference' from government. However, in practice, they inevitably need to form relationships. There is also a common view that non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have to choose between service delivery and advocacy. As this article shows, these objectives are often not independent of each other. Drawing on evidence from established national non-government education providers in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, the article identifies different strategies adopted in balancing their service delivery and advocacy objectives. In all cases, the NGOs find ways to ensure a cooperative rather than conflictual relationship with government to pursue their goals. Strategies vary according to the strength of the national policy context, the formality of the relationship and the degree of dependence on funding sources, with the latter being most influential. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY This article introduces a special issue on relations between governments and non-government organisations (NGOs) that collaborate in improving public service provision in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. NGOs are the focus because, although they are far from being the main non-state service provider, they are the sector most likely to enter into collaboration with governments. However, such collaboration is often thought to lead to the loss of NGO autonomy and capacity for independent public action. This article analyses the factors that have led to the growth of NGO service provision and to the call for their partnership with the government. It then describes the theoretical approach and the research framework on which the special issue is based. The approach considers the institutional and organisational constraints to which NGOs subject themselves by entering into relations with governments and also their capacity for 'strategic choice' in the exercise of influence. Lastly, the article summarises the contributions to this special issue and relates them to the wider literature. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]