Improving Teaching and Learning

Progress made in improving access to education has not translated into improvements in learning for many children, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds and in conflict areas. The UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) estimates the number of children and adolescents not achieving minimum proficiency levels in reading and mathematics is 6 out of 10, or 617 million worldwide. The learning crisis is greatest in Sub-Saharan Africa, where 85 percent of children do not reach minimum levels of learning despite being in school.

Specific features of developing country education systems, including system capacity, governance, accountability structures and political dynamics, determine whether reforms result in improved teaching and learning. The solutions are not entirely technical and must consider cultural, political and economic dimensions. This discussion paper describes the challenges facing the Global Partnership for Education’s developing country partners (DCPs) to improve learning levels and reviews existing efforts to address those challenges through global goods. It identifies remaining knowledge and innovation gaps and offers a set of areas in which the partnership could invest through the new Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (KIX) initiative.