Researching Accountability in the Indian System of Education (RAISE), 2021

RAISE focused on socio-economically disadvantaged children of primary school age in India, and conceptualised accountability as systemic and relational. It showed that multiple actors across home, community, school and bureaucratic ‘scales’ have divergent norms, interests and modes of participation that differentially shape children’s learning outcomes. RAISE adopted a mixed methods approach focused on themes of access, participation, and monitoring. Empirical work took place in Patna District (Bihar) and Udaipur District (Rajasthan). The qualitative phase came first: per District, the sample comprised 12 schools of government, low-fee private primary schools and non-formal types, grouped into a rural and an urban cluster, each of six schools (total n = 24; all Hindi-medium). We explored stakeholder perspectives using individual and group interviews, observations and focus group discussions which were thematically analysed using NVivo. Quantitative data were collected using a survey of representative stakeholders in a sample of representative schools (25 rural and 25 urban schools per District [n = 50 per State, total n = 100], although in Bihar it covered only 36 schools as a teachers’ strike then Covid curtailed access). Key findings included: accountability relations are everywhere bureaucratised in ways that preclude focus on children’s learning; underpinning assumptions about stakeholder responsibilities embedded in the 2009 Right to Education Act result in a misrepresentative social contract that reinforces power differentials; and state support schemes of support are weak in targeting the inequalities that impact on children’s learning.<p>Evidence of a ‘learning crisis’ in primary schools in the Global South has prompted significant concern over accountability in education systems. The RAISE project investigates education system accountability in India, focusing on children of primary school age who are disadvantaged by a range of cross-cutting structural inequalities that include gender, location, caste, and class. It advances understanding of accountability for improved learning outcomes for such children by conceptualising accountability as systemic and relational. In so doing, it departs from the established approach of isolating specific variables for reform. RAISE aims instead to show how multiple actors across the home, community, school and bureaucratic ‘scales’ have particular norms and interests, modes of participation and regulatory roles that shape learning outcomes for disadvantaged children - in both positive and negative ways. It does this by examining both the formal rule-based relations of these system actors, and the informal, everyday practices of accountability, which all bear significantly on progress towards India’s intention, under the 2009 Right to Education Act (RTE), to ensure free, compulsory, good quality education for all children.
RAISE selects three themes for in-depth focus of accountability relations in Indian elementary education: access, participation, and monitoring. It examines how these are taken up in different ways, and with respect to differing understandings of education quality and equity held by actors across the four scales. To do this, it adopts a mixed-methods approach, beginning with a qualitative phase (comprising semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and focus group discussions), followed by a quantitative survey to validate and extend the qualitative analysis. Empirical work takes place in two States, Bihar and Patna, focusing on two districts and within each, two blocks. In each block, a purposive sample of ten schools is selected to include government, private, and non-formal provision, to enable examination of accountability relations that surround differently positioned learners.</p>

RAISE项目聚焦印度小学年龄段的社会经济弱势儿童，将问责制（accountability）概念化为系统性与关系性的。研究表明，家庭、社区、学校及官僚体系等多个层面的参与者具有不同的规范、利益和参与模式，这些因素对儿童学习成果产生差异化影响。RAISE采用混合方法研究法（mixed methods approach），围绕获取（access）、参与（participation）和监测（monitoring）三大主题展开。实证研究在比哈尔邦巴特那区和拉贾斯坦邦乌代浦尔区进行。定性阶段（qualitative phase）先行：每个区的样本包含12所学校，涵盖公立、低收费私立小学及非正规教育机构，分为农村和城市集群，每组6所学校（总计24所，均为印地语教学）。研究通过个体访谈、小组访谈、观察及焦点小组讨论收集数据，并使用NVivo进行主题分析（thematic analysis）。定量数据（quantitative data）通过对代表性学校的代表性利益相关者（stakeholder）进行调查获取（每个区25所农村学校和25所城市学校[每邦50所，总计100所]，但由于比哈尔邦教师罢工及新冠疫情影响，仅覆盖36所学校）。主要研究结果包括：问责关系在各层面均呈现官僚化特征，阻碍了对儿童学习的关注；2009年《教育权利法案》（Right to Education Act, RTE）中嵌入的利益相关者责任假设，导致社会契约失真，加剧权力差异；针对影响儿童学习的不平等问题，国家支持计划的针对性较弱。
全球南方地区小学教育中的‘学习危机’引发了对教育系统问责制的广泛关注。RAISE项目旨在研究印度教育系统的问责制，聚焦受性别、地域、种姓及阶级等多重结构性不平等影响的小学年龄段弱势儿童。该项目通过将问责制定义为系统性与关系性的概念，深化了对如何通过问责制改善此类儿童学习成果的理解，这与传统孤立改革特定变量的方法不同。RAISE围绕印度基础教育问责关系的三大主题展开：获取、参与与监测，探讨不同层面参与者对教育质量及公平的理解差异如何影响这些主题的实践。研究采用混合方法，先进行定性阶段（包括半结构化访谈、课堂观察及焦点小组讨论），再通过定量调查验证并扩展定性分析结果。实证研究在比哈尔邦和拉贾斯坦邦展开，聚焦两个邦的两个区，每个区包含两个区块。每个区块通过目的抽样选取10所学校，涵盖公立、私立及非正规教育机构，以考察不同处境学习者周边的问责关系。