Teaching at the right level: A promising educational approach for Lebanon

Imagine trying to learn algebra when you’re still struggling with basic addition. Or being asked to read a text when you haven’t even mastered the alphabet. This is the reality for many students in Lebanon, where learning levels were already notably low even before the start of the economic and financial crisis in 2019. The 2018 PISA results showed Lebanon among the lowest-ranked countries in the world, with roughly two-thirds of 15-year-old Lebanese students across public and private schools not achieving basic proficiency in math, reading, and science.

Since then, Lebanon has faced compounded crises—the COVID-19 pandemic, the Beirut port blast, political instability, and conflict— which have severely disrupted schooling over the past five years. Actual and simulated learning outcomes indicate that this has resulted in significant learning losses, which will translate into losses in future earnings across the working lives of the affected students and thus affect the Lebanese economy for decades to come.

The impacts of the recent conflict in Lebanon are immense. The Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE) estimates that more than 550,000 students and 45,000 teachers were directly impacted by the conflict. More than 1,000 shelters were opened across the country, with more than 60% of shelters being public schools, TVET centers, and university buildings. Even after the end of the conflict, it will take time for in-person learning to return to normal in the public sector, which serves the most vulnerable children in Lebanon.

As MEHE and its partners develop and implement a response to the challenges facing the Lebanese education sector, there is a need for evidence-based, cost-effective approaches that prioritize foundational learning outcomes. The “Teaching at the Right Level” (TaRL) approach, which involves targeting instruction based on students’ current learning level rather than their age or grade, fits this bill.

A recent pilot of an adaptation of the TaRL approach in Lebanon’s public schools, which reached 3,686 students in Grade 3 and 4, has provided proof of concept for the relevance and promise of this approach in the current country context. The key findings are as follows:

1. The pilot is linked to a significant reduction in the proportion of students performing at beginner levels (Levels 0 and 1 in the graphs below) in Arabic, mathematics, and foreign language (English or French). This means that at the start of the pilot, about 41% of students in pilot schools couldn’t read words in Arabic. By the end, this dropped to just 9%, a 31-percentage-point change compared to only a 13-percentage-point improvement in control schools. Similar changes were seen for mathematics and foreign language, where the proportion of students performing at Levels 0 and 1 decreased substantially more in pilot schools than in control schools.
2. The number of students achieving foundational literacy and numeracy (Levels 4 and 5 in the graphs below) significantly increased in schools where the program was implemented. The proportion of students who could read and comprehend stories in Arabic increased from 12% to 42% in pilot schools, a 30-percentage-point change compared to only a 5-percentage-point increase in control schools. Again, similar changes were seen for mathematics and foreign language, with a larger proportion of students in pilot schools achieving foundational literacy and numeracy compared with control schools.Fig 1.a. AM shift students’ learning outcomes in Arabic Fig 1.b. AM shift students’ learning outcomes in foreign language Fig 1.c. AM shift students’ learning outcomes in math
3. The approach received overwhelmingly positive feedback from the entire school community. Students reported increased confidence in their abilities and enjoyed the interactive learning activities. Teachers felt better equipped to assess and support students at different learning levels, while school principals observed positive changes in both student learning outcomes and classroom environments. Importantly, the program integrated social-emotional learning activities throughout all subjects, providing crucial psychological support for students affected by ongoing crise_s.

The overall success of the pilot suggests that the TaRL approach could be a valuable tool in Lebanon’s education response to the challenges facing the sector. The TaRL method meets children where they are in their learning journey—essential when students have experienced years of disrupted schooling. It focuses on foundational skills at a time when schools need to prioritize the most critical learning needs during a contracted school year. Further, this approach requires minimal equipment and materials, and can be implemented via different modalities: during regular school hours, as part of remedial education programs, in non-formal education programs, or summer schools.

This pilot program’s success in Lebanon offers a glimmer of hope, not just for the country’s future, but as an example for other countries around the world where education has been affected by multiple crises. The results show that with the right approach and support, teachers and students can make significant progress even in the most challenging circumstances. Approaches like TaRL are instrumental in helping the Lebanese education sector not just weather the storm, but ultimately rebuild stronger.

Source: blogs.worldbank.org