Teaching at the right level with digital tools: a large-scale quantitative study of learning gains and implementation factors

Résumé

Teaching at the Right Level (TARL) has shown considerable promise in developing countries, but we still lack solid quantitative evidence about how it works when combined with digital tools. This study evaluates the effectiveness of digitally enhanced TARL and identifies implementation factors associated with the best outcomes across different subjects and grade levels. We used a pre-post design with 1,152 students spanning 8 grade levels and 3 subjects (Arabic, French, Mathematics), assessing students with a 3-level classification system and conducting multiple statistical analyses, with non-parametric tests (Wilcoxon signed-rank, Kruskal–Wallis, Spearman correlation) treated as the primary basis for inference given the ordinal nature of the outcome measure, and parametric equivalents reported as a robustness check. The results were striking: TARL demonstrated significant effectiveness with a Cohen's d of 1.279 ( p < 0.001) and 75.2% of students showing positive learning gains. Fourth-grade primary students achieved particularly exceptional results with a mean gain of +1.472 and 50% reaching excellence level. Daily digital tool usage proved crucial (+1.011 vs. +0.604 for non-usage), and the combination of videos, audio, and educational platforms was the combination most strongly associated with maximum learning gains. Surprisingly, we found that lower student autonomy actually correlated with better outcomes (r = −0.614, p < 0.001), suggesting that intensive adult supervision was associated with better outcomes than independent learning in this sample. Our findings indicate that TARL with digital tools was associated with exceptional effectiveness, under the conditions tested, when implemented with daily usage, targeted grade-level focus, and intensive teacher supervision, with the fourth-grade model providing a practical framework that other programs may wish to pilot and evaluate.

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