In-Service Teacher Training for Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Instruction: Assessing Competency Gains and Classroom Practice Change in Karnataka

Abstract

Teacher quality is the single most important school-level determinant offoundational learning outcomes, and structured in-service trainingprogrammes that improve teachers' content knowledge, pedagogicalknowledge, and assessment practices for early grade literacy and numeracyinstruction are a critical lever in the NIPUN Bharat Mission's strategy. Thisstudy evaluates a 15-day structured in-service FLN training programmedelivered to 186 government primary school teachers across Grades 1–3 inDharwad and Mysuru districts of Karnataka, assessing competency gainsacross five domains — content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge,assessment practice, material use, and classroom management — through apre/post training assessment, and changes in classroom instruction practicethrough structured classroom observations conducted four months post-training. All five competency domains showed statistically significant gainsfrom pre- to post-training assessment, with the largest gains in pedagogicalknowledge (+29.4 points) and assessment practice (+33.2 points), thedomains with the lowest pre-training scores. Classroom observation datacollected four months post-training showed significant adoption of trainedinstructional practices in 68.3% of observed lessons, indicating meaningfultransfer of training to classroom practice beyond the immediate post-training assessment. Pedagogical knowledge gain was the strongest predictor of observed practice change. These findings demonstrate the effectiveness of the structured FLN training model and provide evidence on the competency domains where further investment in training intensity and follow-up is most warranted. KEYWORDS: Teacher in-service training, FLN instruction, Foundationalliteracy, Foundational numeracy, Teacher competency, NIPUN Bharat,Karnataka, Classroom practice, Professional development