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Learning Varies Significantly

Learner variability came up time and again throughout our discussions. Globally, enrollment is at an all-time high—especially in low and middle income countries (LMICs)—but classroom disparities have only widened. In India, students in the same classroom can be as much as in what they actually know—a gap revealed by large-scale learning assessments. One classroom might have students struggling with basic arithmetic alongside others working on algebra. Many students are first-generation learners, often without any academic support at home. As research consistently links parents’ education, especially mothers’, to children’s early readiness in literacy and numeracy, the gap starts before school even begins. Despite this, most curricula move ahead assuming all students are on the same footing, aimed at the "average" learner. In reality, few fit that mold: students who are already proficient get bored, while most struggle and fall further behind. Teaching to grade-level expectations, rather than actual student mastery, leaves many needs unmet. 

Barriers to Personalized Teaching

Our discussions kept returning to the central role of teachers. It was gratifying to see that the conversation quickly moved from how to hold teachers accountable to how to better support them in doing their jobs. Across contexts—especially in LMICs—teachers are often overwhelmed by large classes and limited resources, with little time or support to assess where students truly stand and respond accordingly.  

Another key theme was mindset. Without real-time tools, many end up overestimating the abilities of struggling students, often relying too much on their perception of a student’s intelligence when guessing how well that student will do on tests. In fact, the study found that “intelligence” even more than it explained students’ actual scores. This limits expectations and discourages individualized approaches, ultimately leaving struggling students with unaddressed gaps.

Finally, the group acknowledged that teacher preparation mirrors the variability we see in students. Some receive strong, practical training; others enter classrooms with little support and training, especially in under-resourced settings. The resulting disparities in instructional quality hit hardest in the communities that need great teaching the most. Addressing teacher variability, we concluded, is just as urgent as meeting diverse student needs. 

When Parents Don’t See the Gap

Another invisible obstacle? Parental misperception. Despite clear evidence of pandemic-related learning loss, surveys in the U.S. found that most parents believe their children are performing at or above grade level—nearly nine in ten parents reported this belief in a . Similarly, among parents who saw negative educational impacts from the pandemic, more than half (56%) believed these effects . This isn’t denial—it’s a failure of communication. If families don’t have timely, accurate, and understandable data, they will assume the system is working. When grades or report cards suggest “normalcy,” there’s no signal to act. But reform cannot happen without families, which is why they need better information and tools to make education decisions for their children. 

What Can a Real Response to this Look Like?

Measure What Matters, Quickly

Too often, we evaluate education programs only after the fact—when it’s too late to make meaningful changes. Instead, we need to learn in real time. While gold-standard studies like RCTs provide strong causal evidence, they are often time-consuming and expensive. To make faster, real-time decisions, one option we discussed was tracking student growth using Student Growth Percentiles (SGPs). SGPs allow us to measure how much a student has progressed by comparing their improvement with students who started at the same achievement level. For instance, if a student scored in the 40th percentile last year, we look at how that student’s performance changed relative to other students who also started in the 40th percentile. This method can be done with basic assessment data that most schools already collect, is easy to understand and compute, and allows for responsive, real-time decision making. 

Support Teachers

Teachers are the backbone of education, and when planning for them, we must always consider how they see their own role. With every tool or policy, we should ask: does this actually make their work easier and more effective? 

Several for effective teacher policy emerged from the workshop:

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  Set Clear Expectations and Match Roles to Context. Teachers benefit most from well-defined standards, actionable guidance, clear goals, manageable class sizes, and structured curricula—especially in low-resource settings. Placing effective teachers in high-need schools helps ensure that students get the support they need.

• Rethink Recruitment and Training. Traditional credentials aren’t always good predictors of success in the classroom. Performance-based hiring and hands-on, practice-focused training programs (like Teach for America or Boston Teacher Residency) can better prepare teachers to make an immediate impact.

• Motivate with Smart, Growth-Focused Incentives. Incentives are most effective when tied to student growth rather than years of service or advanced degrees. Approaches like contract teaching and pay-for-performance can help—if they are equitable, straightforward, and focused on what teachers can directly influence.

Crack the Code of Personalization at Scale

To address student variability, personalization is essential. True personalization means adapting instruction to the realities of each classroom—taking into account factors such as class size, teacher capacity, student readiness, and available resources. This approach is crucial for tackling the foundational learning crisis. With advances in AI and big data, meaningful personalization is more achievable than ever before. However, simply having more data isn’t enough; what teachers and parents need are clear, timely, and actionable insights into students’ abilities, needs, and how to act on them. 

Technology is often used to enable greater personalization in classrooms. Effective use means:

• Generating practical, differentiated content and activities based on solid baseline analysis.
• Delivering information in real time, in plain language.
• Linking data directly to classroom decisions—such as lesson planning, forming student groups, and implementing targeted interventions.

If data doesn’t help a teacher teach better tomorrow, it’s not useful. Insight must always come with clear next steps: What should I do now? What can I change?

Redefining Success in Public Education

Public education is the backbone of any democratic society—but its strength lies not in enrollment figures, but in what children actually learn. We’ve all seen students pass exams without understanding, teachers doing their best with misaligned tools, and systems mistaking presence for progress. But we can’t ask children to stay in school longer—into secondary or beyond—when we’re not doing justice to their time and opportunity cost. Learning isn’t something that automatically happens because a child shows up—it’s something we must fight for and design for.