What determines FLN outcomes in schools?
Foundational literacy and numeracy outcomes depend primarily on what happens inside classrooms every day. The Teaching Learning Practices Survey 2025 by Language and Learning Foundation provides systematic national-level evidence showing that while assessments track student learning, they cannot by themselves improve outcomes. Real FLN improvement requires changes in how teachers teach reading, writing, and basic mathematics in Grades 1 and 2. School leaders must shift focus from assessment systems to transforming actual classroom instruction.
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Why are assessments not enough for FLN improvement?
Assessments identify gaps but do not close them
The Teaching Learning Practices Survey 2025 reveals a critical insight: national and state governments are tracking progress through large-scale school-level assessments of FLN learning outcomes, but these assessments alone cannot drive improvement. According to the report, “FLN learning outcomes can improve in a sustained manner only when teaching and learning practices for language and mathematics in early grades improve significantly.”
Many schools have invested in assessment tools that successfully measure which children struggle with reading comprehension or basic arithmetic. However, knowing about learning deficits does not automatically translate into better teaching. The survey demonstrates that without changes in classroom practices, assessment data remains just data.
The gap between measurement and improvement
The Teaching Learning Practices Survey 2025 emphasizes that the country now has “no reliable large-scale survey that documents how teaching and learning are taking place in early-grade classrooms.” This gap is significant. While several states have developed classroom observation tools, “the quality and utilisation of this extensive classroom observation-based data has been relatively limited.”
The survey was designed specifically to address this gap by examining how “children’s learning materials, teacher training programmes, and on-site academic support are getting translated into classroom teaching and learning.” This direct lens reveals where system-level efforts fail to produce classroom-level pedagogical change.
What classroom practices actually determine FLN outcomes?
Learning environment shapes student engagement
The Teaching Learning Practices Survey 2025 examined 1,050 classrooms across nine states between November 2024 and March 2025. The findings reveal specific practices that either support or hinder foundational learning.
In classroom learning environments, the survey found that in two-thirds of classrooms, children were mostly quiet and had few opportunities to speak freely or engage in conversation with teachers. This limits their language development significantly. Additionally, 73% of classrooms had children seated in rows and columns with no change in arrangement during observation, reducing opportunities for collaborative learning.
Teacher-child relationships directly impact learning outcomes. The survey recommends “strengthening teacher-child relationships in early-grade classrooms to help children become more confident, participate in discussions, and engage meaningfully in learning.”
Language teaching requires specific practices
The Teaching Learning Practices Survey 2025 documents critical weaknesses in how reading is taught. The teaching of decoding was not systematic, relying either on writing letters and words or just one activity to reinforce sound-symbol association and blending. This inconsistent approach undermines children’s ability to read fluently.
While 52% of teachers provided opportunities for independent reading practice, only 18% offered guidance and support during this time. Children need more than just time to practice. They require teacher involvement to develop reading skills effectively.
Writing instruction showed similar limitations. More than three-fourths of teachers gave writing tasks that involved only copying from the blackboard or textbook. The report states clearly that “writing activities should move beyond copying exercises to include meaningful opportunities for children to compose their own texts and express ideas and emotions.”
Mathematics teaching needs conceptual focus
According to the Teaching Learning Practices Survey 2025, only 28% of teachers used teaching-learning materials effectively for demonstration. More concerning, in 53% of classrooms, children did not use manipulatives at all. This severely limits their ability to develop conceptual understanding of mathematical ideas.
The majority of teachers (58%) did not use real-life examples to contextualize mathematical concepts. The survey emphasizes that “integrating familiar, everyday contexts when introducing and practising mathematical ideas can help children see the relevance of mathematics in their daily lives and develop practical problem-solving skills.”
When teachers did assign independent mathematics tasks, only 16% observed children’s work, corrected it, and provided feedback. Without this monitoring and feedback, practice becomes mechanical repetition rather than meaningful learning.
What does the survey reveal about time on learning tasks?
Student engagement remains critically low
One of the most striking findings from the Teaching Learning Practices Survey 2025 concerns how classroom time is used. Children remained off-task for 27% of total class time. When they were on-task, mechanical, repetitive activities consumed most of their time rather than activities that build deeper understanding.
This finding has significant implications for school leadership. Even when teachers are present and teaching, the quality of learning time matters as much as the quantity. The survey recommends that “teachers need to create a better balance between teacher-centred instruction and learner-centred practices.”
Lesson planning and delivery require improvement
The Teaching Learning Practices Survey 2025 found that most teachers did not monitor children’s work during group or individual tasks. While some checked written work, very few provided meaningful feedback or guidance to help children improve. This represents a missed opportunity for formative assessment that could actually improve learning.
Over half the teachers relied on asking questions to the whole class, which elicited choral responses. Very few teachers checked for individual understanding through varied methods. The report emphasizes that “during lessons, teachers need to use simple and varied checks for understanding, such as asking individual children to explain their thinking or giving children a quick task to demonstrate their learning.”
What should school leaders focus on instead of assessments?
Build teacher capacity in specific practices
The Teaching Learning Practices Survey 2025 provides clear direction for principals and academic heads. According to the report, 83% of teachers reported attending in-person training on FLN in the past year, and almost all teachers believe the NIPUN/FLN Mission is having positive impact. However, the frequency and quality of academic support varies greatly. While 52% of teachers reported receiving academic support, the remaining 48% reported irregular visits or inadequate support.
School leadership teams must ensure that professional development translates into changed classroom practice. The survey recommends reimagining “teacher training as continuous professional development rather than as isolated events.” Effective approaches include structured courses, demonstrations, guided practice, collaboration among teachers, and reflection activities that help teachers apply new strategies confidently.
Strengthen on-site academic coaching
The Teaching Learning Practices Survey 2025 reveals that academic support for teachers is often irregular and limited in depth. School leaders should strengthen on-site coaching through regular classroom visits by academic resource persons, cluster resource coordinators, or equivalent roles.
These visits must focus on observing classroom practice, demonstrating effective strategies, and providing concrete, actionable feedback tailored to each teacher’s context. According to the report, such support is “vital for helping teachers translate training inputs into day-to-day practice.”
The survey emphasizes that mid-tier academic functionaries need relief from excessive non-academic responsibilities so they can focus on instructional support. Cluster-level meetings should be reoriented as structured academic forums rather than administrative gatherings.
How does NEP 2020 connect to these findings?
Policy goals require pedagogical transformation
The National Education Policy 2020 positioned foundational literacy and numeracy as the country’s highest priority for education. This focus was strengthened by the National Curriculum Framework for Foundational Stage (2022) and operationalized through the NIPUN Bharat Mission, which aims to achieve universal FLN for all children by 2026-27.
The Teaching Learning Practices Survey 2025 validates this policy direction while clarifying what implementation actually requires. The survey serves as “a status report on the current state of teaching-learning practices, informing how system-level efforts translate into classroom-level pedagogical change and where further improvement is needed.”
Implementation must extend beyond current timelines
According to the Teaching Learning Practices Survey 2025, “policy support for FLN must continue beyond the current NIPUN Bharat Mission time frame, viz., up to 2026-2027.” While Grades 1 and 2 must remain the primary focus, the policy and programme focus for consolidation of foundational skills needs to extend to Grades 3 to 5.
The survey recommends broadening the vision of foundational learning to include critical thinking and reasoning, strong oral expression, and independent writing in language, as well as problem-solving and reasoning in mathematics. This shift helps move classroom practice beyond mechanical skill acquisition towards meaningful application to real-life situations.
What practical steps can school leaders take immediately?
Address specific instructional gaps
Based on the Teaching Learning Practices Survey 2025 findings, school leaders should focus on several priority areas for immediate action.
First, strengthen teacher-child relationships and classroom participation. The survey found that although 73% of teachers knew children’s home languages, only 10% used them consistently to enhance participation and comprehension. Schools should encourage teachers to use children’s home or most familiar languages strategically to improve self-confidence and understanding.
Second, improve feedback practices. The survey reveals that “feedback practices need strengthening through regular checking of children’s work, clear explanations of mistakes, and simple steps for improvement.” School leaders should observe how teachers provide feedback and support improvement in this area.
Third, address differentiated instruction systematically. During the observation period, only 30% of teachers used differentiated teaching strategies to support children at different learning levels. The Teaching Learning Practices Survey 2025 emphasizes that “providing extra attention and support to children who are struggling to learn after proper identification” is essential for reducing learning gaps.
Create structures for sustained improvement
School leadership teams should establish systems that support ongoing improvement in FLN classroom practices. The Teaching Learning Practices Survey 2025 recommends strengthening peer learning as a core professional development strategy. Creating opportunities for teachers to learn from one another through learning circles, peer observations, joint planning, and sharing effective practices can help reinforce training messages and support sustained change.
Schools should also ensure teachers have time for deliberate planning and management of independent and group tasks, particularly in multigrade contexts where teacher attention is divided. Nearly two-thirds of classrooms in the survey sample were multigrade settings, yet teachers working in these contexts often lack specific curricular guidance and pedagogical tools to manage multiple groups effectively.
Address systemic challenges with programme support
The Teaching Learning Practices Survey 2025 identifies three challenges that require systematic programme support, not just brief training: home language use, multigrade teaching, and differentiated instruction.
For home language use, states need to create clear curricular and pedagogical frameworks to formally include children’s most familiar languages in teaching and learning during the foundational years. For multigrade teaching, teachers need specific support for planning parallel activities, organizing independent work, using flexible grouping, and managing time across grades.
For differentiated instruction, teacher guides, training modules, and academic support systems should explicitly model how strategies such as flexible grouping, scaffolded tasks, and guided practice for small groups can be implemented within everyday classroom routines.
Why must school leadership prioritize pedagogical change?
System-level efforts depend on classroom-level change
The Teaching Learning Practices Survey 2025 presents a two-level framework showing how system-level enablers must support classroom practices. System-level changes include policy and programme support, pre-service teacher education, continuous professional development, and academic support for teachers. These enablers are necessary but not sufficient. They must translate into improved classroom practices in learning environment, lesson planning and delivery, language teaching, mathematics teaching, and time on learning tasks.
School leaders serve as the crucial link between system-level efforts and classroom reality. Their decisions about resource allocation, teacher support, and instructional priorities directly determine whether policy goals for foundational literacy and numeracy are achieved.
Long-term commitment produces results
The Teaching Learning Practices Survey 2025 makes clear that improving FLN outcomes requires sustained attention over multiple years. Changing established teaching practices takes time, but the evidence shows that schools making this investment see measurable improvement in student learning outcomes.
School leaders should view the survey findings as a roadmap for where to focus improvement efforts. The report identifies specific gaps in current practice and provides concrete recommendations for addressing them. By prioritizing these pedagogical changes over continued investment in assessment infrastructure, schools can achieve the FLN outcomes that NEP 2020 envisions.
The path forward requires school leadership teams to audit current practices against the survey findings, identify priority areas for improvement in their specific context, and create sustained systems of support for teachers. Assessment will continue to play a role in tracking progress, but it is the daily work of teaching that ultimately determines whether children develop strong foundational literacy and numeracy skills.
Report Attribution: All findings, data, and recommendations in this article are drawn directly from the Teaching Learning Practices Survey 2025, published by Language and Learning Foundation in December 2025. The survey was conducted between November 2024 and March 2025 across nine states (Assam, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh), covering 21 districts and 1,050 classrooms. The survey was supported by Tata Trusts and implemented in collaboration with Centre for microFinance, Educational Initiatives, Madhi Foundation, QUEST, and Vikramshila Education Resource Society, in partnership with state governments. The complete report is available at https://languageandlearningfoundation.org/