Eligibility criteria for reporting against SDG 4.1.1: A discussion paper – GAML 2023

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 aims to ensure that, by 2030, “all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes.” UNESCO Institute of Statistics (UIS) is the custodian of indicator 4.1.1, which concerns the proficiency indicator referring to three levels of schooling: early grades, end of primary, and end of lower secondary; and two subjects (reading and mathematics). The indicator reads as follows: “4.1.1 Proportion of children and young people: (a) in grades 2/3; (b) at the end of primary; and (c) at the end of lower secondary achieving at least a minimum proficiency level [MPL] in (i) reading and (ii) mathematics, by sex.” The MPLs were formulated by a group of experts at the Consensus Building Meeting held in September 2018, endorsed by the GAML Fifth Meeting in November 2018, and approved by the TCG Fifth Meeting in November 2018. The agreement established a definition of the MPL and mapped the assessment programs suitable for the reporting and the proficiency level within each one compatible with that definition. Since then, the UIS and its partners have produced a number of methodological tools to measure learning in a comparable way, such as the Global proficiency framework for reading and mathematics, the Protocol for reporting SDG indicator 4.1.1, the Metadata document for SDG indicator 4.1.1, and a set of linking approaches to MPLs (Rosetta Stone, Statistical linking – AMPL-, Policy Linking, Pairwise Comparison Method), among others. To date, the Global Alliance to Monitor Learning (GAML) has not proposed the criteria for assessments in order to be eligible for reporting in terms of content coverage. This paper proposes the eligibility criteria for assessments that wish to report against SDG 4.1.1. They are based on the criteria in the policy linking toolkit (PLT) and the pairwise comparison method (PCM) toolkit, which were developed following extensive consultation with groups of experts involved in implementing policy linking across the world.