SIMPLIFYING
TEACHING
TO MAXIMIZE
LEARNING
VISION
Every child thriving at school, as a pathway toward a more prosperous future
Learning Alliance partners with schools and Ministries of Education in Sub-Saharan Africa to bring evidence-based teaching practices into every classroom, supporting teachers to deliver an excellent education to every child.
We focus on cost-effectively scaling what works, drawing on strong, pre-existing local curriculum and teacher training structures wherever possible.
THE PROBLEM
Most students in Sub-Saharan Africa attend school but learn very little.
For instance, 86% cannot read with comprehension by the end of primary school. Math skills are similarly far behind.
Lack of basic skills holds back productivity, trapping people and countries in poverty.
THE SOLUTION
Structured Pedagogy is an evidence-based approach to improve learning outcomes by helping teachers be more effective.
Lesson Plans
Teacher Training
Teacher Coaching
Lesson plans provide simple daily instructions for teachers, to make it easy to integrate teaching best practices into their classes. Our lessons deliver phonics instruction - consistently found to be the most effective way to learn to read - through fun and interactive activities like singing and games.
Training and ongoing coaching help teachers learn and integrate the new approaches. Coaches observe every teacher in their classroom several times per term to provide tailored advice and encouragement.
THE IMPACT
Over 20 studies show a
large and consistent impact
of Structured Pedagogy on improved learning outcomes.
A nationwide, multi-year study in Kenya found an increase in learning of 0.83 standard deviations (SD)*. This is considered a very large effect size.
*Standard Deviations is the most used metric to measure learning outcomes.
There is high quality evidence that improved educational outcomes lead to substantial income improvements for participants.
The most-cited meta-analysis suggests that 1 standard deviation increase in test scores leads to a 10-45% increase in individual income.
Structured Pedagogy is one of the most cost-effective programs ever identified in education. For instance, the Copenhagen Consensus calls it a “best buy” in education, with a cost of roughly $5 per student, and an estimated benefit of $105 for every $1 spent.
2025 PILOT
We are running a year-long pilot in Uganda, working with 75 primary schools and 20,000+ students from Jan-Dec 2025. We have partnered with the Ministry of Education in Iganga District in Eastern Uganda, and are working with a representative mix of town/rural and government/low-cost private schools.
Milestones: Implementation and Adoption
Our team of 6 teacher coaches has trained >200 teachers and made >800 coaching visits as of July 2025. So far, we have achieved high teacher interest (92% training attendance) and adoption of our lesson plans (>95% during random checks). We have seen rapid improvement in teacher effectiveness after 1-2 coaching visits, with an enthusiastic response from most teachers. A key pilot goal is continuous program improvement; our coaches and HQ team collaborate each week to experiment with improvements to our teacher training, coaching model, and lesson plans. Follow our live pilot dashboard here.
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Impact evaluation
To evaluate our pilot impact, we are using the EGRA (Early Grades Reading Assessment), an internationally-benchmarked reading test from RTI. We tested a sample of 1400 students at the start of our pilot (Feb) and again at midline (July). Our midline assessment showed large, statistically significant learning gains at every grade level, with an average increase of 11 Sounds Per Minute and nearly 8 Words Per Minute, both key precursors to reading fluency and comprehension. See the full midline report here. We expect a final evaluation of students' yearlong reading growth compared to a counterfactual group by early 2026. Detailed evaluation plans available here.
Work with us
Thanks for your interest in working with Learning Alliance! We are seeking entrepreneurial, values-aligned staff who are passionate about improving education, and excited to build an evidence-based, cost-effective, ultra-scalable program. See below for current openings.
Seeking a highly-motivated, entrepreneurial educator to lead program innovation and delivery of exceptional learning outcomes. You will use learning data and in-school observations to develop ideas to improve our lesson plans and coaching approach, and pilot or a/b test these ideas to increase our impact on student learning.
Seeking a highly-motivated, entrepreneurial educator to lead program innovation and delivery of exceptional learning outcomes. You will use learning data and in-school observations to develop ideas to improve our lesson plans and coaching approach, and pilot or a/b test these ideas to increase our impact on student learning.
Seeking a highly-motivated, self-directed generalist to lead operations at Learning Alliance. The Operations Lead should be detail-oriented, resourceful, and excited both to deliver on key operations functions in a last-mile startup environment, and to develop scalable systems to manage operations as we grow.
