Collaboration for Social Impact

Our team members have consulted for schools and informal educational institutions across India and South Asia to improve teacher capacity, curriculum, parent engagement, data driven decision making, and leadership, all towards maximizing student learning outcomes. Collectively, these projects served more than 85,000 students. This vast experience is being leveraged today by The AF Research Centre to provide pro-bono support to non-profit educational institutions in the region.
Bangkok School for the Blind (BSB), Thailand
Established in 1939 by a passionate American mother and educator, BSB is the first ever school established for the visually impaired in Thailand. Over the decades it became the most reputed and respected schools for the visually impaired not only in Thailand but around Asia, attracting partnerships and volunteers from around the world. However, the BSB Foundation Board was starting to suspect a steady decline in the quality of teaching and curriculum at the school over the past decade. They believed that their vision for BSB to be amongst the best school for visually impaired students in Thailand, was under threat. To confirm their concern, they reached out to the Acres Outreach Team to conduct a 360-degree evaluation or “needs assessment” of the school.
Dr. Zahedi, Mr. Iyer, and Ms. Jaffer visited BSB in 2019. After surveys and interviews with more than 100 stakeholders (students, parents, teachers, leaders) at BSB, and conducting observations of classroom practice, the AF team collated all the data and facilitated a “gallery walk” exercise for the BSB leadership team. Here, they studied quantitative and qualitative data on all key functions of the school’s functioning in order to make inferences about its successes and needs. The exercise concluded with a SWOT analysis of BSB followed by a proposed 3-5 Year Strategic Transformation Plan.
Hasanat High School, Mumbai

Established in 1978 under the Hasanat-Ul-Eid-Iz-Zahabi Trust, Hasanat High School (HHS) is a Pre-K to 10 school located in Mumbai. HHS aims to provide a quality education that fosters the development of each child to help them fulfil their highest potential. With a desire to continuously improve its educational services, HHS leadership requested the  Acres Foundation to perform a comprehensive 360-degree evaluation of the school. In the year 2022, the Acres Foundation team visited HHS to facilitate this evaluation process, which involved engaging with a wide range of stakeholders such as students, parents, teachers, and leaders. The evaluation process encompassed various methods, including diagnostic assessments, surveys, interviews, focus group discussions, and classroom observations.

These diverse approaches were employed to gain a holistic understanding of the school’s functioning from multiple perspectives. The Acres Foundation team and HHS team then evaluated quantitative and qualitative data pertaining to various operational areas of the school to determine its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges. A 3-5 Year Strategic Improvement Plan for HHS was created as a result of this comprehensive evaluation, and its implementation is being supported by the Acres Foundation Team.

Brilliant Stars School, Tripura

Founded in 2007 by passionate individuals from the Baha’i community, Brilliant Stars’ School (BSS) is a non-profit Pre K – 12 institution nestled in Tripura. BSS aims to provide quality education rooted in innovation and research. After more than 15  years of its operation, the school’s governing body felt the need for a third party quality evaluation. To this end, the Acres Foundation was requested to perform a comprehensive 360-degree “needs assessment” of the school. In August 2023, Ms. Radhika Shourie and Ms. Priyanka Venkat visited BSS to facilitate this process,engaging over 100 stakeholders, including students, parents, teachers, leaders, and alumni. They conducted surveys, focus group discussions, and classroom observations to gain a comprehensive idea of the school’s functioning from different perspectives.

Subsequently, the AF team analysed both quantitative and qualitative data pertaining to various aspects of the school’s operations to assess its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges. This comprehensive evaluation  led to the development of a 3-5 Year Strategic Improvement Plan for BSS, which will be supported by the Acres Foundation Team.

If your organization would like to avail of similar support, get in touch at socialimpactcollab@acresfoundation.org