Rocket Learning: Evidence in Action

Founders of Rocket Learning, an India-based nonprofit which focused on early childhood education (ECE), received an invitation from MIT’s Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (JPAL), a development research organization, to test its intervention for ECE with a randomized controlled trial (RCT), the gold standard of impact evidence. Rocket Learning used classroom WhatsApp groups to provide parents access to byte-sized learning activities to help their children prepare for school. Since its launch in June 2020, Rocket Learning had reached over 50,000 low-income children in three states of India, in partnership with district and state governments. Though encouraged by the positive feedback from parents and teachers, the co-founders did not yet have evidence that Rocket Learning improved educational outcomes for early learners. They were elated to get the offer for a RCT in October 2020 but wondered whether the timing was right for the trial. After all, Rocket Learning was only five months old. Were the founders ready to do a largescale, rigorous evaluation and share the results publicly? If the results were negative, would it impact scaling? The founding team did not have much time in hand to decide.