This technical note provides background information on the design, selection, use and validation of a set of contextual measures at teacher and class levels which have been used in the Young Lives 2016-17 school surveys. These measures aim to provide data on teacher attitudes, professional knowledge, and classroom environment which can be used to explore how different teacher factors contribute to variation in student learning.

Children from low socio-economic status (SES) households often demonstrate worse growth and developmental outcomes than wealthier children, in part because poor children face a broader range of risk factors. It is difficult to characterise the trajectories of SES disparities in low- and middle-income countries because longitudinal data are infrequently available.