© 2026 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank1818 H Street NWWashington DC 20433Telephone: 202-473-1000 This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank with external contributions. The findings, interpreta-tions, and conclusions expressed in this work do not necessarily reflect the views of The World Bank, its The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or currency of the data included in thiswork and does not assume responsibility for any errors, omissions, or discrepancies in the information, orliability with respect to the use of or failure to use the information, methods, processes, or conclusions set Nothing herein shall constitute or be construed or considered to be a limitation upon or waiver of theprivileges and immunities of The World Bank, all of which are specifically reserved. RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS This work is available under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 IGO license (CC BY 3.0 IGO)http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo. Under the Creative Commons Attribution license, you are free All queries on rights and licenses should be addressed to World Bank Publications, The World BankGroup, 1818 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20433, USA; e-mail:pubrights@worldbank.org. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Teaching and Learning Materials (TLM) Review tools were developed by Leanne Ketterlin-Geller,Sylvia Linan Thompson, and Alison Grimsland with important contributions from Linda Akach, Nurudeen The User’s Guide for the TLM Review Tools was prepared by Leanne Ketterlin-Geller, Sylvia Linan Thomp-son, Alison Grimsland, and Jeongmin Lee with additional contributions from Kathleen Mcillwain, Linda The team is grateful to the Government of Nigeria for the extensive participation of representatives fromthe Nigerian Universal Basic Education Commission and various State Universal Basic Education Boards.The team also thanks the technical experts and partners from FCDO, FHI360, USAID, and Jolly Phonics fortheir feedback during the initial pilot workshops held in Abuja, Nigeria, in early 2025. The team thanks the The review tools benefited from thoughtful feedback from Souhila Messaoud-Galusi, Norma Evans, RyanHerman, and Claire Wyatt, who piloted the tools across multiple contexts, as well as important contribu-tions from Jennifer Swift-Morgan from the Prevail Fund throughout the development process. We are alsograteful to the peer reviewers Penelope Bender, Margaret Dubeck, Huma Kidwai, Namrata Raman Tagnat- This work was made possible with financing from the Engeza Technical Assistance Fund and the Accelera-tor Program, a partnership between the World Bank Group, FCDO, and Gates Foundation,supported by CONTENTS IntroductionBackground and Purpose. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Overview of the TLM Review Tools What the Tools Do and DoNot Do. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 How to Use the Tools for Reviewing TLMs Overview of the Three Review Stages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11Stage 1: Conduct a Broad Review of Materials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 How Scoring Works14The 1–4 Rating Scale. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14Example of How to Apply the Scale. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 How to Interpret Results Summarizing and Reporting Results. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15Interpreting Broad Review Results. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 References and Complementary Resources Annexes Annex 1: How TLM Evaluation Tools Were Developed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20Annex 2: Procedures for Reviewing Literacy Materials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24Annex 3: Procedures for Reviewing Mathematics Materials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 Background and Purpose Across low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), an estimated 70 percent of 10-year-olds cannot readand understand simple text – a stark indicator of a learning crisis that predates the COVID-19 pandemicand has since deepened. Addressing this crisis requires comprehensive, evidence-based actions to Within LMIC contexts, structured pedagogy programs have been shown to be one of the most cost-effec-tive interventions for improved foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) at scale (Akyeampong et al.,2023; Alvarez Marinelli, et. al., 2026; Piper & D