Exploring AI-Enabled Teacher Development in Low-Capacity Settings: Early Signals from OxTrack

Teacher effectiveness is a major driver of student learning. Yet, many low-capacity education systems struggle to deliver consistent, high-quality teacher development. In places like Nigeria, weak pre-service and in-service teacher training programs and difficulty attracting strong candidates into teaching profession highlight the urgent need for innovative solutions.

While School Support Officers (SSOs) are in place to provide guidance, they often lack the training needed to offer effective coaching and mentoring. Traditional teacher training programs have proven costly and have failed to reach the majority of teachers, with female and younger educators being the least likely to participate. The advent of low-cost educational technology (EdTech) presents a promising opportunity to bring professional development directly to schools and empower teachers to enhance their pedagogical skills.

One such innovation is OxTrack, an AI-supported assessment and coaching platform developed by researchers at the University of Oxford. Designed specifically for low-resource environments, OxTrack was recently piloted in Kenya, Somalia, and Nigeria, and the early results are encouraging. The platform shows strong potential for diagnosing teacher competencies, providing individualized feedback, and empowering SSOs to deliver targeted support, all while ensuring equity and cost-effectiveness at scale.

How OxTrack Works: A Cycle of Growth

OxTrack structures teacher development around a cyclical process—assess, track, and grow—facilitated through four progressive assessments administered sequentially. These assessments probe six core domains of professional knowledge: (i) Classroom Teaching; (ii) Knowledge of Learning; (iii) Assessment Strategies; (iv) Pedagogical Content Knowledge; (v) Using Data to Diversify Teaching; and (vi) Feedback and Learning Progression.

From these assessments, the platform generates actionable insights. For example, if a teacher demonstrates strength in tracking reading development but struggles with recording specific data, OxTrack provides practical feedback, such as using rating scales for fluency or taking notes on common areas of student difficulty.

The platform also includes an AI tutor, OxTut, which helps teachers: (i) Reflect more deeply on their assessment responses; (ii) Access micro-learning activities tailored to their needs; (iii) Discover evidence-informed teaching strategies; and (iv) Set professional goals and track their progress.

If validated at scale, these features could revolutionize professional development by aligning it with the immediate needs of the classroom while respecting the time constraints teachers face.

Strengthening School Support Officers

OxTrack also equips SSOs with granular data to help them prioritize their coaching time and deepen their mentoring conversations. This enables them to move from generic guidance to data-informed coaching and collaborative action-planning with teachers. The success of this model, however, depends on SSO capacity, manageable workloads, and systemic support, including adequate training, scheduling, and reliable connectivity.

Early Experience in Nigeria

The OxTrack pilot was integrated into the World Bank-supported Better Education Service Delivery for All – Additional Financing (BESDA-AF) program. The pilot was implemented in Abuja FCT as well as three Nigerian states—Oyo, Adamawa, and Katsina—and registered over 22720 users, with nearly 5000  teachers completing the initial assessments.

The platform successfully generated system-level snapshots of teacher competencies, such as average scores by state and gender, while also providing individualized feedback. SSOs once mapped with the teachers completing these assessments, will be able to use this teacher-level data to track progress and plan their coaching sessions.

These early signals demonstrate the feasibility of implementing such a tool in resource-constrained settings. It is important to note that this pilot was not designed to measure causal impacts on teaching quality or student learning; further research is needed to assess the platform's effectiveness, equity of access, data privacy, and overall value.

Potential for System-Level Impact

If future evaluations confirm positive effects, platforms like OxTrack could help education systems:

• Diagnose teacher development needs at scale.

• Target professional development and coaching more efficiently.

• Track progress to enable adaptive and responsive management.

• Provide customized learning materials to support teacher development

Conclusion: AI-enabled tools like OxTrack have shown significant potential in diagnosing and supporting teacher development where it's needed most. The pilot in Nigeria proves that implementing such tools is feasible, but realizing their full impact is a human challenge, not just a technical one. It requires a collaborative spirit among ministries, innovators, and the educators on the front lines.

Platforms like OxTrack challenge us to move beyond one-size-fits-all training to a model that is personalized, data-driven, and truly empowering. As we stand at the intersection of education and AI, the critical question is: What is the full potential of this technology to transform learning ecosystems? The answer will be found through bold partnerships, a commitment to rigorous evaluation, and an unwavering focus on the teachers and students at the heart of our mission.

We can also add some quotes from Teacher, SSOs, or other education officials to relay their perspectives 

Teacher Perspective: “[Insert quote from a teacher in Oyo, Adamawa, or Katsina about their experience using OxTrack to identify areas for growth and improve their teaching practice.]” 

SSO / Teacher Trainer or education official Perspective: “[Insert quote from an SSO on how OxTrack data helped them provide more targeted and effective coaching to teachers.]”

Mahesh Dahal

Education Economist

Education Global Practice

Western and Central Africa Region