To Nudge or Not to Nudge: Improving implementation and practice to achieve learning for all [CIES 2024 Presentation]

The theme of CIES asks our society of academics and practitioners to confront the ways in which education is a space of debate and contestation, and how stakeholders both internal and external to education systems seek to effect change (or maintain the status quo). The behavioral science perspective is not new to international education. It has often been presented from different research perspectives, including teacher mental models of teacher beliefs (Saberwal et. al., 2018), and the social aspects of educational change (Fullan, 2015). However, recent interest has shifted focus on the understanding of education systems change using a behavioral science lens (Ajani 2022). This perspective is important as education systems programming is frequently designed without a true understanding of how individuals will respond to change (Jeevan and Hwa, 2022). The presentations present studies which examine teachers, caregivers, and instructional practice and change within an education system. What new insights do we have and how might they influence policy and implementation for education systems change? This deck includes the following presentations and authors: From access to learning to nudging: Why behavioral science might be the next new best thing in education improvement programs (Amber Gove, RTI International), More of this and less of that: How a behavioral science lens suggests alternative approaches to education program design & implementation (Simon King, Creative Associates), Peer-to-Peer Learning: The Power of Social Networks in Adoption of New Pedagogies (Elizabeth Marsden, RTI International), and Supporting Caregivers of Young Children in South Africa to Engage in Play (Carolina Better, Ideas42).

2019 National Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA): English and Filipino, Grade 3 [Brief]

An overview of the results of a nationally-representative Early Grade Reading Study conducted in 2019 in the Philippines. The full report is available.

2019 National Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA): English and Filipino, Grade 3 Findings Report

This study explores the extent to which mother-tongue-based multilingual education (MTB-MLE), as implemented at scale in the Philippines, is having an impact on students’ reading and writing skills in English and Filipino at the end of Grade 3. This 2019 study repeats a 2013 study that evaluated the reading skills of a representative sample of students from across the Philippines using an Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) carried out by RTI, the Philippines Department of Education (DepEd), and a local research firm. In both cases, the study was administered by RTI-trained assessors made up of local education authorities and professional survey researchers. For the 2013 study, the Grade 3 students assessed had completed lower primary under the pre-MTB-MLE curriculum, which used only English and Filipino as the medium of instruction. For this 2019 study, the Grade 3 students had 3 years of learning under the MTB-MLE curriculum, which was designed to teach lower primary students in their mother-tongue language before transitioning into learning in Filipino and English as mediums of instruction in upper primary. [508 Compliant version to be updated].

Nigeria Reading Access and Research Activity (RARA): Development of Teaching and Learning Materials for Early Grade Reading Instruction

This document focuses on the instructional materials for early reading in Hausa developed under Nigeria RARA. It documents the process through which the materials were conceptualized. The intention is to provide guidance to similar projects implemented by donors, ministries of education, non-government organizations (NGOs), and private publishers. The lessons documented are most applicable in contexts in which existing materials do not adequately support early reading instruction or are very scarce. While Nigeria RARA materials are exemplars of a research-based approach to materials development, they are pilot versions. Similar initiatives are encouraged to build upon this model and make improvements of their own.