August 26th is International Women's Equality Day around the world. However, achieving equality for women isn't just an issue for "grown ups". Sensitizing children about gender equity and inclusion in the context of everyday media messages and educational resources helps the learners appreciate diversity and alternative gender roles at an early age.
This commentary was written by Barbara Trudell, Director of SIL Africa Learning & Development, and Peggy Dubeck, Senior Literacy Researcher at RTI International
In high income countries, 9 out of 10 children can read by the age of 10, but in low-income countries 9 out of 10 cannot. This is unacceptable. The reasons for this shockingly low achievement are many and complex, but one critical barrier is the poor quality of teaching that far too many already disadvantaged children experience.
In May 2020, RTI examined early grade reading data from 27 datasets across 8 countries (which we have since updated to 87 datasets from 15 countries). These datasets all contained data for students in consecutive grades (e.g., grades 1 and 2; grades 2 and 3; etc.) and were used as a starting point for us to model the impact of COVID-related school closures on learning loss.
In international development cooperation, there is an increasing focus on adaptive management, intentional and resourced learning, and the use of learning to improve activity implementation and impact. Programs are being called on to incorporate operations or action research into their Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) plans.
