Étude sur les habitudes de consommation de livres pour enfants au Sénégal : Rapport des résultats. The Survey on Children's Books Consumer Habits in Senegal seeks to provide detailed information on the behaviors and preferences of potential consumers of these books. The results will allow book publishers to draw useful lessons to better guide their offerings of supplementary reading materials. L'Étude sur le pouvoir d’achat en livres pour enfants cherche à renseigner de manière détaillée sur les comportements et les préférences des consommateurs potentiels de ces livres. Les résultats permettront aux éditeurs de livres de tirer les leçons utiles pour mieux orienter leurs offres en ouvrages complémentaires. Cette étude a été menée dans la dernière semaine de juillet 2023 par une équipe qui a mis en oeuvre une méthodologie articulée autour d’entretiens à l’aide de questionnaires détaillés avec les cibles suivantes : parents ou tuteurs, responsables d’écoles privées, libraires (détaillants et distributeurs de livres), gestionnaires de bibliothèques municipales, ONG, centres communautaires, collectivités territoriales et autres secteurs.

The research on first language learning is the premise for the Philippines Mother-Tongue-based Multi-Lingual Education (MTB-MLE) Policy which requires schools to deliver the Kindergarten to Grade 3 curriculum in the mother tongue (home language) of the school’s community (Corder, 1983; Walter & Dekker, 2011. Salmona, 2014; Yadav, 2014). Considering that the national curriculum requires children to transition to and learn in Filipino and English at the start of Grade 4, the question of mother tongue’s effect on second and third language acquisition is not academic, but central to the policy debate on MTB-MLE efficacy. The MTB-MLE policy consists of five discrete areas: curriculum, learning resources, assessment, teacher recruitment and training, and community support. MTB-MLE has proven challenging with respect to the myriad languages and dialects. Out of the 180 plus languages spoken, only 19 have been formally supported with an official orthography, standard learning resources and teacher professional development materials. In communities with non-supported languages, teachers contextualize the teaching and learning materials, often translating and adapting from the linguistically nearest mother tongue to their own. In a 2019 study on MTB-MLE, the Philippines Institute of Development Studies found inconsistent implementation across schools, including teachers’ negative attitudes toward MTB-MLE, linguistic diversity of learners and classrooms, and lack of teaching and learning materials being key factors hindering its implementation (PIDS, 2019). The Bicol Region poses a particular challenge. In an area slightly larger than Connecticut with a population of just under 4 million, thirteen different languages plus numerous dialects are spoken in the various provinces, cities and towns that dot this volcanic region (Lobel, 2019). The standard language of Central Bikol, which is the mother tongue of approximately half the population consists of six different local dialects depending on the locale. Wedged in the middle of the Central Bikol-speaking area is a cluster of five distinct languages: Rinconada, Buhi-non, Bikol Libon, West Albay Bikol, and Miraya, with only one or two municipal communities each that speak these languages. Under the USAID Advancing Basic Education in the Philippines (ABC+), RTI conducted a longitudinal study that provides new evidence on the efficacy of MTB-MLE. The study tracked the language and literacy acquisition of four groups of learners: those Central Bikol learners who are learning in a fully supported language; Buhi-non speaking learners who are learning in an unsupported language (ie, Buhi-non); Central Bikol speakers who’s language of instruction is Tagalog and Tagalog learners who’s language of instruction is Tagalog. The findings show evidence that the Central Bikol learners whose LOI is Tagalog are performing at par or worse in nearly all domains of reading in their first (Central Bikol), second (Tagalog/Filipino) and third languages (English). The findings show a flattening of their trajectory in terms of the pace of language and literacy acquisition, as well as significant equity gaps in comparison to their Tagalog peers. The evidence points toward continued support to MTB-MLE, despite the challenges in implementation.

This success story highlight the experience of one Uzbek Language Arts teacher in supporting the development of new reading materials for grades 1-4 learners. When she started working on the student textbooks and teacher guides, she found transforming Uzbekistan's approach to reading in local language challenging and rewarding, especially with the tremendous support of the international and local experts, who helped the writers to ensure international best practices guided the content and teaching methods. The result of their hard work, lead to the creation of books that inspire children to learn and develop a love of the Uzbek language.

The USDA-funded “McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program (FFE)” implemented by Mercy Corps (MC) in partnership with Research Triangle Institute (RTI) and the Borlaug Institute (BI) is a five-year project that is aimed at improving the literacy of school-age children and increasing the use of health, nutrition, and dietary practices among 100,000 students in primary grades 1-4 of 416 target schools and 100 public libraries in the Kyrgyz Republic. In May 2022, the USDA McGovern-Dole program conducted an Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) in target 50 schools. According to this assessment, about 30% of surveyed schools never hold extracurricular literacy activities with parents. Sixteen percent of interviewed students reported that they never read with someone at home. To address this critical issue, the USDA McGovern-Dole program is working with public libraries that are the centers for the development of literate modern citizens. The program builds their capacity and help them host events and activities that promote student literacy and a culture of family reading. Additionally, the program supports public libraries by providing them reading materials, books developed by local authors and illustrators, and methodological guidelines. The books are age- and reading level-appropriate. The methodological guidelines include community engagement strategies such as collaborating with parents, teachers, and community organizations to raise awareness about the importance of reading. The guidelines also cover organizing reading events, summer reading camps, book fairs, and literary festivals to celebrate reading and literacy. The project delivered about 80,000 Kyrgyz and Russian books to 100 target public libraries. Public Libraries are centers for the development of literate modern citizens. And to strengthen the capacity of the schools and public librarians, the program conducted summer camps in 64 target schools and 100 public libraries. More than 1,700 early grade students participated in the reading summer camps.

This study uses national Grade (G) 3 Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) data from 2013, when G3 students learned to read in Filipino and English rather than a mother tongue, and comparable data from 2019, when G3 students would have, according to policy, first learned to read in their mother tongue. The data were used to better understand the role of L1 complexity in L2 and L3 reading acquisition. Sample: 241 schools; 232 schools were the same in 2013 and 2019. Final sample used for analysis: 2,264 G3 students in 2019 and 2,267 G3 students in 2013. Children were assessed in Filipino (L2) and English (L3). Secondary analysis of the data set looked at reading performance and changes in reading performance according to language complexity.

This presentation was delivered during CIES 2024 conference. It describes a pilot remedial reading program that was conducted as part of the Tusome program. The program was focused on improving the foundational English literacy skills of struggling grade 3 learners. Treatment 1 took place in 97 public schools across 12 counties and Treatment 2 took place in 96 learning centers across 20 counties, overseen by 23 youth bunges (youth-led organizations). Teachers in the program were trained and mentored by a combination of senior teachers, Sub-County Quality Assurance and Standards Officers (SCQASOs) and Tusome staff. Sixty control schools were also included as part of the pilot study.

The Status of Instruction Study (SIS) aims to shed light on teachers’ knowledge, attitudes and beliefs, and skills and behaviors; the resources available at the school level and for the targeted subjects; and how these resources are used. The SIS was designed to inform the customization and development of student textbooks, teacher guides, and TPD approaches. Originally, the SIS was to have a school-based data collection component that would include classroom observations and parent and teacher interviews. Given the protracted challenges resulting from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, data collection was conducted remotely and focused on garnering feedback directly from teachers. As such one limitation of this study is that all data are self-reported without additional means of triangulation or confirmation at this point in time. This report presents the SIS methodology and findings from online surveys administered to more than 9,400 teachers from all regions of Uzbekistan, including the Republic of Karakalpakstan and Tashkent City.

This study is Phase II of a two-part Teacher’s Guide Uptake Study (TGUS) for ICT and EFL. Phase I was conducted in December 2021 and field tested the above-referenced ICT TGs and the addendum to the EFL TGs to determine, within a short period of time, what changes and adaptations in terms of content, instructional strategies, and design needed to be made before revising the books and submitting them to MoPE for nationwide printing and rollout at the end of Year 3 of the Program (beginning of 2022/2023 school year). TGUS Part I also served to test TGUS data collection tools, built team capacity to use Tangerine, RTI’s opensource data collection platform, and determine the current level of use of student-centered instructional strategies by ICT and EFL teachers. The purpose of Phase II of this study, conducted in May 2022, was to continue to track teachers’ use of the new TGs and their application of selected student-centered teaching strategies in the classroom. Findings from Phase II also informed the overall design of the ULA and Mathematics TPD approach employed to support teachers during the pilot of the ULA and Mathematics TGS and STBs in the 2022/2023 school year. For comparative purposes and to show levels of uptake over time, this report combines select Phase I findings with Phase II findings.

The Uzbekistan Education for Excellence Program (the Program) is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by the Ministry of Public Education (MoPE) in partnership with the RTI International Consortium, including Florida State University and Mississippi State University. Between May and October 2021, the Program conducted the Status of Instruction Study—Phase 2 (SIS2) to answer the following research questions: -- What resources do teachers use, and how much time do they invest in lesson planning? -- What resources are available at the school and in the classroom to support instruction in the subject areas under study? -- What instructional techniques are commonly used by Uzbek teachers for questioning, student engagement, student grouping, and student formative assessment and performance feedback? -- Do teachers engage in school-based community of practice activities? What opportunities and support are currently available to teachers

The Uzbekistan Education for Excellence Program is a 4-year program (December 9, 2019–December 8, 2023) funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by the RTI International Consortium in collaboration with the Uzbekistan Ministry of Public Education. The Program conducted baseline Early Grade Reading and Mathematics Assessments (EGRA and EGMA, respectively) in November and December 2021. The purpose of the baseline was to measure the pre-intervention levels of mathematics and Uzbek language reading achievement for students at the end of grade 2 and grade 4.