The United States Agency for International Development, the Department for International Development and the government of Malawi, through the MoEST, are collaborating to implement a National Reading Programme (NRP). This reading programme aims to improve early grade learners' literacy skills. Central to achieving this goal is building teachers' capacity to teach foundational reading skills that are key for successful reading and comprehension abilities needed for learning content across the curriculum. The NRP introduces teachers to effective reading instruction through the five essential components of phonemic awareness, alphabetic principle, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension. The NRP also includes oral language development and writing as part of reading instruction. The NRP aims to provide teachers and head teachers with training in how to better teach children in the early primary grades to read and write in Chichewa and English. The NRP focuses on strengthening teachers' skills and knowledge of how to teach literacy by providing them with opportunities for training and ongoing professional development through coaching.

The government of Malawi, through the MoEST, with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Department for International Development (DFID) is implementing a National Reading Program (NRP). This reading program aims at improving early grade learners’ literacy skills. Central to achieving this goal is building teachers’ capacity to teach foundational reading skills that are key for successful reading and comprehension abilities needed for learning content across the curriculum. The NRP introduces teachers to effective reading instruction through the five essential components of Phonological Awareness, alphabetic principle, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension. In addition, the NRP also includes oral language, development and writing as part of the reading instruction. This training manual contains: • A daily schedule, including training objectives, content of the day’s training, and reference materials. • Specific activities to go through with participants to help them understand the National Reading Programme strategies. • Opportunities to determine whether participants grasped the day’s learning through debriefing and exit slips. • A sample of an exit slip.

Presentation delivered at CIES 2017 (Atlanta). The Malawi Early Grade Reading Activity (EGRA), funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by RTI International, is designed to support the Malawi Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) in improving the reading performance of Malawian learners in Standards 1–3. One of the primary goals of the Activity is improving the quality and availability of pedagogical materials for early grade reading; to do so, EGRA developed a teacher’s guide with scripted lessons plans (SLPs) for classroom teachers to follow when teaching lessons in both Chichewa and English. A goal of this study was to investigate teacher use of the SLPs in Standard 1 and 2 classrooms. EGRA included teacher training and in-class support for teachers as they used the SLPs. Teachers received several days of specific, targeted training each year regarding phonics-based reading instruction and the gradual release of responsibility model (I do, We do, You do). They also received theory- and practice-based training in the use of the SLPs to deliver high-quality instruction and practicum sessions during which they delivered lessons to groups of current Standard 1–3 learners. The purpose of this study was to shed light on how teachers were using the SLPs in their classrooms to better understand the ways in which the trainings and the materials themselves were supporting teachers, and the ways in which the trainings could be modified.

Presentation delivered at CIES2017 (Atlanta). Providing teachers guidance, mentorship and encouragement in between formal, face-to-face trainings or coaching sessions is challenging. While school directors and other peers may offer teachers support in some contexts, others may experience difficulties, isolation or discouragement in incorporating new practices into their classroom instruction. This paper presents new research from a controlled study in Malawi that sought to extend in-person professional development trainings with a targeted communication campaign over a familiar, low-cost and ubiquitous medium: SMS text messages.

The attached document is a literacy activity titled "Find What's Missing" that was developed and used as part of the social and behavior change communications (SBCC) research pilot in Malawi.

The USAID-funded Early Grade Reading Activity has been active in 11 districts in Malawi, one of which, Ntcheu, has been selected for implementation of this pilot SBCC campaign. Having seen that the multichannel approach was successful in Senegal at promoting positive changes in households’ attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors, the pilot in Malawi is set up to validate/replicate those findings in a different context. Furthermore, the Malawi pilot will test two variations on the multichannel approach in an attempt to isolate the value added of community theatre as a communication and message reinforcement channel. In collaboration with the Malawi Early Grade Reading Activity, EdData II will implement two versions of the SBCC campaign in the communities associated with 16 schools in the zone of Kasinje (half will include community theater, half will not). Another group of communities in a different zone (Senzani) in Ntcheu District will serve as a comparison (no SBCC activities will take place there). In conjunction with the Malawi Early Grade Reading Activity Staff and a local partner organization, Invest in Knowledge Initiative (IKI), a baseline survey was completed in March 2016. The results of that survey are the subject of this report.

With funding from the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID’s) Office for Economic Growth, Education, and the Environment (E3), the Education Data for Decision Making (EdData II) project has investigated how to employ social and behavior change communication (SBCC) strategies to promote and stimulate home-based support for children learning to read. Recognizing that the dramatic improvements needed in reading outcomes in most developing countries will likely be achieved only through a combination of in-school and athome efforts in support of early literacy, USAID wanted to test how the lessons from successful SBCC campaigns in the health sector could be applied in education. Following an initial pilot SBCC campaign in one district in Senegal (see RTI International, 2015), EdData II initiated a second round of research—in a second district in Senegal (RTI International, 2016), and in one district in Malawi (DeStefano & Cummings, 2015). The USAID-funded Early Grade Reading Activity (June 2013–October 2016) was active in 11 districts in Malawi, one of which, Ntcheu, was selected for implementation of this pilot SBCC campaign. Because the multichannel approach was successful in Senegal at promoting positive changes in households’ attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors, the pilot in Malawi was set up to validate/replicate those findings in a different context. In collaboration with the Malawi Early Grade Reading Activity, EdData II implemented the SBCC campaign in the communities associated with 16 schools in the zone of Kasinje. Another group of communities in a different zone (Senzani) in Ntcheu District served as a comparison (no SBCC activities took place there).

Social and behavior change communication (SBCC) represents the culmination of decades of research and practice in the public health field, where communication has been a critical element of efforts to encourage positive health behaviors. A basic tenet of SBCC is that information is necessary but seldom sufficient to sustainably change behavior (C-Change, 2012). The methodology bridges the gap between awareness and action by influencing the beliefs that can block or enable needed behavior change.

The Malawi Early Grade Reading Activity (EGRA), funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by RTI International, is designed to support the Malawi Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) in improving the reading performance of Malawian learners in Standards 1–3. One of the primary goals of the Activity is improving the quality and availability of pedagogical materials for early grade reading; to do so, EGRA developed a teacher’s guide with scripted lessons plans (SLPs) for classroom teachers to follow when teaching lessons in both Chichewa and English. A goal of this study was to investigate teacher use of the SLPs in Standard 1 and 2 classrooms. EGRA included teacher training and in-class support for teachers as they used the SLPs. Teachers received several days of specific, targeted training each year regarding phonics-based reading instruction and the gradual release of responsibility model (I do, We do, You do). They also received theory- and practice-based training in the use of the SLPs to deliver high-quality instruction and practicum sessions during which they delivered lessons to groups of current Standard 1–3 learners. The purpose of this study was to shed light on how teachers were using the SLPs in their classrooms to better understand the ways in which the trainings and the materials themselves were supporting teachers, and the ways in which the trainings could be modified.

This article in AllAfrica (October 2016) describes the launch of the USAID and DfID cofinanced Malawi MERIT project, implemented with support from RTI International.