Reports

In order to obtain feedback on and confirm the validity of the draft Early Grade Reading Assessment, RTI convened a meeting of cognitive scientists, early-grade literacy experts, research methodologists, and assessment experts to review the proposed key components of the draft assessment instruments. During the 2-day workshop, participants were charged with bridging the gap between research and practice; that is, merging advances in the reading literature and cognitive science with assessment experiences. Researchers and practitioners presented evidence on their strategies for measuring literacy acquisition within the early primary grades. In addition, they were asked to identify the key issues to consider in designing a multi-country, multi-language early grade literacy assessment protocol. The workshop, co-hosted by USAID, The World Bank, and RTI, included more than a dozen experts from a diverse group of countries, as well as some 14 observers from institutions such as USAID, the World Bank, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, George Washington University, the South Africa Ministry of Education and Plan International, among others. A detailed list of participants, including expert bios and contact information can be found in the Appendix, along with a sample invitation, workshop agenda and Round Table discussion questions.

In French, with an English Executive Summary. Senegal is embarking on an ambitious reform program with the objective of improving learning outcomes for all students by more systematically using regional mother tongues as bridges to proficient literacy in French. The Renforcement de la Lecture Initiale pour Tous (RELIT) activity made possible by the American people through USAID is supporting the National Education Ministry (MEN) in the development of the materials, pedagogy, assessments, and teacher training needed to implement the MOHEBS. The institutional capacity development elements of RELIT are by design meant to complement these other interventions. RELIT is approaching institutional capacity in terms of the knowledge and skills of actors in key positions at each level of the system, but more importantly also in terms of how those levels relate to each other and the institutional environments within which all the concerned actors operate. This relates to how their jobs are defined, how their responsibilities are assigned and resourced, and what explicit or tacit incentives or disincentives they encounter in the day-to-day fulfillment of those responsibilities. Additionally, RELIT recognized from the beginning that investments to improve institutional capacity are dependent on the engagement and willingness of the actors involved to identify their needs and, on the basis of those needs, jointly plan with RELIT the actions that will best address them. Therefore, RELIT has taken the participatory approach described below to assessing and addressing institutional capacity development needs in the education system in Senegal. This report describes the result of institutional capacity self-assessment activities in the regions involved in RELIT.

This report presents the findings of a survey conducted as part of the Uzbekistan Education for Excellence Program. The survey aimed to assess the adoption and use of new English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teaching and learning materials (Grades 1-11) in public schools throughout Uzbekistan during the 2022-2023 academic year. The evaluation focused on the implementation and adoption of the Cambridge series Guess What! and Prepare, as well as their impact on student learning, as perceived by teachers. An approach, involving qualitative and quantitative data analysis, was employed.

The Uzbekistan Ministry of Preschool and School Education (MoPSE) has embarked upon an ambitious reform agenda to bring the Uzbek public education system in line with twenty-first century international standards and skills. This agenda is enshrined in several presidential decrees.1 The reform agenda includes numerous initiatives, including developing a new national curriculum framework and a laser focus on increasing information and communication technology and English as a foreign language skills through the IT Nation and English-Speaking Nation initiatives. Reform efforts also include participating for the first time in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) in 2021 and in the Program for International Student Assessment in 2022 (PISA). MoPSE has committed to reaching a PIRLS ranking of 30 or higher by 2030, but reform takes time and challenges persist. At the onset of the Uzbekistan Education for Excellence Program (UEEP), the teaching culture in many schools in Uzbekistan was still quite teacher-centric, with only a modicum of observable student-centered instructional strategies promoting critical thinking, creativity, communication, and collaboration. Basic reading and mathematics scores were within the international mean, but students struggled with reading comprehension and more complex mathematics.

The information and communication technology (ICT) baseline assessment measured current competency of grades 9, 10, and 11 students on the Program-developed materials that include standards, teacher guides, and use of the ICT student textbooks (STB). The Program customized the STB for Uzbekistan from an internationally sourced series of ICT materials originating from Cambridge University Press. The assessment was conducted with students across these three grades in two distinct regions (Namangan and Sirdaryo) of Uzbekistan.

To evaluate the impact of the Program’s reading and mathematics components, baseline Early Grade Reading and Mathematics Assessments (EGRA and EGMA, respectively) were conducted in November and December 2021. Overall, 1,623 grade 3 and 1,629 grade 5 students from 140 Program schools participated in the EGRA/EGMA baseline. Their performance will be compared over time as these schools receive reading and mathematics interventions for the first time. The EGRA/EGMA baseline was originally planned to assess students completing grades 2 and 4 at the end of the 2019-2020 school year, in May 2020. However, the assessment was postponed because of COVID-19. A decision was made to assess grades 3 and 5 students at the beginning of the school year in November–December 2021, as proxies for students completing grades 2 and 4.

To evaluate the impact of the Program’s reading and mathematics components on student learning, this report will compare results from the endline assessment against the values from the baseline assessment. The baseline Early Grade Reading and Mathematics Assessments (EGRA and EGMA, respectively) were conducted in November and December 2021. The endline was administered in May 2023.

This report summarizes the findings of additional analyses conducted to delve deeper and develop more insight into the piloting of the Self-Administered Early Grade Reading Assessment (SA-EGRA) and the Self-Administered Early Grade Mathematics Assessment (SA-EGMA). These tools were developed and tested by RTI International with the support and direction of Imagine Worldwide. Children complete these assessments independently on tablet-based software while in a classroom with their peers. An adult supervises the process.

This report summarizes the findings of an effort to develop and validate tablet-based, self-administered assessments of Chichewa-language foundational literacy and numeracy in the early grades in Malawi. RTI International developed the two assessments, known respectively as the Self-Administered Early Grade Reading Assessment (SA-EGRA) and the Self-Administered Early Grade Mathematics Assessment (SA-EGMA), with the support and at the direction of Imagine Worldwide. The assessments are deemed “self-administered,” because children complete the assessments independently in response to instructions and stimuli embedded in the tablet-based software. However, adults typically supervise the organization and conduct of the assessment as well as the collection of individual data from the tablets for analysis.

The goal of this study was to learn whether and how teachers in grades 2 and 4 were using the new ULA and Mathematics TG and STBs and applying the SCSs therein. The study consisted of two phases. The Program used Phase 1 results and ensuing recommendations to inform the development and finalization of materials and ongoing TPD efforts. Phase 2 results served to determine whether teachers became more proficient over time in their application of the SCSs embedded in the TGs.