Tushomere Hamwe Runyankore Rukiga Flash Cards

Chapter 5 of the book Cultivating Dynamic Educators: Case Studies in Teacher Behavior Change in Africa and Asia. This chapter critically reviews the design, implementation, and evaluation of an attempt to study an exploratory short message service (SMS)–based intervention conducted under the auspices of the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID’s) Malawi Early Grade Reading Activity (EGRA).1 The overall EGRA program, which was implemented from July 2013 to October 2016 in 1,614 schools across 11 educational districts, was designed to support Malawi’s Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology (MOEST) to improve reading outcomes in both Chichewa. and English languages among children in grades 1–3. The

The research involved a review of the existing literature on the contextual factors affecting reading outcomes and analysis of existing LARA and SHRP datasets. The analyses included demographic factors, such as socioeconomic status, but the focus was mainly on predictors of learning outcomes that could be potentially incorporated into future education programming.

Early Grades Reading in Uganda: Contextual Factors that Impact Reading Achievement

LARA’s Theory of Change places school climate in a central role for improved reading and retention.With aims to promote, a positive learning environment, eliminate violence in schools, and increase retention, the Journeys intervention is based on an awareness-based system change model. It engages teaching and non-teaching school staff, community members, and pupils in a variety of activities that promote reflection and discussion about the intersection between a caring and supportive learning environment, positive social and emotional growth and development, and learning outcomes. In 2018, the project embarked on a mixed methods study to evaluate the tenability of this hypothesis and the impact of Journeys in establishing positive and violence-free schools and improving retention and early grade reading (EGR) outcomes. In this study, project schools participated in both Journeys (see above) and also LARA’s EGR intervention.

This report presents key findings of the 2018 national assessment of early grade reading skills in Chichewa, a core language for reading and language development in Malawi. This early grade reading assessment (EGRA) for Standards 1 and 3 was conducted in June 2018 in a nationally representative sample of 86 Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) primary schools. The 1,720 tested students—860 Standard 1 and 860 Standard 3 learners, half boys and half girls in each standard from each school—were randomly selected during visits to each school. The results are nationally representative of Standard 1 and 3 learners of MoEST primary schools in Malawi.

The Government of Malawi, through the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) with financial and technical support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is implementing a National Reading Programme (NRP) aimed at improving the reading skills of Malawian students in Standards 1–4, nationwide. USAID is supporting the NRP by providing technical and financial support through three activities: (1) MERIT: The Malawi Early Grade Reading Improvement Activity; (2) SEGREM: Strengthening Early Grade Reading in Malawi; and (3) YESA: Yesani Ophunzira Activity (Assess the Learners). The funding for all three activities will end between 2018 and 2021, and one of the objectives of MERIT is to ensure pathways for sustainability of reading outcomes are instituted such that gains made under the NRP are sustained after USAID support ends. As a first step, MERIT conducted a capacity assessment of the education system in Malawi to determine the extent to which the system is performing a set of core functions that have been shown to promote and sustain learning (Crouch & DeStefano, 2017). These are: (1) setting and communicating expectations; (2) monitoring against expectations; and (3) providing targeted support to schools and teachers. The goal of the capacity assessment exercise was to identify the key areas and opportunities to strengthen the education system’s capacity for producing and sustaining learning outcomes. The capacity assessment exercise involved extensive research and participatory consultation processes at national, district, and school levels, and under the guidance of an Institutional System Strengthening (ISS) Taskforce convened by the MoEST. The assessment exercise reached 13 of 34 educational districts and included focus group discussions (FGDs) with district and school-level personnel and community members and interviews with key leaders at MoEST central office. The assessment team also reviewed key policy documents and plans. The assessment exercise was undertaken between March and May 2018 by MERIT staff with support of members from the ISS Taskforce.

The USAID/ Uganda Literacy Achievement and Retention Activity will implement an eight-week Social Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) pilot in Ssekanyonyi Coordinating Centre in Mityana district. The purpose of the SBCC pilot is to increase parental engagement in their children’s reading practice at home. USAID/ Uganda Literacy Achievement and Retention Activity contracted Development Links Consult (DLC) to undertake the baseline survey for the pilot with the purpose of establishing the pre-intervention status of the parents and teachers regarding early grade literacy attitudes, norms, perceptions of self-efficacy and behaviors.

What impact can a social and behavior change communication (SBCC) campaign have on parental engagement in their children’s reading practice at home? RTI International began exploring this question in 2014 by reviewing SBCC theory and how it could apply to the education sector. RTI implemented a proof-of concept study in Senegal in 2015, followed by a pilot study in Malawi in 2016 (Schmidt, 2014). Because the results were promising, the USAID/Uganda Literacy Achievement and Retention Activity chose to include SBCC in its implementation to encourage parents and guardians of early grade (Primary [P]1 to P4) learners in government-aided schools to read with their children at home. This document summarizes the results of the 2017 SBCC pilot evaluation in Uganda.

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