New Assessment Advances Insight into Early Reading Barriers
The ability to read and understand a simple text is the most fundamental education skill a child can acquire. Without basic literacy, a child has little chance of succeeding in school. But in many countries in the developing world, students enrolled for three years—and as many as six—are unable to read and understand a simple text. Most national examinations begin at grade four, with the assumption that students can read and write. Consequently teachers and education ministries lack critical information on student performance in the early grades.
 |
|
A staff member of the Department of State for Education in The Gambia administers the English-language pilot of the Early Grade Reading Assessment in Banjul. [PHOTO: Amber Gove] |
RTI, through the EdData II project, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has developed the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA), a simple oral reading instrument for recognizing the barriers that children encounter as they acquire reading skills. “This instrument, which reflects the research of international reading experts, uses simple measures: one-minute timed recognition assessments of letters, familiar words, nonwords, fluency and simple comprehension of connected text, and the ability to segment words into sounds,” said Dr. Amber Gove, RTI’s lead researcher for the project.
In a World Bank-supported effort, RTI led an intensive three-week seminar, in May 2007, in reading assessment methods for 30 education ministry staff in Senegal and The Gambia. The seminar included pretesting and piloting the EGRA. Senegalese and Gambian ministry staff adapted the instrument for their countries, administered it, and analyzed and interpreted the results. In Senegal, the EGRA was piloted in French and Wolof in 30 bilingual schools, and in The Gambia, it was administered in English in 40 schools.
“The lessons learned in Senegal and The Gambia will serve applications of the Early Grade Reading Assessment in other countries and help parents, teachers, and ministries develop more effective methods to improve children’s early reading skills,” Gove said.
For more information:
Amber Gove, e-mail agove@rti.org
Early Detection of Reading Difficulties in Mali
Under the U.S. Agency for International Development's Road to Reading Program/Programme Harmonisé d'Appui au Renforcement de l'Education (PHARE), RTI is leading an initiative to improve assessment of student literacy and numeracy.