Equity Matters in Foundational Learning Programs: The Role of Remediation/Catch-Up Programs for Struggling Learners

• In Event: Addressing Minoritized Populations in Holistic Education

Abstract

Children in many low- and middle-income countries are not learning to read before they reach secondary levels, a situation that has been exacerbated by the recent COVID-19 pandemic (UNICEF, 2022). In 2019, prior to the pandemic, the learning poverty rate was estimated at 57 percent in low- and middle-income countries and in Sub-Saharan Africa it was 86 percent (UNICEF, 2022). The COVID school closures intensified the crisis and increased learning poverty, worsening the inequalities that existed prior to COVID-19.
While several countries have invested in filling some of the resource gaps, studies suggest that increasing resources such as additional textbooks and teachers may not have a positive impact on student learning when students in the primary grades have not acquired foundational literacy and numeracy skills (Glewwe & Kremer, 2005). Moreover, in many countries the syllabi set learning targets and standards much too high and beyond the learning levels of students making it difficult if not impossible for students to acquire the basic skills they need to successfully navigate secondary and post-secondary education programs (Pritchett & Beatty, 2012).

Impact evaluations from many large-scale reading interventions (e.g., USAID early grade reading programs) provide data over time that illustrates the narrow range of children who improved their reading skills by what is often significant growth in the first year of program implementation. It is not uncommon for impact evaluations of large-scale early grade reading interventions to reflect 30-60 percent of learners unable to read a single word at the endline assessment. Remediation programs can address the skill needs of children not benefiting from the intervention by targeting skills at their learning level but without ‘tracking.’ The remediation program with substantial research evidence for its impact and efficacy is the Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) program developed by Pratham (TaRL, 2022). Not only does the TaRL program target skills at individual student learning levels, but by design each program adapts to the cultural and community context in which it is implemented. Data on the impact of the TaRL programs shows that both teachers and volunteers can be remarkably successful in teaching students to read in a relatively short amount of time. The TaRL programs are typically stand-alone catch-up programs that are not linked to a specific classroom curriculum. Several published studies on the TaRL program found significantly improved student outcomes for students who participated in the differentiated instructional approach advocated by the TaRL team (Banerjee et al., 2016).
In this discussion we will present a summary of several TaRL programs implemented successfully in different contexts, the common features of these successful programs, and which features can/should be scaled to address the learning needs of all children. We will also discuss what does not work and why it is necessary to unpack the TaRL intervention components and examine successful programs with a lens of positive deviance.

Author

• Marcia R. Davidson, USAID
  Presenting Author