Use of educational resources based on the literacy model: Linguistic profile in western highlands of Guatemala

• In Event: Development of open educational resources: a sustainability model for literacy in bilingual environments

Proposal

This paper will present monitoring results of the use of the materials developed in this project by teachers and students. Particularly, the paper will discuss the use of the linguistic profile. This assessment material developed under the project using principles of the OER approach and a universal design has been successfully implemented in classrooms and has been adopted by the MoE to orient teachers in the appropriate language of instruction.
USAID Lifelong Learning designs and produces materials to implement literacy model in bilingual and intercultural environments. It is expected that the OER approach and the universal design strategy, results in adoption of materials by the MoE as part of national reading interventions, as well as in use of materials by teachers to improve teaching practices and student learning.
Accordingly, the use by teachers of materials developed by the project has been monitored since 2014 through a self-reported questionnaire. Data has been collected annually, as part of the longitudinal study of learning to read. The questionnaire includes the collection of materials developed and distributed by up to date by LLL project and the MoE. The collection of materials includes those that support teacher training, materials to teach reading in various languages, and reading materials for students. Materials that support teacher training include reference books that organize literature on learning to read in bilingual settings; teaching materials to implement the EBI model in the classroom include flipcharts, big books and assessment tools for linguistic and reading competences, such as Curriculum-Based Assessment and Linguistic Profiling. Finally, student materials include leveled books, story collections and games to practice letter sounds and vocabulary. Since 2016, 300 collections or kits of materials have been distributed through different technical delivery activities.
In addition to the presence of materials in the school, the project has investigated the use of crucial materials within the EBI Model. One of these materials is the linguistic profile. This tool is a diagnostic assessment one with which teachers determine the language of instruction in their classrooms, particularly in preprimary and first primary. This tool has been delivered to teachers through the training programs that the project implements with partner universities, as well as through special events with the MoE. For this reason, it is expected that teachers in the Western Highlands use the linguistic profile to determine the linguistic capacities of their students. The use of the linguistic profile was studied through a qualitative study in which 32 teachers were interviewed in-depth about the use they gave to this tool.

Author

• Leslie Vanessa Rosales de Veliz, Juarez and Associates