A USAID toolkit for contextual inquiry and understanding for literacy interventions: The Literacy Landscape Assessment toolkit (LLA)

• In Event: Contextual inquiry & reading programs: using evaluation tools to understand impact

Proposal

Abstract: The presentation will discuss a new tool, the Literacy Landscape Assessment (LLA), USAID’s contextual situational literacy analysis tool which examines the literacy questions raised within their context prior to the design of a new literacy program. LLA addresses all three pillars of the USAID education strategy –classroom instruction, systems delivery, and community and family engagement- following a brief mixed methods approach highly relying on and specifically designed for the particular country context and the literacy needs and aspirations. USAID has piloted the LLA in Morocco and lessons learned and experiences gained from that pilot will be utilized as examples for discussion during the presentation.

Summary: The Literacy Landscape Assessment (LLA) includes:
• A Situation Analysis of the teaching of reading
• A Feasibility Study for the proposed intervention taking into consideration the very different landscapes in the country context (rural and urban), the cultural, socio-economic, and linguistic diversity of primary school students and their families
• The assessment of the best intervention
• Costing the program and determination of what the country ministry of education can contribute to the full program along with donors and partners

The assessment focuses on three main components that are critical to the improvement of education and literacy in a country:
1. Improved Reading Instruction. This component includes questions such as:
• Assessment of languages being used in education, what are the entry points for each language, what approaches have been used for the instruction of each language?
• What type of teacher training has been used and what lessons have been learned so far
• What types of materials/resources are or can be available for a prospective literacy program?
• Exploration and synthesis on ways to bridge the current reading programs with the new intervention
• What regional variations should be taken into consideration?

2. Reading Delivery Systems Improved. This component focuses on:
• Assessment of the capacity of the Ministry of Education to launch a new literacy program
• What are the qualifications of existing teachers? Do we have teachers in the right number and with the right qualifications?
• Are the current teachers knowledgeable in pedagogy and the teaching of children in the primary grades? Their cognitive and developmental needs?
• Do we have enough resources to implement the program in rural areas?
• If the number of teachers with the right qualifications is not there, what is the capacity of colleges and universities to strengthen already existing programs or develop new programs for teacher candidates who will be certified to young children at the primary school level?

3. Greater Engagement, Accountability, and Transparency by Communities and the Public. This component includes questions such as:
• Is there buy-in from the communities rural/urban/regional?
• How would families support their children’s learning?
• What are the things that can be done to support the program from outside the school?
• Extra-curricular activities, after-school clubs, events, learning technologies, etc.?
• How can parents and communities get involved and become advocates for improving their children’s literacy skills?

Authors

• Hank Healey, US Agency for International Development (USAID)

• Eirini Gouleta, US Agency for International Development (USAID)

• Melissa Chiappetta, US Agency for International Development (USAID)

• Emily Morris, University of Minnesota/Independent Researcher