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Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session
The panel examines the challenges and opportunities presented by the evolution of large-scale education assessments (LSEAs) in early grade reading (EGR), as reading has increasingly taken center stage among development priorities worldwide. Some of these initiatives, such as the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), were designed to provide data on the effectiveness of school-level inputs to support learning. Still other assessment models were offered to drive reform by providing developing country governments with accurate data on learners’ reading performance, as a reflection of the state of education in general in a given (usually resource-poor) context. In this perspective, USAID’s EGRA initiative has met with considerable success, both as a means of providing much-needed data on early grade reading performance and as a tool for achieving meaningful reform. Many implementing partners view EGRA as a potentially effective, if imperfect, vehicle for achieving sustainable education reform—despite criticism from educationists and in the literature about the possible, often unintended consequences of EGRA’s widespread and long-term use. Yet the influence of EGRA is undeniable as scholars and practitioners alike mark the end of a decade since it was first implemented internationally, raising new questions about EGRA’s impact on education reform. For example, what are the possible implications of EGRA-based initiatives (past and present) for the future of reading education? What role, if any, does EGRA continue to play in large-scale national education reform, and to what effect?
The panel consists of four successive paper presentations. Melissa Chiappetta of USAID/Washington, DC and Ismail Junaidu of the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) will serve as co-chairs, and Melissa Chiappetta will be the discussant for the panel session. The first presentation will be given by Mustapha Ahmad and Haruna Danwanka, who will present EGRA results and focus group data and findings comparing the use of EGRA and a new local monitoring approach that is being used to drive educational change in Nigeria’s Bauchi State. Sharon Haba will present the second paper, which describes and explains how the adoption of EGRA measures is challenging fundamental assumptions about the application of the measures themselves to monitor progress. The paper raises questions about the applicability of EGRA fluency measures as tools for tracking changes in learners’ performance over time. The third presentation, by Thelma Kelghati, is based upon the findings and experiences of EGRA’s use in Mali. The paper discusses how the use of localized EGRA results in a decentralized education system is informing classroom assessment practice, decision-making and education policy in EGR. Finally, Ismail Junaidu and Madawaki Wadatau present findings from two EGRA-based education research and reform activities in Nigeria’s northern states. They discuss the attendant policy implications of federal and state involvement in these data-driven activities, as part of an extended, long-term effort to raise the profile of reading education across the country.
Mustapha Ahmad, Creative Associates International
Haruna Danwanka, Ministry of Education, Bauchi State/Nigeria
Sharon Haba, Chemonics International
Madawaki Wadatau, Universal Basic Education Commission/Nigeria
Sustaining EGR Assessment: Comparing EGRA and LEMA/GALA in Nigeria’s Bauchi State on USAID/NEI Plus - Isaac Adeshina Msukwa, Education Development Center; NURUDEEN Adeshina LAWAL, CREATIVE ASSOCIATES INTERNATIONAL
Challenges to Telling an Accurate Story of Change: Lessons Learned from Eight Years of Early Grade Reading Interventions in Rwanda - Norma Evans, Evans and Associates; Sharon Haba, Chemonics International
How EGRA is Shaping Classroom Assessment and EGR Reform: USAID/Mali’s Selective Integrated Reading Activity (SIRA) - Sylvaine Von Mende, Education Development Center (EDC); Thelma Khelghati, EDC
Is EGRA Paving the Way?: National Policy Perspectives on Learning Assessment and the Future of EGR in Nigeria - Madawaki Wadatau, Universal Basic Education Commission/Nigeria; Ismail Junaidu, Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council; Mark Anthony Hamilton, Creative Associates International