Early Grade Literacy capacity strengthening amidst the COVID-19 pandemic

• In Event: Assessing Policy, Language, Tools and Capacity for Equity in Education across the LAC Region

Proposal

The LAC Reads Capacity Program (LRCP) was an initiative of the U.S. Agency for International
Development (USAID) with the purpose of strengthening the impact, scale and sustainability of early-grade literacy (EGL) interventions in Central America and the Caribbean. The implementing partners for the project were American Institutes for Research (AIR) and Juárez & Associates (J&A).

The regional scope focused on Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries, specifically, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Haiti, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, and Eastern Caribbean countries. LRCP goals were achieved through the implementation of four main results:

Result 1: Evidence on EGL collected, consolidated and systematized for practical
use by LAC region stakeholders.

Result 2: Up-to-date knowledge about EGL actively disseminated to targeted
audiences and stakeholders.

Result 3: Institutional capacity to implement proven approaches for improving EGL
outcomes for poor and disadvantaged children is expanded.

Result 4: Sustainable platforms are in place through which efforts to improve EGL
in priority LAC countries will be continued and strengthened.

In the early stages of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic hit Central America and the Caribbean, causing a disruption to education systems. Latin America was the región where school closures were more extended hence jeopardizing recent learning outcomes improvements; more than 170 millions students were affected with 158 school day closures on average during the first pandemic year (World Bank, 2021). The LRCP was conceived as a flexible mechanism to respond to needs identified on the field. As such, the technical team was able to identify specific areas of intervention in each one of the countries of the intervention area with a differentiated approach, based on the context, local needs, and USAID priorities.

The main objective during the first few months of 2020 was to mitigate the lack of in-person capacity strengthening activities, thus ensuring that teachers, teachers trainers, pedagogical coaches and education program implementers had access to best practices and quality resources during school closures. The referenced interventions are summarized below:

Evidence collection and analysis: Qualitative study to analyze regional EGL key stakeholders perceptions regarding how the pandemic challenged the provision of a quality education. Data was collected among parents, teachers and education administrators. This study was conducted in Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic. The most important challenge as reported by students, teachers and school administrators alike was the Socio-Emotional elements of a variety of distance education modalities. In addition, significant problems were identified in the technological aspect of the virtual education of teachers and the adaptation by students and parents, both in terms of training and equipment needed.
Instructional methodology: modification of EGL capacity strengthening strategy incorporating Emergency Remote Teaching principles, expansion of audiences, provision of resources, and access to on-line platforms for all students.
Vulnerable populations: the lowest socioeconomic quintile is paying the harsher consequences of ill-prepared education systems. As a result of the study referenced above, Socio-Emotional Learning and Bilingual Education modules were developed and used in a capacity strengthening virtual program for school administrators and technical education staff in one of the affected region of the Dominican Republic (South border with Haiti), were internet connectivity is scarce and anecdotal evidence suggest that learning outcomes declined substantially as a direct result of school closures.
Modeling resources: the LRCP evidence suggested a gap of quality materials modeling evidence-based instructional practices. The LRCP developed audiovisual series and pedagogical guides modeling the instruction of EGL fundamentals and structured pedagogy to be used in teacher training programs.
EGL instructional book: Similarly, the LRCP developed a book focused on emergent and EGL instruction. The book, available online and downloadable for free, is the first of its kind and was conceived to be used in all Spanish speaking countries in the region.

Along with the rollout of these resources within the LRCP capacity strengthening strategy, coordination and agreements with key local stakeholders -Ministries of Education, teacher training institutions, universities, and local CSO- ensured uptake so the initial intervention could be multiplied hence becoming sustainable. Resulting implications will be analyzed to strengthen education systems and build-up their capacity and resilience considering external disruptions, focusing on the lowest socio-economic quintile.

Author

• Maria Jose Castillo Noguera, Juarez & Associates