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Highlighted Session: Lessons in Literacy: An Analysis of USAID's Investments in Early Grade Reading

Mon, March 11, 9:45 to 11:15am, Hyatt Regency Miami, Floor: Third Level, Miami Lecture hall

Group Submission Type: Highlighted Paper Session

Proposal

In 2011, USAID’s Education Strategy set a clear focus on improving early grade literacy outcomes for children across the globe. The Strategy was based on evidence demonstrating that, while full enrollment is being achieved in most countries, many children were still unable to read after several years of schooling. At the time, assessments in countries like Mali, Pakistan and Peru showed that more than 70% of children in primary grades could not read at grade level (USAID Strategy, 2011). Given that literacy is key to future academic and professional opportunities, USAID made “Improved reading skills for 100 million children” one of the three key objectives of the Strategy.

As a result of that commitment, since 2011, USAID early grade reading interventions have reached over 246 million children in 53 countries and helped bring attention to the issue of learning poverty, especially low literacy rates (USAID Retrospective, 2023). USAID’s early grade reading interventions focused on what were called the “5Ts”: teaching, time, text, tongue and test. Key components of programming included: use of learning assessments to highlight the need for reform and to monitor progress, phonics-based reading instruction, development and distribution of teaching and learning materials, explicit time set aside for pre-literacy and reading instruction, in-service teacher training, teacher supervision and/or mentoring, and policy work centered on advocating for broader support for and reform of early grade education.

Over time, however, USAID recognized that while some elements of high-quality reading instruction were universal (such as the need for books) a better understanding of the specific opportunities and barriers in each context was necessary to ensuring that all children could learn to read. As a result, over the past decade, USAID has helped develop evidence and research to better understand best practices for literacy instruction in different contexts.

Thus, the Ten Years of Early Grade Reading Programming: A Retrospective (2011-2021) published by USAID in 2023 comes at a key moment in the discussion regarding how improvements in learning outcomes can be sustained and how education systems can be supported to become more resilient and equitable. The report, which analyzes data from 45 different programs, provides important insights into the effectiveness of past interventions, lessons learned as well as key recommendations for future programming. Findings from the report are always particularly relevant given that the global pandemic saw much of the progress made in reducing learning poverty eliminated when millions of children were unable to attend school and spent months or years without instruction. Early assessments have shown that the greatest loss in learning has been amongst the most marginalized and vulnerable populations thus increasing the gaps in equity already apparent before the pandemic (Sate of Learning Poverty, 2022).



In this roundtable discussion, speakers will provide an in-depth look at key findings and recommendations from the report as well as provide examples of how existing USAID-funded activities are incorporating these recommendations into their programming. Presenters will also discuss challenges in implementing the recommendations and lessons learned from past experiences as well as highlighting important gaps in the evidence that remain.

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