Developing Readers Study: Designing a structured intervention to support learners furthest behind in classrooms in Kenya

• In Event: Envisioning foundational literacy and numeracy in the 21st century

Proposal

Abstract
Global statistics indicate that 53% of 10-year-olds in low and middle-income countries cannot read and understand a simple story, with sub-Saharan Africa bearing the brunt at 87% (UNICEF, 2022). A recent study in Kenya, on the status of foundational literacy and numeracy, reported that 2 in every 10 class 8 learners and 3 in every 10 grade 6 learners could not meet expectations in reading a grade 3 appropriate English text (Usawa Agenda, 2023). This means that there is a window of opportunity to build evidence on models that work to enhance foundational literacy for learners.
The main objective of this study, dubbed the ’Developing Readers Program’ was to design and test an evidence-based intervention (using the response to intervention model) that could be scaled up to support learners with reading difficulties.
This study utilized a pretest-posttest study design. An Early grade reading assessment (EGRA) was administered to 2805 learners in 15 schools in Kiambu County, Kenya and 920 (33%) learners were identified to have reading difficulties. The learners were then grouped according to their learning needs - non-readers (read 0 correct word per minute), beginning readers (1-9 correct words per minute), and intermediate readers (10-16 correct words per minute) - and provided with a 13-week targeted instruction in English and Kiswahili. The EGRA was then administered to learners after the 13-week intervention.
The findings indicated that, at the endline, more than half (58.9%) of learners in the non-reader category progressed to the subsequent levels. Further, the majority (70.4%) of learners in the beginning readers category progressed to the intermediate (32.7%) and emergent (37.8%) while most (71.5%) of learners in the intermediate category progressed to the emergent level. The findings also revealed that the proportion of learners who were not able to read a single correct word per minute reduced from 43.3% at baseline to 18.9% at endline.
In conclusion, the results indicated that the Response to Intervention approach was effective in enhancing the reading proficiency of early-grade learners with reading difficulties. However, the fact that there is still a proportion of learners that did not respond to the DRP intervention showed a need to define further approaches to support these learners, such as individualized support. Whereas the EGRA was effective in screening and tracking learner progress pre and post the intervention, there is need to have an adapted shortened version to provide teachers with reliable data that they can make use of to make instructional decisions. During the implementation of DRP, technology was used by teachers during instruction, by curriculum support officers during classroom observation and the research team to monitor implementation. The study thus recommends adoption and utilization of technology to improve learning outcomes and keep the learners engaged and interested.

Key Words: Foundational literacy, response to intervention, Early Grade reading Assessment

Authors

• Fridah Gatwiri Kiambati, African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC)

• Nelson Gichuhi Muhia, African Population and Health Research Center APHRC

• Moses Ngware, African Population And Health Research Center