It takes a village: enhancing the literacy ecosystem for young learners in Ethiopia and Mozambique

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

For children to succeed in school, the environment at home and in the community, as well as at school, needs to cultivate meaningful learning, building on the assets that children bring and compensating for shortfalls that impede their learning, equalizing opportunities to learn.
More and more, programs working in the early grade reading space in low-resource and conflict settings in developing countries are looking for simple, cost effective, and scalable approaches to increase parental involvement and develop programming in the community and in the home to support improved educational performance of students, and in particular, to increase reading gains. There is a growing body of evidence in developing countries that supports the theory that providing information to parents and opportunities for learning at home can help children go to school ready to learn, stay in school and achieve greater learning outcomes.
According to a World Bank study, home and community-based early stimulation, growth, and development programs that focused on oral language development and simple child development parent education in Mauritania, Bangladesh and India led to increased parenting knowledge, which in turn, led to more home stimulation and learning activities for children (effect size from 0.32 to 0.86). This led to higher child development outcomes, including higher cognitive and language development (effect size from 0.32 to 0.97). Recent research in two southern districts in Bangladesh that focused on involving parents in their children’s education through monthly parent–teacher meetings had a significant positive impact on children’s school results, as their test scores rose by 0.3–0.4 standard deviations (SD). The short-term treatment effects were largest for students with baseline test scores in the top third of the distribution, while lower-ranked students gained greater benefits from more frequent parent–teacher interactions over time. The treated students showed more positive attitudes and higher aspirations, spent more time studying, and got more help from family members in studying. Their behavior, as reported by both teachers and parents, also improved. These results were attributable to increased parental involvement in their children’s learning. The finding that increased parent–teacher interactions can be a cost-effective tool for improving students’ outcomes has important policy implications and signals opportunities for programmatic innovations.
Referencing the conference theme of sustainability, panelists will explore various approaches being implemented in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Morocco to build the ecosystem of support needed for students to excel in school settings. Beginning in the early childhood years prior to entering the formal school setting through the primary school years, panelists will examine their programs will an eye towards answering the following questions:
• What are the additive effects of home and community-based programs on student achievement and reading behaviors?
• Are programs that target at-risk students effective in preventing drop-out and increasing attendance, performance and persistence?
• What are effective ways to sustain community and home-based interventions that are cost-effective and scalable?
• What are effective evidence-based strategies to change attitudes and behaviors to support and sustain parent, family and community engagement?
The panelists will offer examples of three promising program approaches that are part of USAID-funded early grade reading programs in Mozambique and Ethiopia. Each panelist will address the challenges of developing interventions that create an enabling learning environment and supports students from early childhood through primary school.

Stepping up Early Childhood Development Investing in Young Children for High Returns
Islam, Asadul (2017) Parental Involvement in Education: Evidence from Field Experiments in Developing Countries

Sub Unit

• General Pool

Chair

• Joan Cohen, Creative Associates International

Individual Presentations

• “Let’s Talk”: Oral Language Development in Mozambique - Anselmo Cipriano, Creative Associates International

• At-Risk Students: Raising and Responding to the Alarm - Kelsey Woodrick, Creative Associates International; Megan Schug, Creative Associates International

• Boosting Family Learning in Ethiopia: Parental Awareness, Reading Clubs and Reading Corners - Mastewal Worku, World Vision International

Discussant

• Ryan Crow, OSC