Improving Early Grade Reading Performance Through Web-based Leveled Reading Tool in the Kyrgyz Republic

• In Event: Roundtable Session (Tuesday VI)
  In Refereed Round-Table Session: Educational technology, responsible educator, and learning engagement

Proposal

Primary teachers in Kyrgyzstan often face difficulties in finding the appropriate learning materials to support essential elements of reading instruction in primary grades, including phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Without appropriate reading materials that suit students’ interests and abilities, it is impossible to improve their reading comprehension. In this regard, the purpose of this paper is to present how the use of a Leveled Reading Tool (LRT), a web-based, automated tool which promotes the creation of age- and grade-appropriate stories, is contributing towards improving reading performance of early grade students and quality of supplementary reading materials in the Kyrgyz Republic, a former Soviet republic, where USAID Time to Read (TTR) program works with the Kyrgyz Ministry of Education and Science (MOES) and the Ministry of Culture, Information and Tourism (MOCIT) to improve the foundational reading skills of students in grades 1– 4 in 900 schools throughout the country. The leveled reading tool is developed based on readability and leveling formulas that are necessary in determining age- and grade-appropriateness of children’s texts. TTR has trained 25 local children’s writers and a working group of 10 evaluators of children’s stories to use LRT to analyze children’s texts and create leveled readers in Kyrgyz and Russian languages. While evaluating early grade reading materials existing presently on the country’s market, the working group will formulate clear criteria to guide procurement of age-and grade-appropriate reading materials for primary grade students. The criteria will incorporate MOES standards for procurement of textbooks for primary schools, and guide TTR activities on procuring age- and grade-level appropriate reading materials in Kyrgyz and Russian to support learning standards and complement what is currently available on the local market.

Authors

• Shahzad Mithani, Chemonics International

• Baktygul Ismailova, Chemonics International