Literacy for All in 100 Days? A Research-based Strategy for Fast Progress in Low-income Countries
In low-income countries many students are marginalized very early and remain illiterate. In grades 1-3 they attend rarely, though they may officially drop out in grade 4. Many others graduate from primary school without having learned letter values...
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2013
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/05/18042078/literacy-all-100-days-research-based-strategy-fast-progress-low-income-countries http://hdl.handle.net/10986/16248 |
| Summary: | In low-income countries many students
are marginalized very early and remain illiterate. In grades
1-3 they attend rarely, though they may officially drop out
in grade 4. Many others graduate from primary school without
having learned letter values. The worrisome outcomes,
despite much donor investment in low-income countries, have
prompted scrutiny of the methods, and textbooks used to make
students literate. This document offers insights from
cognitive neuroscience and evidence suggesting that students
can be taught basic literacy within the first semester of
grade 1, if taught in consistently spelled languages.
Teaching students at risk of dropout to read as early as
possible enhances equity. However, the reading methods used
in many countries are complex and hard for teachers to
execute. They pertain to high-income countries and to
certain western European languages. English but also French,
Portuguese, and Dutch have complex spelling systems. English
in particular requires three years of learning time. (French
requires about two). Reading instruction for English is
expensive and complex. Lists of whole words must be learned,
vocabulary and early training in predictions are needed in
order to make sense of words that cannot be sounded out.
Learning must be started at kindergarten, parents must help
at home, and many weaker students require remedial
instruction. Since English is an official language in many
countries, the travails of learning to read in this language
have been considered the normal fate of reading. Overall,
reading methods must be resilient to the vicissitudes of
implementation. Many activities work well in higher-income
countries or small pilots, but at scale-up they sink.
Governments and donors should train up to existing capacity,
rather than try to raise capacity to the requirements of
complex methods. |
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