Child Literacy Development Project Empoweringschoolsandcommunitiestosupportchildren’sliteracydevelopmentinLaoPDR

PROJECTOVERVIEWCRS inLaoPDRaimsto improvechildren’s literacy intheearlygrades,includingthosewhodonotspeakLaoastheirfirstlanguage,throughaChildLiteracyDevelopment(CLD)pilot project in Xaibouathong and Xebangfai Districts, ofKhammouaneProvince.Themainpartnersfortheprojectare the American Institutes for Research (AIR), and theProvincialEducationandSportsService(PESS).

The CLD project takes a two-pronged approach tosupporting children’s literacy development throughworkingwithteacherstouseeffectiveliteracyinstructionmethodologies, as well as supporting communities andfamiliestoengageinactivitiestosupportchildren’sliteracyoutsideoftheclassroom.

ChildLiteracyDevelopmentToolkitsCRSwilltrain6provincialanddistrictlevelEducationstaffand 103 teachers to assess specific literacy skills ofapproximately1,126Grade1andGrade2students fromenrollmenttotheendoftheschoolyear,inordertotailortheirteachingstrategiestothespecificneedsofstudents.

TheassessmentsandcorrespondingremediationactivitiesforstudentswillbesharedthroughaReadingReadinessToolkitandaFormativeAssessmentToolkit,developedbytechnicalpartnerAIR.

TheReadingReadinessToolkitwillbeusedinthebeginningof the school year for teachers to assess student’s Laolanguagevocabularyandknowledgeofhowbooksandtextwork.Studentswhoneedextrasupportwillbetestedonthese skills again a second time. The Reading ReadinessToolkitprovidesconcretestrategiesthatteacherscanusewithstudentstostrengthentheirLaolanguagevocabularyand understanding of how books and print work beforeteachingmoreadvancedliteracyskills.

QUICKFACTS

ProjectType Education

Funder/funding CRS/$315,283

Projectlocation KhammouaneProvince

#ofpeopleserved 103Teachersand34VEDCsreaching1,126studentsand2,252parents

Timeframe 2017-2018

PartnersProvincialEducationandSportsService(PESS)ofKhammouaneAmericanInstitutesforResearch(AIR)

228W.LexingtonStreet,Baltimore,MD21201Formoreinformation,contactholly.cantuba@crs.org.©2014CatholicReliefServices.AllRightsReserved.

The Formative Assessment Toolkit will help teachers tounderstand how students are progressing in specificliteracy skills, and appropriately adjust teaching andlearning activities according to student understanding.Teacherswillassessfourbasicreadingskills:

1. OralVocabularyKnowledge,

2. PhonologicalAwareness,

3. Decoding,and

4. ReadingComprehension.

TheFormativeAssessmentToolkitincludesinstructionsforsimple activities that teachers can do with students tosupporttheirprogressineachoftheseskills.

Teacherswill use the FormativeAssessment Toolkit fourtimesper year to inform interventionsand todocumentstudentprogressinliteracydevelopment.

CRS’CommunityMobilizerswill coach teachersmonthly,with the government technical Education staff wherepossible, toprovidecontinuedsupportontheuseof thetoolkits.

CapacityBuildingofVillageEducationDevelopmentCommittees

InLaoPDR,eachschoolisdirectedbyaVillageEducationDevelopment Committee (VEDC) composed of villageleaders, school principals, teachers, and parentrepresentatives.

VEDCSarewellpositionedtocreatechangeandestablisha culture of literacy in their villages. CRS’ CommunityMobilizerswillbuildthecapacityof34VEDCstobecomethese agents of change by facilitating 6 village based,interactive sessions where VEDCs learn about; (i) VEDCrolesandresponsibilities;(ii)theidentificationofproblemsrelatedtoeducation; (iii)actionplanningforsolutionstoproblemsidentified;(iv)theimportanceofthehomeandvillage environments on child literacy development; (v)activitiesforparentswhoreadandwhodonotreadtodowiththeirchildrenathome;and(vi)thecapacityandrightofallchildrentolearntoread.

CRSwillsupportVEDCstoworkwithparentstocreateanenabling home and village environment for children’sliteracydevelopment.

Specific VEDC actions promoted through the projectinclude:

• Homevisitstoencourageparentsandchildrentoengageinliteracyactivitiesathome;

• PeriodicVEDC-ledparentmeetingsatschoolstodiscussstudentprogressinliteracyandgoals,andsharekeymessagesfromthe6VEDCmodules.

• Small-grantmechanism for VEDCs to contributetothedevelopmentofacultureofreadinginthecommunity though activities such as readingcontests,communitylibraries,andstorytelling.

PROJECTEDIMPACTOFCHILDLITERACYDEVELOPMENTPILOTTheanticipateddirectimpactsoftheCLDpilotare:

• Participatingteacherswillbeenabledtoenhancetheir instructional practices during and beyondthelifeoftheproject.

• Participating VEDCs will have more efficientproblem solving strategies, and will improvetechniquesforpromotingliteracyactivitiesatthecommunityandhouseholdlevels.

• Participating families will increase child literacypromotionactivitiesathome.

• ParticipatingstudentsinGrades1and2willhaveimprovedliteracyskills.

CRSandAIRwillconductqualitativeresearchforin-depthunderstandingofhowteachersperceivethetoolkits,andhowtheyareappliedintheclassroom.Communitylevelresearchwill alsobe conducted toexaminehow literacypromotion activities for children are appreciated andadoptedbyVEDCsandfamilies.

Allparentsandvillagescanpositivelyimpactchildren’sliteracydevelopment.Photo:JimStipe