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Community Involvement and Parental Support in Literacy and Numeracy
Christabel Pinto Sr. Specialist for Basic Education and Literacy, Save the
Children US December 4, 2013
Outline
1. Early Grades Learning Needs
2. Importance of Community & Parental Involvement: Evidence Base
3. Towards a solution: Community Action for Children’s learning
4. Effect of parent and community involvement on learning
5. What can Ministries of Education do?
EARLY GRADES LEARNING
NEEDS
Schooling is not Learning
Ghana learning pyramid:
2005 DHS data
Enrollment
Completion
Learning
IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNITY &
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT:
THE EVIDENCE BASE
Parental involvement has a positive effect on children’s achievement even when the influence of background factors such as social class and family size have been taken into account.
(Desforges,C. and Abouchaar, A. (2003) The Impact of Parental Involvement, Parental Support and Family Education on Pupil
Achievement and Adjustment: A Literature Review. DfES Research Report 433.)
Parental involvement with
children from an early age
has been found to equate
with better outcomes,
particularly in terms of
cognitive development. (K. Sylva, E. Melhuish, P. Sammons, et. al.
(2004) Effective Pre-School Education. Final
Report. DfES. London: Institute of
Education)
What parents do is more important than who they are for children’s early development – i.e. home learning activities undertaken by parents is more important for children’s intellectual and social development than parental occupation, education or income. (K. Sylva, E. Melhuish, P. Sammons, et. al. (2004) Effective Pre-School Education. Final Report. DfES. London: Institute of Education)
Materials and Reading Aloud
• Greater print exposure results in more experience in word and sentence decoding and recognition and in reading comprehension, as well as ongoing exposure to new vocabulary (Hood, Conlon, & Andrews 2008).
• Both sheer amount and the choice of reading materials seem to make a difference (Wigfield & Asher, 1984).
• The most important activity for building the knowledge and skills eventually required for reading is that of reading aloud to children (Teale, 1984).
Challenges to home & parental involvement
• Misconception: parents who are not literate/numerate cannot help their children
• Few books and other resources available in the home
• Belief that learning happens in school and teaching is done only by teachers
• Parents unaware of why and how to help children to improve language/literacy and numeracy development
TOWARDS A SOLUTION: COMMUNITY
ACTION FOR CHILDREN’S LEARNING
Interventions that engage Communities Save the Children’s Literacy Boost and Numeracy Boost interventions have three components: 1. Assessment
2. Teacher Training
3. Community Action
Pratham’s Read India (in and
out of schools)
Many Others, but Evidence is scarce.
Community Awareness-Raising Focused on Children’s Learning
Introductory community meetings for Literacy and Numeracy
– Share results of baseline assessments
– Explain Literacy/Numeracy Boost options & activities
– Secure parental support and participation
– Identify additional community resources (e.g., oral traditions, volunteers, venues for activities)
Parent & Community Awareness- Raising Workshops
Literacy Volunteer-run Community Reading Awareness workshops on how to:
– Engage their children in rich oral language practice through everyday activities
– Ask their children to read to them
– Read to/with their children if they are literate
– Create simple literacy materials and establish home reading corners
Parent & Community Awareness- Raising Workshops
Numeracy
Volunteer-run Community Math-at-Home workshops on how to:
– Engage their children in simple, fun games to practice math concepts
– Use everyday activities to engage in math practice
– Math calendar
Volunteer-run activities with children
Reading Camps
• Fun after-school or weekend activity
• Provides additional support and positive models for children learning to read
• Extends time-on-task for reading through activities outside the classroom
• Supplements reading instruction that happens in school
Sample Reading Camp agenda (Literacy Boost)
Volunteer-run activities with children
Literacy Boost Reading Camps in action
1. Distribution of books (Burundi reading camp)
2. Story time (Burundi reading camp)
Volunteer-run activities with children
• Pratham: Learning support classes for out-of-school and struggling in-school children
1. Balwadi classes: pre-school, urban low income families
2. Learning support classes: L2R (Learn to Read) and R2L (Read to Learn)
Volunteer-run activities with children
• L2R: Accelerated learning technique
Reading and basic arithmetic in 4-8 weeks
Not sequential, but integrates 4 activities:
Say something
Do Something
Read Something
Write Something
Volunteer-run activities with children
Math Camps
• Fun after-school or weekend activity
• Uses games and activities to reinforce math instruction in school
• Math-based story book inspires session
Parent & Community Engagement in Material Creation
Literacy
Parent & Community Engagement in Material Creation
Numeracy
Parent & Community as Custodians of Books
“Book Banks”/Libraries
Volunteers serve as book bank custodians: • Expands range of print
materials children can read beyond textbooks
• Builds enjoyment and motivation to read
• Helps to establish an appreciation for print and a culture of reading in the community
Reading Festivals & Family Math Days
Reading Festivals
• A day to celebrate reading in the community!
Story Time
• Read/Tell a story in the community on a regular basis
Family Math Day
• Community engages in math activities together!
Summary of Parent & Community Involvement
Engage community volunteers to conduct literacy & numeracy activities in the community
– After school Reading & Math Camps
– Parent Awareness Workshops (Math and Reading)
– Story Time activities
– Reading Festivals /Family Math Day
– Material Creation (Math and Reading)
– Book bank/library custodians
EFFECT OF PARENT AND COMMUNITY
INVOLVEMENT ON LEARNING
Yemen: Effect of Reading out Loud
Yemen: Reading skills by number of books at home
Pakistan: Effect of Reading Camp Attendance & Book Borrowing
Afghanistan: Reading at home as a predictor of Girls’ Letter Knowledge
53%
62%
71% 71% 73%
75%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
no one in family
read to child last week
25% of family members
read to child last week
50% of family members
read to child last week
girl boy
WHAT CAN MINISTRIES OF EDUCATION
DO?
Identify structures & opportunities for parent and community engagement
• Role of PTAs or SMCs? • Support from local government
and/or local business? • Involve students organizations? • How should school leaders—
principals or school directors—deliberately engage with parents, NGOs and civil society to expand children’s access to reading/math materials & opportunities?
• Partnerships? • Adaptations for urbanized
environments?
Communicate the Issue & Engage Stakeholders
• Communicate urgency of action to range of stakeholders: data are powerful!
• Engage parents and communities
Strengthen education policies that build parent & community engagement
• Should official/mandated PTA roles and responsibilities be reviewed so that it includes a focus on children’s learning?
• Is there space for local government advocacy to get policy or budget support to sustain community engagement focused on reading/math?
• Are there incentives that can be provided to businesses who support early grade reading/math?
In summary…
• Parents and communities are:
– a key resource in the effort to improve children’s learning
– crucial advocates and partners in children’s learning
• Schools and ministries of education can engage parents and communities in multiple ways to reduce gaps and ensure equity in children’s learning outcomes
