Study finds huge improvement in reading outcomes for disadvantaged children

The on-site training of teachers in the foundation phase of schooling has resulted in a 40% improvement in reading in the Setswana language in early grades at selected schools in North West.

This finding is contained in the result of an evaluation conducted by the Department of Basic Education of a number of interventions to improve reading outcomes in 230 no-fee schools in North West.

One of the biggest educational challenges facing the country is the high number of children who do not learn to read in the early years of schooling.

Evidence shows that weak reading foundations are the major root cause of weak academic achievement later in school and the subsequent dropping out of school among 16 to 18-year-olds in South Africa.

The project‚ known as the Early Grade Reading Study‚ was designed to determine which‚ if any‚ of the three interventions improved learners’ reading outcomes in their home language‚ Setwana.

The interventions were implemented in schools from grade 1 in 2015 and Grade 2 in 2016.

Apart from the 80 schools where normal teaching remained in place‚ each intervention was implemented in a separate group of 50 schools. The evaluation continues in grade 3 this year.

The first intervention provided teachers with lesson plans and training at centralised workshops twice a year.

The second method provided ongoing support to teachers through on-site coaching and small cluster training sessions.

The third method held weekly meetings with parents to empower them to be more involved in their children’s literacy development.

The study found that the coaching intervention showed a substantial positive impact at the end of Grade 2.

“Learners who received two years of this coaching intervention were approximately 40% of a year of learning ahead of the schools that received no intervention. This is a truly significant improvement by international standards.”

The department said on-site coaching interventions could be implemented in priority schools‚ such as 100 or 500 schools in a province on a temporary basis‚ such as two years.

The department said the cost for 100 schools would be approximately R6-million at current prices.

The department said a second phase of the Early Grade Reading Study has been under way in Mpumalanga since the start of the year. The aim of the Mpumalanga project is to investigate the effectiveness of two alternatives on English as First Educational Language in the foundation phase.

The department also aims to conduct an Early Grade Mathematics Study over the next two to five years.

The first activity would be to have a detailed scoping study to identify and design promising interventions and then as cost-structures that would be sustainable on a large-scale.

Education expert Prof Graeme Bloch said the coaching method seemed to be the most effective in addressing the poor level of readings and was not as costly to implement.

- TimesLIVE