Early School Failure, a bottleneck for reaching the goal of Universal Primary Education + A proposal for overcoming failure: The Programme Todos Pueden.

Early School Failure,Early School Failure, a bottleneck for reaching the goal a bottleneck for reaching the goal

of Universal Primary Educationof Universal Primary Education++

A proposal for overcoming failure:A proposal for overcoming failure:

The Programme The Programme

““Todos Pueden Aprender / Todos Pueden Aprender / Promoción Asistida”Promoción Asistida”

1

All children in schooll at 2015Global iniciative on Out-of-School Children

UNICEF and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics Methodology Workshop Istanbul 21-25 june 2010

WHAT ?

The challenge of failure in the lower grades

In LAC there is no quantitative restriction to universal primary education, and parents are very interested in sending children to school:

- Access to primary education is almost universal

- Access to initial education is sharply on the rise- Demand on secondary education is increasing

steadily

Programa Todos Pueden Aprender – Promoción Asistida: An effective strategy for avoiding school failure in the first grades

16 of 100 age 8+ children are not in school

5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 170,0%

20,0%

40,0%

60,0%

80,0%

100,0%

120,0%


For example, the school failure in the Central America is high:

55 of 100 children don´t complete 5 years’ primary in expected time

5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 170,0%

20,0%

40,0%

60,0%

80,0%

100,0%

120,0%



Most girls/boys age 8+ that are not in school, have previously attended school, but they dropped out

5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 170,0%

20,0%

40,0%

60,0%

80,0%

100,0%

120,0%



Bottleneck for achieving Universal Primary Education: EARLY SCHOOL FAILURE

Shows up as grade repetition/retention, irregular attendance, temporary extended breaks in attendance


Population by age

Enrolment inAppropriate age

EnrolmentBy grade

Steady enrolment, overage increases

Latent risk Drop out

Argentina, 2007

Total Enrolment by grade and population by age

0

100000

200000

300000

400000

500000

600000

700000

800000

900000

Grade / Age

Stu

de

nts

by

gra

de

an

d a

ge

17years - Grade 12

16years - Grade 11

15years - Grade 10

14years - Grade 9

13years - Grade 8

12years - Grade 7

11years - Grade 6

10years - Grade 5

9 years - Grade 4

8 years - Grade 3

7 years - Grade 2

6 years - Grade 1

5 years

692.381

625.403581.061

558.525543.769520.746

483.958

420.093

353.856318.403

263.473222.560

683.495 683.301 673.787 678.644

769.523 759.497

608.701570.184

433.014

336.807

792.167818.182

Analysis of early school failure and its after-effects: The Argentine context


0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

40000

17years - Grade 12

16years - Grade 11

15years - Grade 10

14years - Grade 9

13years - Grade 8

12years - Grade 7

11years - Grade 6

10 years - Grade 5

9 years - Grade 4

8 years - Grade 3

7 years - Grade 2

6 years - Grade 1

5 years

29.120

19.301

15.958

13.326

8.8796.898

31.409

37.512

24.054 24.977

23.047 22.406

24.453

17.169

14.948 14.09612.797

11.1429.468

8.2917.128

6.0294.476

3.560

Early school failure and after-effects: the province of Misiones in 2001

Misiones, 2001

Total Enrolment by grade and population by age

Grade / Age

Population by age

Enrolment inAppropriate age

EnrolmentBy grade

Stu

de

nts

by

gra

de

an

d a

ge

Peak enrolment, overage increases Latent risk Drop out


The previous data and further research show that:

• Over-age condition predicts drop-out

• Attendance to preschool doesn’t prevent failure in the

first years of primary

• At the end of Grade 3, 2.5 in 10 children have

experimented a failure


The previous data and further research show that:

• Many of the students in this risk group will drop out of school,

at least 1 in 10

• Others will persist, but their achievement will be endangered

• Many students in this group won’t survive the transition to

secondary school (3 in 10 ending primary and entering

secondary)


WHY ?

The causes and effects of low achievement in the first years

It is not about availability of resources…

In the former example of Misiones, this situation happens even when there has been state investment:

in resources for schools (buildings, books…)

in social protection measures: School lunch, Scholarships, Conditional Cash Transfers (CCT)


The trigger of failure: Low quality instruction

in contexts with low cultural capital of familiesSchools assume implicitly that insufficient, ineffective instruction has to be compensated by the family at home

Families cannot give children the support that schools are obliged to provide them

Children pay the price…


A self-fulfiling prophecy: the failure confirms the

undisputed beliefs of families, schools and society

that those children “were not ready to learn”

Consequences:Grade repetition, starting point of a personal feeling of low self-esteem (personal dimension of failure)

Schools don’t feel the need to change because failure was “inevitable”; low learning of schools as organizations (institutional dimension of failure)


Research findings about “low achievement” in Grade 1 show that:

1)Many students from poor sectors experiment some difficulties with reading and writing short sentences at the end of Grade 1.

2)Many students are advancing in the process of mastering reading and writing skills, but the assessment instruments expect outcomes that are excessive, and not necessary

3)Teachers think that students that don’t know well enough how to read and write can´t be promoted to the next grade


• A study of the associated factors of cognitive achievement of students in the context of SERCE (OREALC UNESCO) shows that having repeated grades clearly worsens the learning outcomes of students, even after subtracting the effect of other variables

• Models for Latin America and the Caribbean showh that students who repeated grades get lower scores –equivalent to 25 points- in all tests of Spanish and Mathematics


HOW ?

The Program “Todos Pueden Aprender”(Everybody can learn)

An effective strategy for avoiding failure in the first years of primary school

The program “Todos Pueden Aprender” (TPA) The program “Todos Pueden Aprender” (TPA)

Is a web of intervention strategies devised to protect the children from the negative effects of discontinuities in the school itinerary

Aims: to broaden the learning opportunities for all children– increasing the number of students that show mastery of

mandated curriculum content in literacy and numeracy in the first cycle of primary school,

– reducing the number of students experimenting grade retention and the consequent problems associated with over-age


The program “Todos Pueden Aprender” (TPA) The program “Todos Pueden Aprender” (TPA)

Is a web of intervention strategies devised to protect the children from the negative effects of discontinuities in the school itinerary

Design principles:– respect and appreciation of children’ and youngsters’

potentials– adequacy and pertinence for teachers and principals– sustainability and possibility to go to scale


The program is based in a reduced but sufficient set of interventions to achieve improved results:

1. Teachers

Implement effective, state-of-the-art instructional methodologies for teaching literacy and numeracy, based in well-structured, sequenced, step-by-step activities

Review their theoretical frameworks and analyse impacts of changes in instruction methods on students’ outcomes

Receive on-the-job coaching and mentorship


2. School Principals

Optimize their decisions about time, space and staff management to reinforce the identity of the first school cycle as a multi-year process

Design and provide in-school interventions for helping students with lower levels of achievement

Strengthen their leading capabilities by building stable agreements with teachers for improved instruction



3. A group of persons including, but not limited to, the school management team, take protective actions in the case of students that require particular help measures and medium-term support to avoid failure

4. All participants benefit from an information system that registers gradual improvements in the learning outcomes of students, through tests applied in a systematical way twice a year. The results are uploaded into an automatically operated website from where schools can download the processed data reports




5. The program is developed in a time-cycle of 4 years to build local leading teams and allow sustainable, systemic change in school practices:

Teacher Training Institutions involved in the program have developed their capacity for continuing support to teachers

Supervision and/or Inspectorate teams have built tools for developing the competencies of school leading teams

Principals and headteachers have increased their capacity for leading the pedagogical process in their schools


Results

0,0 %

2,0 %

4,0 %

6,0 %

8,0 %

10,0 %

12,0 %

14,0 %

16,0 %


4,7 %

11,9 %

6,9 %

9,3 %

13,6 %

7,8 %

Formosa CityFormosa TotalCountry Total

year 2004

% of students repeating grades in the first 3 years of primary (2004 and 2008)

year 2008

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

16000

age

5ag

e 6

age

7ag

e 8

age

9

age

10

age

11

age

12

age

13

age

14

age

15

age

16

age

17


Total enrolment and Enrolment in due age. Year 2009Province of Formosa

12.125 12.52213.650

12.714 13.029

10.860

8.114

10.2279.440

7.3116.594

4.886

3.357Total Enrolment

Enrolment in due age

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

16000

18000

20000


Students by grade and age (2004 and 2009) Province of Formosa

13.428

10.711 9.840

3.502

3.2803.106

Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3

year 2004 year 2009

Due age Over age 1

Over age 2 Over age 3+

Total Enrolment

9.324

12.19110.118

2.662

2.295

2.494

1.358

781

1.2111.412

585

1.079

15.85214.75614.902

1.262

1.4921.542

814

1.2731.498

19.006

16.75615.986

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

5.2514.664 4.488 4.861 4.514 4.392

1.018

1.1661.066 401

545 753

332437

482

180304

362

91 173 274141218


Students by grade and age (2004 and 2009) Formosa City

Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3

year 2004 year 2009

Due age Over age 1

Over age 2 Over age 3+

Total Enrolment6.781 6.571 6.398

5.405 5.3735.637

0,0%

5,0%

10,0%

15,0%

20,0%

25,0%

30,0%

35,0%

40,0%

45,0%

grade 1 grade 2 grade 3 grade 4


% students over due age, by grade (2004 and 2009) Province of Formosa

29,3%

36,1%38,4%

41,3%

23,1%

32,1%

36,8%39,2%year 2004

year 2009

0,0%

10,0%

20,0%

30,0%

40,0%

50,0%

60,0%


Improvement in literacy outcomes during the programProvince of Formosa (2006 and 2008)

4,1%

21,2%

51,3%

23,5%

1,0%

31,4%

45,6%

13,4%

5,6%3,1%

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Level 6

Placement in the Literacy advancement scale

grade 1 - year 2006

grade 3 - year 2008

Students with low initial scores


Improvement in literacy outcomes during the programProvince of Formosa (2006 and 2008)

0,0%

10,0%

20,0%

30,0%

4,1%

21,2%

Level 1 Level 2

Learning outcomes in literacy at the end of the program of students with low initial scores. Province of Formosa (2008)


Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Level 6

Placement in the Literacy advancement scale

0,0%

2,0%

4,0%

6,0%

8,0%

10,0%

12,0%

14,0%

16,0%

18,0%

20,0%

0,0%

2,0%

4,0%

6,0%

8,0%

10,0%

12,0%

14,0%

16,0%

18,0%

20,0%



0,8%1,6%

2,6%

4,9%

9,1%

6,3%

Main Achievement…

Students at risk are protected and enjoy from better learning opportunities to build a solid foundation for literacy and numeracy


Other Achievements

Schools develop a readiness to include children out of school, and reduce the risk of dropping out

Teachers improve their ability to revise their practices, knowledge and beliefs


A sustainable reduction in grade

retention

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

1º Grade Provinces implementing the program:

Rest of the provinces: 1º Grade

3º GradeProvinces implementing the program:

14,6% 14,9%

12,0%

11,5%12,1% 12,5%

8,8%7,7%

Provinces implementing the program: Chaco, Jujuy, Misiones and Tucumán

Source: MECyT, RAMC 2002 - 2006


0

5

10

15

20

25

2000 2002 2004 2006

Total country 3rd. Grade

Misiones 1st. Grade

Misiones 3rd. Grade

Total country 1st. Grade

Source: MECyT, RAMC 2002 - 2006


Lowering retention: the case of Misiones

Research on brain development and learningResearch on brain development and learning shows that all children, independently of gender, ethnic background or social origin have a full set of natural capabilities for learning, even when it’s true that some children can enter school with differences in cultural capital or cognitive stimulation

However, adult misconceptionsadult misconceptions and inadequate inadequate instruction methodsinstruction methods are in the roots of failure: low achievement is misconceived as a lack of children´s capabilities, adult teaching skills “have nothing to do” with failure


The problem from the point of view of “learning disabilities” more than “low instructional competencies”

Key (wrong) assumptions:Key (wrong) assumptions:

“Becoming literate is natural and easy for humans”

“Low achievers have learning disabilities or they need to mature”

“Children coming from illiterate backgrounds can’t learn”

• literacy is a complex, high level cognitive ability, requiring well-structured, strategic teaching interventions)

• children have a ready, willing and capable brain, wanting to be stimulated and open to development, to learn complex content they need method, time and redundancy in interventions)

• underestimation of the power and function of school, overestimation of social determinism)


The problem from the point of view of “teacher discouragement” more than “low instructional competencies”

Key (wrong) assumptions: Key (wrong) assumptions:

“Teachers are not capable, are not motivated, don’t want to teach well”

Underestimation of existing lacks of training and capacity building to enable teachers to:

Implement effective instructional strategies, especially for early reading instructionUnderstand brain processes (cognitive and affective)

that are in the base of learning and using this info for planning teachingDetect behaviors that show incipient learning levels

(usually interpreted as errors) Implement diversified teaching strategies for students

in different starting points, within an inclusive methodological approach


Key action:

Improvement of the pedagogical practices of schools catering for population at risk or that could receive children currently out of school.

Leverage points - Breaking the inertia by promoting a virtuous circle:

Implementing high quality teaching methodology during brief periods,

observing and registering improvements in learning,

Analyzing theoretical background and questioning assumptions,

expanding confidence in teacher’s own competencies for teaching and students competencies for learning


Principles

Quality instruction is considered the main factor in triggering quality learning

Learning is conceived as a continuum, where each students advances at her/his own pace

Assessment is devised to show intermediate advances of students along the learning process, and to detect children who need additional help

Additional opportunities given by their teachers to students with slower learning rhythms help them to keep pace with their age group


Principles

Grade promotion in the first years is assessed in the framework of the multi-year process required for developing literacy

Unconscious assumptions that portray grade retention as a positive mechanism need to be revised and challenged by the results of introducing new practices in teaching and assessment

School change is sustained by medium term agreements among principals and teachers


Early School Failure, a bottleneck for reaching the goal of Universal Primary Education + A proposal for overcoming failure: The Programme Todos Pueden.

Documents

years grade

grade students

years primary

years of primary

grade repetitionretention

end of grade

grade age students

age grade age population