MALI Mr. Boubacar Bocoum PHARE/USAID All Children Reading by 2015: From Assessment to Action Washington, DC April 12-14, 2010.

MALIMr. Boubacar BocoumPHARE/USAID

All Children Reading by 2015:From Assessment to ActionWashington, DCApril 12-14, 2010

MALIA systemic approach to developing and implementing a model of effective literacy instruction in grades 1 to 6

Standards Research Intervention

The genesis of Mali’s systemic reform of reading/writing instruction…

Results of international assessments rank Mali elementary students as 7th out of 8 francophone African countries in language abilities

Request from Ministry of Education that USAID fund a 5-year results-based initiative (2008 to 2013) to improve reading instruction in ALL elementary schools across the country (PHARE program)

Key questions for results-based initiative …

What are the critical reading/writing skills children need to develop in order to become effective readers/writers and by what ages should they have developed these competencies (in local language and/or in French)?

What instructional strategies and materials will best ensure that students develop these skills/competencies? How can we adapt evidence-based teaching strategies and materials to the Malian context?

What supports do teachers and teacher educators need in order to implement these strategies and materials effectively in the classroom?

STEP 1: Articulation of a results-based vision of effective literacy learning

COMPETENCIES Grade 2 Grade 4 Grade 6

NATIONAL READING STANDARDS

Language mechanisms (phonemic awareness, phonetics)

Concepts of print

Lexical awareness (Vocabulary)

Comprehension

Fluidity

NATIONAL WRITING STANDARDS

Original production

Style

Coherency and Clarity

Conventions of written texts (grammar, spelling…)

STEP 2: Articulation of a results-based vision of effective literacy instruction

Development (over a six month period) and validation by Ministry of an inventory of 24 effective reading/writing practices, linked to student standards, as well as: Teacher effective reading/writing practices

self-evaluation checklist, based on inventory

Teacher supervisor classroom practices observation tool, based on the inventory (SCOPE reading/writing)

STEP 3: Baseline research - EGRA

Grade 2 - Passage reading - Correct words per minute

93.7

83

93.4 91.384.3

95.3

4.158.2

2 3.5

12.7

2.51.7 4.1 1.5 2.8 0.9 1.80.454.7 3.1 2.4 2.1 0.4

0

20

40

60

80

100

French Bamanankan Bomu Fulfuldé Songhoï Arabic

% o

f S

tud

ents

Zero 1- 9 words 10 - 19 words 20 - 29 words

STEP 3: Baseline Research –Teachers’ and teacher’s college instructors’ attitudes, beliefs and practices

Teachers: Important disconnect between teachers’ perceptions of age-appropriate expectations for

children and the new national standards assumptions about how children learn to read and the

new effective instructional practices inventory (Ex: Teachers provide students with multiple opportunities to develop some aspects of phonemic awareness, but few opportunities to develop other competencies)

Teacher’s college instructors: Less than half trained in reading methodology and of those, most have only been trained in the classic « syllabic » method that emphasizes a narrow range of decoding skills.

STEP 4: Identifying and implementing appropriate interventions

Intervention program that would: Challenge educators’ current assumptions about

reading/writing Present them with images of new, research-

based literacy instructional models, adapted to Malian context

Result in children: developing skills in all NINE competencies : having multiple opportunities :

to be read to, to read, to read for pleasure and to read texts of interest to them

to write authentic words, sentences and texts, beginning with their entry into first grade

STEP 4: Introduction of a « balanced » literacy approach

AlphabetLetter-sound relationships

Key wordsDefinitions, usages, meaning

Grammar, syntax

Invented spellingGuided writing

Independant writingFree writing

Collective writing

Balanced literacy

Guided readingIndependant

readngPaired reading

Reading togetherReading out loud

Balanced literacy progression Gr1-6

Supporting implementation of « balanced » literacy

ADDRESSING ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT READING/WRITING DEVELOPMENT/

• Distribution and examination of national reading/writing standards

• Examination of assumptions, and impact of those assumptions, during teacher, teacher supervisor and teachers college instructor face-to-face trainings

PROVIDING NEW MENTAL MODELS OF EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES

• Interactive radio programs that model new practices

• Teachers’ balanced literacy guides, with detailed lessons for first 6 weeks, as well as compendium of learning activities for each of the 9 competencies

• Multi-media, interactive self directed learning modules for teachers’ college instructors with video footage of new practices

• SCOPE reading/writing classroom observation tool and accompanying qualitative descriptors , for each practice, of 4 stages of teacher development

Supporting implementation of « balanced » literacy

PROVIDING « EVIDENCE » THAT CHILDREN CAN DEVELOP SKILLS, &AT EARLIER AGE

• I nteractive radio programs

• Video footage in teacher’s college instructors modules

SUPPORTING IMPLEMENTATION OF NEW MENTAL MODELS AT CLASSROOM LEVEL

•Teacher reading kits (guide, posters, flash cards, audio cassettes, story books)

• Classroom observations by literacy mentors using reading/writing classroom observation instrument

• Institution of school-based self-directed lliteracy learning communities (for schools that apply to MOE for additional support)

ENGAGING COMMUNITY SUPPORT FOR LITERACY INITIATIVES (SELF SELECTION)

• Development of PTA literacy-improvement support plans

• Organisation of literacy progress report review meetings

What lessons can we learn from Mali’s experience to date?

The return-on-investment of developing solid, research-based conceptual frameworks to guide the reform process (standards, benchmarks, effective instructional practices inventories)

The return-on-investment of an ongoing Ministry-driven research agenda to guide and inform the reform process

The disconnect between research-based frameworks about effective reading instructional practices, and teachers’ /supervisors’ tacitly-held beliefs, may, if not addressed, constitute a serious impediment to adoption of new practices

Changing literacy practices – and instituting a culture of text-based literacy – is a complex and multi-faceted process

What are the major challenges facing Mali as it continues its systemic reform of literacy practices?

Shifting assumptions and beliefs about reading and writing Building shared mental models of what reading/writing

teaching can and should look like (among teachers, among teacher supervisors & teacher’s college instructors)

Motivating teachers to invest the professional and personal energy required to shift their practices/learning environments

Maintaining continuity of purpose: Respecting and building on the frameworks put in place – over the medium and long term

Attempting systemic reform in the absence of complementary public and community-based initiatives (literacy awareness campaigns, etc) to support and extend classroom-based initiatives

Reaching all teachers, classrooms and students, equally and at the same time (scale and resources)

Thank you