1. Improving Early Grade Reading Outcomes
August 2019

2. Key obstacle - Early Grade Reading
78% of South African Grade 4 learners could not reach the lowest benchmark in the HL
The majority of South African children transition to English as language of instruction in Grade 4.
This means that the majority of learners cannot engage critically with text in later grades
This no doubt feeds into the substantial inequalities in educational achievement that are established early in primary school.
Early interventions aimed at improving the acquisition of English as an additional language can be expected to have larger effects than interventions later in the school programme.

3. Innovative ways of overcoming the problem:
Structured learning programmes seem to be successful in improving:
Instructional change
Learning outcomes
Within structured learning programmes - mode of delivery matters
On-site teacher coaching seems to be quite successful
(Snilstveit et al, 2016; Popova, Evans, & Arancibia, 2016).
(Popova, et al., 2016).
(Kraft, et al., 2016).
First research question: Is this replicable in the South African context?

4. Reading Catch-up Study (RCUP):
On-site teacher coaches over a short period of time (11 weeks)
Aim: to boost the teaching and learning of English Second Language reading amongst Grade 4
Evaluated: RCT design in the Pinetown district of the KwaZulu-Natal province
If effective, this could be implemented in a cost-effective manner through rotating coaches across schools for one term at a time.
BUT: the average impact of the RCUP was not significantly different from zero
Although children with a higher baseline English proficiency did register statistically significant gains
2 lessons learnt:
#1: Learners lack the foundations, so we need to intervene prior to Grade 4.
#2: The duration of coaching was too short, we need to intervene for at least 2 years

5. First Early Grade Reading Study
Implementation
3 Interventions targeting HL literacy (Setswana) in no-fee schools
Control group
(80 schools)
“Training”
Lesson plans, reading materials +
central teacher training
(50 schools)
“Coaching”
on-site coaching 
“Parent Involvement”
Coaching most expensive but only about 30% more expensive than Training. Parent interventions, if effective, present a possible cost-effective solution.

6. Coaching most expensive but only about 30% more expensive than Training. Parent interventions, if effective, present a possible cost-effective solution.

7. First Early Grade Reading Study
Impact after 2 years

8. First Early Grade Reading Study
Changed instructional practices
Teachers felt much more supported
Higher access to print and adherence to teaching routine
Increase in group-guided reading (individualized reading)
Curriculum coverage, assessment and opportunities to write
Pupil use of reading material

9. First Early Grade Reading Study:
Sustainability – Grade 4 Setswana ORF
Coaching most expensive but only about 30% more expensive than Training. Parent interventions, if effective, present a possible cost-effective solution.

10. First Early Grade Reading Study:
Sustainability – Grade 4 English ORF
Coaching most expensive but only about 30% more expensive than Training. Parent interventions, if effective, present a possible cost-effective solution.

11. First Early Grade Reading Study:
Sustainability – Grade 4 Main results
Coaching most expensive but only about 30% more expensive than Training. Parent interventions, if effective, present a possible cost-effective solution.

12. First Early Grade Reading Study:
Sustainability – Grade 3 results
Coaching most expensive but only about 30% more expensive than Training. Parent interventions, if effective, present a possible cost-effective solution.

13. First Early Grade Reading Study:
Sustainability – Grade 3 Teachers
Lesson plans
Graded readers
Coaching most expensive but only about 30% more expensive than Training. Parent interventions, if effective, present a possible cost-effective solution.
Resource utilisation remains high

14. First Early Grade Reading Study:
Sustainability – Grade 3 Teachers
Usage of Graded readers
Coaching most expensive but only about 30% more expensive than Training. Parent interventions, if effective, present a possible cost-effective solution.
But graded readers used more intensively in Coaching arm

15. First Early Grade Reading Study:
Lessons learnt
Structured learning programmes seem to be successful in improving:
Instructional change
Learning outcomes
Within structured learning programmes - mode of delivery matters
On-site teacher coaching seems to be quite successful
But expensive + resource intensive
Next generation questions:
Are there more cost/ resource effective modes of delivery?
Is this approach replicable in another province or subject?

16. Second Early Grade Reading Study
Implementation
2 Interventions targeting EFAL literacy (English) in no-fee schools
Control group
(80 schools)
“On-site coaching”
Paper-based lesson plans
Reading materials +
 On-site coaching
(50 schools)
“Virtual coaching”
Tablet based lesson plans Reading materials
Virtual coaching 
Coaching most expensive but only about 30% more expensive than Training. Parent interventions, if effective, present a possible cost-effective solution.

17. Second Early Grade Reading Study
Preliminary results – after 1 year of implementation
Coaching most expensive but only about 30% more expensive than Training. Parent interventions, if effective, present a possible cost-effective solution.

18. Second Early Grade Reading Study
Preliminary results – after 1 year of implementation
Coaching most expensive but only about 30% more expensive than Training. Parent interventions, if effective, present a possible cost-effective solution.

19. Second Early Grade Reading Study
Changed instructional practices
Predominant use of English by teachers and learners
More opportunities for learners to speak English individually
Teachers used a much broader variety of instructional practices
Teachers are more likely to introduce vocabulary in context
More English print visible (posters/charts/books etc)
Coaching most expensive but only about 30% more expensive than Training. Parent interventions, if effective, present a possible cost-effective solution.

20. Discussion Next generation research questions:
Preliminary results:
Coaching improves human capital: students taught by teachers who received Coaching the previous year learn at a fast rate, compared to the control.
Coaching able to induce a sustained change in behavior: knowledge and resource utilization persisted for both Coaching and Training.
External validity: On-site coaching can work in another province and language
Virtual coaching might be a less resource intensive mode of delivery
But the impact of Coaching on the subsequent cohort is roughly half the size.
Coaching most expensive but only about 30% more expensive than Training. Parent interventions, if effective, present a possible cost-effective solution.
Next generation research questions:
Can the on-site coaching model be delivered on a larger scale?
Will light-touch follow-ups assist with persistence?

21. Next steps: System change
EGRS Improvement Plan
Lesson plan and LTSM review
Development of the coaching course
Reading Support Programme in North West ( )
Hempel foundation programme (2020 – 2022)
Development of reading norms
Coaching most expensive but only about 30% more expensive than Training. Parent interventions, if effective, present a possible cost-effective solution.