Improving Early Literacy Outcomes

Nic Spaull (South Africa) is a senior researcher in the Economics Department at Stellenbosch University, and Director of Funda Wande – Reading For Meaning, a world-class multimedia course to teach Foundation Phase (grades R-3) teachers how to teach reading.John P. Comings (United States) is a senior technical consultant at World Education, an international NGO based in Boston, and a faculty member at the Center for International Education, University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

• ForewordMmantsetsa MaropeNotes on ContributorsIntroductionPart 1: Improving Early Literacy Outcomes: Curriculum, Teaching, and Assessment1. The Early Reading Curriculum: International Policy and PracticeClaire McLachlan2. Aligning Curriculum and Assessment in Early Reading EducationPeter Afflerbach3. Assessing Early Literacy Outcomes in Burkina Faso and Senegal: Using DHS and PASEC to Combine Access and QualityNic Spaull and Adaiah Lilenstein4. Getting It Right from the Start: Some Cautionary Notes for Early Reading Instruction in African LanguagesElizabeth J. Pretorius5. The Teaching of Reading and Writing in Second- and Multi-Language Contexts: Evidence from CanadaRobert Savage and Marie-France Côté6. Early Literacy Instruction in India: Redefining the ChallengeShobha Sinha7. Challenges Associated With Reading Acquisition in Sub-Saharan Africa: Promotion of Literacy in Multilingual ContextsHeikki Lyytinen, Emma Ojanen, Jacqueline Jere-Folotiya, Stella Damaris Ngorosho, Francis Sampa, Pamela February, Flora Malasi, Jonathan Munachaka, Christopher Yalukanda, Kenneth Pugh and Robert Serpel8. Entering into the Written Culture to Overcome Inequalities: Teaching Literacy to Children from Vulnerable CommunitiesAlejandra Medina9. Those Children Who Are Left Behind: A Reading Programme That WorksBeatriz Diuk10. We Want to Learn: A Programme for the Linguistic, Cognitive and Socio-Emotional Development of Young Children in ArgentinaAna María Borzone and Mariela Vanesa De Mier11. Powerful Reforms in Early Language and Literacy Instruction in IndiaShailaja Menon, Sajitha S. K., Neela Apte, Abha Basargekar and Ramachandar KrishnamurthyPart 2: Improving Learning Outcomes in Early Grade Reading and Writing in Burkina Faso, Niger, and Senegal: Insights from A UNESCO IBE Project12. Integrating Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning Materials to Improve Learning Outcomes in Early Grade Reading: A Common Goal for Burkina Faso, Niger, and SenegalAmapola Alama13. Teaching and learning to Read and Write in a Multilingual Context: Burkina Faso, Niger, and SenegalBernard Schneuwly, Sandrine Aeby Daghé, Irina Leopoldoff, Glaís Sales Cordeiro, Thérèse Thévenaz-Christen and Simon Toulou14. Teaching Reading in Burkina Faso: Improving Reading and Writing Outcomes in the Early Years of Primary SchoolSandrine Aeby Daghé, Irina Leopoldoff, Thérèse Thévenaz-Christen and Victor Yaméogo15. Modules to Train Teachers to Teach Reading and Writing in Niger: From an Analysis of the Current Situation to a Collaborative Production of Tools for Teacher EducationBernard Schneuwly, Simon Toulou and Maman Mallam Garba16. Senegal: Improving Training to Bolster Reading and Writing Skills in French as a Second LanguageThérèse Thévenaz-Christen and Glaís Sales Cordeiro

"The book tackles the vital question of how to improve early literacy, which is of particular importance to children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds. I strongly recommend it to policy actors, non-government organisations, researchers, and students seeking to understand, and identify solutions to, the learning crisis facing many countries around the world." – Pauline Rose, Professor and Director, Research for Equitable Access and Learning (REAL) Centre, Cambridge University