Programa ApaL
Mozambique
Residents: ~25 million
Official language: Portuguese
Local languages: 20 languages
HDI: 178 out of 187 in 2014
Independence: in 1975
Civil War: from 1977 to 1992
Education
 Primary education is free and compulsory
 Rapid expansion, 390% in a decade
 Decentralization exists on paper
 Teacher absenteeism:
30%
 Students absenteeism:
50%
Reading in grade 1-3
• 2 hours Portuguese per day
• 2% of students in grades 2 and 3 has desired fluency level
• Ineffective pedagogy; choral repetition, talk and chalk
• 40% of students in grade 2 do not understand oral
Portuguese instructions
• No access to effective reading material
USAID Aprender a Ler
2014
2015
Provinces
Nampula and Zambézia
Districts
6 districts
Schools
122
533
45.469
110.664
Teachers
849
1.980
School directors
61
533
Pedagogical directors
182
655
2nd, 3rd grade students
Involvement of local education institutes
Planning, implementation, monitoring, and coordination
of activities with DPEC, SDEJT, IFP, UP
Important for:
–
Improving attitude and punctuality in schools.
–
Implementation of new teaching and management strategies.
–
Ensuring sustainability of program activities.
–
Use of existing specialists.
Quality of teaching
Quantity of teaching
Better reading results for students
in 2nd and 3rd grade
Quality of Teaching
Reading Reinforcement Program
• Reading coaches in schools
• Teacher training
• Teaching and learning materials
• Formative assessment structure
Effective literacy instruction
Phonemic
awareness
Phonics
Comprehension
Fluency
Vocabulary
Teaching and Learning materials
• Scripted lesson plans for whole year
• Decodable books for students
• Read alouds for teachers
• Alphabet banner and
vocabulary cards
• Letter pocket, letter
cards and word cards
Simple view of reading
Decoding
Language
comprehension
Reading
comprehension
Demo video of some materials used
Reading Coach and Lead Trainers
Pedagogical director or cycle coordinator
INSET sessions
Classroom coaching
Tasks of Reading Coach
Clasroom observation
1.
–
Use observation tool linked to ApaL lessons
–
Model activities ´in the moment´
–
Coaching conversation afterwards
2.
Assist with continuous assessment
3.
Facilitate daily use of TLA´s by the teachers
1. Classroom Observation
Modeling
1.
Reading coach observes a class from the back.
2.
Raises hand when critical teaching strategy needs
improvement.
3.
Teacher allows intervention.
4.
Reading coach models the correct strategy
5.
Teacher repeats correctly.
6.
Reading coach returns to the back.
Other coaching tools
2. Assist with Continuous Assessment
Spelling test
 Integrated in lesson plans
 Classroom administered
 Teacher and reading coach analyse and make
plan of action
Fluency assessment
 Twice per year
 Based on ASER model
 Teacher and reading coach analyse and make
plan of action
Fluency Assessment
Four levels of fluency
1. Letters
2. Words
3. Sentences
4. Stories
Goals
• 2nd grade – word level
• 3rd grade – sentence level
Registro de Avaliação da Fluência
Training model
Training of
Trainers
Training of
Reading Coach
Pedagogical
support
Training of
Lead Trainers
INSET sessions
Teachers of 2nd
and 3rd grade
Increase Quantity of Reading
Training and coaching of school directors
• Training for school directors in improved management techniques
• Training of ZIP coordinators in coaching techniques
• Distribution of management tools
Quantity of Teaching
1. Attendance and punctuality of teachers and students.
2. Effective learning
time.
School director is a model
Five routines of an effective school director
1. Daily assembly of students
3. Strategies for dealing with
absenteeism.
2. School
bells mark
start of
lessons
4. Use of
management tools
5. Register and
promote daily use of
TLA’s
Training Model
Training of ZIP
coordinators
Training of
Trainers
Training of school
directors
INSET sessions and
school support visits.
Rapid assessment tool and school support visits
1:
Supervision
based on
evidence
3: Technical
support
2: Analysis
and
presentation
of data
Indicators assessed
Reading
 Coaching
 Continuous Assessment
 Use of TLA’s
 Fluency test
•
Connected text
Management
• Attitude and punctuality
of teachers, students and
school directors
• Use of management tools
• Management of TLA’s
Data collection with Magpi
• Use of smartphone to
collect data
• Data send to central server
• Rapid analysis facilitates
quick response with school
support visits
3
3.5
5
7
13
15
20
22
26
27
37
54
59
60
School support visits
 School support based on data from RSA.
 Detailed guide to orientate SDEJT about what support
is needed for the type of challenge that has been
observed.
 School support happens in the month after the RSA.
Collection of data by smartphone
Monthly
report
sheet
Web-based
data
Quarterly
RSA
Capacity building component
• In 2013 and 2014 ApaL has build capacity of MINED
and other counterparts.
• 2015 training and monitoring activities are being
transferred to government with support from ApaL
–
–
–
–
Regular ToT to prepare for field activities
Coaching from ApaL staff during implementation by MINED
and others
Weekly and monthly review sessions with district and provincial
education offices
Quarterly discussion with central government to discuss
improvements and seek advise in how to sustain activities
Transfering activities to local stakeholders
Training
Institute Formação Professores
Pedagogical University
Expert Reading Coaches
ZIP (Regional) Coordinators
Regular coaching District Education Office (SDEJT)
and analysis
Provincial Education Office (DPEC)
Ministry of Education (MINED)
Monitoring and SDEJT
Evaluation
DPEC
(RAT + EGRA) MINED
Material
Development
MINED
Local expers from University
Way forward in 2015
• Involvement from central MINED
• Finalizing material based on RSA results and
feedback MINED
• Increase involvement from other partners
–
Pedagogical University
• IBTCI endline survey in September 2015
Video of a child reading 45 wpm
IMPACT
Results
 Results over the past two years

Baseline, Sept 2013 and Sept 2014 results in EGRA
 Dosage/exposure
 Challenges
 Implementation approach



Capitalize on and strengthen local capacity
Institutionalization (policies, accountability, classroom practices, and
management tools)
ApaL’s uniqueness?
 Conclusion?
 Upcoming?
Reading fluency (120 word story, cwpm) in Mozambique
Grade 2
Control
Medium
Grade 3
Full
Control
16
16
14
14
12
12
10
8
Control = 1.4 extra cwpm improvement
Medium = 4 extra cwpm improvement
Full = 4.75 extra cwpm improvement
10
8
6
6
4
4
2
2
0
0
Baseline
Midline 1
Midline 2
Medium
Full
Control = 2.4 extra cwpm improvement
Medium = 10.2 cwpm improvement
Full = 12.7 cwpm improvement
Baseline
Midline 1
Students were given a 120-word story and asked to read aloud within one minute.
Midline 2
Letter recognition (10 rows of letters, clpm) in Mozambique
Grade 2
Control
35
30
25
Grade 3
Medium
Control
Full
Control = 12 extra clpm improvement
Medium = 14.8 extra clpm improvement
Full = 17.9 extra clpm improvement
35
30
25
20
20
15
15
10
10
5
5
0
0
Baseline
Midline 1
Midline 2
Medium
Full
Control = 13.2 extra clpm improvement
Medium = 22.3 extra clpm improvement
Full = 23.4 extra clpm improvement
Baseline
Midline 1
Midline 2
Students were asked to sound out as many letters (from a chart showing 10 rows of 10 random
letters) within one minute.
Familiar word reading (cwpm, 30 max) in Mozambique
Grade 2
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Control
Medium
Grade 3
Full
Control = 0.37 extra cwpm improvement
Medium = 0.7 extra cwpm improvement
Full = 1.3 extra cwpm improvement
Baseline
Midline 1
Midline 2
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Control
Medium
Full
Control = 1.5 extra cwpm improvement
Medium = 4.4 extra cwpm improvement
Full = 6.4 extra cwpm improvement
Baseline
Midline 1
Midline 2
Students were asked to sound out as many words as possible (list of 30) within one minute.
Estimate of instructional time during the school year
in Mozambique
 National curriculum allocates 2 x 45 minutes daily on Portuguese
language learning for grades 2 and 3 students
 ApaL intervention affects 1 x 45 minutes of the language
instruction in all ApaL schools
 A school year in Mozambique has 180 days of schooling
Dosage/Exposure by Intervention
(per year)
 Students:

6 months x 4.5 weeks x 3.75 hours (45 minutes daily) = 101.25 hours
(one project year)
 Teachers:

18 coach sessions + 34 training hours = 52 hours of intensive
interaction (one project year)
Biweekly class observation and feedback discussion
 Training sessions only happens on weekends (Saturdays)

 Materials used:


80% of students with ApaL have the reading materials with them while
only 10% of students from the “control” do (on a random school
visit/check)
Students were encouraged to take home ApaL developed reading
materials (no accurate usage/time data outside school)
Estimate of instructional time lost due to
absenteeism and late start
Time lost
ApaL “Control”
% SD or PD are absent on a given day
21%
25%
% teachers are absent on a given day
31%
34%
Late start on a school day (on average in
minutes)
32 minutes
52 minutes
% of students are absent on a given day
55%
62%
For any given child in grade 2 or 3, we estimate that there could be 70% of
allocated language instructional time lost over a school year due to the child’s
absent days, his/her teacher’s absence, late classes, and/or SD absence.
3rd Grade EGRA Results by Sex
Correct Letters or Words per Minute
Girl
Boy
15.5%
ApaL program has closed more than half
of the gender gap in EGRA results (clpm
and cwpm). Girls are improving EGRA
results significantly more than boys are.
30.2%
20.1%
21.9%
50.7%
51.2%
Letters/m
Treatment
Letters/m
“Control”
Familiar
words/m
Treatment
Familiar
Words/m
“Control”
Text
Words/m
Treatment
Text
Words/m
“Control”
Summary
 Teacher training happens on Saturdays
 Coaches are local school supervisors and pedagogical




directors
Guide and tools are products of joint partnership with
MoES and local education teams
School management aims at monitoring and evaluating, and
school management practices that are already written in
MoES’ rule books or policies
School Rapid Assessment for formative purpose
Mobile technology for data collection
Summary continued…
 9.54 dollars and 11.2 dollars per child for medium and full
intervention respectively
 Results sharing with school management, teachers, and local
communities
 Significant improvement in full and medium treatment
after a full academic year of intervention
 The improvement results are attributable to the school
management and teacher training and coaching with
preliminary data evidence
Summary continued…
 Working through existing structures and mechanism is a sustainable
approach and can produce significant results
 Outstanding challenge:
 closer tie and work with MINED at national, provincial, district
levels to increase accountability and address problem of
absenteeism and late start of school day
 continued work to address gap between boys and girls. Calls for
a study to understand the source of the gap