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Mali. Mr. Boubacar Bocoum PHARE/USAID All Children Reading by 2015: From Assessment to Action Washington, DC April 12-14, 2010. Mali. A systemic approach to developing and implementing a model of effective literacy instruction in grades 1 to 6.
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Mali Mr. Boubacar Bocoum PHARE/USAID All Children Reading by 2015: From Assessment to Action Washington, DC April 12-14, 2010
Mali A systemic approach to developing and implementing a model of effective literacy instruction in grades 1 to 6 Standards Research Intervention
The genesis of Mali’ssystemicreform 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 criticalreading/writingskillschildrenneed to develop in order to become effective readers/writers and by whatagesshouldthey have developedthesecompetencies (in local language and/or in French)? • Whatinstructionalstrategies and materialswill best ensurethatstudentsdeveloptheseskills/competencies? How canweadaptevidence-basedteachingstrategies and materials to the Maliancontext? • What supports do teachers and teachereducatorsneed in order to implementthesestrategies and materialseffectively in the classroom?
STEP 1: Articulation of a results-based vision of effective literacylearning
STEP 2: Articulation of a results-based vision of effective literacyinstruction Development (over a six monthperiod) 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-evaluationchecklist, based on inventory • Teachersupervisorclassroom practices observation tool, based on the inventory (SCOPE reading/writing)
STEP 3: Baseline Research –Teachers’ and teacher’scollegeinstructors’ attitudes, beliefs and practices • Teachers: Important disconnectbetweenteachers’ • perceptions of age-appropriate expectations for children and the new national standards • assumptions about how childrenlearn to read and the new effective instructional practices inventory (Ex: Teachersprovidestudentswith multiple opportunities to developsome aspects of phonemicawareness, but few opportunities to developothercompetencies) • Teacher’scollegeinstructors: Lessthanhalftrained in readingmethodology and of those, most have only been trained in the classic « syllabic » methodthatemphasizes a narrow range of decodingskills.
STEP 4:Identifying and implementingappropriate interventions Intervention program thatwould: • Challenge educators’ currentassumptions about reading/writing • Presentthemwith images of new, research-basedliteracyinstructionalmodels, adapted to Maliancontext • Result in children: • developingskills in all NINE competencies : • having multiple opportunities : • to beread to, to read, to read for pleasure and to readtexts of interest to them • to writeauthenticwords, sentences and texts, beginningwiththeir entry into first grade
STEP 4: Introduction of a « balanced » literacyapproach Word works Alphabet Letter-soundrelationships Key words Definitions, usages, meaning Grammar, syntax Balancedliteracy Guidedreading Independantreadng Pairedreading Reading together Reading out loud Inventedspelling Guidedwriting Independantwriting Free writing Collective writing Reading Writing
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)
