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It is widely recognized that education plays a key role in addressing current global challenges. Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) combines local actions with global thinking. In Virtual School Garden Exchanges (VSGEs) primary and secondary students from the Global South and North interact and communicate digitally about their school gardens. This study focuses on educators' expectations regarding learning outcomes of VSGEs and possible parallels with ESD and Virtual Exchanges...

This four-part volume examines trends, problems, and issues related to school science equipment. Part 1 focuses on laboratory work and practical activities in science and technology education, considering equipment and curriculum development, equipment development related to curricula in Brazil, uses of local resources for practical work, elementary technology materials for science curricula, project work and the needs of a technology laboratory, and the development and utilization of...

Primary school enrollments have increased rapidly in sub-Saharan Africa, spurring concerns about low levels of learning. We analyze field experiments in Kenya and Uganda that assessed whether the Reading to Learn intervention, implemented by the Aga Khan Foundation in both countries, improved early-grade literacy as measured by common assessments. We find that Ugandan literacy (in Lango) increased by 0.2 standard deviations. We find a smaller effect (0.08) on a Swahili literacy test in...

Primary school enrollments have increased rapidly in sub-Saharan Africa, spurring concerns about low levels of learning. We analyze field experiments in Kenya and Uganda that assessed whether the Reading to Learn intervention, implemented by the Aga Khan Foundation in both countries, improved early-grade literacy as measured by common assessments. We find that Ugandan literacy (in Lango) increased by 0.2 standard deviations. We find a smaller effect (0.08) on a Swahili literacy test in...

At the end of the seventh grade, students in Kenya are required to take the Certificate of Primary Education Examination (CPE), which is used as a selection instrument to determine whether students will be allowed to continue an academic course of education at the secondary school level. While the full range of subjects in the primary school curriculum includes 15 subjects, only 5 of these are covered in the CPE. The examination covers achievement in English and mathematics, and includes a...

This book represents a crop of wide-ranging research conducted by renown scholars in sub-Sahara Africa revolving around mathematics teaching and professional development programs for mathematics teachers. The research-based proposals and actual how-to-conduct professional development initiatives that enhance effective mathematics instruction are rooted in teacher input and informed by learners errors and misconceptions. The book provides a comprehensive snapshot on mathematics teaching,...

This book represents a crop of wide-ranging research conducted by renown scholars in sub-Sahara Africa revolving around mathematics teaching and professional development programs for mathematics teachers. The research-based proposals and actual how-to-conduct professional development initiatives that enhance effective mathematics instruction are rooted in teacher input and informed by learners errors and misconceptions. The book provides a comprehensive snapshot on mathematics teaching,...

This paper explores factors to increase the likelihood that the implementation of ABRACADABRA, a technology-based approach to teaching and learning literacy, endures and expands beyond the initial research. Started as a pilot study in 12 classrooms, the implementation spread to more than 500 primary classrooms over six years in five areas of Kenya. Drawing from research about scalability and sustainability of educational interventions and value-expectancy-cost theory, an exploratory survey...

• ABRA and READS instruction is better than regular instruction on reading. • ABRA and READS effects on reading transfer to other subject areas. • ABRA and READS are effective when implemented in authentic Kenyan classroom context. This two-phase study was designed as a quasi-experiment to learn about the impacts of the interactive early literacy software and the library of digital books and stories on primary students' reading abilities and reading instruction in Kenyan schools. For more...

In his keynote speech at the 16th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers in South Africa, renowned African scholar Mahmood Mamdani called for the creation of regional research institutions for clusters of countries to be made a developmental focus for the Commonwealth. Noting that only African countries with a dense network of universities seemed able to pay for research universities, Mamdani argued that smaller countries, such as Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania, should collaborate to create a regional research university.

This report presents the proceedings of a seminar that brought together almost 30 intellectuals, artists, and development activists from eight African countries and Canada to identify the obstacles to peace in Africa and develop strategies to overcome them. One of the other purposes of the seminar was to develop elements of curriculum and instructional materials for peace education and action plans for selected target groups of adults and other special groups. The report features seminar...

This paper provides a critical appraisal of the influence of examinations oriented approaches on quality education in primary schools in Kenya. The purpose of the study was to determine effects of examination oriented teaching approaches on learning achievement among primary school pupils in Kakamega County, Kenya. It explored the assumptions underlying pedagogical approaches as well as the negative influences of exam-oriented approaches in Kenyan schools. Examination oriented approaches...

Information obtained in a survey of the uses of radio and television in connection with literacy work in 40 countries of the world is presented. Much of the information consists of replies to Unesco questionnaires on the subject. The countries surveyed were: Algeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo (Brazzaville), Ethiopia, Gabon, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Sudan, Tunisia, United Arab Republic, Upper Volta, Zambia, Cuba, Guatemala,...

Learning about the water situation in other regions of the world and the devastating effects of floods on drinking water helps students study science while learning about global water quality. This article provides science activities focused on developing cultural awareness and understanding how local water resources are integrally linked to the quality of the world's water supply. After reading and discussing a case study highlighting one water situation facing the people of Kenya, students...

The Water in Africa Project was realized over a 2-year period by a team of Peace Corps volunteers, World Wise Schools (WWS) classroom teachers, and WWS staff members. As part of an expanded, detailed design, resources were collected from over 90 volunteers serving in African countries, photos and stories were prepared, and standards-based learning units were created for K-12 students. Intended for third to fifth grade students, this unit uses children's interactions with water to help them...

Educational research has linked parental participation in children�s schooling with a wide range of children�s academic outcomes. Parental involvement involves time and resource commitment towards children�s academic performance. This paper extracts data from a cross-sectional survey involving 2,669 grade six students attending public and private primary schools serving households located in Iganga�Mayuge health and demographic surveillance system in rural Eastern Uganda. The paper adopts...

Highlights • There has been substantial growth in private schools in developing countries, accompanied by increasing choice and mobility. • A number of factors determine school mobility, and consequences for educational outcomes of such mobility are ambiguous. • We find that transferring during lower primary leads to a poorer resourced school, but transferring during upper primary a higher resourced school. • Transfers during lower primary are associated with falling behind, while those in...

The implementation of mother tongue education (MTE) remains a challenge across Africa and Kenya in particular. This continues despite the fact that the maintenance and development of language and literacy skills in one's mother tongue (MT) plays a critical role in facilitating second language (L2) learning, developing additive bilingualism and continuous cognitive development. Consequently, Kenya has had several education commissions in both colonial and post-colonial periods, which,...

The implementation of mother tongue education (MTE) remains a challenge across Africa and Kenya in particular. This continues despite the fact that the maintenance and development of language and literacy skills in one's mother tongue (MT) plays a critical role in facilitating second language (L2) learning, developing additive bilingualism and continuous cognitive development. Consequently, Kenya has had several education commissions in both colonial and post-colonial periods, which,...

Reading proficiency has been identified as one of the most reliable indicators of whether a learner will attain the competence needed to achieve academic success and contribute actively to society. Research findings in Kenyan primary and secondary schools reveal inadequate reading skills among the students. There are different approaches in teaching of reading in early learning. The study sought to establish teachers' orientation in reading instructions in early childhood settings and...