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A contentious debate in academic as well as policy circles relates to the growth in private schooling in the Global South. While proponents highlight the superior learning outcomes of pupils in private schools, others have argued that this is merely a reflection of the more advantaged family background of private school pupils, rather than an effect of private schooling itself. We contribute to this debate by providing estimates derived from household fixed-effect models, which control for...

A contentious debate in academic as well as policy circles relates to the growth in private schooling in the Global South. While proponents highlight the superior learning outcomes of pupils in private schools, others have argued that this is merely a reflection of the more advantaged family background of private school pupils, rather than an effect of private schooling itself. We contribute to this debate by providing estimates derived from household fixed-effect models, which control for...

A contentious debate in academic as well as policy circles relates to the growth in private schooling in the Global South. While proponents highlight the superior learning outcomes of pupils in private schools, others have argued that this is merely a reflection of the more advantaged family background of private school pupils, rather than an effect of private schooling itself. We contribute to this debate by providing estimates derived from household fixed-effect models, which control for...

• Short-term COVID-related learning losses in sub-Saharan Africa are up to one year. • The learning loss could accumulate to 2.8 years of long-term lost learning. • Targeted instruction and structured pedagogy reforms can mitigate learning losses. • Models suggest these reforms could improve pre-COVID learning levels. • Crisis presents historic opportunity to enact reforms to address learning crisis. We model learning losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the potential for cost-effective...

Reading comprehension is a valued skill worldwide. In Kenya, reading comprehension is taught through English textbooks. In this study, we analyzed the reading comprehension exercises in the English textbooks for Standard 4 and Standard 5. Results indicate a strong emphasis on questions that can be answered directly from the text and questions that connect to a reader's background. A brief discussion of content is provided as well as limitations and future directions.

Reading comprehension is a valued skill worldwide. In Kenya, reading comprehension is taught through English textbooks. In this study, we analyzed the reading comprehension exercises in the English textbooks for Standard 4 and Standard 5. Results indicate a strong emphasis on questions that can be answered directly from the text and questions that connect to a reader's background. A brief discussion of content is provided as well as limitations and future directions.

This study explores how the primary school teacher preparation curriculum prepares pre‐service teachers to teach reading in lower primary schools in Kenya. High‐quality reading teacher preparation is among the critical aspects that need to be addressed in order to curb the literacy challenges faced by early grade students living in low‐resource contexts. In this article, a case study of the Kenyan Primary Teacher Preparation programme is presented using data from the primary teacher...

This study explores how the primary school teacher preparation curriculum prepares pre-service teachers to teach reading in lower primary schools in Kenya. High-quality reading teacher preparation is among the critical aspects that need to be addressed in order to curb the literacy challenges faced by early grade students living in low-resource contexts. In this article, a case study of the Kenyan Primary Teacher Preparation programme is presented using data from the primary teacher...

The learning gap between urban and rural areas is a persistent problem in many sub-Saharan African countries. Previous studies have found that the urban-rural learning gap is attributed to the fact that student characteristics and school resources are different in urban and rural areas. Our study updates this finding by using the latest dataset and further examines the changes in the attributed sources over time. Using 15 educational systems in sub-Saharan Africa, we examined 4 potential...

• The paper quantifies the extent to which achieving within country equality would bring countries closer to global equitygoals. • Equalizing grade attainment between rich and poor children leads to only modest progress. • Equalizing learning profiles results in larger gains that vary across countries. • Even with equality of schooling and learning, children are still far from mastering basic reading and math by 12−13. • Reaching equity goals will require more than closing rich-poor gaps,...

This research sought to investigate the effects of instructional materials used at community resource centers on adult literacy learners in community development activities with a specific focus on Nyamira North Sub-County, Kenya. The study was guided by the constructivism theory of learning. It employed the descriptive survey design where a sample of 254 learners was drawn from a population of 492 adult learners in the study area using the stratified random sampling method. Questionnaires...

This study examined the effects of Spaceteam ESL, a digital shouting game, on the development of oral reading fluency (ORF) among 71 English as a second language (ESL) students in three primary and secondary schools in Mombasa, Kenya. Following a mixed-methods approach for data collection and analysis, we pre-tested and post-tested the participants on their ability to read aloud efficiently (speed) and accurately (accuracy) in three tasks: (1) phrases extracted from the game; (2) phrases not...

The COVID-19 global pandemic has forced many universities worldwide to switch from face-to-face classes to Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) to allow students to continue learning. Using the Community of Inquiry framework, this study aimed to examine a group of lecturers' experiences of ERT at a university in Kenya. The study was conducted using a qualitative case study design within an interpretive paradigm. Ten lecturers were purposively selected to participate in semi-structured interviews....

Background: Information and communication technology (ICT) reading interventions can help children with reading difficulties, especially those in resource-constrained environments who otherwise might not have support. Objectives: (1) Provide an overview of ICT reading interventions used globally with primary school children. (2) Provide further information on the subset of studies conducted in majority world countries, describing the interventions used, their impact on reading and challenges...

This article presents a critical review of the education system and curriculum reforms in basic education in Kenya from independence in 1963 to date. It presents a philosophical and pragmatic basis for content review and the curriculum reform process. Data collection involved a critical review of relevant literature; including several curriculum reform documents. Based on the literature review and documentary analysis, there is overwhelming evidence that radical changes have resulted in the...

This article presents a critical review of the education system and curriculum reforms in basic education in Kenya from independence in 1963 to date. It presents a philosophical and pragmatic basis for content review and the curriculum reform process. Data collection involved a critical review of relevant literature; including several curriculum reform documents. Based on the literature review and documentary analysis, there is overwhelming evidence that radical changes have resulted in the...

To create a radical change within the educational system in public primary schools in Kenya, there is need to invest more on stakeholder capacity building specifically on monitoring and evaluation educational programme. The purpose of this article is to establish the extent to which stakeholder capacity building for monitoring and evaluation influence performance of literacy and numeracy educational programme. Despite numerous initiatives by key stakeholders to better performance of pupils...

School closures due to teacher strikes or political unrest in low-resource contexts can adversely affect children's educational outcomes and career opportunities. Phone-based educational technologies could help bridge these gaps in formal schooling, but it is unclear whether or how children and their families will use such systems during periods of disruption. We investigate two mobile learning technologies deployed in sub-Saharan Africa: a text-message-based application with lessons and...

Sub-Saharan African countries have made remarkable strides in closing the gender gap in primary enrolment and more girls than ever are attending school. With the existing gender differentials in youth literacy rates, an important question is whether they are learning as well as their male classmates. This article explored factors that contribute to gender gaps in reading for sixth-grade pupils from 61 396 pupils from 15 countries in the third evaluation of the Southern and Eastern Africa...

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...