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In recent years, the government of Kenya has implemented programs with the hope of moving the country to middle-income status. The government has implemented the Digital Literacy Programme, distributing tablets to schools across the country, and also a new curriculum, promoting innovative teaching that includes digital literacy, learner-centered teaching, and relevance to students' lives. Our purpose in this research was to explore culturally sustaining teaching methods in line with the...

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...

In recent times, the Kenyan education sector has experienced increased cases of students' indiscipline in schools. However, the potential of homeschooling as a possible solution to such indiscipline has not been explored. Whereas critics of homeschooling posit that homeschooled children are inferior academically, proponents of this form of learning don't think so. Therefore, this research compared the academic learning outcomes of homeschooled children and children in conventional school...

Accelerated learning programs (ALP) around the world are helping disadvantaged, over-age, out-of-school children and youth catch up to their more advantaged peers. The Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) approach applies principles of formative assessments and level-wise grouping and learning to ensure children lagging in the foundational literacy and numeracy competencies catch up within a relatively short period, usually 30-50 days. This article discusses the implementation of ALP in Kenya:...

Information Communication Technology (ICT) enhances accessibility, efficiency, and quality of education. This study aimed to examine the status of ICT resources in teaching and learning in public primary special schools in Nairobi County, Kenya. Questionnaires, interviews, observation schedules, and manuals for document analysis were used to collect data from respondents. Research shows that most special schools have regular ICT resources provided by digital literacy programs (DLP), such as...

The present study examines experiences of mentor teachers and their teacher colleagues following three days of professional development training for early literacy instruction and a literacy software program (ABRA). Four Kenyan teacher-mentors were interviewed and 34 teachers were surveyed. Training included program specific and curriculum integration content. Thematic analysis of interviews yielded six themes, which identified perceived barriers and facilitators to adoption and integration...

Dans la majorité de pays africains, la place et l'essor des langues locales semblent incertains face au plurilinguisme de leurs systemes éducatifs. Le présent article analyse les contextes socioculturels et éducatifs du Rwanda et du Cameroun afin de produire, de développer et de renforcer les outils didactiques d'enseignement des langues locales au sein de leurs systemes bi-plurilingues surtout au niveau de l'éducation de base. Dans cet article, l'étude comparative des données documentaires...

Purpose: To understand the role of foundational learning as a means to improve quality in education. Design/methodology/approach: Secondary data sources like research papers and published reports have been used to carry out this qualitative research that is in the form of a landscape analysis. Discoveries: There is increased focus on foundational learning in India. We can learn from the experience of countries such as Kenya, Brazil, and Philippines, which have achieved significant success in...

The method of learner-created knowledge--where students engage with others in order to connect what they know with new knowledge to construct new meaning--ties into a broader support for learner autonomy in English language teaching (ELT) and learning. In countries like Cameroon, the social power orientation is mirrored in classroom practices, and teacher-centered pedagogies are the norm from primary to tertiary education. Developing tools to foster knowledge creation by learners in ELT...

70% of 10-Year-Olds now in Learning Poverty, Unable to Read and Understand a Simple Text

What is learning poverty?

Background. Primary school learners in Vihiga County have been recording a lower mean score in English language examinations than their counterparts in neighbouring counties, with the score being lower in comprehension passage than in grammar sections. Few previous studies conducted in Kenya have investigated the issue from the instructional dimension, thereby limiting stakeholders' understanding of the issue and delaying appropriate interventions. Aim. To determine how the deployment of...

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...