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Kenyan parents want their children to have an education that will maximize their full potential, and they are prepared to make tremendous sacrifices to ensure their children get that education. However, the best schools cost far more than most families can afford, and even the most humble local schools require parents to pay for school fees, school uniforms, and books. Many a young Kenyan has dropped out of school for lack of funds. Parents are among the primary teachers of their gifted...

This article reports findings of a study conducted in public primary schools in Narok County Kenya. A sample size comprising 74 children in Grade 3 (37 who did not attend preschool and 37 who attended preschool), 18 head teachers, 66 lower primary school teacher's and five education officers were selected for the study. Learners' reading ability was tested using the Kenya Early Grade Reading Assessment Tests for English and Kiswahili adapted from Department for International Development end...

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...

Abstract This study uses data from the Health and Literacy Intervention (HALI) program evaluation, an in-service teacher training program focused on early grade literacy instruction for class one teachers. We assess how changes in classroom instructional processes impacted by the HALI teacher training were associated with improved early literacy outcomes for children. We find that experimentally induced increases in exposure to print—measured both through changes to time spent reading in...

Using a large-scale, standardised English language proficiency test (TOEFL^® Primary^TM), this study examined Kenyan primary school students’ English reading and listening proficiency and explored challenges primary school teachers face in using English as the medium of instruction (EMI) to teach their multilingual students. The test was taken by 4768 students in Standards 3-7 from 51 primary schools across the country in Kenya. Seventeen primary school teachers,...

Using a large-scale, standardised English language proficiency test (TOEFL^® Primary^TM), this study examined Kenyan primary school students’ English reading and listening proficiency and explored challenges primary school teachers face in using English as the medium of instruction (EMI) to teach their multilingual students. The test was taken by 4768 students in Standards 3-7 from 51 primary schools across the country in Kenya. Seventeen primary school teachers,...

Globally, ODL institutions experience mismatch between scalability of numbers and scalability ofsuccess rates. This study explored the scalability of success rates in open, distance e-learning asperceived by the learners within the Chain of Response Model. The primary aim of the study was tolook at online learners' success rate by focusing on two institutional factors drawn from the Model,namely: the learner's study modules related challenges and support services. The results of an...

The objective of this article is to investigate the effects of preschool participation on learning achievement and to estimate the optimal duration of preschool participation needed for pupils to perform their best in mathematics at the Grade 6 level in Uganda. The sample consisted of 2649 Grade 6 pupils, attending 82 schools across two rural districts of Iganga and Mayuge in Uganda. Understanding the relationship between duration of preschool participation and pupils’ future learning...

The purpose of this study was to provide a systematic review of research that has been carried out between 2006 and 2016 on the role of language in early grade (Grades 1-4) mathematics teaching and learning in three countries—Kenya, Malawi and South Africa. These countries were selected because they have similar characteristics: teaching and learning occur in a multilingual context; their language in education policies are similar; transition from mother tongue to English happens during the...

This study investigates the relationship between the language of instruction and learning of literacy skills among pre-primary school children in a multilingual environment. The sample consists of 1867 learners from low-income urban households, attending 147 low-cost private pre-primary schools located in low-income areas of Nairobi, Kenya. About one-half (48.4%) of the learners were taught basic aspects of literacy such as letter naming, letters sounds and rhymes using Kiswahili (a local...

This study investigates the relationship between the language of instruction and learning of literacy skills among pre-primary school children in a multilingual environment. The sample consists of 1867 learners from lowincome urban households, attending 147 low-cost private pre-primary schools located in low-income areas of Nairobi, Kenya. About one-half (48.4%) of the learners were taught basic aspects of literacy such as letter naming, letters sounds and rhymes using Kiswahili (a local...

Free Primary Education Initiative has been running for more than a decade and its purpose has been to help Kenya achieve equity, parity, quality and higher retention rate in primary schools. This study investigated the impact of FPE inputs on educational outcomes in Kenya. The objective of the study was to determine the rates of enrolment and retention at Primary school level. Random sampling was used for data collection at school level; purposive sampling for teachers namely Head teachers,...

Limited rigorous evidence is available from sub-Saharan Africa regarding whether children who learn to read in their mother tongue will have higher learning outcomes in other subjects. A randomised controlled trial of mother-tongue literacy instruction, the Primary Math and Reading (PRIMR) Initiative, was implemented in Kenya from 2013 to 2014. We compared the impacts of the PRIMR mother-tongue treatment group in two languages with those of another group that did not use mother tongue, but...

In this paper, we exemplify the resourcefulness of using non-sanctioned ways of speaking in classroom communication within a cross-age literacy collaboration between elementary-level grade 5 and high-school level grade 9 students in Nairobi, Kenya. Our goal is two-fold: to contribute to scholarship that affirms this resourcefulness, and to respond to the need for more studies within western scholarship that are based on non-western linguistic and cultural contexts. Through spotlighting some...

The purpose of this study was to provide a systematic review of research that has been carried out between 2006 and 2016 on the role of language in early grade (Grades 1-4) mathematics teaching and learning in three countries--Kenya, Malawi and South Africa. These countries were selected because they have similar characteristics: teaching and learning occur in a multilingual context; their language in education policies are similar; transition from mother tongue to English happens during the...

The purpose of this study was to provide a systematic review of research that has been carried out between 2006 and 2016 on the role of language in early grade (Grades 1-4) mathematics teaching and learning in three countries--Kenya, Malawi and South Africa. These countries were selected because they have similar characteristics: teaching and learning occur in a multilingual context; their language in education policies are similar; transition from mother tongue to English happens during the...

The adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in September 2015 marked a new milestone for early childhood education, care, and development. For the first time in the framework of global goals, preschool education was described as integral to children's school readiness. Yet with few exceptions, much of the research on the impact of preschool has stemmed from high-income countries. Even fewer studies have examined preschool participation and later learning across multiple...

Using a large-scale, standardised English language proficiency test (TOEFL® "Primary"™), this study examined Kenyan primary school students' English reading and listening proficiency and explored challenges primary school teachers face in using English as the medium of instruction (EMI) to teach their multilingual students. The test was taken by 4768 students in Standards 3-7 from 51 primary schools across the country in Kenya. Seventeen primary school teachers, representing six major...

Research in educational linguistics is now challenging the efficacy of monolingual approaches that often dominate educational practices in multilingual settings. In most African nations where multilingualism is the norm, there remains a persistent reluctance by educational stakeholders (principals, teachers, parents, and students) to embrace multilingualism in education or to reposition local languages as resources in classrooms. This article draws on qualitative data from a multilingual,...

Globally, ODL institutions experience mismatch between scalability of numbers and scalability of success rates. This study explored the scalability of success rates in open, distance e-learning as perceived by the learners within the "Chain of Response Model." The primary aim of the study was to look at online learners' success rate by focusing on two institutional factors drawn from the Model, namely: the learner's study modules related challenges and support services. The results of an...