Mainstreaming Early Grade Reading Instruction in Early Childhood Teacher Education

This paper provides insights on how Early Grade Reading Instruction Curriculum (EGRIC) catalyzed a pedagogical shift and, consequently, began transforming early childhood teacher education in Kenya through reading instruction. EGRIC, themed: All Teachers Teaching Reading All Children Reading, was sponsored by USAID’s All Children Reading: Grand Challenge for Development and implemented by the University of Nairobi from September 2012 to September 2014. EGRIC developed the capacity of 315 purposively selected UoN pre-service teachers enrolled in Bachelor of Education in Early Childhood Education and 170 in-service teachers to provide reading instruction, assessment and remediation in theearly grades (K-3rd grade). The ultimate goal was to infuse EGRIC into UoN’s B. Ed (ECE) program. Data were collected using mixed-method research approaches and analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. EGRIC workshops and school follow-ups became an odyssey where teachers re-discovered the true meaning of reading instruction. Consequently, 298 teachers were certified as reading teachers at project close-out. Over 17, 800 children’s reading skills were impacted; of these, 298 children at-risk of reading failure received weekly one-on-one tutoring and registered improvements in their reading skills and motivation for reading.There is need to open up and/or extend space(s) to foster technical leadership,knowledge sharing, and evidence building around issues of early grade reading instruction and assessment; improving effectiveness, sustainability, and scaling up of early grade reading interventions. The broader goal should be to build capacity of stakeholders to apply evidence-informed practices to increase impact, scale, and sustainability of reading interventions in Kenya and beyond

Adoption of Whole Group Strategy on Standard Seven Learners’ Achievement in English Composition Writing in Public Primary Schools in Kisumu County, Kenya

Adaptation of whole group technique in teaching standard seven learners in English composition writing offers an opportunity for collaboration for nurturing effective communication skills. Appropriate adoption of brain wave, brain storming, pie storm and brain writing techniques influence learner’s achievement in composition writing skills. Whole group promotes critical thinking, writing skills, communication, and collaboration the group discussion translating to sharing and weaving ideals enhances the ability to boost learner’s achievement in composition writing. Absence of the implementation causes double tragedy to the learners and facilitators.   The study objective was to determine influence of whole class group strategy on learners’ achievement in composition writing skills in public primary schools in Kisumu County. Drawing from critical thinking skills the study adopted non-equivalent control group with pre and post –test groups research design. Questionnaire, observation schedules and check lists were used to collect data  tired to descriptive statistics.The findings indicated that brain writing strategy was moderately used (m= 3.40 SD of 1.269), pie storm teaching technique is highly used (m= 3.733 and SD of 1.796), and brain wave and brain writing strategy relatively contribute to learners’ composition writing skills. The computed z values for whole class group strategy elements revealed a z-statistic value higher than the z- Critical value and P-value less than 0.05. Thus, the study rejected the Null hypotheses as there was a statistically significant relationship between: whole group strategy and learners’ achievement in composition writing skills in public primary schools in Kisumu County. The study recommends for policy the use of inquiring-based learning in order to provoke critical-thinking in learners to cub negative attitude of embracing change of teaching for life and not for examinations.  A research on inferential statistics, especially multiple regression analysis ,whole group style to be trained to facilitators to impact on the learners achievement in composition writing Keywords: Whole group Brain storming; Brain wave; Brain writing; Composition writing; Learners achievements; Pie storm; DOI: 10.7176/JEP/10-3-1

Children’s Activities on Peace-building Processes in Post Conflict Kenya

This study sought to establish the role of children in peacebuilding in Post-conflict Kenya. The research explored children intercommunal peacebuilding activities in Kenya with special emphasis on the Abagusii and Maasai communities of southern Kenya. The research was informed by the New Sociology of Childhood by James and Prout’s (1997). The study adopted a mixed research approach with a multiple case study design. The research was carried out along the border of Transmara and Gucha/Kenyenya sub-counties of Narok and Gusii counties respectively. The Transmara and Gucha/ Kenyenya border was purposively selected based on the frequent intercommunal conflict between the Maasai and Abagusii communities in the area. Six public primary schools, three from Narok and three from Kisii counties, respectively, were purposively selected for the study because they were adversely affected by the conflict between the two communities. 435 Class Seven and Class Eight pupils from the six sampled schools were purposively sampled to take part in the study. Twenty three teachers, six head teachers and six key informants, four county education officers and two chiefs were also purposively selected to participate in the study. The tools of data collection included interviews, focus group discussions and observation for qualitative data while quantitative data were collected through semi-structured questionnaires. Secondary data were gathered through document analysis of Nation Newspaper articles and National Music and Drama Festival videos. The research findings demonstrated that Kenyan children engage in a range of peacebuilding activities within their local contexts and at the national level. The activities include, inter-communal games and sports, music and dance, poems and drama, debates,visiting each other’s homes,  sharing schools, taking part in inter-communal educational and environmental activities and inter-communal exchange programmes enhance inter-communal peace in Kenya. The study concluded that children have the potential to participate in peacebuilding processes in Kenya. The study recommends that government and other peace stakeholders, including local and international peace NGOs ought to come up with and fund more initiatives to enhance children participation in the country’s peacebuilding processes at local and national levels. Such initiatives should aim to scale up children voices and space from the confines of music and drama festivals to more strategic fora, such as children’s assembly, so as to inform policy. Keywords: Children,  Peace building Activities,Conflict and Peace Building DOI: 10.7176/DCS/9-8-06 Publication date: August 31st 201

Improving educational achievement and anaemia of school children: design of a cluster randomised trial of school-based malaria prevention and enhanced literacy instruction in Kenya

BACKGROUND: Improving the health of school-aged children can yield substantial benefits for cognitive development and educational achievement. However, there is limited experimental evidence on the benefits of school-based malaria prevention or how health interventions interact with other efforts to improve education quality. This study aims to evaluate the impact of school-based malaria prevention and enhanced literacy instruction on the health and educational achievement of school children in Kenya. DESIGN: A factorial, cluster randomised trial is being implemented in 101 government primary schools on the coast of Kenya. The interventions are (i) intermittent screening and treatment of malaria in schools by public health workers and (ii) training workshops and support for teachers to promote explicit and systematic literacy instruction. Schools are randomised to one of four groups: receiving either (i) the malaria intervention alone; (ii) the literacy intervention alone; (iii) both interventions combined; or (iv) control group where neither intervention is implemented. Children from classes 1 and 5 are randomly selected and followed up for 24 months. The primary outcomes are educational achievement and anaemia, the hypothesised mediating variables through which education is affected. Secondary outcomes include malaria parasitaemia, school attendance and school performance. A nested process evaluation, using semi-structured interviews, focus group discussion and a stakeholder analysis will investigate the community acceptability, feasibility and cost-effectiveness of the interventions. DISCUSSION: Across Africa, governments are committed to improve health and education of school-aged children, but seek clear policy and technical guidance as to the optimal approach to address malaria and improved literacy. This evaluation will be one of the first to simultaneously evaluate the impact of health and education interventions in the improvement of educational achievement. Reflection is made on the practical issues encountered in conducting research in schools in Africa. TRIAL REGISTRATION: National Institutes of Health NCT00878007

Designing a program of teacher professional development to support beginning reading acquisition in coastal Kenya

What should be considered when developing a literacy intervention that asks teachers to implement new instructional methods? How can this be achieved with minimal support within existing policy? We argue that two broad sets of considerations must be made in designing such an intervention. First, the intervention must be effective by bridging the gap between current teacher practice and the scientific literature on effective instruction. This broad consideration is detailed with 10 design recommendations. Second, the intervention must be amenable to being scaled-up and mainstreamed as part of government policy. This involves being (i) simple and replicable; (ii) well received by teachers; and (iii) cost effective. The paper describes how these factors were considered in the design of a literacy intervention in government primary schools in coastal Kenya. It also includes reactions from teachers about the intervention and their change in knowledge

Improving Literacy Instruction in Kenya Through Teacher Professional Development and Text Messages Support: A Cluster Randomized Trial

We evaluated a program to improve literacy instruction on the Kenyan coast using training workshops, semiscripted lesson plans, and weekly text-message support for teachers to understand its impact on students' literacy outcomes and on the classroom practices leading to those outcomes. The evaluation ran from the beginning of Grade 1 to the end of Grade 2 in 51 government primary schools chosen at random, with 50 schools acting as controls. The intervention had an impact on classroom practices with effect sizes from 0.57 to 1.15. There was more instruction with written text and more focus on letters and sounds. There was a positive impact on three of four primary measures of children's literacy after two years, with effect sizes up to 0.64, and school dropout reduced from 5.3% to 2.1%. This approach to literacy instruction is sustainable, and affordable and a similar approach has subsequently been adopted nationally in Kenya