Jonathan Michael Bradley Stern

We present the results from an exploratory study that aimed to measure teachers’ specialized knowledge in early mathematics during a pilot of an educational intervention using the Foundational Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching (FMKT) survey. The survey was administered to 323 teachers in the Kyrgyz Republic in 2021. We delve into survey results at two timepoints (pre- and post-intervention) to showcase the areas in which the intervention was successful and identify ongoing challenges in teacher knowledge. We found that the FMKT provided detailed, specific information on teacher learning and is an example of one way to center teacher knowledge in an instructional intervention.

High-quality early childhood education provides children with opportunities for engaged learning. Yet there are currently no classroom-level measures that focus specifically on how teachers support engagement in the classroom, a key underlying dimension of playful learning. We introduce the Playful Learning Across the Years (PLAY) observational tool, a new tool designed to assess support for engaged learning in early childhood classrooms. Using data from videos of Ghanaian preprimary classrooms (N = 420) coded using the tool, we conduct factor analysis to assess the underlying domains of engaged learning opportunities at the classroom-level and find three domains representing support for exploration, social connectedness, and positive emotional climate. We then examine if these domains are sensitive to impacts of a teacher professional development program and find that the program had large impacts on all three domains (d = 0.55–1.01). Finally, we explore concurrent validity of the tool using classroom process quality scores from a separate classroom observational tool and teacher characteristics and find some evidence from each. This study aims to systematically operationalize opportunities for engaged learning at the classroom-level in an under-studied context, with implications for measuring quality and promoting children’s school readiness in early educational settings globally.

Longitudinal data from the Early Grade Reading Study (EGRS I) in South Africa (N = 4538) were used to examine the role of instructional contexts in the relations of literacy skills between children’s home language (L1 Setswana) and a second language (L2 English). All children received literacy instruction in Setswana in Grades 1 to 3. However, children in the treatment condition were provided with explicit and systematic Setswana language instruction in phonological awareness and phonics (n = 1964), whereas those in comparison condition received business-as-usual instruction (n = 2574). Children’s literacy skills were assessed four times: Time 1 in the beginning of Grade 1, Time 2 at the end of Grade 1, Time 3 at the end of Grade 2, and Time 4 at the end of Grade 4. Literacy data in Setswana were collected in all four time points, whereas data in English were collected in Times 3 and 4. Results from confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling showed that L1 Setswana literacy skill strongly predicted concurrent L2 English reading skill across instructional contexts. However, the longitudinal relation from Grade 2 Setswana literacy skill to Grade 4 English reading skill was found only for those in the treatment condition, but not for those in the comparison condition, after accounting for concurrent relations between Setswana and English. These results suggest that instructional contexts in L1 have implications for the nature relations between L1 and L2 literacy skills.

This article assesses the extent to which children’s language preference and their home environment matter for literacy retention. Using data from the Complementary Basic Education (CBE) program in Ghana, the authors found that large numbers of disadvantaged students reverted to not even being able to read a single word following school closures over a four-month holiday period. Widening literacy gaps were found for girls who reported they did not receive instruction in a language that they understood or did not have the resources, support, or activities at home to enable them to continue to learn while schools were closed. For boys, widening literacy gaps were only influenced by resources, support, or activities at home, but not by language preferences. The article findings suggest that schools and teachers must pay closer attention to language preference, particularly for girls, in order to ensure that language of instruction is not a barrier to literacy retention. The article also provides further evidence to support the growing claims that home supports are essential for reducing inequities in learning outcomes during school closures.

Learn about a study that created learner profiles to track progress and guide instruction using Early Grade Reading Assessment results in Uganda.

This paper uses recent evidence from international early grade reading programs to provide guidance about how best to create appropriate targets and more effectively identify improved program outcomes. Recent results show that World Bank and US Agency for International Development–funded large-scale international education interventions in low- and middle–income countries tend to produce larger impacts than do interventions in the United States, as measured by effect sizes. However, these effect sizes rarely translate into large gains in mean oral reading fluency scores and are associated with only small increases in the proportion of students meeting country-level reading benchmarks. The limited impact of these low- and middle–income countries’ reading programs on the proportion of students meeting reading benchmarks is in large part caused by right-skewed distributions of student reading scores. In other words, modest impacts on the proportion of students meeting benchmarks are caused by low mean scores and large proportions of nonreaders at baseline. It is essential to take these factors into consideration when setting program targets for reading fluency and comprehension. We recommend that program designers in lower-performing countries use baseline assessment data to develop benchmarks based on multiple performance categories that allow for more ambitious targets focused on reducing nonreaders and increasing beginning readers, with more modest targets aimed at improving oral reading fluency scores and increasing the percentage of proficient readers.

For more than a century, community colleges have provided a postsecondary education alternative to the traditional, 4-year university. Enrolling disproportionate numbers of both disadvantaged and nontraditional students, the community college sector has seen unparalleled gains in enrollment over the past few decades. Along with these increases in enrollment, there has been a shift in focus toward transfer to 4-year institutions, as well as the development of articulation agreements. Established in order to ease the transfer process from community colleges to 4-year colleges/universities—for those students interested in obtaining a bachelor’s degree—these agreements currently exist in more than 30 states. Via two-level, hierarchical linear modeling, this article examines the student and school level characteristics of community colleges that affect transfer and bachelor’s degree attainment rates. Also examined is the impact of articulation agreements. Ultimately, while articulation agreements are not found to yield a significant effect on transfer rates, they are found to have significant, positive effects on bachelor’s degree attainment rates.

This study uses a comprehensive dataset on secondary school students in Brazil to examine the impact of private school enrollment on educational attainment in São Paulo. The results show that private school students (across all levels of tuition) perform better than their public school counterparts on Brazil’s high school exit exam, even after reducing sample selection bias via a variety of propensity score matching models. Ultimately, the author concludes that the significant achievement gains provided by low-fee and high-fee private secondary schools in Brazil strengthen the demand for private schooling despite recent increases in public spending.