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9 Jan 2021
Journal Article

An Examination of Early Grade Reading Assessments in Central Asia: Using Factor Analysis to Determine the Latent Data Structure in Kyrgyz, Russian, and Tajik

Todd Drummond, American Councils for International Education
Pooja Reddy Nakamura, AIR

Full text available for purchase: Reading and Writing (2021).

Abstract

The early grade reading assessment (EGRA) is frequently used in low and middle-income countries to inform the state of reading outcomes and reading instruction. Although the EGRA has been administered in languages with varying orthographies and scripts, there is little research on the cross-linguistic comparability of the psychometric properties of its subskills in a wide range of languages and diverse writing systems.

In this study, Grade 2 and 4 assessment results in the Kyrgyz, Russian, and Tajik languages from the Kyrgyz Republic (4,751 pupils) and Tajikistan (4,328 pupils) were analyzed to determine the number and nature of the underlying EGRA constructs. These three languages represent very different languages families but all three use the Cyrillic or modified Cyrillic script. Principal axis factor analysis was employed on nationally representative samples to factor analyze reading results on nine reading subtasks for Grade 2 and seven reading subtasks for Grade 4.

The results for all three languages indicate that the data structure confirms two common underlying reading constructs: decoding and language comprehension. By focusing our investigation on Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, we go beyond the “anglocentricities” and monolingualism inherent in the theoretical base that informs the development of many EGRAs. This is important not only for programmatic decision making and impact evaluation outcome measure identification, but also for the development and definition of literacy metrics that may be used in the measurement of the Sustainable Development Goals and other international development benchmarks.

Related Work

14 Jan 2020
Journal Article

What Works to Improve Early Grade Literacy in Latin America and the Caribbean? A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis

Educational policies on early grade literacy in Latin America and the Caribbean have long suffered from a disjuncture between school practice and research. This systematic review examines the effectiveness and fidelity of implementation of various programs in the LAC region that aim to improve EGL outcomes, including teacher training, school feeding, computer‐aided instruction, nutrition, and technology‐in‐education.
Topic: 
Education, Reading and Literacy, International, International Education, International Reading and Literacy
15 Jan 2017
Report

Landscape Report on Early Grade Literacy

Millions of children across the world are unable to read a single word even after up to four years of schooling. The goal of this landscape report is to review and summarize available empirical evidence on early grade literacy acquisition and instruction in developing countries.
Topic: 
Reading and Literacy, International, International Early Childhood and Child Development, International Reading and Literacy

Further Reading

  • Teaching and Learning Materials in Tajikistan: How Do They Align With Reading Research?
  • Language and the Global Learning Crisis: How Best to Teach Multilingual Children
  • Vamos Ler! (Let's Read!) Mozambique
  • Literacy Around the World
  • Facilitating Reading Acquisition in Multilingual Environments in India (FRAME-India)- Final Report
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Pooja Reddy Nakamura

Principal Researcher

Topic

Education
Reading and Literacy
International
International Education
International Reading and Literacy

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