Literacy, Language and Learning Initiative FY12 - Q1 Quarterly Report

The initiative will work with Rwanda's Ministry of Education (MINEDUC) to improve students' reading and mathematical skills in grades one to four, as well as their English language proficiency. The L3 project will collaborate with MINEDUC, USAID, and technical partners to introduce proven reading and mathematics teaching strategies, and with community volunteers to support learning. The L3 initiative has five intermediate results that support the strategic objective, and ultimately contribute to USAID's goal of improved reading skills for 100 million children in primary grades by 2015. The first intermediate result, Improved Quality of Teaching, focuses on developing a shared vision of effective literacy/numeracy instruction and tools to measure progress with respect to that vision. This includes the development of an instructional package keyed to the new standards, completion of the School-Based Mentoring Program (SBMP) framework, and the roll out of the SBMP. The second intermediate result, Improved Availability and Use of Teaching and Learning Materials, aims to provide all teachers and students with a comprehensive package of materials, pilot additional innovative tools and materials in rural and low-income regions, and support student, teacher, and community production of low-cost/no-cost materials. The third intermediate result, Support for English, focuses on developing a program to transition teachers (and students) to English as a language of instruction, using interactive audio instruction (IAI) to reinforce and extend face-to-face ESL training programs, and revising the existing English curriculum. The fourth intermediate result, Strengthened Ministry Capacity, aims to strengthen MINEDUC central capacity, transform Teacher Training Colleges (TTCs) into centers of excellence for literacy/numeracy, develop tools and systems for monitoring teacher practices, and improve tools and systems of assessing students' reading and math competencies. The fifth intermediate result, Improved Equity in Education, focuses on ensuring equal access to quality instruction, promoting positive images of girls and other marginalized groups, training teachers and parents to address barriers, and providing additional resources to rural, low-income areas. The L3 initiative has made significant progress in achieving its intermediate results. The development of a shared vision of effective literacy/numeracy instruction and tools to measure progress with respect to that vision has been completed. The School-Based Mentoring Program (SBMP) framework has been completed, and the SBMP has been rolled out. The provision of all teachers and students with a comprehensive package of materials has been initiated, and pilot additional innovative tools and materials in rural and low-income regions have been conducted. The L3 initiative has also made progress in developing a program to transition teachers (and students) to English as a language of instruction, using interactive audio instruction (IAI) to reinforce and extend face-to-face ESL training programs, and revising the existing English curriculum. The strengthening of MINEDUC central capacity, transformation of TTCs into centers of excellence for literacy/numeracy, development of tools and systems for monitoring teacher practices, and improvement of tools and systems of assessing students' reading and math competencies have also been initiated. The L3 initiative has also made progress in ensuring equal access to quality instruction, promoting positive images of girls and other marginalized groups, training teachers and parents to address barriers, and providing additional resources to rural, low-income areas. The initiative has also collaborated with Concern Worldwide, Education Development Center, Inc., and other partners to leverage resources and expertise. The L3 initiative has achieved significant results in improving the quality of teaching, availability and use of teaching and learning materials, support for English, strengthened ministry capacity, and improved equity in education. The initiative has also made significant progress in monitoring and evaluation, collaboration and leveraged resources, and operations and management.