National Reading Programme Head Teacher’s Resource Handbook Standards 1–4 Continuous Assessment and Remediation

The programme recognizes the importance of teaching learners to read and write as a cornerstone of quality education. The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) has implemented significant reforms over the past 20 years to improve educational outcomes, but National Reading Assessment (NRA) results continue to show underperformance by primary school learners. The 2018 NRA results for Letter Name Knowledge and Familiar Word Reading for Standards 2 and 4 in the Chichewa language are particularly concerning. In Standard 2, 27.3% of learners cannot identify even one letter name, and 75.9% cannot read a single familiar word. By Standard 4, learners' skills have improved, but the mean scores are still quite low. The results point to an urgent need to improve reading instruction and outcomes, especially at the foundational basic skills level. The NRP is implementing continuous assessment and remediation (CA&R) components in Standards 1-4, for both Chichewa and English proficiency. The initial assessment focuses on Chichewa in Standards 1 and 2, after which the assessment for Chichewa will be rolled out in Standards 3 and 4 and for English in Standards 1-4. The CA&R activities are aligned to the review units in the Learners' Books. For all learners, teachers administer CA for four basic reading skills: alphabetic principle (letter names), phonetic awareness (sounds), syllables, and words. Teachers use the results of each CA to categorize learners into small groups for remediation. The NRP recognizes the critical role of head teachers (HTs) in supporting teachers as they conduct CA, identify the skill level of their learners, and provide remediation activities to improve their reading skills. This resource handbook has been developed to guide HTs on how to support teachers in conducting CA and providing remediation activities to improve reading skills. The handbook provides guidance on how to conduct continuous assessment, including how to administer CA instruments, assess learners using CA instruments, and categorize learners into small groups for remediation. It also provides guidance on how to assign remediation activities to groups, manage different groups during remediation, and conduct remediation sessions. Additionally, the handbook provides information on the roles and responsibilities of HTs, including their coaching responsibilities and how to strengthen coaching at the school level. The NRP also recognizes the importance of collaboration between the school and community in implementing school reading activities. The handbook provides guidance on how to establish reading centers, identify volunteer reading center facilitators (VRCFs), and manage the reading center. It also provides information on the roles and responsibilities of community stakeholders, including school governing structures, teachers, and community members, in the implementation of NRP CA&R.