Study of Malian Primary Teachers’ Beliefs, Attitudes and Practices with Respect to Learning to Read and Write

To achieve this goal, the Ministry of Education must make considerable advances in improving students' reading and writing skills. There is general agreement that teachers must teach "better," but there is little agreement on what specific aspects of teachers' reading and writing instructional practices need to change if students are to perform at desired levels. No systematic assessments have been conducted to measure the extent to which teachers' literacy instructional practices, attitudes, and beliefs align with what evidence-based research tells us about "good" language teaching. In the absence of such data, Malian decision-makers are unable to identify what specifically needs to be adjusted at the classroom level to improve students' reading and writing abilities. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) launched a program in August 2008 to assist the Ministry of Education in improving students' reading and writing performance. The PHARE program, implemented by the Education Development Center (EDC), is dedicated to helping the Ministry of Education deliver on its commitment to ensuring all children leave primary school able to read and write. One of the first initiatives undertaken by the program was the development, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, of student performance standards and accompanying grade-specific benchmarks for reading and writing. The standards and benchmarks clearly articulate the specific skills and competencies students should have developed by the end of grades 2, 4, and 6. The results of the December 2008 Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) pilot provide an initial indication of the degree to which Malian students are underperforming in the key areas of reading and writing. One third of grade two students tested could not recognize any letters of the alphabet, and the vast majority of students (86%) could not read any of the most common, familiar words listed. Not surprisingly, when presented with a short text, 96% of children could not read any of the words. The PHARE program will assist the Ministry in developing instructional materials and teacher training programs to ensure that students develop the competencies needed to participate actively in public life or continue their studies. As part of the development process, the program will work with the Ministry to collect, on a periodic basis, data on teachers' dominant instructional practices in reading and writing classes. This report summarizes the results of the first such study, which was carried out in December 2008 and January 2009. The study was largely quantitative in nature, with data generated by having teachers respond to a written questionnaire. The questionnaire did query qualitative information, including teachers' perceptions of their dominant instructional practices with respect to reading and writing and their professed beliefs and assumptions about how children learn to read and write. Likert scales were used to qualify the extent to which teachers integrate a given instructional practice into their daily teaching, as well as the degree to which they agreed or disagreed with a given statement. Data was collected from the 74 schools that participated in the EGRA pilot data collection in December 2008 and January 2009. Over half of the schools were in the rural zone, and the majority of teachers had received preservice training. The data collected was then analyzed to determine the impact of a number of factors (zone, type of instructional program taught, grade level taught, sex, preservice training) on teachers' practices and beliefs. The study found that teachers' dominant instructional practices in reading and writing classes were influenced by a number of factors, including the zone in which they taught and the type of instructional program they taught. Teachers in the rural zone were more likely to use traditional instructional practices, while teachers in the urban zone were more likely to use modern instructional practices. The study also found that teachers' beliefs and attitudes about how children learn to read and write were influenced by their preservice training and the type of instructional program they taught. The results of the study will enable the PHARE program to identify the areas in which Malian teachers' practices and beliefs diverge significantly from what research says about effective reading teaching, as well as areas in which they align. This information will in turn allow the Ministry to design targeted training programs and learning materials that will address the specific professional development needs and priorities of Malian primary teachers.