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Improving Early-Grade Literacy in East Africa: Experimental Evidence from Kenya and Uganda

Author

Listed:
  • Adrienne M. Lucas

    (Department of Economics,University of Delaware)

  • Patrick J. McEwan

    (Wellesley College)

  • Moses Ngware

    (African Population and Health Research Center)

  • Moses Oketch

    (African Population and Health Research Center)

Abstract

Primary school enrollments have increased rapidly in sub-Saharan Africa, spurring concerns about low levels of learning. We analyze field experiments in Kenya and Uganda that assessed whether the Reading to Learn program, implemented by the Aga Khan Foundation in both countries, improved early-grade literacy as measured by common assessments. We find that Ugandan literacy (in Lango) increased by 0.2s. We find a smaller effect (0.08s) on a Kenyan literacy test in Swahili. We find no evidence that differential effects are explained by baseline differences in students or classrooms, or by implementation fidelity. We conclude that differences between countries can likely be attributed to differential effective exposure to the literacy treatment in the tested languages. Students in Kenya were tested in Swahili, which is not necessarily the primary language of instruction, despite official policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Adrienne M. Lucas & Patrick J. McEwan & Moses Ngware & Moses Oketch, 2013. "Improving Early-Grade Literacy in East Africa: Experimental Evidence from Kenya and Uganda," Working Papers 13-03, University of Delaware, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:dlw:wpaper:13-03.
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    File URL: http://www.lerner.udel.edu/sites/default/files/ECON/PDFs/RePEc/dlw/WorkingPapers/2013/UDWP13-03.pdf
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    Keywords

    education; literacy; teacher training; Kenya; Uganda; randomized controlled trial;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • H52 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Education

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