Coaching teachers boosts kids’ English reading skills
● The oral reading skills of Grade 2 and 3 pupils improved dramatically after their English teachers were exposed to 12 and a half hours of intensive training last year.
This was the most significant finding of a study that evaluated the quality of training provided to more than 10 000 foundation-phase teachers at 1 670 schools across the country by the National Education Collaboration Trust.
The team that assessed the reading skills of a sample of 846 Grade 2 and 3 pupils from 188 schools found that the number of words per minute that pupils read increased dramatically, from 30.9 in the first term to 41.4 words in the third term.
It was also found that the percentage of pupils at the beginning of last year who could not read a single word within a minute dropped from 15.9% to 6.8% after teacher training took place.
Girls in both grades benefited more than boys in oral reading.
Another observation was that pupils in 600 schools that were targeted for “highdosage” support, including the provision of additional coaching to teachers, performed better than their peers from schools where there was no intervention.
The training initiative for foundationphase teachers of English first additional language follows the Department of Basic Education’s launch of the Primary School Reading Improvement Programme in 2015 that was launched in partnership with the NECT and the ETDP SETA. Teachers who underwent training received English first additional language reading and teaching materials, including lesson plans, storybooks, teaching guides and assessment tools.
The authors of the report, which is dated December 11 2017, stated that most teachers who benefited from the programme practised new English first additional language methodologies and routines in their classes.
“A majority of teachers who participated in the programme reported improved skills in their management of an [English first additional language] class.”
National Education Collaboration Trust members met department officials early this year to help accelerate the national reading programme so it would become “a comprehensive response”, said CEO Godwin Khosa. “They’ve given us the thumbsup. We want to bring unions into this space. We can’t afford to run around the country doing good work but in a disconnected way. We have to align and address this as a national challenge.”