Low cost solutions for improving teaching and learning materials and education data
The Grand Challenge
Globally, 387 million children are functionally illiterate even after attending school.
Reading is the single most critical skill to learn in early education and the foundation for future learning, economic opportunity, and full participation in society. Yet in many countries, unacceptable numbers of children remain functionally illiterate after several years of formal education. Unless primary school systems can successfully build reading skills in children, increased enrollment will have little impact.
The Big Idea
Improving access to learning materials and quality education data.
All Children Reading: A Grand Challenge for Development’s 2012 Grant Competition sourced low-cost solutions and approaches for disseminating high-quality early grade reading instruction and educational materials. Solutions also targeted improving the quality and accessibility of education data to facilitate data-driven decision making and transparency across the education system of a developing country or region.
Prize Partners
The ACR GCD Founding Partners thank the following organizations for their collaboration on this competition.
Catalyzing the born accessible book chain to create a library of open source, accessible digital titles and providing an open standards based toolkit for local content developers.
Improving parent-school and parent-child relationships through the development of relevant reading materials for students and teaching aids for parents and educators
Improving first and second language reading skills of ethnic minority primary school children by supplying teachers and students with early grade, bilingual educational materials
Increasing the availability of culturally-responsive and context-relevant multilingual education materials in mother tongue languages for primary schools in Bandarban District, Bangladesh
Creating and distributing children-authored books in Creole to address the shortage of Creole reading materials and to foster a love of reading in children
Increasing the reading achievement levels of young learners through implementation of research-based, context-relevant literacy curricula and materials
Creating high-quality, mother-tongue materials through LubutoLiteracy, a low-cost digital platform that used local teachers to build lessons in seven languages
Using easy, computer-based instruction for literacy learning in primary schools, Bridges to the Future - South Africa, to help students hear, identify and manipulate phonemes
Utilizing a phonic and syllabic approach to reading in their mother tongue, Enlightening the Hearts Literacy Campaign accelerates students’ ability to develop a second language
Using the School Basic e-Learning Libraries (BeLLs), Ghana Reads introduces educational content for students and teachers to address the lack of high quality reading materials
Improving reading skills of children with special needs using by providing teaching and learning materials and assessment tools to teachers and resources and training for families
Conducting ‘Learn to Read, Read to Learn’ workshops to assist teachers in using innovative and digital learning materials and to help children improve their oral reading fluency
Influencing the Armenian education system by developing and testing a set of informal literacy assessments to better inform future literacy instruction
Using an early grade reading instruction curriculum (EGRIC), in print and electronic format, to provide teachers with high quality reading instruction materials and resources in English and Kiswahili
Developing reading benchmarks for new reading curriculum and a rapid reading response system (including the first literacy app in Khmer), to address reading difficulties for children in Cambodia
Developing books for beginning readers in six of Nepal’s minority languages using a low-cost, accessible, and linguistically appropriate book title development model.
Competition
Book Boost: Access for All Challenge
Amount Awarded
$12,000
Winner Status
Semi-Finalist
There are no innovators at this time. Please check back later.
Learn about open source resources like book creation software, online libraries, books, reading assessments and more, developed by winners of the All Children Reading Grand Challenge.
The Grand Challenge is concluding 12 years of funding and testing innovative EdTech solutions and approaches to increase reading outcomes for marginalized children in low-resource contexts
Key evidence and lessons where EdTech innovations and methods work to increase access to education and literacy for hard to reach and disadvantaged learners