Improving sign language access and learning for deaf children in low-resource contexts
The Grand Challenge
Deaf children lack access to sign language and sign language-enabled learning
Of the estimated 32 million deaf children around the world, 80 percent do not have access to education, and only two percent receive education in sign language. This is particularly true in areas of the world with few resources, profoundly affecting deaf children who already face tremendous barriers to economic and social opportunities. Without early exposure to language, children who are deaf fail to develop social and cognitive skills at the same rate as their peers, hindering their ability to learn to read and write and isolating them from society.
The Big Idea
Creative solutions for accessing language and learning in local sign languages
The Sign On For Literacy prize competition sought innovations that increase sign language and literacy outcomes for deaf children in low-resource contexts. The prize awarded creative solutions for expanding access to local sign languages, sign language-enabled early grade reading materials, and reading instruction by engaging families, schools, and communities.
Prize Partners
The ACR GCD Founding Partners thank the following organizations for their collaboration on this competition.
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
The Sign On For Literacy prize sought technology-based innovations that increase literacy outcomes for deaf children in low resource settings by providing greater access to sign languages, early grade
ACR GCD Alumni, eKitabu's grantee journey is one of four detailed Case Studies that demonstrates key learning about thematic priorities for the USAID Meta Evaluation of Grand Challenges
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