New bilingual education tool for Micronesia

Transcript

A new bilingual literacy and numeracy tool  has shown encouraging results after a year long trial in Micronesia.

Developed by the Asian Development Bank, Early Grade Learning Assessment aims to provide real-time data on student progress.

The ADB's Pacific education specialist Chimi Thondon spoke with Koroi Hawkins about the new system.

CHIMI THONDON: It's a diagnostic assessment for students. So it is very different from your typical national level standardised test, that's administered to a mass of students. This is a diagnostic instrument that's actually conducted at the individual student level. So you have an assessor sitting with the student, immediately asking the student to perform certain tasks in the area of literacy and numeracy. And it is all done in a very congenial, comfortable manner. And the student immediately is asked to conduct these tasks and the assessor can observe direct hand where the specific weaknesses are, in terms of achieving reading. So for example, perhaps there would be an area of alphabetical fluency that the student may not be achieving, or there maybe issues around reading comprehension, or on writing, or on phonics or phonetical awareness. So it gives us detailed data that we can then react to immediately and I think that is the power of the instrument.

KOROI HAWKINS: And this is being piloted in the Northern Pacific, what were the target countries and what were some of the results among the youth who were involved and the teachers?

CT: The assessment was piloted in two countries. In the FSM and in the states of Kosrae and Pohnpei and as well as the Republic of the Marshall Islands in the Majuro Atoll. So we probably piloted, I think five schools in Majuro, four schools in Pohnpei and six schools in Kosrae. And the results have shown an average gain of between 24 and 32 percent, on average across both literacy and numeracy. So we have been really encouraged by these positive results. And what is shows us is that we are very, that this is a very important, useful tool to use in combination with teacher training that is focused. And that if we further develop more teaching and learning resources, for students and for teachers. In both the first language, as well as in english, I think we can have some very good impacts across the North Pacific. So these are very encouraging signs for us.

KH: Now that the results are in what are the next steps, where are your taking this?

CT: ADB is very encouraged by the results and we are gauging the interests of governments to continue. And I think we will be able to continue in the North Pacific. We are having a lot of commitment from governments and desire to disseminate this more broadly. And also to really deepen even further some of the work that we have done. Particular around teacher training and the development of more bilingual teaching and learning resources.