Early reading: igniting Education for All: a report by the Early Grade Learning Community of Practice

Learning to read is a fundamental part of the first few years of primary education for early and sustained success in school. Yet, in many developing countries, a distressing number of students are not learning to read at all during these critical first years of schooling. On September 8, International Literacy Day, the Center for Universal Education (CUE) at Brookings and the International Reading Association hosted a discussion on how ensuring literacy in the early grades can help to fulfill the promise of quality education for all. Amber Gove of RTI International presented the findings from the attached report “Early Reading: Igniting Education for All,” which represents the work of a community of practice that has been developing and refining assessment tools, piloting interventions, and sharing practices for scaling up these proven methods of improving literacy. Following the presentation, USAID Director of Education David Barth and International Reading Association President Patricia Edwards and Jamaica Teachers Association General Secretary Adolph Cameron joined a panel discussion on the paper’s findings. This revised version, with additional data and evidence from early reading interventions, was released in May 2011.