Africa Research Seminar
Date and Time
"Can We Realize the Promise of All Children Reading? A Conceptual Framework for Literacy Intervention in Action"
A graduate of Stanford (MA) and Harvard’s (MEd, EdD) Graduate Schools of Education, Amy Jo Dowd is passionate about using rigorous research to improve practice in international education and development. She heads the Save-University Partnership for Education Research (SUPER), a program that brings university-based researchers together with Save the Children and partner NGO field staff to collaborate on research projects of mutual interest. Over six years, this initiative has produced more than 50 studies whose evidence has strengthened advocacy and/or practice in 22 countries. Building from reading assessment projects that began in 2007, she has led the development and field testing of Literacy Boost, Save the Children’s innovative program combination of reading assessment, teacher training, and community reading action. An evidence-driven system for improving children’s learning, Literacy Boost has so far demonstrated enhanced children’s learning for all children – even the most challenged – in Malawi, Nepal, Mozambique, Ethiopia, and Pakistan with field tests underway in half a dozen more sites. At the global level, Literacy Boost has transformed the way that Save the Children supports children to reach their potential. In this presentation, Dr. Dowd will review both evidence that ignited the development of Literacy Boost and that which contributed to its shape. She will also show results that extend what we know about children’s reading development and pose new questions that this evidence-based system is raising.
Speaker:
Amy Jo Dowd, Senior Advisor for Education Research, Department of Education and Child Development, Save the Children.