An article written by Solange Casanova, Miguel Nunez, and Ileana Lacayo of the DevTech CARS Project Team was recently published on the PSC Council website. In it, they describe the need to create simple and efficient methods for learning to read at a low cost in Nicaragua. In response they created the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) instrument, a process for systematically measuring how well boys and girls in primary grades were able to acquire reading abilities and ultimately to encourage more effective efforts for improving reading and learning outcomes. The article gives details on the process and the evaluation.
Today EGRA has been applied in more than 50 countries, with EGRA work in Nicaragua being the first of its kind in Latin America. Since 2013, DevTech Systems, Inc. has implemented the USAID-funded project, Community Action for Reading and Security (CARS) in eight municipalities on the Nicaraguan Caribbean Coast, where the greatest challenges in education and security exist in comparison to the national average. You can find out more about the CARS project here.
