This two pager offers a high level overview of the impact of the Google Read Along pilot conducted in Ghana from May to August 2023. There are significant improvements in literacy proficiency among the girls who participated in the pilot. Compared to a control group with similar characteristics, girls in the treatment group outperformed their peers by 200-300% in most subtasks of the Early Grade Reading Assessment.
We found that, on average, the girls in the pilot read 29 more words correctly per minute during the end line assessment than the baseline assessment. They could also read 40 letters or more in one minute, on average. Another example; while girls in grade 5 who did not participate in the pilot read on average 7.9 words more at the end line, girls who participated in the Read Along pilot read 39.6 more words compared to baseline.
The girls’ vocabulary and English comprehension improved significantly as well. They were able to, on average, name and pronounce 85.4% of the English vocabulary correctly, and answer approximately half of the reading and listening comprehension questions correctly.
Further qualitative data on the experiences of teachers and students, as well as further exploration of attendance data and its link to learning gains will be available in the full end line report.
Evidence from the pilot points to the potential of Read Along for many learners in Ghana and beyond. World Education intends to scale up the intervention to research impact on a larger scale. Interested in collaborating? Contact wvandewaal@worlded.org.
World Education strives to build lasting relationships with partners across diverse geographic regions and technical sectors to produce better education outcomes for all.
