EVALUATING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EARLY GRADE READING PROGRAMME ON LEARNERS’ ACQUISITION OF READING SKILLS IN PUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN BUNGOMA NORTH SUB-COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

English is one of the official languages of communication in Kenya. It is also one of the compulsory and examinable subjects in the Kenyan primary and secondary school Competency Based Education. In the Competency Based Education curriculum, learners are expected to be taught reading skills through the Early Grade Reading programme in the Early Childhood Development level. Studies have shown that the performance of learners in reading skills in ECD level is low. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the implementation of the Early Grade Reading programme on learners’ acquisition of reading skills in English subject. The specific objectives of the study are; to establish the effect of teacher training on learners’ acquisition of reading skills, to determine the effect of teacher instructional guidelines on learners’ acquisition of reading skills, to examine the effect of supplementary instructional materials on learners’ acquisition of reading skills and to assess the effect of monitoring systems on learners’ acquisition of reading skills in public primary schools in Bungoma North Sub County. The study was guided by the Sociocultural Theory of Cognitive Development advanced by Vygotsky (1978). A descriptive research design involving both qualitative and quantitative approaches was the research design for the study. The study was conducted in 108 public primary schools in Bungoma North Sub County. A descriptive survey research design was used in this study. The target population involved 108 head teachers, Grade 1 – 3 learners from 108 schools, and 346 lower primary school teachers from which a sample size of 32 head teachers, 12 schools (Grade 1 – 3) and 104 teachers were selected through stratified and simple random sampling methods. Questionnaire, interview schedule and Early Grade Reading Assessment [EGRA] reading task were used as instruments of data collection. Validity and reliability of the instruments were checked prior to administering the instruments in the field. Quantitative data analysis involved use of descriptive and inferential statistics. Qualitative data was analysed using thematic content analysis method. The study found out that there existed significant positive effect of; teacher training (r=0.314, p<0.05), instructional guidelines (r=0.331, p<0.05), provision of supplementary resources (r=0.251, p<0.05) and monitoring system (r=0.221, p<0.05) of the Early Grade Reading programme and learners’ acquisition of reading skills in public primary schools in Bungoma North Sub County, Kenya. The study found out that the correlation values were positive implying a positive influence of the Early Grade Reading programme on learners’ acquisition of reading skills in schools. The study concluded that the implementation of the Early Grade Reading programme had resulted to substantial increase in learners’ reading competencies in lower primary schools in Bungoma North Sub County. The study recommends that teachers need to be regularly trained in early grade reading teacher development programmes, there is need for schools to set up infrastructure to support Information and Communication Technology use, there is need for the curriculum developers to provide Early Grade Reading materials in soft form and regular monitoring and assessment by curriculum support officers needs to be done in public primary schools in Bungoma North Sub County.