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Educational Specialists Discuss UNESCO’s Literacy Initiatives (En Français)
April, 2007
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In celebration of Education for All Week, Dr. Perri Klass, a medical director of Reach Out and Read; Anita McBride, an assistant to the president and chief of staff to first lady Laura Bush; and Russ Whitehurst, director of the Department of Education’s Institute for Education Sciences, participated in an April 26 Webchat on global literacy initiatives.
Following is the transcript:
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Bureau of International Information Programs
USINFO Webchat Transcript
Celebrating Education For All Week: Highlighting the Regional UNESCO Literacy Conferences
Guest: Dr. Perri Klass, Anita McBride, Grover J. (Russ) Whitehurst
Date: Thursday, April 26, 2007
Time: 11:00 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT)
Moderator: Good morning from Washington, D.C. I am Susanna Connaughton, the Executive Director of the United States National Commission for UNESCO. I look forward to moderating this webchat, which in recognition of Education for All Week, will focus on UNESCO’s literacy initiatives. The webchat will start shortly.
[Education For All Guest Speakers – Russ Whitehurst]: Hello, I’m Russ Whitehurst and I’m happy to be here to talk about literacy. I’ve been involved in education research for many years and I’m currently serving as the Director for the Institute of Education Sciences at the U.S. Department of Education. Today I’d like to talk about effective literacy programs and the need to increase global literacy. I can now take any questions you have.
[Education For All Guest Speakers – Anita McBride]: Hi, this is Anita McBride, Chief of Staff for Mrs. Laura Bush. I'm happy to be here today to discuss one of Mrs. Bush's favorite issues – literacy. She was very pleased with the success of the White House Conference on Global Literacy and we all look forward to encouraging more progress with UNESCO Regional Literacy Conferences. I'm happy to take your questions.
[Education For All Guest Speakers – Perri Klass]: Hello, I'm Perri Klass, a pediatrician and the Medical Director of Reach Out and Read, a literacy program which works through health care providers – doctors, nurses, public health workers – who take care of young children. Through Reach Out and Read, these health care providers give parents advice about how important it is to read to their young children, and we give the child a book to take home at every visit. We start when the children are only six months old, and we continue until they are five years old and ready to start school. It has been a real privilege to participate in the White House Conference on Global Literacy and then to have the opportunity to participate in the meeting in the Regional Literacy Conference in Qatar, to discuss mother-child literacy and also literacy and health, since both of those concepts are very important in the work that we do with young children and their families and with healthcare workers.
Question: What have researchers in the U.S. learned about what works in literacy programs for children and adults?
Answer [Education For All Guest Speakers – Russ Whitehurst]: We have learned that:
1) Reading requires the acquisition of specific skills such as knowledge of vocabulary, understanding of the sound structure of language, e.g., that the spoken words “tap” and “cap” rhyme and end with the same sounds, the relationship between letters of the alphabet and the sounds those letters represent, the ability to translate written words into sounds fluently and without conscious effort, and strategies for making meaning of written text.
2) Many students need explicit and direct instruction in these skills.
3) People who read more become better readers. Thus time spent reading is important.
4) Teachers of reading need preparation in how to teach reading explicitly and how to recognize and correct the errors and deficiencies of individual readers.
5) Reading is a brain process, and the brain is visibly transformed by learning to read.
6) Learning to read starts early in life. Thus verbal interactions and conversations between parents and their children are important. There are specific activities that can be helpful in this regard, even if parents are themselves illiterate. An example is parents talking with their children about picture books.
7) Good Adult Literacy Programs: Encourage adults to identify personal reading-related goals. Assess adults' skills to individualize reading instruction. Relate reading instruction to adults' work and other life contexts. Provide explicit instruction as needed to achieve reading goals.
Q: Have literacy rates increased worldwide in recent years? If so, why?
A [Education For All Guest Speakers – Russ Whitehurst]: According to the most recent data published in the UNESCO 2006 Global Monitoring Report, we count 771 million illiterate adults – that’s 18% of the adult population. Since 1990, the number of adult illiterates has fallen by 100 million, but when you break it down into region, the adult illiteracy rate actually increased in some places, mostly because of large population growth in countries such as Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Morocco, and Pakistan. Three-quarters of the world’s illiterates live in just twelve countries, eight of which are countries with high population.
Overall, the world’s adult literacy rate was 75% in 1990 and 82% in 2000-2004. If recent trends continue, the rate is expected to reach about 86% by 2015.
When we’re talking about children or youth ages 15-24, the picture is much brighter with marked progress due to expanded access to formal schooling. The global youth literacy rate increased from 75% to 88% between 1970 and 2000-2004.
Literacy has increased in great part due to more schools and better access to schools. The issue of illiteracy has received increased visibility in recent years leading some countries to take it up as a national campaign to raise literacy.
Q: What about women’s literacy – aren’t women the most affected in developing countries?
A [Education For All Guest Speakers – Russ Whitehurst]: You’re right; women in less-developed areas continue to struggle in all forms of education. The literacy gaps between adult men and women are greatest in South and West Asia (70% vs 46%), the Arab States (43% vs 51%) and sub-Saharan Africa (68% vs 52%). Women make up a majority of the world’s illiterates: 64%, a number unchanged from 1990. We’re seeing that gap diminish as more attention is brought to the issue and more programs are catering to girls’ education.
Q [Abu Morgan]: Hello. What is the UN Literacy Decade and what is UNESCO’s role? What does Laura Bush hope to accomplish in her role as honorary ambassador of the literacy decade?
A [Education For All Guest Speakers – Russ Whitehurst]: The goal of the UN Literacy Decade, which runs from 2003-2012, is to help increase literacy worldwide and build commitment from the international community to focus on literacy and education. UNESCO was named the lead agency in organizing and coordinating the Decade. The Decade is part of a broader international framework focusing on literacy. Literacy is a major component of the Dakar Education For All goals that UNESCO is helping countries implement by 2015.
Mrs. Bush is very committed to this cause and her role as honorary ambassador for the UN Literacy Decade. As a former librarian she knows how reading can empower people of all ages. This is why she convened the White House Conference on Global Literacy in September 2006. She hopes that the follow-on Regional Literacy Conferences hosted by UNESCO will share information, best practices, and funding opportunities in order to reduce illiteracy worldwide.
In addition, Mrs. Bush will continue to draw attention to effective literacy practices in her travels around the world. In fact, in January, Mrs. Bush, with UNESCO Director General Matsuura, hosted a roundtable on teacher training and literacy. The session focused on the importance of training and retaining quality teachers in developing countries as a fundamental measure in the promotion of literacy. Mrs. Bush has also supported efforts to increase textbook distribution and educational access for millions of people around the world.
Q: Dr. Klass, I see you are an MD. What exactly is Reach Out and Read and what are the connections between health and literacy?
A [Education For All Guest Speakers – Perri Klass]: As I said in my opening statement, Reach Out and Read works through healthcare providers to promote parents reading aloud to their young children so that children grow up with books and a love of reading. Health care providers do have a remarkable opportunity to reach parents when their children are very young – but there are many other important connections between health and literacy. At the Qatar regional conference, our panel on literacy and health emphasized that health information can provide content for literacy materials, that improved maternal literacy has a strong positive effect on child health, that as family literacy levels improve, parents become more effective users of the health care system – and most of all, as a pediatrician, I would like to say that part of growing up healthy for a child is brain development, cognitive development, the potential to succeed in school.
Q: Is UNESCO involved in measuring literacy rates around the world?
A [Education For All Guest Speakers – Russ Whitehurst]: The UNESCO Institute of Statistics, based in Montreal, is the research arm of UNESCO and conducts research for a wide range of education topics, including literacy. UIS is developing a tool to more accurately measure data from around the world. The Literacy Assessment and Monitoring Program (LAMP), when initiated, will provide more reliable and internationally comparable data on literacy to help policy makers pinpoint and effectively address the problems.
Q: Is Reach Out and Read a domestic program? Could it be used in other countries?
A [Education For All Guest Speakers – Perri Klass]: At this point, Reach Out and Read is a rapidly growing program in the United States – it has spread rapidly among doctors and clinics here, and we currently are implementing it in 3,289 sites serving 2.8 million children. This year we will give out 4.6 million books. We have indeed worked with healthcare providers in other countries to replicate the program – in countries ranging from the Philippines to Italy to Lesotho – and since every country has to find ways of getting health care to young children and health information to their mothers and fathers, there is a real opportunity to incorporate literacy promotion into those systems. Our program was developed to fit closely with the United States systems of health care delivery, and every other country which has used it has needed to adapt it to their own systems, and it has been very helpful and educational for me to watch those adaptations and to learn from them.
Q: What is the National Center for Education Research and does it conduct any literacy research?
A [Education For All Guest Speakers – Russ Whitehurst]: The National Center for Education Research is a component of the Institute of Education Sciences within the U.S. Department of Education. It sponsors literacy research on the development and validation of assessment tools, curriculum and instructional practices, and teacher training interventions. We have exciting findings such as an assessment tool for use in first grade classrooms that determines each child’s profile of reading skills and provides teachers with guidance on how to group children and tailor instruction to their particular needs. Classrooms using this program compared to those which do not generate reading gains for children over the course of the first grade that are equivalent to two additional months of instruction.
Q [JSC-67]: Why is UNESCO hosting Regional Literacy Conferences? Where will the next ones take place?
A [Education For All Guest Speakers – Anita McBride]: The goal will be to build upon the White House Conference on Global Literacy and help national governments and international partners use proven best practices to teach people of all ages how to read. There will be six regional literacy conferences that will take place over the next two years. The first successful conference was just held in Doha, Qatar, in March 2007. Additional regional literacy conferences will take place in China (July 2007), Mali (September 2007), India (November 2007), Cost Rica (March 2008) and Azerbaijan (May/June 2008).
Q: Why is literacy important to health? What is mother-child literacy and why is it important? How do you work with mothers if they do not have a certain level of literacy skills?
A [Education For All Guest Speakers – Perri Klass]: I spoke above about some of the connections between literacy and health, and those connections are especially important when it comes to mother-child literacy. We do know that maternal literacy rates have a very direct effect on child health indicators, including infant and child mortality. We also know that parents are their children's first teachers, and that what happens in the home during the early years of a child's life has a very important impact on the skills, the language, and the motivation that a child brings to school. For all these reasons, encouraging maternal literacy, and mother-child literacy activities is a way to help children from the very beginning, and to increase the chance that they will succeed in learning to read in school. Furthermore, many women are especially eager to improve their own reading skills if they think it will help them take care of their children.
The question about working with mothers who do not themselves have good literacy skills is a very profound question, and it is one that we think about all the time at Reach Out and Read. First of all, by using books that are appropriate for young children, for babies and toddlers, we can start with books that are colorful, appealing, and not intimidating. Often they are counting books or vocabulary books, with few words on the page, so mothers often find them accessible. Second, we can encourage mothers, at least at the beginning, to tell stories about the books, and to spend time enjoying the books with their babies. As Russ Whitehurst says above, the exposure to language and the time that parents spend talking about picture books with their children is also helpful as their children develop early language and literacy skills. For mothers who have some basic literacy skills, but may not know how to read to a young child, we train our doctors and nurses to offer very specific guidance about how to do it in an age-appropriate way. Finally, though, and very important, we have to use this window of literacy promotion in the health care system to identify mothers who need help with their own skills, to reinforce the idea that those skills will really matter to their children, and to refer them to adult and family literacy programs so they can improve their own literacy.
Q: Were any of you involved in the Qatar Regional Literacy Conference? If so, what was discussed?
A [Education For All Guest Speakers – Perri Klass]: I participated in the Qatar Regional Literacy Conference, and there was a great deal of discussion of literacy rates in the region, and of special issues in the region, including the question of keeping literacy programs strongly tied to local needs and local cultural imperatives. There were many people who concentrated on women and literacy, and on mother-child literacy, and in fact both of the other participants on my literacy and health panel were, like me, also concerned with mother-child literacy. There was serious discussion of implementation, funding, and academic research with respect to literacy in the region.
Q: What are the biggest impediments to increasing literacy rates?
A [Education For All Guest Speakers – Russ Whitehurst]: This is a great question. The answer varies from country to country. One layer is political, that is a necessary commitment by national leadership to address literacy. Another layer has to do with resources: Poverty, a lack of teachers, school buildings, and even a lack of books, pencils play a role. School fees are a big hurdle for many students and their families. A third layer is access to effective and efficient curriculum and the preparation of teachers to deliver those curricula. A final layer is information about what is working and what is not. This involves, at a minimum, that ability to collect reliable data on whether literacy skills are improving in those segments of the population that are the target of efforts to enhance literacy.
Q [JSC-67]: What is the LIFE program?
A [Education For All Guest Speakers]: This is Anita McBride. Within the framework of the UN Literacy Decade and the EFA goals, UNESCO launched the Literacy Initiative for Empowerment in 2005. The program is designed to help single country-directed literacy programs for countries with a literacy rate of less than fifty percent or a population of more than 10 million without literacy competencies: LIFE will be implemented in a total of 35 countries. These 35 countries represent more that 85 percent of the world’s population who do not have literacy skills. This program promises to be an important one for increasing literacy skills by helping promote effective country-specific literacy programs, with measurable results and building countries’ capacities to implement these programs.
Q: Hello, another question about Qatar. What were some of the needs raised during your session?
A [Education For All Guest Speakers – Perri Klass]: Participants raised the issue of literacy materials which would be appropriate – sometimes on a very local level – to the needs of the learners. There was, of course, a recurring theme of economic needs, and there was a great deal of focus on teacher training and curricular needs – and again about the question of adapting curricula, teacher training, and materials, to different countries in the region. The issue of measurement – of determining what works, as Russ Whitehurst says above – and of selecting the right and relevant indicators – and of proper funding for assessment was discussed as a very important need in many countries.
Q: To what extent does this program seek to expand use of technology for students in less advanced countries? How will those students in countries without strong IT infrastructure ever catch up?
A [Education For All Guest Speakers – Russ Whitehurst]: Both the U.S. and UNESCO have a wide variety of programs that build capacity of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in developing countries. USAID, in Asia and the Near East, is using computers in classrooms for on-line access to the latest textbooks and teaching materials. In Africa, they have introduced the "Leland Initiative" which is now in its 11th year and brings internet access to Africans. You can read more about this on USAID.gov. I understand UNESCO is partnering with U.S. companies to encourage the exchange of best practices for technology use in the classroom. In particular, they have a partnership with Microsoft to recognize teachers and classroom innovators who creatively use technology in the classroom and are hosting regional "Innovative Teachers Forum" meetings around the world.
Q: I'm interested in learning about the different types of literacy programs. Can you describe some of your favorite literacy programs/groups and why they are your favorite?
A [Education For All Guest Speakers – Russ Whitehurst]: The What Works Clearinghouse, operated by my office, has identified a number of effective literacy programs in early childhood, beginning reading, and for English-language learners.
Q [evgenikos82]: How does improving literacy relate to freedom and democracy, which USA talks so much about? – Evgeni
A [Education For All Guest Speakers – Perri Klass]: As a pediatrician, I feel strongly that as my patients grow up, literacy skills are absolutely essential to their ability to participate as citizens in their society – to make informed and intelligent choices in their own lives (and after all, that's what every doctor wants to see her patients do, as they grow) but also to be part of the process of making informed and intelligent choices socially, ethically, and politically. Poor literacy skills will shut them out of social and political process and discourse, and will keep them from understanding their world and from fully participating in it.
Moderator: The webchat will be ending in about 10 minutes, so please submit any final questions you may have.
Q [Stephania]: Dr. Klass or Mr. Whitehurst, is literacy in the U.S. really a problem? Dr. Klass, your program seems really unique, in your experience what other ways we could address it?
A [Education For All Guest Speakers – Russ Whitehurst]: Although the rate of illiteracy in the U.S. is low (2.3% according to UNESCO), the U.S. has large numbers of adults and adolescents who have much lower levels of literacy than they need to participate effectively in a globalized information economy. The U.S. government, state governments, and private foundations in the United States have made major investments in the last few years in improving literacy skills. These efforts are beginning to show effects.
This is Perri Klass – we focus our program on clinics and health centers which serve children at risk – children growing up in poverty. These children are at increased risk for school failure and reading failure, in part because often their parents have had limited education, so there is a real risk that if the children have trouble in school, the cycles of poverty and dependency will be extended and perpetuated. With Reach Out and Read, we are trying to build more literacy into their early years, so that they are more likely to arrive at school ready to learn. But we absolutely recognize that they still need all the programs which teach reading effectively in school, and that their parents often need additional programs and supports to improve their own skills. They need community libraries and literacy programs which work in preschools and childcare centers. Our hope is to be part of a web of supports for children and families.
For more information about Reach Out and Read, please visit: http://www.reachoutandread.org/.
Moderator: We have received some inquiries about studying in the United States. While this topic is not the focus of this webchat, we recommend you visit the EducationUSA Advising Center in your country. For additional information on studying in the United States and how to apply for financial aid, please visit the EducationUSA website at: www.educationusa.state.gov.
Q: What type of literacy programs are operating in the Middle East?
A [Education For All Guest Speakers – Russ Whitehurst]: There are many quality programs in this region, and it would take a while to list them, so, as a starting point, I would like to direct you to the Qatar Foundation website which provides information on the UNESCO literacy conference held there on March 12-14, 2007, as well as the names of the literacy programs that were discussed.
Moderator: Our chat will be ending shortly. Thank you to all of you around the world for participating in our chat and submitting questions. Thank you also to our guest speakers: Dr. Perri Klass, Anita McBride, and Dr. Russ Whitehurst.
Q [Abu Morgan]: Hello Again. I have a follow on question about literacy rates worldwide. It seems that literacy rates in some countries are not improving as quickly as they should and that worldwide literacy improvement is still a major issue. Is the problem one of government management or leadership? Or of cultural or economic perspective? What will it take for things to actually change? Thank you.
A [Education For All Guest Speakers – Anita McBride]. This will be the last question for me today. Thank you to everyone who joined today's webchat.
A strong commitment from governments is needed to establish explicit literacy policies within their countries. In addition, private organizations, NGOs, schools, communities all need to communicate and collaborate on their activities. At the Conference on Global Literacy Mrs. Bush highlighted a number of successful literacy programs in different regions of the world. Many of these programs are successful precisely because they’ve brought so many parties together – both public and private. That was a major goal for the conference: bring groups together to form partnerships throughout the world and encourage high-level political commitment.
[Education For All Guest Speakers – Perri Klass]: Speaking for Reach Out and Read, I would like to say again that we are very honored to have worked with the First Lady, to have participated in the White House Conference on Global Literacy, to have had the opportunity to be part of the discussion in Qatar, and to now have this continuing opportunity to be part of what UNESCO is doing. I hope to see literacy, learning, and books as part of children's health and part of children's lives from the very beginning, everywhere in the world.
[Education For All Guest Speakers – Russ Whitehurst]: I can think of nothing more important to world progress than literacy. I encourage you to check the U.S. Mission to UNESCO's website to learn more about how the U.S is working with UNESCO on literacy. It has been a pleasure to participate in this discussion.
Moderator: Thank you to our guests for joining us today. The webchat is now closed. The transcript of today's webchat will be available at USINFO Webchat Station within one business day.
(Non-U.S. Government guests are chosen for their expertise. The views expressed by non-U.S. Government guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of State.)
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