Lessons from LAC Reads: EducAcción Promising Reading Intervention in Honduras

The EducAcción Promising Reading Intervention (EducAcción-PRI) was designed to improve Honduran students’ early grade reading skills by using assessments to better respond to students’ needs. Pedagogical advisors supported principals and teachers to develop and carry out action plans based on needs identified in the assessments. Building on over 10 years of its investments in strengthening the use of assessment in Honduras, USAID partnered with the American Institutes for Research to implement the EducAcción-PRI model in new sites during the 2015 and 2016 academic years. To better gauge the effectiveness of the model in different settings, the evaluation selected two predominantly rural states (Lempira and Santa Barbara) and two urban areas (Tegucigalpa and LaCeiba) to study.

The evaluation focused on the impact of two specific intervention components:

Support for end-of-grade (EOG) assessments, which included:

• Training teachers and principals to use results from national EOG assessments in math and reading to improve learning.
• A two-day workshop on how to analyze and interpret results, identify needs, and develop a school action plan.
• Twice-monthly coaching with principals on how to effectively implement their action plans.
• Annual meetings with community members to present results, including how the schools’ scores compared with those of other schools, areas in which students were lagging, and how parents could help students at home.

Adding support for monthly formative assessments (FAs) to the EOG assessment support, which included:

• Provision of printed copies of monthly reading and math assessments for all students in grades 1 through 3, aligned with national curriculum standards, to be administered by teachers.
• Teacher training on how to pace lessons in step with the national curriculum and interpret results to inform instruction.
• Twice-monthly coaching and ongoing support focused on helping teachers implement, score, and analyze FAs and adjust their plans and strategies based on results.