Life-wide Learning for Early Reading Development in Twelve African and Asian Sites

Abstract: This article examines the relationship between children’s reading abilities and the enabling environment for life-wide learning in the context of Save the Children’s Literacy Boost program. We conceptualize this enabling environment at a micro level, with components at home (reading materials/habits at home) and in the community (community reading activities) to facilitate children’s daily engagement in enjoyable, cognitively-demanding literacy-related activities. Using longitudinal reading scores of 6,874 students in 424 schools of 12 sites across Africa and Asia, we found 1) a modest but consistent relationship between students’ home literacy environments and reading scores, and 2) a strong relationship between reading gains and participation in community reading activities. The results suggest reading interventions should invest in facilitating life-wide learning. Future research should investigate the impact of particular elements of life-wide learning interventions, focusing on implementation data, differences in intervention effectiveness across low-resource settings, and qualitative investigation of life-wide literacy acquisition.