Operational Research on Literacy Boost and Multilingual Education, Kapilvastu District, Nepal

Save the Children began sponsorship-funded programming in the Kapilvastu District in Western Nepal in 2010. This report focuses on two elements of the Basic Education component of the Common Approach to Sponsorship Programming: Literacy Boost (LB) and Multilingual Education (MLE). Both of these approaches are focused on improving the quality of education in early grades.

In 2014, Save the Children (SC) Nepal, with the support of SUPER Fellow Miranda Weinberg and in collaboration with two partner NGOs (PNGOs), conducted a mixed methods study of these programs. This study was part of the newly developed operational research program of SC Nepal, which has a goal of conducting research in ongoing programs to identify gaps and best practices. The quantitative strand of the research used the Literacy Boost reading assessment to assess early grades literacy and numeracy in Class 2 students in their third month of the school year. The qualitative strand of the research incorporated classroom observation, teacher interviews and parent focus groups at a subset of the schools where reading assessments were conducted.

The key findings, including both the positive outcomes and the challenges, are identified and elucidated.