Literacy is the ability to read and write. Broadly, literacy may be viewed as "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, humans in literate societies have sets of practices for producing and consuming writing, and they also have beliefs about these practices. Reading, in this view, is always reading something for some purpose; writing is always writing something for someone for some purpose. Beliefs about reading and writing and their value for society and for the individual always influence the ways literacy is taught, learned, and practiced.
Phonics is a method for teaching reading and writing to beginners. To use phonics is to teach the relationship between the sounds of the spoken language (phonemes), and the letters (graphemes) or groups of letters or syllables of the written language. Phonics is also known as the alphabetic principle or the alphabetic code. It can be used with any writing system that is alphabetic, such as that of English, Russian, and most other languages. Phonics is also sometimes used as part of the process of teaching Chinese people to read and write Chinese characters, which are not alphabetic, using pinyin, which is alphabetic.
Principles and Standards for School Mathematics (PSSM) are guidelines produced by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) in 2000, setting forth recommendations for mathematics educators. They form a national vision for preschool through twelfth grade mathematics education in the US and Canada. It is the primary model for standards-based mathematics.
Guided reading is "small-group reading instruction designed to provide differentiated teaching that supports students in developing reading proficiency". The small group model allows students to be taught in a way that is intended to be more focused on their specific needs, accelerating their progress.
Room to Read is a global non-profit organization headquartered in San Francisco, California. The organization focuses on working in collaboration with local communities, partner organizations and governments to improve literacy and gender equality in education.
Direct instruction (DI) is the explicit teaching of a skill set using lectures or demonstrations of the material to students. A particular subset, denoted by capitalization as Direct Instruction, refers to the approach developed by Siegfried Engelmann and Wesley C. Becker that was first implemented in the 1960s. DI teaches by explicit instruction, in contrast to exploratory models such as inquiry-based learning. DI includes tutorials, participatory laboratory classes, discussions, recitation, seminars, workshops, observation, active learning, practicum, or internships. Model includes "I do" (instructor), "We do", "You do".
Bagar, or Baggar, is a town and municipal council in the Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan, a northwestern state in India. Known for its heritage havelis, it is located 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) from Jhunjhunu city on NH 8 towards Chirawa-Loharu.
Primary education or elementary education is typically the first stage of formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary school. Primary education takes place in primary schools, elementary schools, or first schools and middle schools, depending on the location. Hence, in the United Kingdom and some other countries, the term primary is used instead of elementary.
The Citizens Foundation (TCF) is a non-profit organization, and one of the largest privately owned networks of low-cost formal schools in Pakistan. The foundation operates a network of 1,833 school units, educating 280,000 students through over 13,000 teachers and principals, and over 17,400 employees. Approximately 94% of the foundation's expenditure is allocated to the Education program. In addition, TCF also conducts a literacy and numeracy skill development program in communities linked to its schools which has taught reading and writing to over 160,000 adults.
C. V. Madhukar is an Indian banker who was most recently the Managing Director at Omidyar Network. He was the global lead for their work on Digital Identity. He has been the founder and director of PRS Legislative Research. PRS publishes "Legislative Briefs" of Bills in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and other articles about the work of the Indian parliament.
Bihar has been a major centre of learning and home to one of the oldest universities of India dating back to the fifth century and the tradition of learning which had its origin from ancient times was lost during the medieval period when it is believed that marauding armies of the invaders destroyed these centres of learning.
Literacy in the United States was categorized by the National Center for Education Statistics into different literacy levels, with 92% of American adults having at least "Level 1" literacy in 2014. Nationally, over 20% of adult Americans have a literacy proficiency at or below Level 1. Adults in this range have difficulty using or understanding print materials. Those on the higher end of this category can perform simple tasks based on the information they read, but adults below Level 1 may only understand very basic vocabulary or be functionally illiterate. According to a 2020 report by Gallup based on data from the U.S. Department of Education, 54% of adults in the United States lack English literacy proficiency.
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch.
The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) is a global research center working to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence. J-PAL conducts randomized impact evaluations to answer critical questions in the fight against poverty, and builds partnerships with governments, NGOs, donors, and others to generate new research, share knowledge, and scale up effective programs.
Madhav Chavan is a social activist and entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and CEO of the educational non-profit, Pratham. He also started the Read India campaign, which aims to teach basic reading, writing and arithmetic to underprivileged children across India. Pratham has been recognized by the Kravis Prize and the Skoll Award for its innovativeness and leadership as a social entrepreneurial organization in the area of education. Chavan was the 2012 recipient of the WISE Prize for Education, which is widely considered the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in the field of education and recipient of Leading-Social-Contributor-Award which is the highest degree award in India for exemplary work in the area of operation. He was also the 2011 recipient of the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship.
Worldreader is a 501(c)(3) global nonprofit organization working with partners to get children reading at least 25 books a year with understanding.
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, or SSA, is an Indian Government programme aimed at the universalisation of Elementary education "in a time bound manner", the 86th Amendment to the Constitution of India making free and compulsory education to children between the ages of 6 and 14 a fundamental right. The programme was pioneered by former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. It aims to educate all children between the ages of 6 and 14 by 2010. However, the time limit has been pushed forward indefinitely.
Vicky Colbert is a Colombian social entrepreneur.
The Yidan Prize (/i:dan/) is a prize founded in 2016 by Chen Yidan for "contributions to education research and development". The prize is financed and governed by a HK$2.5 billion independent trust. It is a global, inclusive education award which recognizes changemakers who inspire progress in education for a better world, and has been referred to as the largest education prize on earth.
The learning crisis or global learning crisis is a term describing the fact that, despite a large increase in access to schooling, learning outcomes remain poor, especially in developing countries. Worldwide, millions of children who attend school do not acquire basic skills such as literacy and numeracy, and many more are far behind age-appropriate expectations in their national curricula. Proponents argue that this crisis needs to be addressed due to the importance of education in fostering children's development, social mobility, and subsequent opportunities.
