Andrea Francisco|Melissa Arias|Renata Villers|Catherine E. Snow
Evaluating the impact of different early literacy interventions on low-income Costa Rican kindergarteners
Harvard University|Harvard University
grade retention de facto policy children academic difficulties many latin american countries schiefelbein e wolff l 1992 repetition inadequate achievement latin americas primary schools review magnitudes causes relationships strategies washington dc world bank costa rica 149 public school children retained first grade 2002 study first grade classrooms costa rica children identified need repeating first grade found lower levels reading ability rolla san francisco arias villers r snow c press importance reading skills prereading skills family teachers decisions retain children case study costa rica aula abierta greater focus recent years importance prevention educational difficulties versus repetition costeffective efficient way providing educational opportunities lowincome children little rigorous research evaluating impact different interventions early literacy skills lowincome children developing countries way prevent posterior academic difficulties experimental study evaluated differential impact three early literacy interventionstutoring classroom activities work familieson emergent literacy skills lowincome costa rican kindergarteners tutoring combination three interventions effective providing highquality materials teachers without training impact intensive interventions longer duration probably needed ensure longterm impact first grade repetition eventual school dropout continuing research assess impact interventions student outcomes repetition rates first grade well exploring impact intensive intervention professional development