Towards learning for all [electronic resource] : understanding the literacy ecology in rural Rwanda
Keywords: Education.

Background: In the 1980's, economists of education used rate-of-return analyses to argue that primary education yielded the highest returns on investment. Using this investment rationale, Development Organizations (DOs) pressed for universal primary education. With the ensuing abolition of primary school fees came a flood of children enrolling in schools around the world. However, the number of teachers, classrooms, textbooks, and other resources needed to provide quality education in school did not keep pace with enrollments. The overall result was that schools were providing a very low quality of education. Measures of quality may be debated, but there is little argument that the most basic component of a quality education is learning to read printed words. In the last decade, data have emerged that show children around the world are struggling to read, many of whom have spent several years in primary school already. A number of different remedies have been suggested by DOs to address this problem of poor readers, and by extension education quality. However, the general solutions of more teachers, more classrooms, more textbooks, and more assessment, and better teacher training, better curricula, and better accountability have remained relatively unchanged in the last quarter century. Learning is understood as a school-bound phenomenon, and remedies to address poor quality only seek to address factors of the school. The research on literacy clearly shows the limits of learning delimited to school environs. Findings from developed world research demonstrate that the literacy-related material resources, activities, and relationships that children experience at home play a critical role in children's reading development. This research has largely been ignored, as is evident in the absence of programs and other research that address literacy and learning outside the school. By examining the Literacy Ecology of children's homes in rural Rwanda, this dissertation provides empirical support for the connection between children's home lives and their reading skills. Research Questions: RQ 1: What non-school factors of the Literacy Ecology can be identified in rural Rwanda? How well do they represent the definition of the LE? RQ 2: How do the factors of the Literacy Ecology appear qualitatively in the lives of two girls? RQ 3: How does each individual factor of the Literacy Ecology in rural Rwanda predict early reading achievement? RQ 4: How does qualitative data support the link between each individual factor of the Literacy Ecology and children's reading achievement? RQ 5: How do all the factors of the Literacy Ecology as a whole predict reading achievement, and how does this differ from the predictive ability of each factor alone? RQ 6: How does qualitative data support the link between the five factors of the Literacy Ecology as a whole and children's reading achievement? Data and Methods: Three data sources were used to answer the research questions: first, reading assessments of 2118 Primary 1 (1st grade) students were collected. The homes of 466 of the students assessed were visited and caretakers interviewed during the Literacy Ecology survey. Finally, two families who participated in the Literacy Ecology survey were randomly selected for a seven day observation focusing on the Literacy Ecology of the home and community. Three analytic techniques were used to answer the questions: first, an exploratory factor analysis to identify common underlying factors of the Literacy Ecology; multivariate regressions to examine links between Literacy Ecology and reading achievement, controlling for background characteristics; and coding and analysis of the qualitative data to examine more closely each factor of the Literacy Ecology. Findings: Five factors were identified in the home Literacy Ecology: 1) Reading Interactions in the Home, 2) Literacy Competency of the Caretaker, 3) Reading Materials, 4) Religious-related Reading Activities, and 5) Student Interest and Motivation. Every factor, except for the Religious one, predicted reading achievement when not controlling for the other factors. When controlling for the other factors, the first, second, and fifth factors maintained their predictive association with reading achievement. No significant relationships were found between reading skills and the Reading Materials factor or between reading skills and the Religious factor. Qualitative findings confirmed the quantitative findings, and highlighted a wide range in the Literacy Ecologies of two rural Rwandese families. Findings also demonstrated that literacy is not valued as an ability in itself, but rather as an instrument to improve one's life. Implications: This research provides evidence for national governments, the World Bank, and other DOs to start expanding beyond the school walls in efforts to improve learning in developing countries.