Let’s Read Fluently!

‘Let’s Read Fluently!’ (LRF) is an intervention in Jordan that aims to support pupils in grades 1-3 to become more fluent and confident readers.

About the study

A strong foundation in literacy is crucial for children to develop. Learners of Arabic face unique challenges: the script is comparatively complex, and pupils use a variety of Arabic at home which differs from the formal Modern Standard Arabic taught in schools (Abadzi, 2017). Many children in Jordan finish their first three years of school without the foundational reading skills they need to reach their potential. Results using the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) in 2018 suggest that only 19% of Grade 2 and 3 pupils meet or exceed the lowest levels of reading fluency benchmarks (RTI International, 2018).

‘Let’s Read Fluently!’ (LRF) is an intervention in Jordan that aims to support pupils in grades 1-3 to become more fluent and confident readers. LRF was developed in the UAE by cognitive psychologist Dr Helen Abadzi and the Al Qasimi Foundation, and is centred around a method and a student practice book designed to encourage repeated practice. In Jordan, LRF is led by the Queen Rania Foundation for Education and Development (QRFED) in collaboration with the Ministry of Education Curriculum and Textbooks Unit. 

Queen Rania Teacher Academy will train teachers and support intervention delivery in Jordan. LRF has both a whole-class and a catch-up intervention model: the whole-class intervention is delivered to grade 1 pupils, and the catch-up intervention is delivered to the 20% lowest achieving pupils in grades 1-3.

The project team is conducting a pilot evaluation to explore LRF’s feasibility and evidence of promise, evaluating the whole-class and catch-up models in 8 schools respectively, with an additional 8 schools acting as a control group. The pilot evaluation will also assess feasibility and readiness for an efficacy trial. Recruitment of schools began in September 2021, and delivery began in October 2021. The study protocol can be found on the Education Endowment Foundation’s project page.

This evaluation is supported by the Global Trials Fund, a strand of the Education Endowment Foundation’s “Building a global evidence ecosystem for teaching” project.