February | 2022 | Nic Spaull

On the 31st of January and the 1st of February 2022 former Deputy President Dr Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka launched a new initiative – the 2030 Reading Panel. The Chair (Dr Mlambo-Ngcuka) asked me to be the Secretary of the Panel and to write a Background Report documenting some of the research and evidence we have on reading outcomes in South Africa as well as interventions for which we have rigorous evaluations showing gains in learning outcomes. The full 2022 Background Report is available on the Reading Panel website and I will blog some of the main findings in another post.

In addition to the 2022 Background Report there are 13 Advisory Notes by a range of people working in the space of early grade reading in South Africa:

(1) Brahm Fleisch – The Education Triple Cocktail

(2) Andre Gaum – Learning to Read is a Basic Human Right & Enshrined in the Constitution

(3) Ursula Hoadley – Reading Instruction in Early Grade Classrooms

(4) Godwin Khosa & Dhianaraj Chetty – Early Grade Reading

(5) Janeli Kotze, Gabrielle Willis, Cally Ardington, Stephen Taylor, Nompumelelo Mohohlwane and Carol-Nu g a Deliwe – Learning Losses due to the COVID-Pandemic

(6) Noncedo Madubedube, Elizabeth Biney & Jane Borman – Connecting the dots: The Relationship between School Infrastructure and Learning

(7) Mary Metcalfe – What PILO has learned about implementing systemic improvement in reading

(8) Nangamso Mtsatse – Collectively moving towards the same goal

(9) Johan Muller – Changing Demographics and Teacher Quality

(10) Nomlomo Vuyokazi – What are we doing right and what needs to change?

(11) Lilli Pretorius – Factors shown by research to support and enhance reading comprehension

(12) Nick Taylor – What knowledge and skills do teachers need to teach reading