Assistant Professor in Education Policy, Organization and Leadership, Nathan Castillo's recent publication was named SpringerLink Editor's Monthly Choice.
Castillo's paper—Early-grade reading support in rural South Africa: A language-centered technology approach—describes a short-term study conducted in low-performing rural primary schools in South Africa. Castillo and co-author Daniel Wagner were involved in developing a two-year multimedia reading programme for rural South African children in grades 1–3, and sought to assess key learning outcomes in existing school computer laboratories. The study tracked a total of 215 learners, some of whom used the programme once a week for its duration, while a control group did not. Findings revealed a positive and significant impact on local-language reading fluency and reading comprehension among the children who had used the instructional software.
The study demonstrates that technology-based reading support can help rural learners in South Africa to make substantive gains so they can complete their schooling.
For the month of August you can download Castillo's paper on SpringerLink for free.
