UNICEF-PACIFIC TECHNICAL SUPPORT IN DESIGNING AN EARLY GRADE LITERACY PROGRAM FOR TUVALU (NOVEMBER 1, 2012- APRIL 10, 2014)
Flavia Ramos-Mattoussi, Ed.D. (Learning Systems Institute), and Marion Fesmire, Ed.D. (School of Teacher Education, College of Education), received a $35,000 United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF-Pacific) grant to conduct baseline research and design an “Early Grades Literacy Program for Tuvalu.” The international research project was managed by the Center for International Studies in Educational Research and Development at the Learning Systems Institute. Ramos-Mattoussi, the principal investigator, and Fesmire spent two weeks in Fiji and Tuvalu interviewing teachers and visiting schools in the smallest nation in the world. They designed several assessment tools, including the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) that was adapted and translated to Tuvaluan with assistance from the Ministry of Education Youth and Sports (MEYS) in Tuvalu and with the support from UNICEF-Pacific in Suva, Fiji.
