Early grade reading and maths assessments

Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA)  and Early Grade Math Assessment (EGMA) were developed by the Research Triangle Institute (RTI) in conjunction with USAID. 

Our EGRA and EGMA programme includes a multi-year, pupil-matched study, measuring the foundational literacy and numeracy skills of our pupils and their academic peers in neighbouring schools to understand both absolute and relative pupil performance.  

There are three cohorts of pupils in this study: the first cohort was first assessed in July 2011 in the greater Nairobi area; the second cohort was first assessed in February 2012 in four major urban areas across Kenya (Nairobi, Nakuru, Eldoret, and Kisumu); and the third and latest cohort was first assessed in October 2013 and is a nationally representative sample.

The results of EGRA and EGMA assessments showed that attending Bridge had a significant effect on learning.

Key statistic

• Bridge pupils on average gained an additional 0.32 standard deviations (SD) on reading fluency and comprehension over the course of 26 months—equivalent to 252 additional days of schooling.

Further statistics

• In reading fluency,  the assessments showed a gain of 16 words per minute, above and beyond the growth experienced by their academic peers. 
• The average reading effect size of 0.32SD — translating into almost 252 additional days of learning. 
• The average maths effect size is 0.51SD — translating into over 288 additional days of learning.