Notre Dame Study Offers New Insights into Global Learning Crisis

Global Center for the Development of the Whole Child research sheds light on how to better support readers in multilingual classrooms.

A new study led by Fernanda Soares, assistant research professor at the Global Center for the Development of the Whole Child (GC-DWC), part of the Institute for Educational Initiatives (IEI) at the University of Notre Dame, sheds light on why some students struggle with reading comprehension in multilingual settings. Published in the Comparative Education Review, the research shows that not all struggling readers face the same challenges. It sets out to answer a simple but critical question: Are students struggling with reading comprehension because they can’t decode, because they don’t understand and speak the language, or because of both? In other words, what is the skill profile of students who are not yet able to read with comprehension? By pinpointing these differences, the study offers insights to guide policies and interventions that more effectively address students’ specific needs.

“Our findings underscore that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to improving reading comprehension outcomes,” said Soares. “Understanding the specific skill profiles of struggling readers allows education systems to design more targeted, effective interventions, and to shape policies that address the root causes of learning challenges.”

The study, “Unveiling the Learning Crisis: Understanding the Reading Comprehension Challenges in Multilingual Contexts”, was led by Fernanda Soares, assistant research professor at the GC-DWC. It was co-authored by Cheng Liu, faculty member at Notre Dame’s Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society; T.J. D’Agostino, faculty member of the Pulte Institute for Global Development in the Keough School for Global Affairs at Notre Dame; Caroline Freeman, an English teacher in Barranquilla, Colombia and former Notre Dame research specialist; and Pooja Reddy Nakamura, principal researcher and international education program lead at the American Institutes for Research. 

Drawing on data from the Philippines, Rwanda, and Kenya, the research team identified distinct “profiles” of struggling readers based on their specific skill gaps in decoding and oral language. In the Philippines, these profiles reflected different combinations of skill challenges, while in Rwanda and Kenya, students’ difficulties tended to affect both decoding and oral language. 

“This project is a great example of how researchers from different institutions can combine their interdisciplinary expertise to identify the critical factors for improving students’ reading comprehension worldwide,” said Liu. 

Among the study’s key policy implications:

• The high prevalence of poor reading comprehension with oral language difficulties—either alone or combined with decoding challenges—suggests that explicit oral language instruction in a second language in early grades is critical.
   
• Strengthening decoding instruction in the first language in early grades can support later reading development in a second language. This is particularly important for some students in Kenya and the Philippines, for whom decoding—rather than oral language—poses the greatest challenge.
   
• Gradual transition models, rather than abrupt shifts to a second language as a language of instruction, may help multilingual learners develop decoding and oral language skills more effectively.

“Addressing the learning crisis must be a global priority to reach our goals for a decent education for all,” D’Agostino shared. “This requires better understanding why so few students can read with comprehension. By better understanding the patterns of skill gaps students face in multilingual contexts, policymakers and educators will be better able to craft solutions that will work.”

The study is made possible by advances in measurement approaches, including the work on the Receptive and Expressive Language Module (RELM), developed and piloted by the University of Notre Dame in collaboration with American Institutes for Research and Inclusive Development Partners. RELM is an innovative assessment tool designed to evaluate early language skills—both receptive (understanding) and expressive (speaking)—among learners in multilingual contexts. By providing detailed insights into students’ oral language abilities, RELM helps educators and policy-makers understand how well students can use and comprehend the language of instruction.

“This work reflects the Global Center’s and the University of Notre Dame’s commitment to research that addresses critical global challenges,” said Soares. “Our study shows that by understanding exactly why children are struggling—whether it’s decoding, language skills, or both—we can design policies and classroom practices that give every child the right support from the start. When children learn to read with understanding early on, especially in the first years of school, it lays the foundation for lifelong learning and success.”

Read the full article here: https://doi.org/10.1086/736421 
 

About the Global Center for the Development of the Whole Child (GC-DWC)

The Global Center for the Development of the Whole Child (GC-DWC) at the Institute for Educational Initiatives at the University of Notre Dame collaborates with researchers and practitioners to ensure the well-being—physical, emotional, social, and cognitive—of children and adolescents in low-resource and conflict-affected settings. Established to serve as a coherent platform for the Institute for Educational Initiative’s growing portfolio of global child development and learning programs, the GC-DWC creates environments that foster resilience and encourage children and adolescents to thrive. Using an innovative Whole Child Development (WCD) approach tailored to context-specific needs, the GC-DWC translates research into timely and thoughtful action, adapts research tools to improve the development of learning programs and policies, and activates systems (families, schools, communities) to lift children and adolescents out of adversity.

For more information about the GC-DWC, visit: https://iei.nd.edu/gc-dwc.

About the Institute for Educational Initiatives (IEI)

Founded in 1996, the Institute for Educational Initiatives consists of more than two dozen initiatives that strive to improve education for all youth, particularly the disadvantaged, paying special, though not exclusive, attention to Catholic schools. Through research, the formation of teachers and leaders, and direct service to educational systems, the IEI’s scholars and practitioners pursue interdisciplinary collaborations to better understand and improve PK-12 education  in the United States and around the world.

For more information about the IEI and its initiatives, visit iei.nd.edu.