Figure 2: Comparison of MLE and non-MLE students in learning academic content
Philippines
Thailand
Viet Nam Philippines
Kom G6 Math Kom G4 Math Kom G2 Math PM G3 Social Studies PM G1 Social Studies PM G5 Science * PM G3 Science PM G1 Science
Viet Nam G1 Math Lub G3 Math
Lub G3 Reading
Standard MT-medium
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Group Averages( percent)
* Note: The results for“ PM G5 Science” show the percentage of students who received a passing grade( 50 percent or higher) on the Grade 5 science assessment.
When we compare the performance of the two groups of students, it is clear that MTB MLE students have consistently done better than students from their language community who attend non-MLE schools. The advantage for MLE students is generally between 15 and 50 percent. It should be noted here that in the research literature on educational innovations in western countries, improvement rates of 5 to 10 percent are usually considered very acceptable. Improvement rates greater than 20 percent, especially in a large population, are surprising. Many / most people would have difficulty believing that improvement rates of 50 percent are possible.
The Kom math scores in grades 2, 4 and 6 provide an important lesson to policy makers. In this programme( an“ early-exit” programme 13), MT instruction stopped at the end of grade 3 and instruction in grades 4, 5 and 6 was in English only. At the end of Grade 3, children in the twelve Kom MLE schools had an average math score of just under 60 percent. In grade 4, after a full year of instruction in English-only classrooms, the average score for this group dropped to 40 percent and after grade 6 the average score dropped to 38 percent. The move from MLE to English-only classrooms reduced the performance of those children by close to 50 percent.
13“ Early-exit” programmes use the MT for instruction for three years or less and then take students out of their MT and use only the official school language for instruction. Late-exit programmes use MT-only for instruction in early to mid-primary and then use a mix of the MT and official school language for instruction. The research literature provides solid evidence that late-exit programmes are educationally more effective than early-exit programmes.
Booklet for Policy Makers
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