R.E.A.L pilot testing underway in Zambia

sQuid has commenced field testing of its R.E.A.L online literacy assessment tool. Co-developed by sQuid in partnership with StoryWorld, a US literacy software specialist, R.E.A.L is an AI-driven early literacy diagnostic tool, closely following the widely used EGRA (Early Grade Reading Assessment), assessing key literacy predictors in real time: Listening Comprehension, Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Reading Fluency, and Comprehension.

R.E.A.L has been developed in response to the need for a practical, low cost assessment tool that can be accessed at scale and which can be used to provide immediate feedback to teachers.

Adam Smith, CEO of sQuid said:

‘We worked extensively with EGRA in our iMlango programme in Kenya, and since Covid we have been developing digital literacy tools that can really help deliver improved outcomes for students. R.E.A.L is easy to use, and importantly, it does not need an in-person administrator, and that means it saves teachers’ instructional time. Working with our partner Storyworld, we are aiming to deliver an informative literacy assessment in real time back to teachers, to help guide them in their teaching strategies, especially when dealing with very large class sizes, as we often see in Sub Saharan Africa.’

The initial field testing for Africa is being conducted at the Garden Open Community School in Lusaka.