Abstract:
Early-grade literacy challenges persisted in Ghana, with national assessments
indicating that a majority of Basic Three learners performed below expected
benchmarks in decoding, fluency, and comprehension. At Nii Sowah Din Basic
School, baseline ASER (Annual Status of Education Report) assessments, a
foundational literacy tool measuring letter recognition, word reading, and paragraph
comprehension, revealed that all learners were below benchmark at the start of the
study. This study therefore investigated the integration of Acadience Learning Online
(ALO), a real-time digital progress monitoring system, within the Transition to
English (T2E) framework to improve literacy skills among eight Basic Three
learners.The T2E framework is a structured bilingual literacy programme designed to
support learners’ transition from mother-tongue instruction to English through explicit
phonics, vocabulary development, fluency practice, and comprehension instruction.
The study was grounded in the Simple View of Reading (SVR), which conceptualises
reading comprehension as the product of decoding and linguistic comprehension, and
operationalised through the Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) and the Gradual
Release of Responsibility (GRR) models to scaffold and intensify instruction based on
learner need. Using a pragmatic action research design over six weeks, quantitative
data were collected through ALO measures of Oral Reading Fluency (ORF-WC),
accuracy, retell, and composite scores, alongside ASER baseline data. Findings
showed measurable gains: mean ORF-WC increased from 21.27 to 33.38 words per
minute; accuracy improved from 48.1% to 62.6%; and composite literacy scores rose
from 48.06 to 86.69. Tier 2 and Tier 3 learners demonstrated differentiated growth
trajectories, with intensive support yielding steady incremental gains. Qualitative
findings revealed improved instructional grouping, enhanced teacher data literacy,
more targeted phonics delivery, and increased learner engagement and confidence.
However, challenges related to internet connectivity, teacher workload, and
sustainability were reported. The study recommended institutionalising digital
progress monitoring within MTSS frameworks, strengthening teacher capacity in data
interpretation, scaling ALO-supported T2E implementation across non-GALOP
schools, and investing in infrastructure to ensure long-term sustainability. The
findings suggested that integrating theoretically grounded scaffolding models with
real-time digital monitoring can significantly enhance early-grade literacy instruction
in low-resource Ghanaian contexts.
