The Classroom Collective offers a low-cost, accessible, and free-to-end-users model to address South Africa's foundational reading crisis, which sees over 80% of Grade 4 learners unable to read for meaning. By focusing on primary schools near the poorest-performing high schools, the intervention targets the root cause of the dropout risk: a lack of reading literacy that prevents a smooth transition from "learning to read" to "reading to learn."
The core of the model—consistent, non-specialist group reading support tracked via an M&E-enabled app—is supported by robust global evidence indicating that reading with children for even 15 minutes a day leads to substantial, accelerated gains in reading achievement, significantly higher than the national average.
By building a community-embedded culture of reading and measuring success through community commitment, dosage, and direct learner performance on school-based assessments, the Collective aims to ensure all foundation phase learners are able to read for meaning and actively participate in their education, securing their path toward completing their schooling.
In short we are a platform for YOU to use, for free, in your community to improve the outcomes of your local schools - YOU ARE THE CLASSROOM COLLECTIVE!