Feb 3, 2022, Dinolab News
Feb 3, 2022, Dinolab News

Measuring and developing foundational skills in primary school

Measuring and developing foundational skills in primary school

he difference between formative and summative assessment
The role of primary school should be to provide a dynamic, engaging, and nurturing setting in which the kid may feel joyful, protected, comfortable, and competent. Learning at such an early age should encourage innovative and inquisitive brains. However, nowadays, the foundational skills in primary school often don't get the attention they deserve.
The role of primary school should be to provide a dynamic, engaging, and nurturing setting in which the kid may feel joyful, protected, comfortable, and competent. Learning at such an early age should encourage innovative and inquisitive brains. However, nowadays, the foundational skills in primary school often don't get the attention they deserve.


Table of contents

Table of contents

An overview of primary education

An overview of primary education

Primary education is every child's first and most fundamental entitlement. It is the preliminary stage in teaching the kid the fundamentals of literacy. Primary education's objective is to facilitate the child's wide-ranging learning. This encompasses social, cognitive, cultural, emotional, and physical growth. It also includes teaching kids foundational reading and foundational numeracy. In order to keep the children interested, this education should combine both knowledge and pleasure. This age's attention span is about 5-6 minutes, which is incredibly short in contrast to adults. Activities and classes should be designed in such a way that they should hold the student's interest.

Children learn certain basic abilities in their early years of learning, such as in primary school, that will help them master additional skills in other disciplines later on in life. These are typically known as foundational abilities, and they are required for the development of different expertise. The foundational literacy includes basic reading and numeracy, which are essential for each child's learning. They serve as a foundation for the development of other skills in life.

The easiest way to define the worldwide learning catastrophe is that while 70-80 percent of children finish primary school, only around nearly half do so in a way that prepares them for life. Even though they would have spent 6 or 7 years in school, the children's basic education balance is virtually a squander. In some ways, it's almost as if they're spending time in class without actually getting anything done. This is not just a waste of the country's wealth but also an abuse of children's rights. Typically, in most emerging economies, the issues begin in the initial years of schooling, with many children not being able to read, perceive and write effortlessly.


Primary education is every child's first and most fundamental entitlement. It is the preliminary stage in teaching the kid the fundamentals of literacy. Primary education's objective is to facilitate the child's wide-ranging learning. This encompasses social, cognitive, cultural, emotional, and physical growth. It also includes teaching kids foundational reading and foundational numeracy. In order to keep the children interested, this education should combine both knowledge and pleasure. This age's attention span is about 5-6 minutes, which is incredibly short in contrast to adults. Activities and classes should be designed in such a way that they should hold the student's interest.

Children learn certain basic abilities in their early years of learning, such as in primary school, that will help them master additional skills in other disciplines later on in life. These are typically known as foundational abilities, and they are required for the development of different expertise. The foundational literacy includes basic reading and numeracy, which are essential for each child's learning. They serve as a foundation for the development of other skills in life.

The easiest way to define the worldwide learning catastrophe is that while 70-80 percent of children finish primary school, only around nearly half do so in a way that prepares them for life. Even though they would have spent 6 or 7 years in school, the children's basic education balance is virtually a squander. In some ways, it's almost as if they're spending time in class without actually getting anything done. This is not just a waste of the country's wealth but also an abuse of children's rights. Typically, in most emerging economies, the issues begin in the initial years of schooling, with many children not being able to read, perceive and write effortlessly.


Data related to the children in Indian primary schools who can read
Figure 1: Data related to the children in Indian primary schools who can read
Several objective researchers have indicated that India is substantially trailing behind in delivering foundational literacy and foundational numeracy to most students, notably in public schools. While it is indispensable to recognize and make legislative attempts to begin action on this front, it may not be enough unless it is routinely gathered and data is available on who is learning and who is not and who is falling behind, and by how much.
Several objective researchers have indicated that India is substantially trailing behind in delivering foundational literacy and foundational numeracy to most students, notably in public schools. While it is indispensable to recognize and make legislative attempts to begin action on this front, it may not be enough unless it is routinely gathered and data is available on who is learning and who is not and who is falling behind, and by how much.
Foundational Skills
Figure 2: Foundational Skills

Elements in Foundational Skills

Elements in Foundational Skills

The following are different elements of foundational skills:

  • Alphabet: Students must be aware of the alphabet used to write the language they are going to learn. Learning the alphabet is the foundation of learning the language. For example, English has an alphabet of 26 letters, and each letter is associated with one or more sounds. Students must be able to identify each letter in order to read and speak the language.
  • Print concepts: When students are introduced to the written language, they must understand the basics of the language and the concept of print. Sentences are formed by the combination of words in various grammatically acceptable ways. Therefore, students must identify the appropriateness of the words in order to form meaningful sentences.
  • Phonological awareness: Phonological understanding means knowing the sounds of a particular language. Another aspect of this element is rhyme and syllables. Phonological awareness enables students to pronounce words correctly and determine which phonologically appropriate words are in a sentence.
  • Phonics: Students should be able to match each letter to the unit of the sound associated with it. The knowledge of phonics enables students to read words or sequences of letters by producing the sequences of sounds associated with the letters. Thus, phonics forms foundational reading skills.
  • High-frequency word recognition: High-frequency words appear the most often in written material and can be sighted very easily. The student should be able to recognize them with ease.
  • Fluency: Fluency is characterized as the capacity to read quickly, clearly, and appropriately. A student should develop fluency as a part of foundational literacy.
The following are different elements of foundational skills:

  • Alphabet: Students must be aware of the alphabet used to write the language they are going to learn. Learning the alphabet is the foundation of learning the language. For example, English has an alphabet of 26 letters, and each letter is associated with one or more sounds. Students must be able to identify each letter in order to read and speak the language.
  • Print concepts: When students are introduced to the written language, they must understand the basics of the language and the concept of print. Sentences are formed by the combination of words in various grammatically acceptable ways. Therefore, students must identify the appropriateness of the words in order to form meaningful sentences.
  • Phonological awareness: Phonological understanding means knowing the sounds of a particular language. Another aspect of this element is rhyme and syllables. Phonological awareness enables students to pronounce words correctly and determine which phonologically appropriate words are in a sentence.
  • Phonics: Students should be able to match each letter to the unit of the sound associated with it. The knowledge of phonics enables students to read words or sequences of letters by producing the sequences of sounds associated with the letters. Thus, phonics forms foundational reading skills.
  • High-frequency word recognition: High-frequency words appear the most often in written material and can be sighted very easily. The student should be able to recognize them with ease.
  • Fluency: Fluency is characterized as the capacity to read quickly, clearly, and appropriately. A student should develop fluency as a part of foundational literacy.
Elements in Foundational Skills
Figure 3: Elements in Foundational Skills
The National Education Policy 2020 aims to provide foundational literacy to each student by grade 3 of primary school. It is a significant step forward for India. Constant efforts on all fronts, including the students, teachers, and parents, will be required to guarantee that we do not fall short of this target.

Reading and writing are examples of foundational literacy, whereas proficiency in the four primary arithmetic operations is an example of foundational numeracy. Students should be able to read a given text correctly and fluently, write in an understandable manner, perceive a given text, and do fundamental mathematical operations correctly.

When learned in primary school, foundational literacy may help children grasp any given material and successfully convey their thoughts. This is essential not only when studying a language but in any topic. If developed, a sense of numbers and the ability to control them by performing various operations on them can assist students in understanding how the number system operates, broaden that understanding to other basic and advanced math concepts, and practice it to scientific understanding.

It is important to make sure that all children develop foundational literacy in the primary school itself. This is because, unlike other abilities, incompetency to learn foundational literacy is likely to result in children being pushed out of the school system at some point. A kid who is unable to read and grasp a specific text, for example, is incredible to assimilate new knowledge in any topic; a child who is unable to do fundamental operations and manipulate numbers is unlikely to understand other number ideas. And as the child's school years go, the rift between their class level and their real learning level widens.

The degree of comprehension of students influences the assessment of foundational literacy. Let's look at reading as an instance. In grades 1-3, the first stage is to see if the students can genuinely read the text and not merely repeat the alphabet. To do this, one might give children a unique collection of letters, not in sequence, and test if they can read them. Similarly, one might have them read a list of common terms or even words that do not exist but are made up according to language principles.

Any teacher can successfully convey these pre-foundational learnings to each kid only if they can assess and report what proportion of children are acquiring the pre-foundational and foundational literacy and evaluate them against how their classmates are performing.

This will allow any teacher or educator to assess students' learning patterns and behavior and uncover shortcomings that may be promptly rectified. It is also critical for them to know where they stand so that they can determine the work required to achieve the stated goals.
The National Education Policy 2020 aims to provide foundational literacy to each student by grade 3 of primary school. It is a significant step forward for India. Constant efforts on all fronts, including the students, teachers, and parents, will be required to guarantee that we do not fall short of this target.

Reading and writing are examples of foundational literacy, whereas proficiency in the four primary arithmetic operations is an example of foundational numeracy. Students should be able to read a given text correctly and fluently, write in an understandable manner, perceive a given text, and do fundamental mathematical operations correctly.

When learned in primary school, foundational literacy may help children grasp any given material and successfully convey their thoughts. This is essential not only when studying a language but in any topic. If developed, a sense of numbers and the ability to control them by performing various operations on them can assist students in understanding how the number system operates, broaden that understanding to other basic and advanced math concepts, and practice it to scientific understanding.

It is important to make sure that all children develop foundational literacy in the primary school itself. This is because, unlike other abilities, incompetency to learn foundational literacy is likely to result in children being pushed out of the school system at some point. A kid who is unable to read and grasp a specific text, for example, is incredible to assimilate new knowledge in any topic; a child who is unable to do fundamental operations and manipulate numbers is unlikely to understand other number ideas. And as the child's school years go, the rift between their class level and their real learning level widens.

The degree of comprehension of students influences the assessment of foundational literacy. Let's look at reading as an instance. In grades 1-3, the first stage is to see if the students can genuinely read the text and not merely repeat the alphabet. To do this, one might give children a unique collection of letters, not in sequence, and test if they can read them. Similarly, one might have them read a list of common terms or even words that do not exist but are made up according to language principles.

Any teacher can successfully convey these pre-foundational learnings to each kid only if they can assess and report what proportion of children are acquiring the pre-foundational and foundational literacy and evaluate them against how their classmates are performing.

This will allow any teacher or educator to assess students' learning patterns and behavior and uncover shortcomings that may be promptly rectified. It is also critical for them to know where they stand so that they can determine the work required to achieve the stated goals.

Difference between Foundational Literacy and Foundational Numeracy

Difference between Foundational Literacy and Foundational Numeracy

Foundational literacy provides improved life outcomes by enabling individuals to reap the many advantages of education later in life. It is closely connected to greater labor-force involvement and offers doors to social and economic progress. Additionally, research has linked foundational reading and foundational numeracy to increased employability and GDP. According to the EFA Global Monitoring Report 2013-14, if all children graduated from high school with foundational literacy, 171 million people would be elevated from poor conditions.

It is a colossal waste of children's capabilities and livelihoods if they leave school without gaining foundational literacy.
Foundational literacy provides improved life outcomes by enabling individuals to reap the many advantages of education later in life. It is closely connected to greater labor-force involvement and offers doors to social and economic progress. Additionally, research has linked foundational reading and foundational numeracy to increased employability and GDP. According to the EFA Global Monitoring Report 2013-14, if all children graduated from high school with foundational literacy, 171 million people would be elevated from poor conditions.

It is a colossal waste of children's capabilities and livelihoods if they leave school without gaining foundational literacy.

Using Dinolab to teach foundational skills

Using Dinolab to teach foundational skills

Blended learning is the future of education and it is better to utilize it now, while we only entering the new era of learning. Using interactive digital tasks and games to enhance the student experience is a sure-fire way to spark their interest in learning and make sure they have learned the needed concepts. Platforms like Dinolab.in provide great interactive materials for teachers to use in the classroom and for students to explore on their own.
Blended learning is the future of education and it is better to utilize it now, while we only entering the new era of learning. Using interactive digital tasks and games to enhance the student experience is a sure-fire way to spark their interest in learning and make sure they have learned the needed concepts. Platforms like Dinolab.in provide great interactive materials for teachers to use in the classroom and for students to explore on their own.
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