Those children who are left behind

Abstract

Around the world, 250 million children, half of whom attend school, are unable to read and write (UNESCO, 2014). In Latin America, socio-economic inequality determines that, while part of the population achieves relatively high levels of literacy, low-income students are often unable to read until the advanced primary grades (Abadzi, 2008). This paper presents and analyses a Reading Program designed for children growing up in poverty contexts who fall behind their peers in literacy acquisition. The program was developed within the framework of a cognitive apprenticeship model, which is presented in the chapter. Results obtained in the implementation of this programme are also analyzed.