A.R.R.O.W. Across the Caribbean: Evidence of Literacy Progress

The results are in!

A recently published independent report in the Caribbean Educational Research Journal details A.R.R.O.W.'s work in schools across East Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, highlighting the significant impact it has on improving students' literacy skills.

A.R.R.O.W. in Trinidad and Tobago: Evidence of Literacy Progress

Recent research is providing strong evidence of the impact A.R.R.O.W. can have on students experiencing significant literacy challenges, particularly in communities where traditional approaches to learning have not always met every learner’s needs.

In Trinidad and Tobago, a study recently published in the Caribbean Educational Research Journal evaluated A.R.R.O.W. in schools across the communities of Laventille and Morvant, two of the country’s most underserved urban communities. The A.R.R.O.W. Foundation has worked in these communities since 2010, supporting schools and students identified as needing alternative approaches to literacy learning. The Phase 1 evaluation followed 183 students during the 2021–2022 school year.

Students were first assessed using the Schonell Reading and Spelling Assessments and then placed on individual learning programmes based on their starting levels. Over approximately 8–10 hours of intervention, students used A.R.R.O.W.®’s specialised computer-based software alongside a range of multisensory learning tools, including the Self-Voice Technique, which enables learners to record and replay their own voices while developing listening, speaking, phonics, decoding and comprehension skills.

The results were significant. Students demonstrated statistically significant gains in both reading and spelling, with average improvements equivalent to nine months of progress in reading and six months in spelling.

These findings are particularly significant given the challenging educational and socioeconomic context in which the programme was delivered. They demonstrate the potential of individualised, multisensory and technology-supported learning to provide struggling readers with additional opportunities to practise, engage and build their literacy skills.

The research also reinforces the value of A.R.R.O.W.’s Self-Voice approach, supporting the use of students’ own voices as a tool for developing literacy in a positive and self-directed learning environment.

The findings demonstrate A.R.R.O.W.’s ability to support real, measurable literacy progress and its potential to help reduce educational inequalities in some of the most challenging learning environments in Trinidad and Tobago.

In Jamaica, the Literacy Education Acceleration Programme (LEAP) pilot also provided a strong test of A.R.R.O.W. through a randomised treatment and control group across six secondary schools. The results were striking: students receiving A.R.R.O.W. were twice as likely to improve their reading level as those in the control group. 60% improved by at least one grade level, while 29% improved by two or more. After around 10 hours, reading ages increased by an average of eight months, compared with three months in the control group.

Across both countries, A.R.R.O.W.’s multisensory, student-centred approach, underpinned by the Self-Voice Technique, engaged learners and helped deliver measurable literacy gains.

From Trinidad and Tobago to Jamaica, the work A.R.R.O.W. is doing is making a real difference in students' educational journeys. There is much more work to be done, and we are committed to keep pushing the boundaries of the impact the A.R.R.O.W. teaching technology can make, in lives of learners across the Caribbean.

You can read the full report here: Caribbean Research Journal