The pilot project in literacy was conducted with six years old children of the Rio Grande do Sul public system who entered 1st grade in 2007 and 2nd grade in 2008. The aim of the project was to assess reading, writing and mathematical abilities attained by these children in the end of both years. The children were separated into 4 (four) groups. Three treatment groups participated in learning activities developed by 3 institutions, which use 3 different literacy methods. The fourth group was a control group with activities of their schools without outside interference. In 2008, the project added new 1st grade students of the participating schools. The results will be presented in two proficiency scales obtained by the use Item Response Theory (IRT), one for reading and writing and the other for mathematics which describe the children's performance at the end of the 1st and 2nd grades. The main results show that there was a great gain in both proficiency scales between the 1st and 2nd grade. The Reading and Writing scale shows that writing abilities are attained at the highest levels of the scale, while reading abilities appear earlier, on lower levels. In Mathematics, adding and subtracting abilities, even without reserve, also only appear at the highest levels.
Literacy for children; Assessment of Reading. Writing and Mathematical abilities; Literacy at 1st and 2nd grades
