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Historically, addressing learning poverty has not been at the center of the educational debate in Latin America. However, this reality compromises the life, employment, and income opportunities of millions: today, approximately 40% of children in the region reach age 10 without being able to read and understand simple texts.
In response, we created the Latin American Literacy Movement to drive a paradigm shift: literacy is no longer viewed as a narrow early-childhood topic but as the structural foundation of the entire educational system. This early failure creates a bottleneck that acts as a "ceiling" for the whole sector. Without age-appropriate literacy, outcomes in all subsequent stages are stifled. The impact is cumulative, forcing education systems into a permanent "remediation mode," struggling to belatedly correct accumulated deficits.
Our innovation stems from the urgency of transforming literacy into the region’s primary public priority. Tackling the problem at its root is the strategy with the highest potential to generate systemic impact, promote equity, and leverage economic development in Latin America. Among our solutions, oral reading fluency assessments stand out within the monitoring and evaluation pillar. Developed in Brazil and subsequently adopted by Mexico and Argentina, these assessments are now being scaled and enhanced through Artificial Intelligence.
Our innovation employs an unprecedented collaborative architecture to drive a paradigm shift: literacy is now recognized as the structural foundation and central bottleneck of the educational system, rather than a niche early-years topic. The strategy stems from proven success in Brazil: starting in Ceará, it scaled to 18 states via the Brazilian Literacy Collaborative (BCL) and culminated in the federal policy "Compromisso Nacional Criança Alfabetizada," achieving 100% adoption by states and municipalities.
This trajectory enables the Movement to adapt strategies locally while building a regional framework. At the core is the "Implementation Mandala," a model integrating key pillars for large-scale transformation: learning assessments, teacher training, high-quality instructional materials, and management strengthening. Oral reading fluency assessments (implemented in Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico) generate data that serve as a "compass" for pedagogical and management decisions, creating a sense of urgency and strategic direction.
The innovation replaces isolated projects with two integrated fronts: advocacy and technical support for systemic public policies. By orchestrating collaboration between governments and civil society, we shield these policies from partisan shifts and ensure long-term priority. This cross-country coordination accelerates transformation and ensures rapid cycles of continuous improvement across Latin America.
Our innovation has a regional scope and has directly strengthened the capacity of essential advocacy networks, such as Argentinos por la Educación (Argentina), Por un Chile que Lee (Chile), Leer no Basta (Peru), and Colombia se Escribe Leyendo (Colombia).
In countries with consolidated national implementation coalitions, we support the rollout of oral reading fluency assessments. In Brazil, the BCL supports 18 states, reaching 1.3 million students assessed; results showed 70% of students were readers by 2025—a 34-point increase within a single school year. In Argentina, we expanded to 6 provinces, assessing 79,000 students in 2025 and achieving a 3-percentage-point growth in readers compared to the previous year. In Mexico, where the tool was first introduced, we reached 8 states and assessed 7,000 students. The model is also gaining momentum through structured advocacy in Chile, Peru, and Colombia.
The political mobilization front has seen historic progress. We supported the International Literacy, Equity, and Future Meeting (Brasília, February 2026), convening over 500 leaders from across Latin America.
For the coming years, our goal is to institutionalize fluency assessments within state budgets, develop regional laboratories, and transform foundational literacy into a permanent, irreversible strategic priority on the Latin American agenda.
The innovation’s primary transformation lies in its methodological and geographical expansion: evolving from supporting national policies to leading a collective Latin American movement engaging over 300 organizations and dozens of government entities.
The strategy originated in Brazil via the Brazilian Literacy Collaborative - BCL (Instituto Natura, Lemann Foundation, and Associação Bem Comum). This coalition supports 18 states and provided the blueprint for a national federal policy. Since 2020, Instituto Natura has tailored this model to coalitions in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru.
A major turning point occurred in 2024 with the adoption of a regional perspective and robust civil society coordination. We launched Advocacy and Implementation Workshops, fostering continent-wide exchanges. This political dimension yielded historic milestones: in Argentina, we helped structure the 2024 National Literacy Plan, signed by all provinces, and supported the inclusion of a literacy module in the national "Aprender" assessment. In Chile, all 2025 presidential candidates signed a formal commitment to reading proficiency.
On the technical front, we introduced the oral reading fluency assessments (also developed in Brazil) as a pedagogical and management "compass" for coalitions in Argentina and Mexico. The innovation has evolved from an isolated project into a living network that continuously shares solutions to ensure every child across the region is literate.
The first step is to connect with the Regional Movement through our official channels. As we offer a systemic intervention rather than an isolated product, the initial action in any territory is to coordinate a strong local coalition. This involves uniting civil society organizations, the private sector, and educational leaders to build a unified front capable of simultaneously managing political advocacy and providing technical support to governments.
Once the alliance is formed, the focus shifts to securing high-level political commitment. Public officials must be engaged to adopt clear age-appropriate reading targets, ensuring literacy becomes a structural and irreversible priority on the public agenda, shielded from electoral shifts.
In practice, the intervention is guided by our "Implementation Mandala", beginning with the rollout of oral reading fluency assessments. These act as a pedagogical compass, generating rapid data and creating a sense of urgency. Using this evidence, the coalition helps the local government adapt other policy dimensions to its network: strengthening teacher training, aligning high-quality instructional materials, and improving school management.
The model is consolidated by establishing incentives and recognition for schools that show progress. By adopting this strategy, your territory joins a vibrant Latin American network that continuously shares solutions to uproot learning poverty at its source.
