Amazonía Lee was designed to reduce gaps in the reading achievement of students in the Peruvian Amazon. It focused on children in grades 1 through 3 and used a balanced approach to reading instruction that incorporates best practices from the National Reading Panel. USAID partnered with the two Regional Education Directorates as well as with technical assistance provider Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia to implement the program in the two Amazonian regions of San Martín and Ucayali. These regions were selected because they had historically marked gaps in students’ reading achievement compared to the national average.

The evaluation focused on the impact of Amazonía Lee’s school and community capacity-building activities, which include:

• Teacher training on Amazonía Lee’s balanced approach, which blends deliberate instruction in foundational reading skills with Peru’s national communicative textual approach
• Teacher coaching and study groups
• Culturally relevant materials to support reading instruction and reading for pleasure
• School leadership training
• Community engagement reading activities including book fairs, oral storytelling, and family reading workshops