Native stories increase critical reading in Amazonian elementary school students of intercultural bilingual education: a quasi-experimental study

Abstract

We evaluated the effectiveness of a reading intervention grounded in Indigenous “wisdom stories” among third-grade students in an intercultural bilingual education (EIB) school in the Peruvian Amazon. We used a quasi-experimental intact-group design (intervention vs. comparison) with pretest–posttest measurements. Reading comprehension—total score and the literal, inferential, and critical levels—was assessed with a brief instrument; the intervention was delivered by the classroom teacher after short training. Implementation fidelity was high, attrition was null, and assumptions of normality and homogeneity were met. Primary analyses and an ANCOVA indicated that the intervention group achieved significantly greater gains than the comparison group on the total score and across the three levels, with the largest gains in critical comprehension. These findings suggest that embedding local narratives into the reading curriculum can enhance students’ engagement and deep meaning-making. The approach is feasible and low-cost for EIB schools, with potential for reading plans and learning-recovery strategies. Generalizability is bounded to institutions with similar organizational and linguistic profiles. We recommend testing scale-up via cluster designs, conducting longitudinal follow-up, and exploring heterogeneity by first language and sex.