Cognitive Enhancement Training (COGENT^©): What Is It? How Does It Work With a Group of Disadvantaged Children?

A classroom-based program – COGENT^©, consisting of five learning modules developed for the enhancement of cognitive, language, and literacy skills, was administered to a group of 11 disadvantaged children living in an orphanage in India. Pre- and posttests of reading and cognitive measures showed that 88% of the children made modest gains at posttest in word reading. The gains in the cognitive test scores were also encouraging with 54% of children showing gains in all four cognitive processing domains on which they were tested. All children responded positively to program activities and the interactive learning ambience. Cross-cultural concerns are discussed regarding cognitive processes involved in learning to read in a foreign language.