| Period of Performance: | April 2003 through July 2005 |
Themes:
Pre-school education, alternative learning, information technology
Project Vision:
To expand access to pre-school education and to ensure the sustainability of the preschool alternative delivery program.
Project Mission:
To increase pre-school access and sustainability to:
- achieve greater efficiency of student learning and reduction of student failure rates in primary education through the development and demonstration of a one-year, high-quality program that can be offered with significant recurrent costs savings
- increase the percentage of children enrolled in pre-school programs
- reduce student repetition, particularly in the first grade (currently over 20%)
- improve student performance in essential cognitive and social skills, including early literacy.
List of Implementing Partners:
- Multichannel Learning Center, Education Development Center (EDC)
- Fundación Para La Educación Ricardo Ernesto Maduro Andreu (FEREMA)
- Ministry of Education
EDC and FEREMA staff will ensure above all that project activities will lead to the achievement of the following Program Results:
PR1 – Development of an interactive, multichannel learning package providing, at a minimum, 100 three-hour pre-school kindergarten lessons. Each lesson will include a two-part interactive radio/audio instruction (IRI) lesson (each part of about 30 minutes duration). The multichannel system will include print materials for students, a guide for teacher/facilitator-led activities, posters, games, parent support education materials, and “on the job” teacher/facilitator professional development materials related to each lesson.
PR2 – Development of a package to guide selection, organization, and management of learning centers capable of providing the alternative, multichannel program. In consultation with the MOE, pilot testing center locations will be in geographical areas where current coverage and 1st grade pass rates are lowest and repetition and failure rates highest. Baseline information will also be determined and collected. The package will include guidelines for NGOs, private companies, and others for providing incentives and career development paths to facilitators. The package will also include guidelines and standards to be met for programs seeking to become part of the public system.
PR3 – Establishment of a network of community-based and MOE learning center providers that include the public sector, NGOs, and businesses. Each learning center will be provided the package of information and materials developed under Program Result 2 as well as the lessons and materials for the pre-school classes.
PR4 – Development of a training package for facilitators. This will include both initial and refresher training activities, with continuous reinforcement and “learning through application” provided in conjunction with the IRI lessons. The training package will use a “training of trainers” approach, whereby project staff will train field personnel working through the NGOs to train facilitators.
PR5 – Development of a system of continuous assessment of learners for use by facilitators, and a set of teacher/facilitator-administered learning achievement measures appropriate for use at the end of the kindergarten year. The system of continuous assessment will make use of successful instruments already developed in Honduras and other countries that are easily interpreted by facilitators, parents, and children. The end-of-year learning outcome measures should be consistent with the national curriculum and program objectives.
PR6 – Formulate and conduct a national awareness campaign. This campaign aims to increase parental awareness of the importance of pre-school education and to facilitate demand for establishing community learning centers and disseminating the learning package. Materials for the awareness campaign will be developed by December 2003 while media messages on pre-school education and the IRI program will be initiated by December 2003.
PR7 – Development of a plan for national expansion of the program. With public and private financial support, this plan identifies strategies for establishing additional centers to eventually reach all kindergarten age group children.
For more information, please contact:
- EDC Project Director, Yvette Sanchez, ysanchez@edc.org
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