School-To-School International

OUR MISSION IS TO IMPROVE THE LIVES AND LEARNING OF GIRLS AND BOYS WORLDWIDE THROUGH THOUGHTFUL RESEARCH, PRACTICE, AND PARTNERSHIP.

DESPITE SIGNIFICANT INVESTMENTS IN EARLY GRADE LITERACY IN ZAMBIA, PRE-SERVICE TEACHER EDUCATION HAS LARGELY BEEN EXCLUDED FROM THOSE PROGRAMS. TRANSFORMING TEACHER EDUCATION ACTIVITY AIMS TO ALIGN PRE-SERVICE EDUCATION WITH CURRENT, EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICES IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS AND IN-SERVICE EDUCATION PROGRAMS. IT WILL HELP TO ENSURE THAT ALL TEACHERS WILL ENTER THE CLASSROOM PREPARED TO HELP CHILDREN LEARN HOW TO READ AND TO PROVIDE SAFE LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS MORE BROADLY.GOAL: IMPROVE STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES IN GOVERNMENT COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES* STRENGTHEN THE CAPACITY OF PRE-SERVICE TEACHER TRAINING INSTITUTIONS TO DELIVER QUALITY LITERACY INSTRUCTIONS IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS.* STANDARDIZE, ALIGN, AND LINK PRACTICAL, EVIDENCE-BASED TRAINING AND CONTENT WITH THE PRIMARY SCHOOL LITERACY CURRICULUM.* EQUIP PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS IN COLLEGES OF EDUCATION AND UNIVERSITIES WITH SKILLS TO DELIVER QUALITY LITERACY INSTRUCTION IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS.* ENGAGE COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES IN PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH PROJECTS.

ALL CHILDREN READING: A GRAND CHALLENGE FOR DEVELOPMENT (ACR GCD), ESTABLISHED IN 2011 AS A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (USAID), WORLD VISION AND THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT, ADVANCES EDTECH INNOVATION AND RESEARCH TO IMPROVE READING OUTCOMES FOR MARGINALIZED CHILDREN IN LOW-RESOURCE CONTEXTS. ACR GCD IS AN ONGOING SERIES OF COMPETITIONS THAT LEVERAGES SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY TO SOURCE, TEST, AND DISSEMINATE SCALABLE SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE LITERACY SKILLS OF EARLY GRADE LEARNERS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. THE GLOBAL INITIATIVE FOCUSES ON SOURCING NEW SOLUTIONS, TESTING NEW IDEAS, ACCELERATING, AND SCALING WHAT WORKS.STS WILL PROVIDE MONITORING, EVALUATION, RESEARCH AND LEARNING SERVICES THAT ENSURE ACR GCD ADVANCES EDTECH INNOVATION AND RESEARCH BY:* ENHANCING LITERACY LEARNING FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES* DRIVING THE DEVELOPMENT AND USE OF ACCESSIBLE BOOKS IN UNDERSERVED LANGUAGES* STRENGTHENING FOUNDATIONS FOR LITERACY TO IMPROVE EARLY CHILDHOOD LEARNINGSTS WILL INCLUDE MONITORING AND CAPACITY BUILDING SUPPORT; DESIGNING AND IMPLEMENTING PROJECT EVALUATIONS, AS WELL AS OTHER STUDIES AND ASSESSMENTS; DESIGNING A FRAMEWORK FOR ACCELERATION AND PROVIDING SCALE-UP SUPPORT TO INNOVATORS; DEVELOPING, COLLABORATING, LEARNING, AND ADAPTING INITIATIVES; AND STRENGTHENING THE PARTNERSHIP'S ABILITY TO DEMONSTRATE ITS UNIQUE IMPACT. THESE EFFORTS WILL FACILITATE INFORMED MANAGEMENT DECISIONS, SHAPE THE POTENTIAL FOR INNOVATIONS' APPROPRIATE REPLICATION AND SCALING, AND INFORM THE STRATEGIC DIRECTION OF PROJECTS AND DECISION-MAKING.

THE USAID/MALI SELECTIVE INTEGRATED READING ACTIVITY (SIRA), LED BY EDC, SEEKS TO IMPROVE THE TEACHING AND LEARNING OF READING AND WRITING OF PUPILS IN FIRST- AND SECOND-YEAR CLASSES IN THE REGIONS OF KOULIKORO, SEGOU, SIKASSO, AND DISTRICT OF BAMAKO FOR MORE THAN 300,000 STUDENTS.STS WILL LEAD THE CAPACITY BUILDING COMPONENT OF THE PROJECT, COLLABORATING WITH THE NATIONAL DIRECTION OF PEDAGOGY AND DIVISION, PEDAGOGICAL RESEARCH, AND MONITORING-EVALUATION TO ENSURE REGIONAL AND DISTRICT LEVELS OF THE MINISTRE DE L'EDUCATION NATIONALE ARE TRAINED IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF EGRA FOR MANAGEMENT AND DECISION-MAKING PURPOSES. STS WILL PROVIDE STAFF WITH OPERATIONAL SKILLS ENABLING THEM TO EASILY CONDUCT AN EVALUATION ACTIVITY WITH THE EGRA TOOL FROM START TO FINISH, INCLUDING THE DESIGN OF TOOLS, SAMPLING, DATA COLLECTION, DATA ANALYSIS, REPORT WRITING, AS WELL AS POLICY AND RESOURCE DECISION-MAKING BASED ON THE RESULTS. STS WILL ALSO DESIGN, IMPLEMENT, AND ANALYZE A BASELINE, MIDLINE, AND ENDLINE FOUNDATIONAL RESEARCH STUDY ON PARENTS' KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES, AND PRACTICES ABOUT EARLY GRADE READING IN THE TARGETED REGIONS IN ORDER TO SUPPORT THE PROVISION OF MATERIALS AND TRAINING FOR FAMILY AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS TO PRACTICE READING AND WRITING AT HOME WITH CHILDREN.