Technical center to sustain Yemen’s literacy advances

September 9, 2014

3 min read

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Technical center to sustain Yemen’s literacy advances

By Munazza Siddiqui

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]Sana’a, Yemen—In a country where illiteracy hovers around 35 percent, one program has had remarkable success by tackling the problem in early grade levels.

Witnessing the positive results and eager to sustain them, Yemen’s Ministry of Education has established a technical coordination center to oversee the program’s implementation and expansion of literacy skills to students nationwide.

Housed in and managed by the Ministry of Education, the technical coordination center is a critical step to ensuring the sustainability of the Yemen Early Grade Reading Approach, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and implemented by Creative Associates International.

In May 2013, after only four months of the program in 311 schools, first grade students in schools using the Yemen Early Grade Reading Approach had jumped from knowing the sounds of only five letters to knowing the sounds of 18 letters, according to findings in the report “Improved Reading Performances in Yemeni Schools: Impact Assessment Report of the Yemeni Early Grade Reading Approach Phase 1: 2012-2013.”

From 2013 to 2014, Creative’s approach grew to 822 schools in 10 governorates and reached approximately 230,000 students in grades one to three. The technical center will play a key role in expanding the program nation-wide to 23 governorates, which will require training new cadres of Yemen Early Grade Reading Approach technical specialists, trainers, teachers and program coordinators on the effective methodology used in the approach

“It is good to have this center for planning and coordination on early grade reading activities,” says Mohammad Al-Hammadi, a training coordinator with Yemen Early Grade Reading Approach. “It will helps us consolidate our efforts and collaborate closely with the MOE in the national scale-up of the program.”

Ministry of Education staff and education partners at the technical center are already at work preparing the logistics and training materials to instruct a new cohort of trainers, who will in turn train future teachers on the innovative reading pedagogy later this month.

An experienced “trainer of trainers” and well-versed in the Yemen Early Grade Reading Approach, Amt Al-Saboor is optimistic about the center’s benefits.

“The center will help us plan more effectively for different trainings,” says Al-Saboor. “We will be able to interact with the trainers and discuss our issues. Moreover, it will improve our coordination on YEGRA.”

As part of their planning for the center’s future and the sustained achievement of the literacy program, the Ministry of Education, technical center staff and Yemen Early Grade Reading Approach coordinators are looking to the region for strategies, lessons learned and best practices on nation-wide scaling up of new subject curricula and approaches.

This will include making use of information learned in 2013 when the Community Livelihoods Project supported a tour by Yemen Ministry of Education officials to Egypt to learn about a new literacy program roll out there.

Drawing on regional best practices to fighting illiteracy, the ministry’s new center will ensure that long after the official Community Livelihoods Project draws to a close, thousands of Yemeni students will continue to learn to read and become educated and productive citizens in their communities.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/12″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=”sidebar-primary”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

USAID’s “Learn to Read Now” includes Creative Consortium

September 4, 2014

3 min read

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USAID’s “Learn to Read Now” includes Creative Consortium

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]Sept. 4, 2014 – To increase the literacy of 100 million children by 2015, Creative Associates International has been selected as one of five global development organizations to support the U.S. government’s efforts to improve early grade reading programs. (www.CreativeAssociatesInternational.com)

Creative was awarded the five-year “Assistance to Basic Education: All Children Reading” (ABE ACR) Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract, which makes it eligible to compete to implement these projects in developing countries.

“Early grade reading is one of the building blocks for future educational success,” says Charito Kruvant, Creative’s President and CEO. “It is an honor that we will be able to play a key role in developing a brighter future for children around the world.”

U.S. Agency for International Development Missions will issue “task orders” under ABE ACR, for which these pre-authorized companies may compete. Creative’s initiatives will focus on activities in four areas: teaching and learning in the classroom; national policy reform and systems strengthening; effective school management; and community engagement.

Creative has assembled a group of distinguished consortium members, including research institutes, academic universities, non-governmental organizations and small businesses, to evaluate and compete for these task orders.

The Creative consortium brings long-term relationships with a network of nearly 300 local education sector partners—government ministries, research institutions and civil society organizations—throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America/Caribbean, and the Middle East/North Africa.

Creative’s Practice Area Director for Instructional Systems and Governance, Karen Tietjen, is the IDIQ manager. With more than 30 years of experience, Ms. Tietjen provides strategic planning, leadership, and technical guidance in teacher training, operations research, M&E, education policy and systems, early grade reading, school drop-out prevention, and use of technology in education.

By coupling a school-level approach to improving reading with a national approach to reinforcing education systems, Creative will partner with governments, civil society and the private sector to improve learning outcomes and create a culture of reading where it works—sustainable gains ready to replicate and scale up.

“A focus on student learning outcomes as a measure of success will ensure that the effectiveness of Creative’s projects will be reflected not just in reading ability, but in the ability of teachers to teach well, schools to manage and assess their students and communities to support education,” Jerrold Keilson, Vice President and Senior Director of Creative’s Education Development Division.

Creative marries expertise in early grade reading, curriculum and materials development, teacher education, community outreach and inclusion with a commitment to supporting government partners and other national education officials to take the lead.

The organization has implemented large-scale education programs around the world for more than 37 years, bringing a wealth of experience improving teacher effectiveness in reading instruction, developing appropriate reading materials, engaging communities in supporting reading goals, and supporting policy development for reading.

In Yemen, for example, a community-based program used the “Yemen Early Grade Reading Approach” to introduce a phonics-based reading program to schools across the country. Together with Yemen’s Education Ministry, Creative provided 8,000 educators with more effective ways to teach Arabic reading and writing, as well as sustainable training and support models and updated teaching materials.

The program has benefitted more than 250,000 first, second and third-grade students whose reading has noticeably improved: 97 percent of first graders were able to read more than six times faster after using Creative’s approach for three months. The government expanded the program nationally as part of the official first grade curriculum.

About Creative

Creative works with underserved communities by sharing expertise and experience in education, economic growth, governance and transitions from conflict to peace. Creative is the second-largest company owned by women that works with the U.S. government.

Based in Washington, D.C., Creative currently has programs in nearly 20 countries. Since 1977, it has worked in 85 countries and on nearly every continent. Recognized for its ability to work rapidly, flexibly and effectively in conflictive environments, Creative is committed to generating long-term sustainable solutions to complex development problems.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/12″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=”sidebar-primary”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Yemen: National workshop pledges support to reading

September 2, 2014

4 min read

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Yemen: National workshop pledges support to reading

By Munazza Siddiqui and Salwa al-Azzani

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]Sana’a, Yemen—More than 100 participants, from Yemen’s Ministry of Education, the U.S. Agency for International Development, international implementing partners and literacy program coordinators met in Sana’a on Aug. 11-12 to celebrate the success of the Yemen Early Grade Reading Approach (YEGRA) program over the last two years.

Highlighting YEGRA’s proven success in his inaugural address at the scale-up event, USAID Mission Director for Yemen, Herbie Smith, commended the program for its dramatic results in 383 schools across seven governorates during its six-month pilot period, Nov. 2012 to May 2013. “On average, students in grade one YEGRA schools went from knowing the sounds of five letters to knowing the sounds of 18 letters after only four months of teaching the new program,” said Smith.

The YEGRA program is part of the Community Livelihoods Project a USAID-funded intervention implemented by Creative Associates International. Partnering with the technical experts from Yemen’s Ministry of Education, the Community Livelihoods Project developed and implemented the innovative program, which uses a multidisciplinary methodology to improve reading skills by reforming the early grade reading curriculum and strengthening teachers’ capacity to teach reading and writing.

In a 2011 USAID assessment, the average grade three student was only able to correctly read 12 words per minute, and 27 percent of these children were unable to read a single word. Students in grade two read on average 5.8 correct words per minute, and 42 percent were unable to read a single word.

From 2013 to 2014, YEGRA expanded to 822 schools in 10 governorates and reached approximately 230,000 students in grades one to three. Initial analysis of assessment results suggest that YEGRA has had extraordinary success.

The National YEGRA Scale-up Workshop followed a series of more than 380 conferences conducted at the central, governorate and district levels to prepare for the national scale-up process for the YEGRA program. Together, these workshops were attended by more than 3,000 participants, including officials from the Ministry of Education, donor agencies, international partners and YEGRA coordinators.

With the upcoming expansion of the program, educators, implementers, officials, and coordinators have many important decisions and issues to discuss.

“This workshop has been organized at just the right time. It’s a cornerstone for the scale-up process,” said Dr. Abdulrazzaq Al-Ashwal, Minister of Education.

Given the program’s great success in raising literacy levels, officials from the Ministry of Education were excited to be part of the program’s growth and optimistic about the program’s positive effects for the nation, beyond literacy skills alone.

“YEGRA is another revolution in Yemen, a revolution that will help create change and aid in the development of this country,” said Dr. Abdullah Salem Lamlas, Deputy Minister for Training.

Thanking USAID, Creative, and other partners, Dr. Abdulla Al-Hamidi, Vice Minister of Education, referred to YEGRA as the best program implemented by the ministry.

At the two-day workshop, participants exchanged information and ideas about the challenges faces early grade reading in Yemen and the future of the YEGRA program.

“It is important to be here today so we can express our concerns and potential challenges we will face in implementing this program,” said Maisa Mahmood Ushaish, Head of Training Directorate in Aden. “I hope we have similar workshops in the future because this makes us more involved with other decision makers at all levels.”

Workshop participants committed to coordinated and unified efforts to facilitate the expansion process by providing technical support to education officials and the local governing councils in planning, implementing and monitoring the YEGRA program.

Key recommendations for USAID from the workshop were: i) to continue providing technical support for national YEGRA scale-up; and ii) ensure that all partners follow the same implementation procedures, particularly in the professional development and supervisory classroom follow-up post teacher training to ensure the success of the program.

“We, as educators, always plan, but when it comes to implementing activities, there is always a gap in the field, said Dr. Abdul Jabar Al-Waeli, Head of the Education Research and Development Center. “YEGRA scale-up is a huge process and it will be implemented in every school in the Republic of Yemen, and each one of us has a role to play,”

USAID and Creative, for their part, are committed to fulfilling their role in expanding the successful early grade reading program to even more students around the country.

“YEGRA was only a pilot intervention a year-and-a-half ago. Today, we are talking and deliberating on rolling it out nationwide,” said USAID Yemen Director Smith. “This is a powerful demonstration of our collective efforts and commitment.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/12″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=”sidebar-primary”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Libya – Community-Driven Grants Program I

Program

2 min read

The Libyan Revolution of 2011 came in response to more than forty years of repressive, tyrannical rule. In an environment where civil society and trust in government barely existed, Libya’s Transitional National Council was recognized by the United States on July 15 and struggled to gain the recognition of its constituents and provide rapid and tailored responses to community grievances. There was an opportunity to ensure that nascent civil society organizations became community liaisons, service providers and advocates for transparent governance – and that they work toward positive community change in this pivotal and formative period.

Creative’s Community Driven Grants Program supported the growth of civil society and the improvement of non-governmental service delivery. The program promoted civic engagement through small community development projects that enhanced the capacity of new and emerging civil society groups to serve as conduits for under-represented citizen voices in the national dialogue on reform. It was funded by the U.S.-Middle East Partnership Initiative.

In its two years, the program awarded 47 grants (30 in Benghazi and 17 in Tripoli) to nascent civil society organizations. Through the program’s partner organizations, more than 15,000 community members were mobilized in awareness raising and citizen advocacy activities. In addition, four of the 6 main partner organizations under this program continue to receive small grants from Creative under its Community-Driven Grants Program II.

The program also contributed to the national awareness of the importance of elections. More than 300 volunteers were trained in election monitoring through three master trainers, three community dialogues took place to discuss drafting of an election law, and Creative organized five workshops on the importance of public awareness of, and active participation in elections.

Egypt – Technology for Improved Learning Outcomes

Program

1 min read

The Technology for Improved Learning Outcomes project (2007-2013) improved Egyptian students’ academic achievements by creating better learning environments, teaching styles and school administration with the help of technology.

Funded by USAID, the Technology for Improved Learning Outcomes project followed a demand-driven approach in which schools applied to participate and demonstrated a willingness to follow through with the entire implementation process and create a plan for sustainability. The program was implemented in nine governorates: Alexandria, Cairo, Giza, Fayoum, Beni-Suef, Minya, Assiut, Qena and Aswan.

A core strategy of project was developing public private partnerships to increase stakeholder engagement, promote innovation, share responsibility for sustainability and build capacity at the Ministry of Education. More than 120 international and local public private partnerships–with local multinational corporations like IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Discovery Channel Global Education Partnership, Hewlett Packard, HSBC Bank, and Exxon Mobil–contributed more than $9 million. In its Portfolio Internal Review in November 2009, USAID highlighted the Technology for Improved Learning Outcomes project as model for building public-private partnerships.

Approximately 245,000 students in more than 400 primary and preparatory schools participated in the development of the project model to fine tune the system for maximum local ownership, effectiveness and expansion.

The results were impressive. Impact evaluations in 2010 and 2011 revealed that teaching and learning practices improved dramatically with more than 30 percent gains in teacher practices shown to support critical thinking and the Egyptian education standards and early evidence of increases in midterm exam scores among students in participating schools.

Algeria – School Linkages Program

Program

2 min read

Given the opportunity to engage in personal one-on-one conversation, today’s youth may realize that they have more in common with their global counterparts than they ever knew.

The U.S.-Algeria School Linkages Program provided such a forum to nearly 1,000 Algerian and American students. It used innovative technology to connect high school students and teachers in Michigan and Nevada with their counterparts in nine different states across Algeria. It was supported by the U.S. Department of State and implemented in partnership with Michigan State University.

The virtual exchange program was conducted through an interactive website that integrated an English curriculum focused on cultural exchange between school teachers and students in the U.S. and Algeria. Participants from both countries shared insights into their respective personal and cultural surroundings through innovative activities designed to foster mutual understanding and cross cultural friendships.

By sharing stories about their lives and their communities, students were able to not only see the similarities that exist between the two cultures, but learned to appreciate the differences as well. As one Algerian student stated, “We got closer and appreciated each other much more. We also became more tolerant.”

An American student also noted that the program helped students discover new ways to enrich their own lives: “We all learned that there are many things we can learn from Algerians about time and family and values to improve our own way of life in the U.S.”

“It is a great opportunity to teach them [students] that communication – particularly cross-cultural – is going to be one of the most important skills they have in the future, and they need to start thinking about how their ideas are being interpreted by a global audience,” said Katie Mitchell, a teacher involved in the program from East Grand Rapids High School in Michigan.

In addition to breaking existing cultural and geographic barriers between American and Algerian youth and teachers, the Linkages Program supported current Algerian education reform goals by introducing technology as a pedagogical tool in schools and improving the teaching and learning of English-as-a-foreign language.

“By participating in this project, I learned many things,” said one Algerian student. “First, I feel very changed in my English, my pronunciation, my grammar and my vocabulary, and I really know more about how Americans live and specifically how students live, and more than that I know more about American culture.”

Libya – Voter Ownership and Increasing Civic Engagement

Program

2 min read

With the fall of the Gaddafi regime in 2011, Libyans embarked on the difficult task of transitioning to a more democratic society. The success of the July 7, 2012, election demonstrated the Libyan people are willing to embrace their responsibilities under a new democracy. Nonetheless, gaps in citizen knowledge about their political process, as well as a lack of civic education capacity within Libyan organizations, remained a challenge.

The Libyan Voter Ownership and Increasing Civic Engagement project partnered with Libyan civil society organizations to increase citizen understanding of human rights and civic responsibility. The project also sought to increase citizen engagement in, and oversight of, the political process.

Funded by the U.S. State Department’s Middle East Partnership Initiative, the Voter Ownership and Increasing Civic Engagement project supported Libyans in this process by helping them learn about, and engage with, their developing electoral and political systems.

By providing capacity-building and grants to Libyan civil society organizations, the project supported a Libyan-led approach to promoting voter and civic engagement among the population, cultivating a culture of respect for human rights and civic responsibilities.

The project employed traditional media to disseminate informed, targeted and salient civic and voter education messages that resonate with youth and women. The delivery of targeted engagement messages inculcated a sense of civic activism and responsibility among key groups, which encouraged them to further instill these messages among their family, friends and peers.

Together with partner Souktel, Inc., Creative trained civil society partners to collect, categorize, publish and present citizen feedback on political processes. The program established a Citizen Feedback Database using SMS services, which allowed citizens to use their mobile phones to express concerns and report incidents on electoral fraud, local governance, violence and other issues.

Creative to assist U.S. education efforts in crisis, post-conflict countries

August 26, 2014

3 min read

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Creative to assist U.S. education efforts in crisis, post-conflict countries

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text] ABE_Access_banner Aug. 26, 2014 – Creative Associates International is one of six global development organizations selected to support the U.S. government’s efforts to provide equitable access to education for 15 million children in conflict and crisis affected countries by 2015, it was announced. (www.CreativeAssociatesInternational.com)

Called “Advancing Basic Education: Access for All,” the U.S. Agency for International Development will use the organizations for initiatives that “assess, design, implement, coordinate, monitor and evaluate education programs in crisis/conflict-affected, fragile and lawless environments,” among other activities, according to the agreement.

“Creative believes in the power of education as a driving force behind stabilization and a key instrument for laying the foundation for sustained development,” says Charito Kruvant, President and CEO of Creative. “When schools are functioning, communities have a sense that stability is returning. This reduces the attraction to violent extremist organizations and increases the population’s trust in government.”

For USAID’s Advancing Basic Education: Access for All, Creative has assembled a consortium of prestigious core partners, including International Rescue Committee, World Education, RTI and Management Systems International, as well as other specialized partners.

Jerrold Keilson, Creative’s Vice President & Senior Director of its Education Division, says the company has a successful track record of providing educational services in nearly 30 conflict and post-conflict environments since the 1980s.

“Although the challenges of conflict and crisis affected countries are unique to each, there are common elements,” says Keilson. “Creative believes that transformational change must begin with empowered communities.”

By supporting communities to expand access to safe, quality education, Keilson says it is a starting point for programs that to contribute to stabilization, political transition, meeting the physical and psychological needs of vulnerable populations and ultimately economic growth and greater prosperity.

In Yemen, for example, Creative is working in partnership with the Education Ministry to enhance early grade reading, writing, pedagogy, classroom management and more. Funded by USAID, the project has reached more than 120,000 first, second and third graders. After four months, oral reading fluency jumped dramatically.

USAID’s Advancing Basic Education: Access for All is an Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity Contract (IDIQ). USAID and its Missions will issue “task orders” under the IDIQ and the companies will compete for them.

Jane Wood, Ph.d., Creative’s Practice Area Director for Education in Crisis and Conflict Affected Environments, will manage the IDIQ. With more than 30 years of development experience in more than 50 countries, she provides strategic planning and technical guidance in education policy and systems, workforce development, early grade reading, conflict resolution, psycho-social support and more.

About Creative

Iraq – Revitalization of Iraqi Schools and Stabilization of Education

Program

1 min read

Creative began efforts to bring together critical elements to revitalize the Iraqi educational system and encourage children to return to school. Specifically, the project distributed equipment and supplies to schools and students in Iraq; provided accelerated learning to students whose schooling had been interrupted by prewar conditions and ensuing instability; helped communities refurbish primary and secondary schools damaged or destroyed by war; worked with the Ministry of Education to plan reforms for Iraq’s education system; and trained teachers and school administrators in modern instructional methods, previously inaccessible in Iraq.

Iraq – Education II

Program

1 min read

Creative implemented Support for Iraqi Basic Education (Education II), a two-year project that worked with the Iraqi Ministry of Education to effect systemic reforms that build on the urgent education-sector rehabilitation achieved under the Revitalization of Iraqi Schools and Stabilization of Education (RISE) project, which Creative also managed. The project created 84 model schools throughout Iraq serving as a platform to improve the quality of basic education in Iraq, and providing a safe, healthy environment encouraging the introduction of new ideas and approaches to teaching; helped strengthen the capacity of the Ministry of Education through training, study tours, and the development of an advanced education management information system; and produced a series of television programs to enhance early-childhood learning.

Yemen – Early Grade Reading Approach

Program

1 min read

Creative’s Yemen Early Grade Reading Approach—part of an integrated, community-based program designed to enhance education—introduced a new, phonics-based reading program to schools across the country. It was funded by U.S. Agency for International Development.

Together with Yemen’s Education Ministry, Creative trained educators in better ways to teach children Arabic reading and writing skills, alongside ongoing training and support in effectively using teaching materials.

Creative’s program trained 8,000 teachers and benefitted more than 250,000 students in first, second and third grades. And the program worked: 97 percent of first graders were able to read more than six times faster after using the Early Grade Reading approach for three months.

To expand its reach, Creative and the Ministry of Education launched a national reading campaign designed to promote a culture of reading—with radio and TV messages, a mini-documentary, print materials and SMS messages that reached an estimated 9 million people.

Yemen – Community Livelihoods Project

Program

2 min read

Creative’s Community Livelihoods Project began as an integrated, multi-sector initiative designed to reduce instability in some of the country’s most difficult areas. Funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, the project has reached more than 12.3 million beneficiaries through community-based initiatives across five sectors of economic development, agriculture, health, education and governance.

Its economic development initiatives built communities’ resilience to recurrent crisis through support for small businesses, micro-finance activities and by addressing youth unemployment—activities that aligned with the Yemeni Government’s Transitional Program for Stability and Development Priorities.

In the agriculture sector, the project worked with coffee, horticulture, livestock and honey producers to improve value chains and increase the quantity and value of their products. It vaccinated animals, trained farmers on food storage and processing and provided hands-on learning in low-resource growing practices.

The project also increased access to healthcare for marginalized and vulnerable communities. It ensured more than 1.75 million children were vaccinated against measles and polio, rehabilitated six health facilities, reactivated Medical Mobile Teams and trained 58 midwives who served more than 13,000 women.

Education-focused initiatives included an early grade reading approach, which improved early-grade reading and teaching skills for thousands of primary school students and teachers, and oversaw the rehabilitation of 144 schools in some of Yemen’s most insecure regions.

Additionally, activities focused on governance strengthened local capacity to provide basic public services to disadvantaged communities. This improved the interface between local councils, key government offices, NGOs, civil society, youth and communities and addressed key grievances and drivers of instability.