In our projects, we always focus on depth of impact, and to do so we need to be sure that we have strong indicators to measure student and/or teacher progress. As our state training programs grow to include more and more teachers, the effort we put into planning and measurement is even more rewarding.
We are on track to train 20,000 primary and preschool teachers in Bolivia and Peru this year in our pedagogy strategies to better achieve curriculum goals through critical and creative thinking based in local culture and harmonious values. Apart from innovative pedagogy, we focus on virtual learning, remote learning without connectivity, and social-emotional wellbeing. In parallel, we are also developing an app that teachers can use to access videos, text, worksheets, and even audio files in local languages for parents – all of which cover the strategies and information covered in our programs.
In order to accompany such a large population working in various areas and accurately measure impact, a lot of behind-the-scenes work happens around baseline diagnostics, a combination of state and internal impact measurements and evaluative rubric development, as well as database development and maintenance.
In other words, we are doing a lot of new and exciting work and reaching more teachers and students than ever!
Ian McGroarty, Program Director