Presentation showcases findings about specific social and emotional skills and their in individual relationships to academic achievement. Importantly, these findings highlight the possible link between inequalities in academic achievement being attributed to the inequalities in SEL. These findings will be published in UNESCO GEMR Spotlight Series 2024.

The purpose of this session is to articulate a research framework that centers teachers’ voices when trying to understand how teachers use curriculum materials in the classroom. Operating in the context of highly structured lesson plans, the approach identifies ways in which teachers exercise their professional discretion to modify the lesson and frames conversations to elaborate the motivations driving the teachers’ choices. The approach has been iteratively refined across three studies; taken together, the studies provide evidence for the value of listening to teachers and being responsive to their voices during implementation. The research framework uses the lens of modifications, or changes to the intended lesson plan implemented within one class period. Modifications can be large or small, additive or subtractive. For example, in a lesson with a section for independent student practice, a large modification might be skipping the practice section entirely. Or, during a lesson focused on blending of initial sounds using 3 example words, a small modification might be extending the exercise by adding extra words. Researchers observe the lesson, noting any modifications; after the lesson, the researchers select some of the modifications and ask the teachers why they made the choices they did. Analyses of teachers’ explanations highlight the importance of understanding why teachers make the choices they do. For example, a teacher who skipped the independent practice section because they don’t think their students are ready to do the skill on their own suggests that the teacher is exercising agency and using her knowledge of her students to inform her decision-making. Insights such as this one can guide decisions on projects. It may be that while the intention of the teacher was guided by knowledge of students, the end result is not desirable from the project’s point of view. Understanding why the teacher made this choice provides implementers with better and targeted ways to address choices that impact the overall goals of the project. In this presentation, we draw on data from an exploratory case study to understand use of new mathematics materials in Liberia, a more in-depth case conducted in Malawi on teacher use of reading materials, and finally, a systematic study examining how reading teachers use materials across four Sub-Saharan African countries. We use each case to highlight both an aspect of the research framework and instances of modifications to project implementation driven by teachers’ voices. By focusing on teacher voices, we disrupt the deficit notion that teachers are “resistant” to change, or do not “understand” new pedagogies. Instead, we aim to value teacher voices and integrate their insight into implementation programs. By doing this, we not only raise the likelihood of successful use of new materials and pedagogies, but we also develop more responsive pedagogy that better matches existing classroom cultures.

This presentation introduces the panel of authors who presented at CIES 2019 about their chapter of the book.

Cultivating Dynamic Educators: Case Studies in Teacher Behavior Change in Africa and Asia responds to growing recognition by international education professionals, policy makers, and funding partners of the need for qualified teachers and interest in the subject of teacher professional development (also referred to as “teacher behavior change”). The book responds to important questions that are fundamental to improving teaching quality by influencing teaching practice. These questions include: How do we provide high-quality training at scale? How do we ensure that training transfers to change in practice? What methods are most cost-effective? How do we know what works? The book includes case studies from seven countries--Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Malawi, Nigeria, Philippines and Zambia--describing different approaches to teacher behavior change and illustrates how specific implementation choices were made for each context. Individual chapters document lessons learned as well as methodologies used for discerning lessons. The key conclusion is that no single effort is enough on its own; teacher behavior change requires a system-wide view and concerted, coordinated inputs from a range of stakeholders.

During 2016/2017, RTI implemented an assistive technology initiative to improve reading instruction in inclusive grade two public school classrooms in 63 schools in five regions of Ethiopia. Project inputs included a smartphone with screening tools for vision and hearing impairment and explicitly accommodated reading lesson plans for reading and writing instruction in mother tongue. The intervention also included a total of 4 days of teacher training and two classroom monitoring visits per teacher. After three months of implementation, teacher attitudes and self-efficacy to inclusive education improved significantly, as did teacher adoption of foundational inclusive practices in the classroom. At the student level, students identified for a potential vision or hearing impairment in intervention classrooms demonstrated similar learning progress compared to their peers without such impairment, although the study found measurable differences in reading achievement between these groups already at baseline. In conclusion, the innovation of using pedagogical support tools on smartphones as assistive technology at the teacher level appeared to have been appropriate for the context of the participating schools in Ethiopia, as well as effective in improving inclusive reading instruction.

Presentation delivered at CIES 2017 (Atlanta). As the READ TA project’s main focus is on providing technical assistance to and building the capacity of the Ethiopian Ministry of Education and its Regional Education Bureaus to develop and conduct the foundational components of a reading program (i.e., curriculum development, in-service and pre-service teacher training, and teacher support), the project has had to work through government systems to accomplish its objectives. This has provided great opportunities along with challenges. While there are some activities in which the project has direct involvement in the inputs and outcomes (curriculum development workshops, training of trainers, incorporating technology), there are others which are largely outside of the control of the project (printing of textbooks, training of teachers, government approvals). But all activities are necessary for the reading program to be successful. This requires establishing strong collaborative relationships with government counterparts and having the flexibility to adjust to the ever-changing situation.

Presentation delivered at CIES 2017 (Atlanta). In Ethiopia, English as a second language has been taught as a subject in primary schools for many years. At the same time, English has been used as the medium of instruction (MOI) beginning in the upper primary school level. Although the English curriculum has been reviewed and revised a number of times, early grade reading assessments of English indicate that students’ performance continues to be very low in Ethiopia. Other research indicates that one of the major obstacles for providing quality education in secondary and higher education in Ethiopia is the lack of English language proficiency in most students. This presentation will discuss how the USAID-funded READ TA Project is working with the Ethiopian Ministry of Education (MOE) to address this problem by revising the English curriculum to more explicitly focus on preparing students to use English as a MOI for all subjects in the upper primary years. By treating English as a future MOI rather than merely as a second language the MOE hopes to make improvements in English proficiency and the quality of education. In order to understand how to best improve the English curriculum the project worked with the MOE to conduct a desk review of the current curriculum along with a nationally representative field study to learn how English is being implemented in schools. As a result, major gaps were identified related to challenges in transition to English as medium of instruction, language content, the teaching-learning approach, alignment of mother tongue and English, and teacher training. To address these gaps READ TA has followed an innovative approach, which was not practiced in previous years, in revising English curriculum materials. This starts from understanding that the English curriculum should be revised comprehensively from kindergarten to grade 12 to have a very clear picture of the progression and ensure cohesion across the grades. It also is based on the understanding that children learn to read and write best in their mother tongue which allows them to bridge to learning to read and write in an additional language (such as English). With this understanding a diverse team of professionals was compiled including reading experts, curriculum experts, gender experts, inclusive education experts, developmental psychologists, assessment experts, and representatives from each of the regions and the MOE.. Quality assurance was taken as a key issue, by making quality assurance at different levels: quality assurance via the support and follow up of lead consultants, quality enhancement through inclusion of high level experts in each team, establishment of an internal quality assurance team which reviews the final product of the development team and provides feedback before the curriculum documents are presented for a wider group, and the formal validation with representatives from the regions and MOE. Another innovative aspect of the revision process is the deliberate attempt made to align the mother tongue and English language curriculum in terms of theme, language content and teaching-learning approach. Alignment of the English school curriculum and college curriculum for English teacher training is also a new experience in the country. By doing so READ TA is enhancing the experience and capacity of diverse professionals while producing quality English curriculum materials and contributing to enhancing the quality of education in Ethiopia.

Presentation delivered at CIES 2017 (Atlanta). Ethiopia is a diverse country, with a population of over 90 million, and over 83 local languages. Many of the mother tongue languages (MTs) are taught in schools and used as instructional languages in primary schools. However, it is an enormous challenge to address all local languages in the education system as studies indicate that students are struggling to read and write in their mother tongue. While the USAID-funded READ TA Project has been working over the past four years on improving the reading and writing skills of students in seven Ethiopian MT languages it has also seen the effects of its work extending to other local languages with smaller populations of speakers. The seven languages under READ TA were chosen by Ethiopian Ministry of Education (MoE) as they have the largest populations of students. READ TA has been providing technical assistance for the MoE and Regional State Education Bureaus (RSEBs) on revising the grades 1-8 curriculum materials for the seven MTs, in the provision of in-service training for MT teachers, in revising the pre-service teacher training curriculum materials, and in building the capacity of leaders and experts working in the general education system. In providing this technical assistance, READ TA has been creating a collaborative environment where a large number of experts with diverse background and professional experience work together throughout the process. Among the major actors are international literacy/reading experts, local reading/language experts working in teacher training colleges and universities, primary school teachers, MoE and RSEB language experts, experts in cross-cutting issues (gender, inclusive education, ICT), curriculum and instruction experts. There was huge capacity building through the provision of a number of trainings, through professional dialogues and collaborative engagements, and from engaging in the different activities. Observing the MT curriculum revision process and seeing products, speakers of other, less commonly spoken MT languages which were not included in the READ TA project are now demanding the MoE and RSEBs for a similar opportunity. Some regions have to respond to the requests and are taking their own initiatives to revise the curriculum materials of minority languages. These engagements are reflections of the developed technical capacity as well as the impact of the quality of work READ TA has been doing. Projects like READ TA may not address every need a country has; however, the local capacity built enables countries to fill those untouched gaps.

Presentation delivered at CIES 2017 (Atlanta). A number of linguistically diverse countries are embarked on providing their children with Mother Tongue (MT) instruction to enhance educational quality. Providing MT instruction in multi-lingual environments is not an easy task for governments as it entails choosing the MTs among many, reinforcing their policy, and mobilizing resources. Ethiopia, a country with speakers of over eighty languages, has implemented MT instruction by adopting positions and conventions in the international forums into its constitution and education policy. Currently, it is providing education in about fifty MT languages through developing curriculum materials and capacity building. Scaling up these practices has benefited considerable opportunities articulated in the system. On the other hand, it also came with its own challenges in the process of implementing the policy in its multi-lingual context. The objective of this presentation is to discuss the prospects existing in Ethiopian education system emanating from its constitution and articulated in the Education and Training Policy and frameworks. Besides it highlights core challenges faced in the process of scaling up MT curriculum development and implementation in line with government’s policy promises and provisions in the international conventions in pedagogy, politics and children’s right. Finally, the presentation outlines possible recommendations for future actions.

This presentation is an overview of the Assistive Technology Capacity Building Initiative (ATCBI) implemented by RTI International under the USAID-funded READ TA project in Ethiopia. The presentation was given by Wykia Macon and Stephen Backman at the 2017 CIES conference on behalf of also Carmen Strigel and Habtamu Mekonnen.