Education Commons^™

Apprenticeship And Literacy Model For Women In Afghanistan: A Grounded Narrative, Mohammad Iqbal Halimi

Master's Capstone Projects

This study reviewed the Learning for Community Empowerment Project (LCEP-2), a five-year project designed by UN-Habitat and funded by the United States International Agency for Development (USAID). The project’s major goal was to empower marginalized communities in Afghanistan through activities in integrated literacy, community saving and investment groups, apprenticeships, and business development training.

The study examined the empowerment model of this project. It first investigated the work the social organizers did with the men and women residents of the project implementation locations in transforming patriarchal norms in conservative areas to improve women’s access to public space. It then looked at …

Aid Fragmentation, Commitments And Progress: A Textbook Provision Case Study From Afghanistan, Zia Andar

Master's Capstone Projects

This study reviews aid fragmentation and implementation effectiveness using a textbook production and distribution project in Afghanistan as a case study. The aid effectiveness debate has been part of the development discussion for both academics and practitioners since the beginning of modern aid. An overall consensus exists that development aid programs are not as effective as they should be. The debate over aid effectiveness has intensified in the last two decades and a series of international forums on aid effectiveness convened in this period, the most prominent of which are the High Level Forums on Aid Effectiveness, hosted by the …

Coloniality, And Subalterns In The Colombian English Language Teaching Policy: De-Silencing Teachers As Policy Actors, Rosa A. Medina Riveros, Theresa Y. Austin

College of Education Working Papers and Reports Series

The Colombian government has designed language policies to increase the level of English- Spanish bilingualism in the last decades. In 2014, the Colombian government launched 'Colombia: Very Well', the National Plan of English (NPE) that was created in consultancy with a private firm This study explores the English Language policy in Colombia through postcolonial sociology analyzing coloniality, imperialisms and subalternities and the connections across transnational agencies (macro- level), national actors (meso-level), and classroom teachers' enactments of the policy (micro level). It calls for de-silencing teachers and recognizing them as knowledgeable policy actors.

Transformation Of Kabul Based Universities From Using Classic Content Management System To Web Content Management System: Key Issues And Challenges, Siddiqullah Barikzai

Conference Proceedings & Collected Papers

The aim of this research is to find problems and challenges resulted from using classic content management system and replacing it with Web Content Management System in Kabul based universities. The study will find answer to the following questions:

Do stated universities have necessary facilities such as electricity, computers, projectors, LCD, and the Internet? Are deans of faculties, chairs of departments, directors of student affairs, and students of these universities ready to use WCMS? What are the main problems and challenges that classic content management system has resulted yet? Finally, which of these two stated systems are most cost-effective, quick, …

Aewg Guide To The Accelerated Education Principles, Kayla Boisvert, Jenn Flemming, Ritesh Shah

Education in Crisis and Conflict Network

A large number of donor agencies, non-governmental organizations and governments have set up AEPs to meet the needs of over-age, out-of-school children and youth. These programs vary widely and are of differing quality and effectiveness. While there is guidance on quality education and education in emergencies generally, prior to this Guide, no AEP-specific Principles have existed to support these stakeholders in designing, implementing and evaluating their AEPs.

With the goal of strengthening the quality of Accelerated Education (AE) programming

through a more harmonized, standardized approach, the Accelerated Education Working

Group, led by UNHCR and with representation from nine member organizations, …

A Review Of The Literature On Civil Society Funding For Education: Models For Zimbabwe, Vongaishe Changamire

Master's Capstone Projects

Humanitarian aid, development assistance and government budget allocations to education continues to dwindle resulting in an increase of the number of children out of school especially for low resourced countries. (GMR, 2015). Due to this, Zimbabwean education has become expensive and thus inaccessible to children in low income communities and rural areas. In 2012, more than 500, 000 students were recorded to be out of school in Zimbabwe. This paper, a comparative literature review, sought to identify challenges in current education funding, document various indigenous alternative models of funding and attempt to develop a Zimbabwean education financing framework from lessons …

Perceptions Of Quality In Higher Education In Afghanistan: A Case Study Of Shaheed Rabbani Education University, Homayoon Taheryar

Master's Capstone Projects

This study investigates how the concepts of quality and quality assurance (QA) standards are understood in the Afghan higher education system. First, I carried out a literature review of the available literature globally and then reviewed the available literature about Afghanistan’s higher education quality assurance system. Second, I conducted a case study at Shaheed Rabbani Education University (SREU), a public higher education institution in Afghanistan, to explore how academic staff at this university understand the concepts of quality and the QA standards. The study included qualitative interviews with seven key respondents at SREU. The findings from the case study suggest …

Problematizing Entrepreneurship (Education) In International Development: A Case Study Of A Youth Program In Burkina Faso, Nolizwe Mhlaba

Master's Capstone Projects

Entrepreneurship education and training (EET) has become more prominent on the international development agenda as a strategy for inclusive growth and poverty alleviation. Proponents of EET argue that it has reached marginalized groups - such as unemployed youth - in non-formal education settings, equipping them with the skills, mindsets, and knowledge to secure better economic outcomes for themselves. However, critics assert that the human capital focus of EET reflects a neoliberal orientation that essentially glosses over structural problems and shifts the burden of development onto the target populations of such programs. This tension underlies the dilemma of development work, whereby …

Jordanian Teachers' Opinions Of Effective Peace Education With Syrian Refugees, Michael Acosta

Master's Capstone Projects

This research highlights Jordanian teachers' perspectives on good peace education practices with Syrian refugees in Jordanian public schools. Since the start of the Syrian conflict, many International organizations invest time and money into integrating Syrian refugees into the Jordanian community, including public schools. However, many challenges still exist. In order to understand this phenomenon, Jordanian public school teachers participated in qualitative surveys and in semi-structured group interviews, where they discussed challenges and best practices used in their classrooms. From the surveys and semi-structured interviews, teachers discussed six categories of issues they face daily: societal, physiological, political, religious, and the role …

Responding To Complexity: A Case Study On The Use Of "Developmental Evaluation For Managing Adaptively", Kayla Boisvert

Master's Capstone Projects

Over the past 15 years, the international development field has increasingly emphasized the need to improve aid effectiveness. While there have been many gains as a result of this emphasis, many critique the mechanisms that have emerged to enhance aid effectiveness, particularly claiming that they inappropriately force adherence to predefined plans and hold programs accountable for activities and outputs, not outcomes. However, with growing acceptance of the complexity of development challenges, different ways to design, manage, and evaluate projects are beginning to take hold that better reflect this reality.

Many development practitioners explain that Developmental Evaluation (DE) and Adaptive Management …

Being Black (And) Immigrant Students: When Race, Ethnicity, And Nativity Collide, Chrystal A. George Mwangi, Shelvia English

Published Work

While Black immigrants share some of the racialized experiences of native-Black Americans, they also have distinctive experiences. U.S. education presents an important environment to investigate these experiences as immigrants have the fastest growing child population and these children are increasingly entering the education system. This paper engages a systematic review of the growing body of literature centering on Black immigrants across the U.S. P-20 pipeline (preschool through graduate school). Findings reveal that the presentation of Black immigrants is incomplete in terms of the frameworks and research designs used to examine their educational experiences, pointing to a larger issue of a …

Usaid Eccn Policy Issues Brief: Accelerated Education For Out-Of-School Children And Youth In The Drc, Ash Hartwell

Education in Crisis and Conflict Network

This policy brief draws from the findings of USAID Education in Crisis and Conflict Network’s recent study on alternative education in the Democratic Repub­lic of the Congo in order to raise vital policy issues linked to achieving national and global goals for education. That study, after a careful review of relevant literature, involved fieldwork in North Kivu as well as interviews in Kinshasa with key informants from government ministries, UN agencies, the World Bank, the Global Partnership for Education, bilat­eral donor agencies, and international NGOs.

This brief is intended to serve as a catalyst for government, donor, and NGO dialogue …

Adaptive Management Annotated Bibliography, Ash Hartwell, Kayla Boisvert, Jenn Flemming, Julia Novrita

Education in Crisis and Conflict Network

The technical knowledge of the elements needed to provide equitable basic education is well established: well-crafted curricula, qualified teachers supported by professional development, adequate infrastructure, appropriate texts and instructional materials, and a regular process for assessing learning achievement. However, in conflict/crisis-affected environments, there are a host of barriers and challenges to providing these elements, including insecurity, weak institutions, inequalities, historical traumas, and fault lines. These contexts are deeply complex, dynamic, often times unpredictable, and difficult to manage.

USAID’s programs, while they often provide pilot and demonstration projects that point the way to system change, cannot sustain the delivery of education …

Usaid/Kampustan Eccn Simulation, Ash Hartwell, Kayla Boisvert

Education in Crisis and Conflict Network

This PowerPoint presentation introduces a complex simulation developed by the UMass Education in Crisis and Conflict Network (ECCN) project team. The simulation provided the basic framework of a training workshop for USAID education officers from multiple countries affected by crisis or conflicts, held in Bangkok during the week of October 31 to November 4, 2016.

Simulations are a powerful training methodology that is modeled on real-life situations, but are compressed in time and scope. Simulations are used to provide opportunity for active participation of all participants and to require them to understand various stakeholders. By having to take on various …

Sources Of Influence On Perceptions Of South Korean Youths About Unification Of North And South Korea, Surl Hee Kim

Master's Capstone Projects

The purpose of this research is to explore what information sources are influencing the perception of south Korean youths about unification between North and South Korea. The Research Examined the sources and the tone of message which the youths receive from non-school sources such as family, peers, teachers, religious institutions and media.

The research methodology combined a survey with interviews. Questionnaires were collected from a total of 273 students in 3 high schools located in metropolitan ares of Seoul in South Korea. Interviews with a student and a unification education lecturer who is a North Korean defector were also conducted. …

How Tinto's Theory Differs For Asian And Non-Asian International Students: A Quantitative Study, Suzan Kommers, Duy Pham

Published Work

Literature suggests that international students from Asian countries might differ in the way they can be supported in their efforts towards completing their degree. Using the 2004/09 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study, the authors investigate how social and academic integration relate to the college persistence of Asian and non-Asian international undergraduate students at U.S. postsecondary institutions. Four logistic regression models revealed that Asian and non-Asian students differed in the way academic and social integration were related to persistence, depending on their year of undergraduate study. These findings signal the importance of year of study and cultural background in thinking about …

Leadership And Teacher Development In Palestine, Center For International Education

Leadership and Teacher Development (LTD)

In September, 2012, the Center for International Education (CIE) in the College of Education was awarded a $1 million sub-contract from AMIDEAST, with USAID West Bank & Gaza funding, to help with the reform of teacher education in the West Bank and Gaza, Palestine. The project, Leadership and Teacher Development, is a comprehensive education reform initiative focused on supporting the Ministry of Education and Higher Education's national effort in teacher development. The overall goal is to improve the quality of education through a comprehensive approach to leadership and teacher development, concentrating on in-service teachers in grades 5-10, principals, and supervisors, …

Through The Camera Lens Of Development: An Exploration Of Ngos' Representations Of Africa, Sebastian Lindstrom

Master's Capstone Projects

The purpose if this qualitative research is to acquire new knowledge in the African visual representational landscape, a digital space carefully filmed and edited by some of the most celebrated and acknowledged, mostly Western, NGOs in the world. The most watched Africa-related video from 50 NGOs were selected, downloaded and analyzed. After continuous re-watching of a 3.5 hour long set of visual data tree themes emerged. One segment relates around the NGOs intervention, another about the term or statement ‘help’, and the last theme is HIV/AIDS. The findings include the realization that the beneficiary was never explaining the intervention of …

Through A Critical Sociocultural Lens: Parents’ Perspectives Of An Early Childhood Program In Guatemala, Yaëlle Stempfelet

Master's Capstone Projects

The present case study is on an Early Childhood program in Guatemala based on participant parents’ feedback. The Early Childhood program is non-formal, focuses on emergent literacy and nutrition, and takes place in a community-run library in a poor, semi-rural town in the mountainous regions of Quiche, Guatemala. The library was set up by a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) that works in Guatemala as well as another neighboring country.

Using a critical sociocultural lens, this study assumes that the parents’ perceptions reflect the state of the program and that involving their feedback through this research will ultimately help to bolster the …

Ingos In The Mirror: Critical Reflections Of Practitioners Implementing Psychosocial Support Programs, Stephen M. Richardson

Master's Capstone Projects

The purpose of this qualitative research is to learn from the professional wisdom of practitioners involved in implementing school-based psychosocial support in conflict-affected contexts. Practitioners from four different International Non-governmental Organizations (INGO) working in three different contexts—the Congo Basin region, the South Asia region, and the Sudan region—reflect on the concepts and realities of the psychosocial support models that their organizations use. A common theme emerging from these interviews is that the approach to psychosocial support has the potential to do harm. The practitioners provide real examples of the ways in which harm may occur and their possible causes. These …

Learning Circles Face-To-Face Template, Center For International Education

Leadership and Teacher Development (LTD)

This is a template for a group learning activity. It includes

Welcome, Objectives, Agenda

Reflection (Ordered Sharing)

Learning (Reflective Study)

Regrouping

Planning (Commitment to Action Research / AR)

Consolidation & Action

Tips On Facilitation For Teacher Educators, Center For International Education

Leadership and Teacher Development (LTD)

23-item list of tips on facilitation, in both English and Arabic. For example

1. Implement a system that encourages every person to participate in discussions and activities. Provide a structure for participation.

2. Come to the workshops/training well prepared. Have all the materials and handouts you will need.

3. Make yourself approachable to participants by greeting them, learning their names, having informal conversations with them.

Portfolio Of Professional Practice (Popp) For Teacher Educators, Center For International Education

Leadership and Teacher Development (LTD)

A PoPP is a collection of work that highlights and demonstrates my knowledge and skills of professional practice as a teacher educator. The rationale for creating my PoPP is to:

• Provide opportunities to set concrete goals for my practice as a teacher educator;
• Plan and articulate specific strategies to attain my goals of becoming an effective teacher educator;
• Serve as a learning instrument and provide structure by which to gather data;
• Reflect upon data and guide improvements in my professional practice as a teacher educator;
• Offer the opportunity to critique my work and evaluate the effectiveness of my practice as …

Portfolio Of Professional Practice (Popp) For Teachers, Center For International Education

Leadership and Teacher Development (LTD)

A PoPP is a collection of work that highlights and demonstrates my knowledge and skills of professional practice as a teacher educator. The rationale for creating my PoPP is to:

• Provide opportunities to set concrete goals for my practice as a teacher educator;
• Plan and articulate specific strategies to attain my goals of becoming an effective teacher educator;
• Serve as a learning instrument and provide structure by which to gather data;
• Reflect upon data and guide improvements in my professional practice as a teacher educator;
• Offer the opportunity to critique my work and evaluate the effectiveness of my practice as …

The Problem With Problem Identification In The Process Of Educational Reforms In The Kyrgyz Republic, Gulzat Kochorova

Master's Capstone Projects

The purpose of this paper is to expose issues that are being identified as ‘problems’ or ‘challenges’ of the Kyrgyz education in general, and of higher education in particular. Drawing on the specifics of the identified problems, this paper will also analyze theoretical assumptions upon which they are based. This is important because identified problems and their projected solutions are going to constitute further reform attempts, and ultimately shape the future of the educational system of the Kyrgyz Republic.

A Comparative Analysis Of The Effectiveness Of Teacher Support Approaches In Afghanistan, Noorullah Noori

Master's Capstone Projects

This research explores the effectiveness of three teacher professional development (TPD) approaches in the context of Afghanistan: 2-year in-service teacher education; short-term (ad-hoc) teacher training; and teacher learning circles (TLC). In this research, I compare these three models, their impact on improving teacher quality and subsequently student outcome. I applied the mix-methods approach by using three different research tools: classroom observations, self-administered questionnaires, and semi-structured interviews. I also reviewed student performance records over four semesters; from 2010 to 2011. Despite many challenges, the results show three core strengths of each of these models: the 2-year in-service teacher …

Resilience In School, Milka Ndura

Master's Capstone Projects

This study explores the factors that motivate students to perform well in the national examination at their basic primary education level despite the unlikely environment to support this success in Kibera slums, Kenya. In the current situation in Kenya, national examinations are used as a basis of distributing the fewer than students slots in secondary school, despite the different circumstances facing each candidate, passing of the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education is still an important factor that determines a child’s eligibility to attend secondary school. Students enrolled in Kenyan primary school system take the same national exams regardless of the …

Feeding Students? Examining Views Of Parents, Students And Teachers On The World Food Program’S School Feeding Initiatives In Chamwino District In Tanzania, Benjamin Ngaji Oganga

Master's Capstone Projects

School feeding programs have become a worldwide phenomenon and an agenda pushed by the International Development Agencies such as the World Food Program (WFP) with the assumption that it may contribute towards addressing barriers to poor students’ enrollment and retention in primary schools in developing countries. The assumption is that, because of hunger and low income, parents are mostly likely not motivated to send their children to school; and on the other hand, children too may not effectively concentrate in learning and therefore are likely to drop out of schools. Different studies have shown the effectiveness of the school-feeding program …

Teacher Attrition: Why Secondary School Teachers Leave The Profession In Afghanistan, Hassan Aslami

Master's Capstone Projects

This study examines factors influencing teacher attrition in public secondary schools in Kabul, Afghanistan. Substantial increments in the school-age population, the Education for All (EFA) mandate, and a “seven-fold” growth in number of students during the last decade have collectively increased the demand for teachers in Afghanistan; whereas, teachers from the public schools are leaving the teaching profession in large numbers. The lack of teachers poses serious challenges for the education system especially for Ministry of Education.

This exploratory study focuses on the reasons for the departure of both current and former teachers. It also explores and suggests some strategies …

Strengthening The Education Management Information System (Emis) In Tanzania: Government Actors’ Perceptions About Enhancing Local Capacity For Information-Based Policy Reforms, Assela M. Luena

Master's Capstone Projects

Strengthening the Education Management Information System (EMIS) in Tanzania is an important task, as the government needs quality data and information to support the creation of sound policies, making plans and managing educational resources. Well-functioning EMIS can ensure achievement of national goals to provide quality education, which is the basis for facilitating economic growth and sustainable development. The government also needs quality data and information in order to enhance monitoring and evaluation of the education sectors’ performance and ensure the right direction for achieving the intended goals and objectives.

Creating a sustainable and efficient EMIS is a challenge that requires …