08/01/2003

Centers of Excellence for Teacher Training in the Americas

USAID outlines objectives and scope of region-wide program

In an effort to improve basic childhood learning and literacy throughout the Western Hemisphere, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is spearheading a U.S. government initiative to strengthen "the capacity of existing teacher training institutions to form regional teacher training and resource centers in the Caribbean, the Andean region of South America, and Central America," according to a USAID fact sheet.

The Centers of Excellence for Teacher Training (CETT) initiative, which stems from a commitment made by President Bush at the 2001 Summit of the Americas, aims to "improve teacher and school administrator quality and to improve the quality of reading instruction in the classroom throughout the hemisphere, with special emphasis on poorer countries and teachers who work in disadvantaged communities," USAID explained. USAID noted that "the focus of the program will be on improving reading instruction in grades 1-3 by upgrading the knowledge and pedagogical skills of poorly qualified teachers."

Following is the text of the USAID fact sheet, with further details on the scope, expected results, and funding of the CETT initiative:

(begin fact sheet)

U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Washington, D.C.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 1, 2003

FACT SHEET: CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE FOR TEACHER TRAINING (CETT)

Background: In the April 2001 Summit of the Americas, President George W. Bush announced an initiative to improve basic childhood "learning and literacy" throughout the Western Hemisphere. The U.S. government is strengthening the capacity of existing teacher training institutions to form regional teacher training and resource centers in the Caribbean, the Andean region of South America, and Central America. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) leads this effort on behalf of the U.S. government.

Objective: The objective of the program is to improve teacher and school administrator quality and to improve the quality of reading instruction in the classroom throughout the hemisphere, with special emphasis on poorer countries and teachers who work in disadvantaged communities. The focus of the program will be on improving reading instruction in grades 1-3 by upgrading the knowledge and pedagogical skills of poorly qualified teachers.

Five program components will serve the reading instruction needs of teachers:

-- Teacher training will be offered through a training-of-trainers program, so that teachers and school administrators can take the training back to their communities and train others. Teachers and school administrators will be introduced to effective reading methodology and classroom management techniques.
-- The program will develop diagnostic tools to enable teachers to identify and address students' weaknesses.
-- The program will develop materials for teachers to use to improve their reading instruction.
-- Applied research will ensure the efficacy of the training, tools, and materials.

Finally, the use of information and communications technology will broaden access to the program. In addition to providing training by distance education, the program will create an Internet portal to provide access to a clearinghouse of teacher training materials and link teacher training institutions, think tanks, schools, teachers, and universities so they can share materials, "best practices" and "lessons learned."

Participating Universities:

Caribbean (12 independent English-speaking countries)
Joint Boards of Teacher Education (JBTE) -- University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica & Cave Hill Campus in Barbados (Lead Institution)

Central America (Dominican Republic, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua)
Universidad Pedagogica Nacional Fancisco Morazan (UPN), Honduras (Lead Institution)
Pontifica Universidad Católica Madre & Maestra (PUCMM), Dominican Republic
FEPADE (Fundación Empresarial para el Desarrollo Educativo), El Salvador
Instituto Latinoamericano para la Comunicacion Educativa (ILCE), Mexico
Universidad del Valle, Guatemala

Andes Region of South America (Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia)
Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Peru (Lead Institution)
Universidad Andina Simon Bolivar, Ecuador
Universidad Nur, Bolivia

Private partnerships to support CETT: The CETT initiative was announced as a public-private partnership. The U.S. government pledged to commit $20 million to the initiative with additional funding to come from the private sector in the United States and the Latin America and Caribbean region. Based on initial fundraising efforts, USAID has received numerous expressions of interest from the private sector to support the CETT program.

To engage in fundraising over the five-year period of USAID funding for the initiative and to manage and distribute the funds and in-kind contributions received from the private sector, USAID competitively awarded a Cooperative Agreement to INMED, a U.S. private voluntary organization (PVO) to establish a CETT Partnerships program. In addition to fundraising and managing the contributions, the CETT Partnerships program will be responsible for providing technical assistance and training in fundraising and sustainability to the three sub-regional Centers.

Expected Results: Under the CETT program, USAID expects to provide innovative leadership to strengthen reading instruction throughout the hemisphere and increase the reading skills of more than a million primary school students over the first five years of the program. In addition, the CETT program will upgrade the skills of at least 15,000 classroom teachers so that they become more effective reading instructors in the early primary grades. The training of teachers has just begun.

The CETT program may have an even greater impact than these impressive numbers through its innovative leadership. Throughout the hemisphere there are a number of disjointed programs in nearly every country addressing reading and literacy problems. The CETT program proposes to utilize the best practices from the multiplicity of reading programs and provide a common methodology for addressing reading deficiencies within a country or region. Moreover, the CETT program will renew the focus of school systems on reading, thus ensuring that a major reason for the high rates of student repetition and dropouts is addressed.

Funding: By the end of U.S, Fiscal Year 2003 (October, 2003), USAID will have provided funding of $4 million to the Caribbean CETT, and more than $6 million to each of the Central American and Andean CETTs, for a total of $16 million in the first two years of the program.

(end fact sheet)

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)