Teachers: Powerful Innovators--Generating Classroom Based

Teachers:

Generating Classroom-BasedEducation Reform

G E C W O R K I N G P A P E R S E R I E S 20062006200620062006

Powerful Innovators

F É L I X A L V A R A D O

w i t h D I A N E L A V O Y

A E D G L O B A L E D U C A T I O N C E N T E R

A C A D E M Y F O R E D U C A T I O N A L D E V E L O P M E N T

2 0 0 6 / # 4

About the AED Global Education CenterThe AED Global Education Center (GEC) seeks to improve the economic livelihood,social well-being, and civic empowerment of the poor through education and\training. The Center is a leader in increasing access to and improving the quality ofeducation worldwide for children, youth, and adults.

About the Academy for Educational DevelopmentFounded in 1961, the Academy for Educational Development (AED) is anindependent, nonprofit organization committed to solving critical social problemsand building the capacity of individuals, communities, and institutions to becomemore self-sufficient. AED works in all the major areas of human development, witha focus on improving education, health, and economic opportunities for the leastadvantaged in the United States and developing countries throughout the world.

GEC Working Paper Series2006/#4ISBN# 0-89492-123-1

Teachers:Powerful Innovators

Generating Classroom-Based Education Reform

F É L I X A LVA R A D Owith D I A N E L A V OY

Academy for Educational DevelopmentGlobal Education Center

2006

Photo creditsCover:Estudio 1360 (photos 1, 3 and 6)EXCELLBASE IIDiane La Voy

p.3 Carlos Fuentesp.6 Diane La Voyp.10 and 11 Celia Moránp.14 and 15 Ana Flórezp.17 and 18 Estudio 1360p.20 BASE IIp.23 and 27 César Mejíap.28 Carolyn Watsonp.29 César Mejíap.32 Celia Morán (2), Diane La Voy (2), Estudio 1360p.34 BASE IIp.35 César Mejíap.36 EXCELL

Classroom-Based Innovation Generates Education Reform

Teachers are the Linchpin to Effective Classroom Learning ............... 1

Some Constraining Assumptions about Teachers ............................. 3

There are Many Ways to Innovate .................................................... 5

A Favorable Environment for Teacher Innovation:Lessons Learned and Policy and Program Implications

Components of an Innovation-Nurturing Model ............................... 9

Experiences with Building Innovative Capacity in Teachers ............... 14

Elements for a Strategy to Foster Teacher Innovation

Some Principles ........................................................................ 25

Toward a Strategy to Foster Teacher Innovation ............................. 30

Annexes

Description of Projects and Initiatives .......................................... 33

Additional Resources ................................................................. 37

Bibliography ............................................................................. 39

Contents

Introduction and Acknowledgements ........................................................ i

1

2

3

4

5

The countries of Central America1 have made great educational strides inrecent years. More children are now attending school and more finishprimary school; however, there is still a long way to go. We still need toensure that the children who go to school learn effectively and can use theireducation to develop useful life and work skills.

Better education is everyone’s business: supportive parents who help theirchildren learn; communities that actively support their schools; managerswho run the education system well; politicians who prioritize education innational plans and budgets; and, above all, educators themselves - theschoolteachers and principals who teach our children.

The teacher, with the necessary competencies to serve the different studentsand situations that come before him or her, is the linchpin that makeseffective classroom learning happen. The capacity to adapt his or herpractice to the needs of each group of students and to each student'sparticular circumstances is an important facet of this teacher competency.In short, teacher innovation, understood as the capacity to do new thingsor to do known things in a different way in the classroom, school andcommunity, is fundamental in building a solid foundation for educationreform.

This document sets out to recognize and commend the many ways inwhich teachers innovate inside and outside the classroom, as well as toidentify the ways in which institutions, programs and projects can moreeffectively foster innovation. While this paper focuses on experiences inCentral America, the findings have worldwide applicability and it is ourhope that the information will be shared across regions, countries, andcommunities to support and improve teacher innovation. The case studiesused in this publication are based on Academy for EducationalDevelopment (AED) projects in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala,Nicaragua, Peru and the Dominican Republic. In particular, we have reliedon the help of many colleagues and leaders in these countries who arecommitted to improving educational quality, who have referred us to

Introduction and Acknowledgements

1 The experiences and examples used in this document were identified through the followingprojects: BASE and BASE II in Nicaragua; EDUCATODOS and “Salvemos el Primer Ciclo” inHonduras; EXCELL in El Salvador; CERCA in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and theDominican Republic. They are also based on other experiences in these same countries thatwere documented by the CERCA Project, though not implemented by it. The projects aredescribed in the Annex.

TEACHERS: POWERFUL INNOVATORSii

examples of teacher innovation and in many cases have written down thestories. To facilitate reading, we have omitted references to these people inthe body of the text. However, we would especially like to express ourgratitude to those who have given us examples and referred us to cases ofinnovation: Julio Samuel Aguilar, Linda Asturias, Vanessa Castro, AnaFlórez, Carlos Fuentes, Dina Maribel Hernández, Marcelina Lora, JosefinaMejía, Cecilia Quezada, César Mejía, Celia Morán, Mario Nóchez, MariaLourdes Ortiz, Eric Roland, Enriqueta Salanic, Jacqueline Sánchez andMaritza Zelaya. We are also grateful to the members of the CivicEngagement for Education Reform in Central America (CERCA) Project's"Comisión de Trabajo Regional: Docentes Creadores de CalidadEducativa" and to the national groups that grew out of CERCA: Calidadde la Educación con Participación Comunitaria in Nicaragua, Red NacionalCiudadana por una Educación de Calidad in the Dominican Republic andthe CERCA Country Group in El Salvador. Through their observations,questions and critiques, the following individuals have helped us greatly indeveloping some of the fundamental ideas expressed in this document:Elizabeth Leu, Ana Flórez, Carmen Siri, Egil Galindo, Oscar Mogollón,César Mejía, Bridget Drury, Verónica Vélez-Paschke, Paula Gubbins andSergio Ramírez. We also wish to thank Mariela Sala and Verónica Vélez-Paschke for their assistance with the editing and publishing of thisdocument and Susan C. Greenblatt for the translation into English. Weapologize if we have inadvertently left anyone out. Any errors in theportrayal of the case studies or in the rest of the document remain ourexclusive responsibility.

This paper is divided into four sections. The first section explores theimportance of teachers as the linchpin to effective learning in theclassroom, the significance of innovation in that role and some of theassumptions that get in the way of seeing the teacher as an innovator. Thesecond section illustrates, by using examples from teaching practice in thedifferent countries, the wealth of innovative practices that teachers havediscovered. The third section proposes a model for nurturing innovationbased on teacher empowerment, teacher formation and institutionaldevelopment. Examples of interventions that have been effective instrengthening teacher innovation are used to illustrate this model.

Finally, we present a working framework of principles and componentsfor a strategy to foster teacher innovation, taking into account the capacitiesand responsibilities of different actors in the education sector. The annexescontain brief descriptions of the projects through which we have identifiedexperiences of innovation, along with a bibliography of other informationresources that may be helpful to those who are interested in delving furtherinto the issue of teacher professional development and innovation.

Classroom-Based InnovationGenerates Education Reform

1

Teachers are the Linchpin inEffective Classroom Learning

The education sector and civil society recognize the need for qualityeducation that can provide students with relevant knowledge, both toprepare them for entering the work force as adults and for theirpersonal fulfillment and growth. At the same time, “What goes on inthe classroom, and the impact of the teacher and teaching, has beenidentified in numerous studies as the crucial variable for improvinglearning outcomes. The way teachers teach is of critical concern in anyreform designed to improve quality.” (UNESCO 2005) Manyeducators favor implementing active educational processes, in whichthe student is involved as subject and participant, and where teachersare not simply providers of information and instructions, but ratherfacilitators of the construction of knowledge by the studentsthemselves.

Paradoxically, the concept of active education used in teachingstudents is rarely applied to teachers. Too often it is assumed thatteachers, seen as a passive resource for implementing educationpolicy, can then bring about transformation in the classroom. Attimes, they are treated as though giving them instructions is all theyneed in order to comply with what they are told. When they do not,it is assumed that teachers either do not understand, are resistant tonew things, or are not committed to teaching. In addition, the mediaand other public opinion shapers, at times, present a negative imageof teachers as being resistant to innovation and uninterested inlearning. However, teachers are the axis around which effectivelearning is constructed—they are the ones who need to find solutionsto the challenges that are encountered in the classroom and with thestudents.

“If you keep doing thingsthe same way, thenwhy do you expectdifferent results?”

— Albert Einstein(1879-1955)

TEACHERS: POWERFUL INNOVATORS2

A teacher’s working environment continually presents challenges thatcall for adaptability and innovation:

Each year, teachers face a new, diverse group of students withcommon as well as individual educational needs and, in somecases, special needs, which demand great flexibility, creativity andpedagogical expertise.

Many schools and education ministries are so under-resourcedthat teachers and principals need to mobilize resources, bothlocally and beyond.

The introduction of standards-based curriculum models andstandardized testing demands competencies for which their initialteacher education may not have prepared them.

Curriculum adaptation initiatives depend on the understandingprincipals and teachers have of the local community’scharacteristics and needs. They also require that they have thetechnical skills to adapt the curriculum, which is especiallychallenging in multicultural and bilingual settings.

When computers are introduced in the school, often limited toone or a few terminals, teachers need both the skills for usingthem as well as creativity for integrating technology into theclassroom and dealing with equipment shortages.

Teaching challenges in rural settings where there is scarcity includethe need to inform illiterate parents about academic processesand progress and engage them in their children’s learning.

Teachers are thelinchpin in learning—the ones who need tofind solutions to thechallenges that crop updaily in the classroom.

Fruit-Growing for Profit

In the morning shift at the “Lic. Julio César MéndezMontenegro” Experimental Middle School, in the town ofMazatenango, Suchitepéquez, Guatemala, the teacher,Deldda Hidalgo Ramírez, became concerned when shenoticed that the fruit-farming occupational track, aimed atproviding young people with job skills, was languishingbecause it was run by teachers, who, although they wereeducators and psychologists, knew very little aboutagriculture. So, in 2003, she requested permission totake charge of the course, with the belief that it wasimportant for the students to learn some kind of work sothey could earn money, especially if they ended up havingto drop out for economic reasons.

Convinced that “in a globalized society, if one learns to beproductive, one learns to survive” she encourages thestudents to become directly involved in farm work. As part

of the classes, the teacher organizes field trips with groupsof students to fruit nurseries and plantations in thedepartment and other locations; shows the boys and girlshow to plant pineapple, papaya and banana; and teachesthem how to care for crops, work the land and managetheir earnings.

Students harvest the crops themselves, which they sell tothe rest of the student body on campus. This exercise hasbeen quite successful: the variety of fruits has grown andnow includes figs, papaya, pineapple and banana; they arebeing marketed more widely and earnings have increased.Their success has spread beyond the school, since parentsand members of the surrounding community buy theirproduce. Moreover, students from nearby campuses cometo see the project with the intention of replicating it intheir own schools.

Girls filling seedling bags with soil for plantingfruit trees. At their school in Guatemala they

learn to grow fruit and manage their earnings.

CLASSROOM-BASED INNOVATION GENERATES EDUCATION REFORM 3

New community school-management arrangements, such asEDUCO in El Salvador, PRONADE in Guatemala,PROHECO in Honduras and the Autonomous Schools inNicaragua, have redefined the relationship between parents onschool committees and teachers and principals, adding newchallenges for teaching styles.

When faced with these kinds of challenges and pressures, manyteachers and principals rise to the occasion with commitment,creativity and determination. However, many of these actions arepart of a well-kept “secret” in the education sector—that teachersare excellent agents of change and innovation in education.

Some Constraining Assumptions about Teachers

Frequently, administrators, academics and policy-makers take alimited view of the role that schoolteachers can play in educationreform. They assume that teachers:

Work in a school where activities are routine and simple;

Are just administrators of study plans;

Teach lessons by rote, without developing their own lesson plans;

Can be considered just one more “factor” or “resource” ineducational development or reform plans;

Do not introduce novel subjects and methods into the classroomof their own accord;

Keys to Bringing the School Closer to the Community

Mario Rojas, the principal of the Gran Ducado deLuxemburgo Model School, on the outskirts of Managua,Nicaragua, must constantly balance his manyresponsibilities, which include monitoring classroomprogress, running teacher-training workshops, visitingrepresentatives of local government, supervising theschool’s three shifts every day, and seeking governmentfunding for a vocational education program. However, henever neglects “his boys and girls,” who are the centralfocus of his leadership.

Parents in communities such as this one will be the first tosay that their participation stems in great part from the roleof the teachers—who let them get involved in the school—and from these active principals. As a central figure, bothin the school and in the community, a principal’s influenceextends beyond the classroom, making him or her a keyagent in the neighborhood. As a skilled administrator,Mr. Rojas and his teaching colleagues have created anenvironment such that, when the school needs something,they know they can count on the parents.


We must rememberthat teachers arepartners in educationreform. The time hascome for us to see themas creators and asinnovators, and not justas instruments forpolicy implementation.

Are passive subjects, who simply need to be issued instructionson how and what they should teach, without greater discussionor questioning on their part;

Are subject to the course set by the policies made and theoriesdeveloped in education ministries, universities and think tanks.

This kind of perspective, shared by many school managers,administrators and even principals, devalues teacher input beyondthe classroom, and does not consider their capacity to contribute aseducation professionals to formulating education policy. As a result,innovations tested by teachers often “die with them,” since no onelearns from their experiences. In addition, such a perspective forgetsthat in order for education to be active, it must begin with activeeducators. We must remember that teachers, together with thecommunity, principals, administrators and decision-makers, arepartners in education reform. Educators are innovators, and not justas instruments for policy implementation.

Furthermore, teachers are not a homogeneous group with only oneway of thinking. In addition to being a service sector, the educationsector is also a political sector, in which there are differences ofopinion. Teachers are political actors, who, based in the school,introduce changes that affect policy across the sector.

Finally, teachers and principals are the first to be held accountable tothe Ministry of Education, but above all, to the community, forwhat happens in the school. In order to be able to assume thisresponsibility, they also need to have the capacity, means, and attitudenecessary for successfully tackling it.

There are Many Ways to Innovate

2

Policies and plans tell us what to do and how to do it, but they do not dothings. For any kind of policy change to have an effect on the qualityof classroom education, steadfast, enthusiastic teacher participation isindispensable. They are the only ones who are in daily contact withthe students and can recognize the diversity among them and adaptthe curriculum to the locality’s specific needs.

To innovate means doing new things that work better or adaptingexisting things to new problems. But, what does innovation meanfor teachers? Opportunities for innovating are endless and canappear in numerous dimensions of a teacher’s work. Here, based onexperiences identified or sponsored by different projects, we reviewsome of the areas in which teacher innovation is evident.

Pedagogical Innovations in the Classroom andthe School

Usually, the first method a teacher uses to teach a subject doesnot work for all the children. Then, he or she must use othermethods to ensure that the rest of the class understands thelesson at hand. This includes, for example, introducing locally-made manipulatives for teaching math.

A teacher can change the children’s seating arrangement in amulti-grade school classroom, improving group work andencouraging them to help each other.

Innovations in How the School is Organized

A principal can invite his or her teaching colleagues to form astudy group to address new issues—for example, the impact ofHIV and AIDS—improving the quality and relevance of theschool’s education.


Teachers in a school decide to reorganize the class schedule inorder to have longer periods in which to go into greater depthon specific subjects: In the Pedro F. Cantor School in the municipality ofIzalco, Sonsonate, El Salvador, the teachers and principal faced problemswith getting students interested in certain subjects and in learning enoughabout them. So, they decided that each day would be devoted exclusively to onesubject, and would follow a daily “script” that could include preparation,information, discussion, practice and monitoring activities. Teachers andstudents alike see that this strategy is helping them get a lot more out of eachsubject.

Innovations in Relations Between Schools or Tiersin the System

Teachers and principals from a group of neighboring ruralschools share expenses and resources: In San Esteban Catarinamunicipality, Department of San Vicente, El Salvador, several ruralschools—one-teacher schools as well as multi-grade and regular ones—jointlyrented a bus to carry staff over roads that are mostly unpaved and quiterough. This helps ensure attendance for the whole school day.

The principals and teachers participating in a professional trainingprogram replicate the training they receive with their neighboringcolleagues, spreading the initiative’s effects: In Nicaragua, the BASEII project proposed expanding the results obtained in the model schools toother schools. However, some schools began adopting the methodology all ontheir own, getting voluntary support from schools in the project. In theDepartment of Chalatenango in El Salvador, principals and teacherslearned about the Innovative Pedagogical Practices manuals that EXCELL

Students having fun withteamwork at a school in the

Dominican Republic.

THERE ARE MANY WAYS TO INNOVATE 7

distributed to the project’s participants. They reproduced the manuals on theirown and some of the principals who were involved in EXCELL organizedtraining sessions to show their colleagues who were not in the project how touse them.

Innovative Ways to Get Parents and theCommunity Involved

A school involves parents in aiding their children’s education athome: In El Quiché, Guatemala, a teacher has gotten illiterate parentsinvolved in their children’s education simply by asking the children to showtheir homework to their parents and explain it. She also got them to agree toprovide the children with a space at home and sufficient time out of theirhousehold chores to do their homework.

A school organizes activities that involve adults or young peoplein the education of the small children: In El Capulín School in theDepartment of La Libertad, El Salvador, the death of a boy from youth-gang violence near the school prompted parents to seek ways to increasesolidarity between youth and children in the community. They ended uporganizing a story-telling program in which the big kids help the little onesread stories, strengthening the bonds between them.

Innovations in Procurement of Resources andSupport for the Schools

A school or a group of schools help raise funds, while alsogetting everyone excited about learning: The teaching staff of thenatural sciences department in the “Lic. Julio César Méndez Montenegro”Experimental Middle School in Mazatenango, Suchitepéquez, Guatemala,

Down with Junk Food: Teachers Uniting for Good Nutrition

In natural sciences, the students analyze the nutritionalcontent of street food and the customary diet in theDominican home. They learn how nutrients contribute tophysical growth and quality of life. In social sciences,they study different types of families, the changes takingplace in the composition of the Dominican family, andhow these changes are reflected in peoples’ eatinghabits. In physical education, nutrition is addressed inrelation to psychomotor development, hygiene, healthand physical fitness. The values teacher works on raisingyoung people’s awareness about respect for life, sharingin the family, love and solidarity.

The youngsters designed a campaign around “eatingwhat’s cooking at home,” which they depicted in murals.Parents and other community members are putting onan event where children and their parents prepare low-cost dishes.

At the Santana Parochial Polytechnic Institute in theGualey section of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic,the natural sciences and social sciences teacherssuggested that teachers from several subjects should worktogether on a joint unit focusing on diet. With supportfrom the school principal, the pedagogy coordinator, andthe Parents’ Association, they began the project known as“Let’s Learn About How We Are Eating So We CanImprove Our Dietary Habits,” which is currently underway.All the students in the first year of high schoolparticipate—five classes of around 45 students each.

Six teachers chose to participate, each one around theirown subject. In the language arts class, the teacher urgesthe youngsters to critique TV and newspaper ads thatencourage people to eat junk food. Students interviewtheir parents and, using observation guides, learn aboutwhat people in the community are eating. In math class,they graph the results and do statistical analyses based ontheir observations.


Yes, conditions can becreated to facilitatesuccessful, sustainableinnovation.

organizes yearly field trips that offer students and their parents the chance tovisit different regions of the country, including places of great biological andarcheological interest. Each time, almost 180 participants—students, parentsand teachers - travel in two buses. The cost per person is Q100 or Q125(between US$13 and $16), depending on the length of the trip. In this way,they get to visit as many as six tourist sites in Guatemala for a veryeconomical price, since they stay overnight at public schools. After the trip, apedagogical report and a financial report on the activity are submitted to theschool’s Finance Committee, together with the profits. This money is used torepair or purchase laboratory equipment and to purchase educational films,consumables and other supplies. The project has drawn notice from around thecountry and has spread to an additional 400 schools.

The types of innovation described and the examples illustratingthem demonstrate the variety of solutions that teachers have devisedin schools without additional school resources. However, these couldcontinue to be the exception, unless the stage is set for allowinginnovation in education systems and for building innovative capacityin all types of schools around the region. These examples indicatethat conditions can be created for teachers to be able to innovatesuccessfully and sustainably. The following section presents a modelfor understanding how the innovative aspect of teaching can bestrengthened, followed by examples and stories gathered throughvarious international cooperation projects.

Teacher Innovation in Action:Lessons Learned and Policy andProgram Implications

We must begin by givingteachers the space to

identify pedagogical needs,create new practices,

measure results and maketheir own decisions.

3

Innovation in contemporary education must start with the teachers.By using words and examples teachers can teach their students thateach one can actually construct his or her own knowledge and takecharge of his or her life. To achieve this, teachers must be given thespace to identify pedagogical needs, create new practices, measureresults and make their own decisions.

Components of an Innovation-Nurturing Model

Why are some principals and teachers able to introduce changes thatenhance conditions for learning and for engaging the community inthe school? What conditions lead to innovation in the classroom andin the school? In addition to selecting highly creative individuals asteachers, other aspects also influence the opportunities forclassroom- and school-based innovation:

How empowered they are: teacher autonomy, authority andresponsibility;

How qualified they are: the resources, capacity and support theyhave; and

Institutional characteristics of the education system that enable orfoster creativity and innovation.

Factors Influencing Teacher Empowerment

Self-confidence: A personal factor that is fundamental toinnovation is teachers having confidence in themselves. Principalsand teachers who make changes believe in themselves and in thelegitimacy of what they are doing; they are motivated and havethe capacity to make positive changes in their environment.


Some of theinnovations that havethe most significantimpact on learningmaximize the timeavailable forpedagogocial processesand class time.

At the Marcelino García Flamenco School in SantaTecla, El Salvador, Marlene Suriano de Samayoa, one ofthe teachers, implemented a project called Batería X(The X Set) in response to teaching-staff concerns aboutpoor academic performance in second-cycle (7th-9thgrades) math.

“Teachers couldn’t progress through the lessons in thecurriculum because the students didn’t know theirmultiplication tables and they were unable to readilysolve basic multiplication and division problems. Thestudents would get upset because they were notadvancing. This problem and the impotence I saw in thestudents motivated me to work on this project.”

Batería X is a series of games to get children to learnthe multiplication tables. “X” because they are gameswhere a number has to be discovered and “Set”because it is a series that has to be done within acertain time limit.

This project recognizes that children learn more easily ifseveral of their senses are engaged: sight, hearing andtouch. It has four parts: An assessment is done givingthe children a quiz to see how well they know their timestables. Auditory motivation consists of teaching thechildren songs that involve the multiplication tables.Playing X Roulette, the children solve multiplicationproblems by matching numbers and colors on a wheel.The colors and numbers were chosen through a process oftrial and error, both in the placement of the colors and the

The Room to Innovate: Testing the best in the classroom and school

A “safe space” for experimenting: Doing new things or doing thingsdifferently involves a risk of making mistakes. For people to bewilling to innovate, the schools and the education sector mustprovide a rewarding environment for experimentation thatencourages this type of risk-taking, free from fear of punishment.However, this does not excuse negligence or the persistence ofsurmountable deficiencies.

An environment conducive to good communication with principals,other teachers and parents: In general, innovation is not a process ofisolated creativity, but an outcome of the interaction betweenpeople. For teachers and principals to be able to form innovativecommunities, they must have the ability to communicate within anenvironment that facilitates positive, free-flowing communication.Likewise, good communication with parents makes it easier forteachers and principals to introduce innovations that involve them intheir children’s learning.

Discretionary use of time: Some of the innovations that have themost significant impact on learning maximize the time available forpedagogical processes and class time. Teachers and principals whoactually manage the time they have available to them can schedule itin a way that is more efficient given the needs and conditions oftheir school, their community and the children in their charge.

Control over resources: Having control and decision-making powerover the allocation of other resources—facilities, educationalmaterials, financing for pedagogical activities and other things thatdirectly affect teaching in the classroom and the school—can also

TEACHER INNOVATION IN ACTION 11

use of specific materials sothat similar operations arerecognized by color. Finally, inthe memorization phase,lotto cards, which are shuffledand distributed among thechildren, help them to practicetheir knowledge of the timestables through repetition. Thisactivity consists of playing thegames “Lotto Pairs” and “MathDominoes,” in which the teamwith the most correct answerswins.

Ms. Suriano de Samayoa is convinced that teacherinnovation comes from being interested in having thechildren overcome the problems they face. When thisdoes not occur, the school environment is probably notcontributing to motivating the teacher. Of course,

personal factors, such ashome life, can also intervene.

This teacher was thedepartmental winner in theindividual category of thenational Instructional Creativitycompetition, held annually byEl Salvador’s Ministry ofEducation. She feels that thiskind of prize is important forteachers because it helpsthem to feel recognized andalso enables teachers to learnhow their colleagues are

solving the pedagogical problems they face. At the sametime, she feels that the opportunity for further teachertraining should be tied to better income and jobopportunities, since innovation also costs time andmoney.

contribute to expanding the actual power of teachers and principalsand, thereby, improve the probability that they will introduceinnovations in the school and classroom, provided that these areaccompanied by appropriate institutional accountability.

Factors Influencing Teacher Qualifications

Pedagogical and thematic competencies: The first quality teachersmust have is mastery of pedagogical competencies and the subjectmatter in order to foster and facilitate learning in their young charges.When teachers comprehend the theory and practice behind learning,they better understand the reasons for success and failure, andbecome able to accentuate the first and overcome the second througheffective initiatives. Likewise, when they master the subject they teach,they will have greater confidence for exploring better ways to teach it.

Information on pedagogical practices: However complete and currentinitial teacher education may be, theory and practice are constantlyleading to new developments in the education field. Those teacherswho have access to information about novel pedagogical practicesand their classroom applications through reading, in-service trainingand contact with other teachers will have more innovative choices inthe classroom.

Feedback on teaching: Innovation means looking for original ways toaddress new or unresolved problems. To the extent that teachers areaware of the quality of the results they get from their teaching, theycan look for ways to accentuate practices that work well and changethose that do not. Receiving feedback from their students, other


teachers, principals and parents strengthens this capacity. Similarly,an established culture of self-learning based on the awareness thatteachers are true education professionals, not just curriculumimplementers, will encourage making use of the feedback.

Measurement methods and results: Feedback is more effectivewhen reliable evaluation and testing methods that providerelevant results are available. Educational monitoring andevaluation is useful if it contributes to teachers obtaining dataabout the processes and results of their teaching in a way thathelps them to improve it. However, testing that evaluates theretention of facts but not the development of relevantcompetencies frequently ends up being a roadblock toinnovation.

Analytical skills and creative thinking: In order for teachers to beable to creatively innovate and develop their knowledge andteaching, they need to develop critical and constructive thinkingskills.

Institutional Characteristics

The institutional characteristics of the education sector-includingeducational strategy, the regulatory framework, finances,management and organizational culture-provide the framework inwhich teachers put their empowerment and qualifications to work.Certain institutional traits are especially important because of theirbearing on teacher innovation:

Reading and Writing with Parents

At the “Dr. Ciro Brito” School in Nahuizalco, El Salvador,parents and grandmothers, guided by the first gradeteacher, have been helping the children learn to read andwrite. Most of the students who were behind in readingand writing were able to catch up and do well. Severalmothers and grandmothers learned to read and writealongside their children or grandchildren. The teacher,school and families are pleased with their work, forwhich they have received several pedagogical innovationawards.

The teacher provides guidance to the family members, sothat together with their children they can make materialsfor reading and writing with recycled newsprint, and jointhe classes where the children are learning to read andwrite. Class time is fun and it works—the students get upand find the materials they need, they cut out the paper,paste cuttings in their notebooks, read, and then writeabout what they have made. High achievement in firstgrade reading and writing, obtained with the aid of thisinnovation, has contributed to improving retention andpromotion rates and to reducing dropouts, in addition toencouraging families to continue supporting children'slearning in class and at home.


Applying Math to Real Life

The “Lilia Portalatin Sosa” School in the Inviviendaneighborhood of Santo Domingo has an enrollment of over2,900 students in preschool, primary and middle school.When the 7th grade math teacher discovered that shewasn’t teaching four courses, but rather more than twicethat number—this on top of the fact that many of thechildren were afraid of the subject—she proposed usingtrial-and-error and a real-life learning approach.

The children learn to correct their own work carefully,assimilating the attitude that learning is a discovery onemakes, not something needed from the outside. Applyingtheir math skills to a real life case, the children gatherinformation about family spending by collecting receipts

from their parents and interviewing them about familyincome. This data has led them to a clear understandingof the concept of positive and negative numbers. Thestudents have been enthusiastic about the project andsome of the mothers have said that it has also helped thefamilies to better understand how to balance the familybudget-and, how to get the children to appreciate theimportance of doing so.

This new approach arose from the need to intereststudents in the subject, but it was possible thanks to theattitude of the school’s principal, known among theteachers as someone who gives a green light toinnovations and who stands behind the teachers inimplementing them.

Putting teaching-learning at the center: There must be commonagreement among the entire educational community—students,teachers, principals, parents, and all levels of the Ministry ofEducation (MOE)—that the purpose of the school is to producegraduates through effective learning based on quality pedagogicalprocesses.

The school as a learning community: Everyone, including teachers,principals and parents, learns from one another through continuingeducation, systematic practice and reflection on theory and practicebased on monitoring and self-evaluation.

Innovation-friendly education policies and systems: In the school,the necessary basis for innovation is set by an administration and ateaching staff, who create a learning community. At higher levels(municipal, district, departmental, national), education policies andthe way systems are organized provide the foundations of afavorable environment for innovation and translate into theeducation and practices of supervisors or district delegates,pedagogical advisors and other frontline support staff.

Human resources management in the Ministry of Education: Theworking conditions and advancement opportunities for humanresources also affect teachers’ willingness to take initiative and defineincentives (linked to pedagogical or non-pedagogical results) thatwill motivate them. This includes transparency in teacherrecruitment and selection processes, hiring procedures,remuneration, performance-based incentives and rewards, and thedecentralization of decisions about human resources.


Having a holistic imageof the characteristics ofa successful school helpsthe entire educationalcommunity develop acommon vision of whattheir school could become.

Gathering Information Sparks Dialogue

The School Report Card Analysis Group in a ruralGuatemalan school decided that it was important tolearn about a sensitive issue: how many of the studentsgot help at home with their studies. The Group did nothave the resources for surveying the parents and,besides, one father said that the community would notaccept a survey. The teachers, students, parents andother community members in the Analysis Group cameto the decision that they would ask the children directly.

Over the next few days, the teachers asked their studentswho gets help at home with their homework. In everygrade, fewer than half the children raised their hand. TheGroup decided that they would present this informationto the parents on a simple table, which would have thenumber of students in each class in the top line, andunderneath, the number of students whose parents didnot help out. When the parents saw the chart, it caughttheir attention and brought up questions. “I don’t know School Report Card findings in Tehuacán, El Salvador, are

posted for the whole community to see.

Experiences with Building Innovative Capacityin Teachers

Innovations in and from the classroom come from, by definition,teachers. However, initiatives from government, internationalcooperation agencies and other sector actors can do a lot to foster,assist, document and disseminate specific experiences. Theexperience AED and other organizations have had withimplementing educational projects in Latin America illustrates howthe teacher’s role as innovator has been systematically encouragedand the relevance of lessons learned.

Teacher-Empowering Interventions

Coming to Common Ground

Having a holistic image of the characteristics of a successfulschool helps principals, teachers, parents and the student bodydevelop a common vision of what their school could become.The model school concept, which includes features such as studentgovernments, the use of self-study guides and using teachers asfacilitators of learning, based on prior experiences in Colombiaand Guatemala, was disseminated exttensively in the Nicaraguanschools in the BASE and BASE II projects and contributed tocreating a common strategic perspective at the school level.

When using the “school report card,” a study group made up ofstudents, parents and community members assesses the school,focusing on educational quality issues. This approach, instituted by


what it means to make sure my children do theirhomework,” one man said. His neighbor, another fatherresponded, “look, it means giving them the time tostudy.” Another father spoke up, further clarifying, “Itmeans asking them if they did their homework everyday.” The first man answered, “Sure, I can do that.”

By deciding to participate in field-testing a School ReportCard, the principal and teachers were able to close thegaps between their own knowledge and opinions and theknowledge and commitment of the other members of theeducational community. In this way, the School ReportCard expands innovative potential.

(Adapted from: CERCA (2004). Ensayo de Reporte Escolar:Aprendiendo de la Experiencia de Campo en América Central.Washington, D.C.)

A father belonging to the School Report CardAnalysis Group in Chinandega, Nicaragua,

presents results to the educational community.

the regional CERCA project, helps the educational community todevelop a shared, highly motivating view of the current situation andof the changes they want to see.

Recognizing Teacher Responsibility

Many teachers are deeply committed to their students and to teaching.

Teresa Alemán, a teacher from the Calixto Moya School inNicaragua, with 26 years of teaching experience, spoke up at anexperience-sharing meeting organized by a group of Nicaraguaneducators in June 2005: “Before, I used to think that the further we keptparents away from the school the better, but that was a big mistake! It's notthat I have time to spare but what I do have to spare is love and the desire toget parents more involved.”

Escuela Nueva is a school model instituted in Colombia in the 1970sthat introduces active education into all facets of school life. Followingits success in Colombia, the model was adapted to create the “activeschool” model, promoted in other countries, including these:Guatemala with the New Multi-grade School (in Spanish, NuevaEscuela Unitaria-NEU) and the New Multi-grade Bilingual School(NEUBI), Nicaragua with the Model Schools supported by the BASEII project, and Peru with the Active Schools supported by theAprenDes Project. This model recognizes and cultivates the directresponsibility that teachers have for writing and designing materials forteachers and students, interviewing, training other teachers, adaptingmanipulable materials to local cultural and economic conditions, andsupervising student teachers from the normal schools.


The recognition that teachers are capable professionals, eager tothink about education theory and practice, and not simplyimplementers, expands the dialogue between teachers andpolitical and administrative authorities and contributes to creatingthe conditions for the exercise of professional creativity. This hasbeen demonstrated by the CERCA project in a variety ofnational and regional forums.

To the extent that principals recognize their discretionaryauthority, they can make effective changes in the school. Afrequent example of this is the use of time: principals in ruralschools served by the EXCELL project often believed that theydid not have the authority to change the school schedule. When itwould be clarified that this was under their purview, they wouldencourage or make changes conducive to making the most ofclass time.

Sharing of Experiences as an Opportunity to Empower Teachers

When teachers and principals meet, they have an opportunity toget to know one another and share experiences. Besides theinformative value of these activities, there is a palpable sense ofmotivation and a spirit of unity that is created when teachers feelempowered. Projects including AprenDes, BASE, CERCA andEXCELL have held or sponsored very productive national,regional and local experience-sharing sessions among teachers,principals and/or parents. The boost of energy and enthusiasmparticipants experience in these meetings is important to their

Following a Good Example: A Principal Who Learns From Others

Josefina Mejía, principal of Las Guanábanas School, nearAzua, in the southern part of the Dominican Republic,wants to solve a problem facing all the region’s schools:“The authorities require teachers to attend a ‘pedagogicalcolloquium’ the first Thursday of every month. Even thoughin our school we can leave the children working alone fora while without the teacher, in the urban schools or wherethere are more discipline problems that can’t be done.”

In response, she turned to an idea she heard a year ago ata Regional CERCA Workshop: “The experience with the‘parent pool’ that was described there really appealed tome. At our school, working with the Friends of the SchoolSociety, the school board and the student council, we aregoing to organize a team of community members who can

take turns coming in to talk to the kids about interestingtopics about which they have expertise. For example,they could talk about how the community or the schoolbegan; and leaders from the mothers’ club, the farmers’association and the youth club could talk about theiractivities. I’ve already made a proposal to the authoritiesand the other principals in the district.”

“Before the new school year begins, we will meet at ourschool with groups from civil society and with the mayorand other politicians, so that everyone can get involved. Iwould like to see this idea spread to other schools and tohave it be formally sponsored by the district authorities.It would also be nice to have regional meetings.”


Strengthening the Teacher’s Leadership in the Community

Self-esteem building is one of the critical components ofthe training given to teachers and managers by theSalvemos el Primer Ciclo program in Honduras. With thisgoal in mind, teachers are supported in their role asshapers of society and to strengthen their self-image asindividuals who grow and reach their goals.

Among the facets of self-esteem that are addressed, onethat clearly serves to empower teachers is reestablishingtheir role as community leaders. During the socialmotivation training, this is worked on intensively over twoor three days. It is then treated as a crosscutting themein the study of other subjects, including pedagogicalmethodology, performance evaluation, and participatorymanagement in the school and the community. Thisfocus seeks to get teachers to have a clear sense of whythey should use one strategy or another and how to adaptit to the situation at hand.

For students, success means that what they learnin school helps expand their opportunities.

Students in a classroom in Comayagua, Honduras.

ability to make changes in the school and classroom, and tosustain these changes.

The “Maria Teresa Argueta” School in Comayagua, Hondurasorganized an educational materials fair that got parents involved in theschool through making educational materials with local resources. The fairhas sparked a lot of interest among teachers and principals from nearbyschools, giving them an opportunity to share what they know about hand-made educational materials.

Following a gathering of teachers and principals in theDominican Republic, one of the school principals had this tosay: “The presentations were so natural and so straightforward, theymake me think about my school and that we can do it too! We arealready doing some of it—we have a parent in each grade, and they taketurns helping us out. I’ll call them the ‘parent pool!’ Thank you so much!It’s great to learn from others’ experience.”

Cultivating Pedagogical Leadership in the School

Inviting principals to review their role with the teaching staff inthe schools fosters interactions around pedagogical processes andrethinking of the principal-teacher relationship, shifting from atop-down relationship to a more cooperative one. This was afrequent experience in the EXCELL project:

“The Project ... got me to change by seeing things in a different light, totrust my teaching colleagues more, to learn to delegate, to see the students


A first-grade teacherat work in Honduras.In-service traininghelps teachers gaina betterunderstanding of thetheory underlyingpedagogicalinterventions.

as the center of our work, to take parents into account and make themfeel that they are important.” (Principal, La Libertad, El Salvador)

Interventions that Make Better-Qualified Teachers

Professional Education that Stimulates Creativity

In-service education gives teachers and principals a bettergrounding in the theory underlying their teaching techniques, itinforms them about teaching approaches in other settings and itlets them practice skills that are critical to innovation.

Reviewing cases and reflecting on their implications, as is donewith the “Aprendo, Practico, Aplico” (“Learn, Practice,Apply”) method developed by BASE II in Nicaragua, helpsteachers to devise their own solutions. This training focuses onputting active education into practice, rather than just talkingabout it and the theory behind it.

Monthly in-service education sessions for rural schoolprincipals in the EXCELL project offered participants specificinformation on how to use manuals for new pedagogicalpractices in language and math that they could use in the schoolwith their teaching staff.

Taking steps to ensure that teachers have mastery over the subjectmatter they have to teach (such as teacher selection andassignment based on their specialty or in-service trainingprograms) leads to innovation. The capacity to teach and


A Professional Association Supports Success in the Classroom

In Honduras, the “Honduran Association for theAdvancement of Professional Teaching” (COLPROSUMAH)provides training to its membership on trade unionismand leadership and also on a range of topics for theirprofessional development as educators. This role, quiteunusual in teachers’ professional associations, began inthe 1980s with support from the Norwegian internationalcooperation agency. In 1998, the COLPROSUMAHInstitute for Pedagogical Training and Education wascreated. It now covers all 146 union locals and is self-supporting, with teachers paying 0.5% of their monthlybase pay to fund it.

With five regional centers able to house groups and paidregional coordinators, the Institute offers one or twoweek courses, taken by many of its members around the

country. It also publishes a monthly newsletter and trainstrainers, who in turn run small study circles. Professionaldevelopment issues are addressed, including evaluationtechniques, teaching administration, and self-esteembuilding. The study circles, which the Institute supportswith print materials, supervision visits and operating funds,provide a venue where teachers can help each otherovercome the challenges they face in teaching differentsubjects in a variety of settings.

In 2004, the Institute, together with the UniversidadPedagógica, conducted a study showing that this traininghad awakened teachers’ interest in professionaldevelopment, had a favorable impact on the country’seducation indicators and contributed to greater interactionwith parents.

especially to innovate in teaching is based on teachers beingconfident of their subject mastery. When this capacity is missing,it is not easy for innovation to take place and the children’seducation suffers.

Mutual Learning through Reflection and Mutual Support

Periodic workshops with principals, teachers, parents andstudents help build a team culture centered on educational quality.In BASE II, this information sharing was an opportunity forthem to compare their experiences with model school practices.

In exchange visits by members of the educational community todifferent model schools during the BASE II project teachers sawfirst-hand how others were responding to pedagogical andorganizational challenges that they, too, were facing.

In the departments of Chalatenango and San Vicente in ElSalvador, principals voluntarily reproduced the pedagogicalmaterials received from EXCELL and demonstrated their usefor their colleagues who were not part of the project.

In “inter-learning circles,” teachers organized in small groups,with or without orientation from project facilitators, share andexamine their experiences using the methodology learned throughthe AprenDes project.

On-site Monitoring that Recognizes and Supports Innovation

Closely monitoring the schools and high expectations fromdemanding facilitators contribute to the self-esteem and initiative


The teacher asfacilitator, guidingactive learning ina schoolsupported by theBASE II project inNicaragua.

of those participating in educational processes and technicalassistance.

Specialists delegated by the Nicaraguan Ministry of Educationmonitored education during the BASE II project: “We wereconstantly assessing together the weaknesses and strengths of the school.The specialist visits the school to monitor it, make observations and giveadvice about pedagogical needs. With the specialist’s support, we haveimproved scientific training, class preparation, academic achievement andthe school’s reputation.” (A school principal)

In the AprenDes Project, the project’s facilitators also monitorthe teachers both in the inter-learning circles and in the schools.

The demonstration of language and math pedagogicalpractices in-class and with principal and teacher circles, doneby the EXCELL project facilitators, contributed tomethodological mastery that was then used in preparing theproposal for Pedagogical Innovation Projects in the schools.

Developing Educational Materials that Aid Teacher Creativity

One powerful resource is the development of teacher guides andstudent self-learning guides. In AprenDes and BASE II, thesematerials have been developed by the teachers themselves, whocan put their creativity into practice and ensure that the materialsare relevant to their students.

Class guides prepared by EXCELL, with detailed instructionsabout how to approach specific math and language subjectmatter, were very well received by the teachers. Their standard


Monitoring Progress Together

In the course of the “Salvemos el Primer Ciclo” projectin the schools of the Department of Comayagua,Honduras, training was given to MOE administrators(district and municipal directors, technical assistantsand supervisors), who in turn, have trained principals andteachers in a range of strategies for active, participatorypedagogy. A key element in this approach is the frequentevaluation of the progress each student is making inlearning the subjects.

Teachers are using a progress monitoring chart, basedon a curriculum calendar that they prepare themselves,which shows the Spanish or math subject-matter thateach student has learned so far. The chart helps theteacher recognize early on when some of the studentsare having trouble, and he or she can then adjust his orher teaching techniques to improve results. The chart is

generally on poster board, making it easy to show toparents, who are invited to visit the classroom frequently.This way, the teacher can get the mother or fatherinvolved in coming up with solutions that help theirchildren learn.

Not only are the students monitored, but also theteachers, who like the students are monitored throughfrequent visits from the administrator. These visits havethe purpose of supporting teachers in their efforts to lookfor ways to overcome the obstacles that have arisen in theclassroom; they are not for the purpose of controlling andjudging their performance.

This effort has resulted in improved Spanish and mathscores in the schools in the Department of Comayagua,which in the past had had the lowest achievement levels.

format helps the teacher feel secure, but at the same time itpermits the flexibility for deciding at what time and in what wayto use the suggested practice.

Opportunities to Validate the Theory in Practice

When teachers and principals use the concepts and practicesdeveloped in the course of the projects, it gives them theopportunity to validate their usefulness and to also make changesin them to fit the circumstances. In the case of BASE II, theAprendo, Practico, Aplico (APA) methodology and the 10building blocks of a model school leave room for theparticipating school to determine which aspects to introduce andin what order.

Pedagogical Innovation Projects (PIP) invite the school's team todefine the outcome they want to see in response to a pedagogicalchallenge, by posing three key questions: What do we want? Howwill we get it? How will we measure it? Tackling these projects letthe EXCELL participants put their creativity to use for dealingwith situations particular to their schools.

Interventions that Develop the InstitutionalFramework

Activities that Foster Collective Innovation

New opportunities can be created for innovation when together,teachers, parents and students assess the conditions in their schooland take steps to improve them. Using the School Report Card,


The Parent Pool

At the “Calixto Moya” School in the municipality ofMasatepe, Masaya, Nicaragua, the parents came upwith this initiative to ensure that classes would not becancelled when the teachers had to be absent. It hasenabled planning so the students have classes when theteachers attend trainings, it has empowered parents bygiving them the opportunity to act as teachersreinforcing learning in the classroom and it hascontributed to families recognizing how valuable theteacher’s work is.

Each classroom made a list of parents willing to help outwith reinforcement activities. The teachers organizedtraining sessions for the parent volunteers. The training

included the use of a learning review sheet. When ateacher needs to be absent for work-related reasons, he orshe turns to the parent pool. The teacher communicateswith the person who will be the substitute and gives himor her a reinforcement sheet. The parent reviews the sheetahead of time and can then prepare for providingreinforcement. The day the teacher is absent, the studentsare taught by the parent.

The Parent Pool contributes to keeping up the number ofproductive class days and to linking up parents, teachersand students through learning activities in the classroomor in other educational settings.

developed by CERCA, a group of teachers, parents, students andcommunity members gather and analyze information about currentconditions in the school. Teachers share information about theirpractices in the classroom, along with their problems and solutions.The innovations that arise from a collective effort will already havethe community’s approval or support for implementation. Thecreativity of the teacher or principal also manifests itself in theways they encourage others to become involved.

A mother who participates in the Analysis Group of aGuatemalan school said, “I felt inspired to be here because I want tosupport my children and all the others. The principal says that the fact thatI don’t know how to read and write isn’t an impediment, because here, whatis important is to speak up and analyze why things are the way they areand how we can improve them.”

Even though innovation often comes from the efforts ofindividual teachers in the classroom, the success and sustainabledissemination of the change is greater if other agents in andaround the school are fully involved (teachers, students, principals,parents, community leaders, and Ministry of Educationpedagogical advisors and administrators).

“What made this school unique (El Simiente Kindergarten in Nicaragua)were the myriad ‘extra’ activities that were done under the creativestewardship of its principal, with the steadfast support of parents and thecommunity, and with MOE municipal and departmental specialists.”(Richard Kraft, researcher)


Francisco Casco, a father,sharing his experiences in the“Parent Pool,” at a meetingorganized in Masatepe by theNicaraguan CERCA group.

School Settings that Make the Most of Collective CommunityEfforts

Schools can systematically organize parent involvement inpedagogical processes. The experience at the “Maestro CalixtoMoya” School in Nicaragua is one clear example. One hundredseventy-one parents from different grades have signed up for aParent Pool to act as substitute teachers and tutor children, assistedby a learning reinforcement sheet explained to them by the respectiveteacher.

“I would meet with the parents and explain to them what they would bedoing in the afternoon. The idea was to spark their interest in helpingtheir children to learn and also in seeing how they work in school.”(Teresa Alemán, teacher)

“It was exciting, marvelous; my son was proud of me, asking me when Iwould teach his class again.” (Francisco Casco, father)

Intervening Simultaneously at Several Tiers in the EducationSystem

By involving not only principals, but also pedagogical advisorsand the head of the school district, the EXCELL projectencouraged more systematic planning for introducing innovativepedagogical practices in the department of San Vicente, ElSalvador, making them more sustainable.

The early involvement of the Nicaraguan MOE’s municipal anddepartmental delegates has ensured that the BASE II project’s


perspective and practices will be assimilated into the MOE’sphilosophy, meaning that any change in a school will have a rippleeffect on other Ministry levels. This perspective has spread to thepoint where it is expected that the model will be expanded toover 2,000 schools in 2005.

In each of the countries where the CERCA project works,groups of stakeholders committed to local participation forimproving education have convened meetings to disseminate theproject’s results. At these events, teachers, principals and managershave learned about research findings and the results of the“school report card” field tests. This has generated a lot ofexcitement over community participation in monitoring and insupporting educational quality.

Innovative Processes that Indirectly Affect Pedagogy

Sometimes, indirect interventions turn out to be as important assubstantive innovations in pedagogy and educational quality. InNicaragua, between 1994 and 1998, the BASE projectsuccessfully lessened the administrative demands on teachers' timeby distributing texts and books to schools and decentralizingeducational administration, among other activities. All of thiscontributed to having the methodological innovations in themodel school, implemented with support from BASE II,successfully take hold in the education system.

The CERCA project found that the most effective innovationswhere community participation can contribute to educationalquality in the school are those that provide the conditions forteachers and students to be able to spend more time on theiressential task: teaching-learning.

Elements for a Strategy to FosterTeacher Innovation

4

Some Principles

In the previous section, the teacher’s role as innovator was presentedtogether with several ways to reinforce it, in three dimensions:

Teacher empowerment

Teacher qualifications

Strengthening the institutional framework in which they work

The section below provides additional detail on possibleinterventions, which can serve to strengthen the creative andconstructive roles of teachers and principals through policydecisions and professional development for teachers.

Acting on Systems

A variety of programs and projects show that the interventions thatmost sustainably support innovation include actions that aremutually reinforcing, with diverse actors at different levels.Promoting the innovative role of teachers should include workingwith teachers and with the individuals and institutions with which theyinteract.

One of BASE II’s strengths was working with teachers,principals, students, parents and Nicaraguan MOE municipaland departmental specialists so that everyone would understandthe “new school” philosophy and how it works. The training,manuals and experience sharing helped to organize all the activityin the school around the new school model.

A priority of the multi-sector groups convened by the CERCAproject has been the construction of a common perspective on

The interventions thatmost sustainably

support innovationinclude actions that are

mutually reinforcing,with diverse actors at

different levels.


The fundamentalreason for classrooms,schools and ministriesof education is toensure children’seffective learningthrough qualitypedagogical processes.

A Clear Goal: Get all Children Reading

In section A of first grade, in the Luis Alberto García LópezSchool in the Fátima neighborhood of the town of SanMarcos, department of Carazo, Nicaragua, 10 childrenwere having trouble differentiating between the letters andtheir corresponding sounds. In dealing with this problem,the teacher and the school’s principal decided to get theparents of the class involved, organizing them into workgroups to directly support class work and get all thestudents reading by the end of the term.

The parent groups aided the teacher, systematicallymonitoring the children’s attendance and punctuality,acting as classroom monitors so the teacher could havemore time to give students individual attention, preparingsupport materials so that each child could reinforce theirindividual work—letter, syllable and word games, etc.—

and helping to lead games in the classroom, makinglearning fun and interesting for all.

Of the 10 students, four caught up and the others madeprogress at their own pace and to the best of theirabilities. Another important outcome was that bycontributing their own efforts in the classroom, theparents got interested in their children’s learning. Inaddition, communication improved with parents who hadrarely come to the school before.

This experience in section A of first grade combinesinnovations made by the Luis Alberto García López Schoolwith methods contributed by the BASE II Project, whichchose the school as a new outreach center for successfulpedagogical experiences.

community participation that political actors, civil societyrepresentatives, Ministry of Education specialists, teachers andprincipals can advance.

The education, reflection, and actions of principals and managersaround pedagogical leadership and the central role ofpedagogical processes during the EXCELL project in whichpersonnel from schools and MOE offices began to speak thesame language.

Effective Learning is at the Heart of Education

The fundamental reason for classrooms, schools and ministries ofeducation is to ensure children’s effective learning through qualitypedagogical processes. Effective learning prepares children forcontinuing their education, living a productive life and finding self-fulfillment as individuals. Quality pedagogical processes engagestudents in their own learning through critical and constructivethinking, using the means that are the most relevant to the subject,the learner and the circumstances. Both policies and pedagogicalprocesses in the classroom should include educational quality as acriterion for success.

For teachers and principals, success is achieved when childrenattain specific, measurable competencies as a result of effectivepedagogical practices being applied in the classroom.

For officials and decision-makers in the education system, successis reached when the curriculum, the administration and thesector’s resources are contributing to empowerment, improving

ELEMENTS FOR A STRATEGY TO FOSTER TEACHER INNOVATION 27

By reading, this Salvadoran girl hasaccess to her country’s cultural wealth

and inspires her younger siblings.

teacher qualifications and strengthening the institutionalframework for quality education.

For students and their parents, success means that what is learnedin school is relevant: it expands their opportunities for a decent,productive, meaningful life.

Education is a Right

Education is a right that citizens have, not a gift bestowed uponthem by the State.

By demanding quality education, parents and students aresupporting the teacher's mission and fulfilling their role as citizensin relation to the government that provides the service, usingresources obtained from taxes or foreign lenders.

In addition, education is an “empowering right” that gives peopleopportunities, not just knowledge.

By seeing education as a citizen right and as an obligation of theState, it becomes clear that all local government institutions alsohave the responsibility to ensure that right.

The School Community Must be Engaged

To ensure that effective learning and pedagogical processes are at theheart of the education system, all stakeholders must be engaged.

At the local level, the education system is the school community,composed of parents, teachers, principals and students. Any


Teachers andprincipals areagents of change.

Successful teachereducation andtraining programsensure that thetheory is put to thetest in practice.

Students inGuatemala learngeography byputting togethera jigsaw puzzletheir teachermade.

intervention that is tried in the school must recognize that all itsmembers are agents of change and development.

Education policy and its institutional framework shouldencourage parents’ interacting with the school, especially throughnon-instrumental participation, by encouraging and respectingparents’ civic engagement and involvement in pedagogicalprocesses.

Teachers Need Space and Support

Teachers and principals are agents as well as active subjects ofchange. In each school’s setting it is necessary to ensure theopportunity for creativity, as well as creating a “safe space” fortesting innovation, which will ensure teacher empowerment.Ultimately, each teacher must take charge of his or her work.However, decentralized, local MOE authorities (the authority figuresclosest to the school), school principals, and parent leaders are theones who can send signals and create the conditions for thisempowerment to develop.

Reflection is Essential to Teacher Education

Successful teacher education and training programs ensure that thetheory is put to the test in practice through monitoring andreflection. In this way, student teachers develop the capacity tocontinually learn from their own practice and from the experiencesof others. This is a vitally important skill for any professional—especially in the classroom setting, where new challenges emerge


Empowered, qualifiedprincipals and teachers

in schools areaccountable to the

community thatentrusts their children

to them.

A student anxious to participate in a ruralschool in El Salvador.

daily. Too often the processes for teacher education and professionaldevelopment neglect the need for reflection and active participationby the teacher-subjects, even in countries with an education reformagenda that is supportive of active education in the classroom.

Sticking to Objectives

Change is slow and uncertain. The shift from a culture ofauthoritarian instruction to a culture of innovation is going to takemore than one short intervention. However, the fruits of a sustainedinstitutional commitment can be well worth the wait.

The awareness of all agents and levels in society must be raised sothat the results of teacher innovation are recognized andencouraged, even when small, and a long-range view of educationis sustained.

With Empowerment and Qualifications ComesResponsibility

When there is trust in individuals and in their capacity to solveproblems creatively, it harnesses an enormous store of energy.However, this also entails responsibilities.

Empowered, qualified principals and teachers in schools should beaware of and assume the responsibility of being accountable formaking good use of the resources and opportunities they aregiven. More directly, they are accountable to institutions-the school,the Ministry of Education-and above all, the community thatentrusts their children to them.


Toward a Strategy to Foster Teacher Innovation

The experience of AED and other organizations in implementing educationalprojects in Latin America illustrates how the teacher’s role as innovator can besystematically encouraged. This experience supports the need for three sets offactors to support teacher innovation: 1) factors that support teacherempowerment, 2) factors influencing teacher qualification, and 3) factors relatingto institutional characteristics.

In the preceding pages, we have identified principles for any innovationn thisfield. Below, we present components for a strategy to foster teacher innovationthat are based on these principles and the experiences discussed above. For eachpossible component, key actors are identified who would be the ones to carryout the actions. As with any development or other social change proces—whichby its nature is not controlled by any one actor—effective action requiresconsultative and collaborative processes to ensure that the key actors andstakeholders have shared understandings of the action and its purpose.

What How

Events: workshops andlectures.Event announcements andcase reports disseminatedin the mass media andprofessional publications.Prizes awarded toteachers, teams ofteachers and schools thathave developed successfulinnovative approaches.

Who

Teachers’ professionalsassociations.Ministries of education:higher authorities.NGOs.

Raise visibilityand awarenessabout thecreativity thatprincipals andteachers alreadyhave.

Why

Teacher empowerment begins byrecognizing its importance for theeducational process and foreffective learning.Professional associations, withtheir mandate to defend andpromote the profession, have avital role in defending teachers’creativity and in ensuring thecontinuity of ministerial support inthe midst of change.Innovation does not happen bydecree. An institutionalenvironment conducive to teachercreativity depends on creatingawareness of the importance ofthis force among managers andadministrators, principals,teachers, parents and in the massmedia.

Innovation-oriented humanresourcesmanagement.

MOE departments ofplanning, humanresources andbudgeting.

Foster policy dialogueand education that linkmanagers and teacherstogether around concreteimprovements inpedagogy.

For the teaching profession to“run the risk” of innovating, it isnecessary to create “safe”institutional conditions andorganizational climates and toreward creative behavior thatimproves pedagogical processesand educational achievement.Those who administer humanresources for the sector and thosewho set the criteria for allocatingfunds should learn and practicethis lesson.


What Who How Why

Engage theeducationcommunity ininnovation.

Promote policy dialoguearound decentralization,autonomy and schoolaccountability.

The entities devoted to pre-serviceand in-service professionaldevelopment, as well as teachereducation centers, need to ensurethat their efforts to educate andmentor teachers and to fosterreflection and communicationamong them, also recognize andfoster teacher innovation.Professional associations have theresponsibility to strengthen criticaland constructive thinking amongtheir members.

Ministry authorities, principals andcommunity leaders are the oneswho can send out signals and setthe stage for teacherempowerment to develop in a safe,creative environment.

Central and localauthorities.School principals.Community leaders.

Createopportunities forreflection,critical thinkingand creativeaction.

Measurementand monitoring.

MOE teacher professionaldevelopmentdepartments,universities, normalschools and otherteacher educationcenters.Teachers’ professionalassociations.

Design pre-serviceeducation and in-servicetraining to includetheory, peer discussionand supervised studentteaching processes thatlink theory and practice.Foster peer reflectioncircles.

Develop and validateindicators forpedagogical innovationand communityparticipation.Awareness raising andtraining for communitymembers, journalistsand other public-opinion-makers.

Ministries of Education:monitoring andevaluation departments.Educationalcommunities: educationboards and others.Local and mass media.

When innovating, teachers chooseto do things in ways that can workwhen given new challenges.Monitoring and evaluation unitsshould gather and disseminateinformation that will be useful toteachers and communities forinterpreting the outcome of theirinnovations and in makingdecisions.Educational communities, inparticular those parents who aremost involved in the schools, cando monitoring and providefeedback to principals andteachers about the results of theirdecisions and innovative actions.

Top, Playing Batería X math games,left created by a teacher in Santa

Tecla, El Salvador.

Top, A principal sharing ideas withright teachers in El Progreso,

Guatemala.

Students and teachers from AldeaXequixtun, Quiché, Guatemala.

Below, A wheel combining numberleft and colors is one of the

Batería X games.

Below, Student in Azua, Dominicanright Republic, shows her

schoolwork.

Annexes

5

Description of Projects and Initiatives

Following are descriptions of the principal projects through whichexperiences with innovation and support for innovation wereidentified in the countries mentioned. It should be noted that insome cases the innovative experiences predate the projects oroccurred outside the projects. However, it was through the staff ordocumentation of these projects that it was possible to gain accessto the information gathered.

AprenDes

The “Innovations in Decentralization and Active Schools” Project isdesigned to link decentralization processes to learning processes,fostering school and community activities that aid in developingchildren’s capacity for active participation in the democratic, socialand economic development of their communities. It also encouragesturning successful practices in the schools into regional and nationalpolicies.

Funded by the United States Agency for International Development(USAID), the project intends to contribute to Peru’s participatorydemocratic transition and economic development, by reinforcing thelocal administration of quality primary school programs in areasclassified by USAID/Peru as being strategic.

In collaboration with the Ministry of Education, regional educationofficials, school personnel, the National Education Council (CNE),regional and municipal government authorities, public and privatesector entities, and members of civil society, the project aims totransform “passive community schools” into “active communityschools,” exemplifying the use of active learning methods in classand the active participation of parents and communities in


classroom learning activities, student life, information dissemination andadministration.

The project is planned to run from July 2003 to September 2007 andAED is responsible for its technical implementation.

BASE and BASE II

The Basic Education Projects in Nicaragua had the objective ofimproving educational quality in Nicaragua by advancing modernteaching methods and community support for schools, as part of along-term U.S. cooperation and technical assistance effort with theNicaraguan Ministry of Education. Funding came from the UnitedStates Agency for International Development (USAID).

These projects emphasized rural education, bilingual education, parentand community involvement in improving educational quality, and thedevelopment of educational statistics and applied research. Additionally,

the Model School program was conceived of as astrategy for strengthening 170 urban, rural and bilingualschools in 101 of the country’s municipalities, with thegoal of making them into training and demonstrationcenters for neighboring schools.

The BASE Projects changed the way teachers teach,children learn, and primary schools are run in Nicaragua.The experience confirmed that even in an impoverishedsetting, schools can be well managed locally and childrencan learn quickly and well. These projects wereimplemented between 1993 and 2005 with technicalsupport from AED and Juárez and Associates, Inc.

As the result of the success of these projects, theMinistry of Education and USAID entered into anagreement for a new cooperation project, which willexpand the BASE and BASE II experience to 2,000schools around the country.

CERCA

The objective of the Civic Engagement for Education Reform inCentral America Project is to create conditions for the activeengagement of parents and local communities in improving primaryeducation, by strengthening the actions of local actors advocating forbetter education and participating in school-support activities.

This is a project funded by the United States Agency for InternationalDevelopment (USAID), implemented through a cooperationagreement with the Academy for Educational Development (AED),with support from Management Systems International (MSI). It is beingimplemented between October 2002 and March 2006 in five countries:

The BASE projects changed the way teachersteach in Nicaragua.

ANNEXES 3535

El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the DominicanRepublic.

CERCA facilitates collective action in each of the countries to promotelocal engagement in schools. It receives strategic guidance from aConsultative Committee comprised of two individuals from eachcountry who are well known for their community and educationalexperience and leadership. It is also guided by the results of a regionalqualitative study on citizen participation done in 13 schools. A group ofdiverse stakeholders including civil society organizations and membersof the local, municipal and national public sectors includingrepresentatives from the Ministry of Education and USAID has beenformed in each country. Each group carries out activities according toits own Action Plan, in partnership with CERCA.

Regionally, the project developed and field-tested a model SchoolReport card for the purpose of strengthening participation byeducational communities in analysis and proposals for improving theschools’ educational quality; it involved teachers, school principals andteachers professional associations in proposing strategies for creatingconditions that foster innovations in the schools; and it stimulatedcountry efforts for identifying and developing Citizen ParticipationIndicators, useful for national groups in promoting changes in attitudes,policies and practices in their respective countries. Through publicationsand the www.CERCANET.org website, the project has disseminatedthe research results and has facilitated experience sharing betweencountries.

EDUCATODOS

EDUCATODOS is an initiative of the Honduran Secretariat ofEducation that is designed to increase the coverage of the third cycle ofprimary education—7th, 8th and 9th grades—to improve low-incomechildren’s quality of learning and increase enrollment. It offers analternative model for secondary education. EDUCATODOS centersare located in a variety of settings, such as maquilas andmicroenterprises, NGOs, government and municipal facilities, andvocational and academic schools. The components of theEDUCATODOS system include print learning materials, audioprograms and volunteer facilitators who catalyze the learning process,plus an evaluation that strengthens and certifies learning, while at thesame time validating the materials and the program’s impact.

The Improving Educational Quality II Project (IEQ II-Honduras), acooperation and technical assistance initiative with the HonduranMinistry of Education, through the United States Agency forInternational Development (USAID), was implemented to support theEDUCATODOS program with curriculum development andcurriculum materials for the third cycle of primary education.

Napoleón Morazán, Director of the Institute forPedagogical Research, Education and Development,of the COLPROSUMAH teachers’ association, talksabout participation at a workshop of CERCA’s partnergroup in Honduras.


The activities of the IEQ II-Honduras project included strengtheningthe EDUCATODOS support network, institution building for theprogram’s implementation and sustainability, and support for Honduraneducators and youth in their efforts to recover from the effects thatHurricane Mitch had on the Honduran education system. The projectwas implemented between November 1999 and April 2002 by aconsortium lead by the American Institutes for Research (AIR), with theAcademy for Educational Development (AED), the EducationalDevelopment Center (EDC), Juárez and Associates, Inc. and theUniversity of Pittsburgh.

EXCELL

The Excellence in Classroom Education at the Local Level project wasdesigned to address El Salvador’s educational priorities and improvestudent performance in 250 rural schools, from preschool to sixthgrade. This was a U.S. technical and financial cooperation project withthe Salvadoran Ministry of Education (MINED), as part of StrategicObjective 1 of the USAID/El Salvador Mission (“Expanded accessand economic opportunity for El Salvador’s rural poor families”).

EXCELL focused on developing the abilities of principals to leadefforts to improve education in schools; on strengthening Ministry ofEducation mid-level management capacity in support of schoolprincipals; on strengthening MINED’s capacity to process and useinformation about education quality; and on increasing the quantity,availability and use of educational research for policy-making in thissector.

The Project included three components: a) strengthening MINEDcapacity to improve decentralized school administration and modifyand implement education reforms; b) improve learning conditions andstudent achievement in at least 250 rural schools from preschoolthrough sixth grade, through education and technical assistance forschool principals and the introduction of innovative pedagogicalpractices; and c) expand education policy research through policy

studies and fostering dialogue around theirresults.

EXCELL was implemented between July2003 and June 2005 by the EQUIP1consortium, led by the American Institutesfor Research (AIR) and including theAcademy for Educational Development(AED) and the Joseph P. KennedyFoundation.

Principals in the EXCELL Project in El Salvadorworking in groups.

ANNEXES 3737

Salvemos el Primer Ciclo

The Salvemos el Primer Ciclo (Let’s Save First Cycle) Project, which ranin Honduras between 2001 and 2003, had the objective of decreasingrates of dropouts, repetition, absenteeism and over-age in first gradestudents, focusing on the subjects of Spanish and math. This was a U.S.cooperation and technical assistance effort with the Honduran Ministryof Education, through the United States Agency for InternationalDevelopment (USAID).

The approach of Salvemos el Primer Ciclo, which was used in 5,880selected schools, centered on developing the attitudes and knowledgeteachers need to actively involve students and their parents in learning.The teaching methods that were developed included frequent,collaborative progress evaluations of each child, so that the children andtheir parents would see the evaluation as an exercise in continualassessment, and not as a judgment.

The project used training at all levels (district supervisors, principals,teachers, upper-class normal-school students, and student tutors in theirlast year of high school) and open letters and materials published innewspapers to communicate with parents.

The Ministry of Education’s approach, with support from theSalvemos el Primer Ciclo project, transformed the traditionalrelationship between teachers and their students and their parents.

Additional Resources

PREAL (Programa Promoción de la Reforma Educativa en AméricaLatina y el Caribe), Comisión Centroamericana para la ReformaEducativa (2003). Es Hora de Actuar: Informe de Progreso Educativo enCentroamérica y la República Dominicana. Washington, D.C., Santiago deChile.

PREAL (2005). Cantidad sin Calidad: Informe de Progreso Educativo enAmérica Latina. Washington, D.C., Santiago de Chile. www.preal.org/infprogeduREG.php.

Vegas, Emiliana and Ilana Umansky (2005). Improving Teaching andLearning through Effective Incentives: What Can We Learn fromEducation Reforms in Latin America? The World Bank, Washington,D.C.

Kraft, Richard J. (1998). Rural Education Reform in the Nueva EscuelaUnitaria of Guatemala (New Multi-grade School). Academy forEducational Development, Washington, D.C.

CERCA – Civic Engagement for Education Reform in CentralAmerica (www.cercanet.org): CERCANET is an interactivecommunity where advocates for better education in El Salvador,


Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic canshare and coordinate efforts. It provides a virtual forum thatcomplements CERCA’s goals for improving education quality andstrengthening community participation for education.

PREAL – Grupo de Trabajo sobre Profesionalización Docente enAmérica Latina (http://www.preal.org/GTD): The Program for theAdvancement of Education Reform in Latin America and theCaribbean, PREAL, through an agreement with the School forAdministration and Social Sciences of ORT University of Uruguay,began a Working Group on Teacher Professional Development(GTD). The Group analyzes policies aimed at teachers in differentLatin American countries, promoting regional dialogue anddisseminating successful experiences from the field.

EXCELL – Excellence in Classroom Education at the Local Level (inSpanish: www.equip123.net/equip1/excell/esp; in English: http://www.equip123.net/equip1/excell/default.htm): This page postsinformation and the products developed by EXCELL in ElSalvador.

EQUIP – Education Quality Improvement Program (http://www.equip123.net): The EQUIP website includes information andproducts from the three global EQUIP projects of USAID, bothfrom their core components and the projects in different countries.Most of the material is available only in English.

GLP – Global Learning Portal (www.glp.net): GLPNet is the result ofa public-private partnership among AED, Sun Microsystems andUSAID. The Portal expands the availability of educational resourcesfor primary and secondary school teachers in developing countries.The Portal has set up six websites, in Brazil, Ethiopia, Mozambique,Nicaragua, Uganda and South Africa. During its first year ofoperation, over 1,000 teachers were involved in on-line discussions,the creation of educational materials and research on teachereducation. The materials are translated into Spanish, French,Portuguese and English. The Portal documents how teachers usecollaborative technology to learn and share around education forreading and writing, math, and specific topics such as HIV-AIDS.

ANNEXES 3939

Bibliography

Acosta N., Olga Lucía and Marta Luz Henao V. (2000). Mejorar laCalidad de la Educación para el Sector Rural Pobre: El Caso de la EscuelaNueva en Colombia. Taken from: Coyuntura Social No. 22, May 2000.

Baessa, Yetilú (1996). Impacto de la Nueva Escuela Unitaria sobre EscuelasUnitarias Completas. El Proyecto de Mejoramiento de la CalidadEducativa, Guatemala.

Castro, Vanessa (n.d.). Las escuelas modelo: una aproximación cualitativa,Proyecto Base II, MECD, USAID, Managua.

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CERCA (2004). Estudio cualitativo sobre la participación ciudadana en elmejoramiento de la calidad de la educación en cinco países latinoamericanos:Informe Consolidado Regional, Washington, D.C.

CERCA (2004). Que la Calidad de la Educación Mejore: ¡Profundicemos NuestroCompromiso Ciudadano! Implicaciones de los Hallazgos de una Investigación deCasos, Washington, D.C.

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CERCA (2005). Iniciativas de Maestros/as en la Creación de Calidad Educativa:Primera Reunión de la Comisión de Trabajo. Managua, Nicaragua, May 27-29, 2005 (Preliminary Version).

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Edward WEdward WEdward WEdward WEdward W. Russell. Russell. Russell. Russell. RussellChairman of the Board and the Executive Committee*

Former Senior Vice President, Government Affairs,J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.

Roberta N. ClarkeRoberta N. ClarkeRoberta N. ClarkeRoberta N. ClarkeRoberta N. ClarkeVice Chairman of the Board*

Associate Professor and former Chair, Department ofMarketing, School of Management, Boston University

Stephen FStephen FStephen FStephen FStephen F. Moseley. Moseley. Moseley. Moseley. MoseleyPresident and Chief Executive Officer

Robert O. AndersonRobert O. AndersonRobert O. AndersonRobert O. AndersonRobert O. AndersonRetired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer,Atlantic Richfield Company

J. Brian AtwoodJ. Brian AtwoodJ. Brian AtwoodJ. Brian AtwoodJ. Brian AtwoodDean,Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs,University of Minnesota;Former President, Citizens International;Former Administrator,U.S. Agency for International Development

Sarah C. CareySarah C. CareySarah C. CareySarah C. CareySarah C. CareyPartner,Squires, Sanders & Dempsey L.L.P.

Harriet Mayor FulbrightHarriet Mayor FulbrightHarriet Mayor FulbrightHarriet Mayor FulbrightHarriet Mayor FulbrightFormer Executive Director,President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities;Former Executive Director, Fulbright Association

Frederick S. HumphriesFrederick S. HumphriesFrederick S. HumphriesFrederick S. HumphriesFrederick S. HumphriesRegent Professor,Florida A&M University;former President,Florida A&M University

Frederick J. IsemanFrederick J. IsemanFrederick J. IsemanFrederick J. IsemanFrederick J. IsemanChairman and Managing Partner,Caxton-Iseman Capital, Inc.

Joseph S. IsemanJoseph S. IsemanJoseph S. IsemanJoseph S. IsemanJoseph S. IsemanOf Counsel, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton andGarrison

WWWWWalter Falter Falter Falter Falter F. Leavell. Leavell. Leavell. Leavell. LeavellHealth Advisor;Former President, Charles R. Drew University ofMedicine and Science

Sheila Avrin McLeanSheila Avrin McLeanSheila Avrin McLeanSheila Avrin McLeanSheila Avrin McLeanStrategy Consultant;Former President and CEO,Boyden World Corporation;Former President, Association of Executive SearchConsultants

Rita M. RodriguezRita M. RodriguezRita M. RodriguezRita M. RodriguezRita M. RodriguezInternational Finance Writer, Researcher, and Advisor;former Member of the Board of Directors,Export-Import Bank of the United States

Adel SaftyAdel SaftyAdel SaftyAdel SaftyAdel SaftyUNESCO Chair of Leadership;President of the School of Government andLeadership, University of Bahcesehir, Istanbul

Alfred SommerAlfred SommerAlfred SommerAlfred SommerAlfred SommerProfessor,Bloomberg School of Public Health,Johns Hopkins University

Niara SudarkasaNiara SudarkasaNiara SudarkasaNiara SudarkasaNiara SudarkasaScholar in Residence,African-American Research Library and CulturalCenter, Ft. Lauderdale, FL;Former President, Lincoln University

* Officers of the Board

Board of Directors, 2006

For additional information, please contact:

AED Global Education CenterAcademy for Educational Development1825 Connecticut Avenue, NWWashington, DC 20009-5721United States

Tel: (+1-202) 884-8030Fax: (+1-202) 884-8408Email: [email protected]

AED web site: www.aed.org

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