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Based in: Tecugicalpa, Honduras
Managed By: Universidad Pedgógica Nacional Francisco Morazán
In Collaboration With: Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (Dominican Republic), Fundación Empresarial para el Desarrollo Educativo (El Salvador), Universidad del Valle de Guatemala (Guatemala), Escuela Normal Ricardo Morales Avilés (Nicaragua).
The Central America and Dominican Republic Centers of Excellence for Teacher Training, (CARD CETT*) has successfully introduced a more child-centered, interactive approach to the teaching of literacy and has increased the reading and writing skills of primary school students in the region. |
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"We can feel a big change with the CETT model. It is fantastic. Since I'm working with it, my students are not the same. Now they participate and talk without shame, they create and write stories and they sing, because I work in a different way."
–Second grade teacher |
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About CARD CETT and Its Success
CETT is a professional development program that enhances teachers' skills and provides them with strategies for literacy instruction. A key component of the training approach is the follow-up coaching and feedback provided by master teacher trainers during regular classrooms visits. The demand for the program is great. Non-participating schools and teachers are eager to join CETT. |
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"As a parent I have seen, with much pride and satisfaction, that my 6 year old son Carlitos, a first grade student, now knows how to read, he writes his name well, and the names of his classmates, and he writes in complete sentences."
–Parent first grade student |
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CETT Teachers Share Their Stories
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Breaking New Ground
The CARD CETT is breaking new ground in the region by developing and introducing new methods to test for student learning in literacy. The results from the tests will be used to further refine the program and strengthen the program’s impact on student learning. A cornerstone of the CETT program is using applied research to constantly evaluate and improve its teacher training methods, testing tools, and education materials.
Because information and communications technology help both to support distance learning and to facilitate the development and dissemination of resources and research, CARD CETT created a web site that provides access to the different documents and teacher tools developed in the program. In addition, CARD CETT is developing an online training program that follows the CETT model in its ongoing attempt to reduce teacher training costs and reach more teachers. Classroom follow-up — which is vital to supporting teachers in implementing the new instruction methods — is an integral part of the online training program.
By improving basic literacy skills, CARD CETT will help to establish a strong educational foundation for children that will equip them to succeed in globalized economies. |
| "Now I do feel like going to class because lessons are happy and fun, the teacher has us working on many different exercises, but it doesn't make me sleepy any more."
–Second grade student |
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*The acronym is CARD CETT, because the Dominican Republic is "República Dominicana" in Spanish. |
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