|
 |
Frequently Asked Questions |
About the Region
- Why are low literacy levels a problem in Latin America and the Caribbean?
- What countries will benefit from the CETT program's literacy training activities?
- Is leadership in the countries supportive of the CETT program?
|
|
About CETT
- What is the Centers of Excellence for Teacher Training (CETT) program doing to address low levels of literacy in the region?
- How did the CETT program get started?
|
About the CETT Model
- Who is providing the teacher training?
- What does the training model look like?
- How will technology be used to enable the training to reach larger numbers of teachers and children?
|
About Public-Private Partnerships
- What contribution will partnerships make to ensure the success of the CETT program?
- What role does the private sector play in supporting literacy improvement and the CETT program?
- What are some specific ways the private sector can make a significant contribution to promote literacy development through the CETT program?
- What if a company is already sponsoring literacy improvement through another program?
|
About the Region
Q: Why are low literacy levels a problem in Latin America and the Caribbean?
A: Across Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), too many children fail to attain literacy during their early primary school years, and too many teachers lack the preparation and the materials to teach them. The result is widespread grade repetition, high dropout rates and illiteracy. Illiteracy reduces children’s ability to reach their full potential as individuals, workers, and citizens. On a macroeconomic level, national and regional economic competitiveness is severely constrained. This situation perpetuates the cycle of poverty in LAC.
Q: What countries will benefit from the CETT program’s literacy training activities?
A: The Centers of Excellence have been established across the hemisphere with programs focused in Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia in the Andean region; Belize, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago in the English-speaking Caribbean; and the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua in the Central America region. The Dominican Republic CETT works with the Central American countries because it shares a common language with the region.
Q: Is leadership in the countries supportive of the CETT program?
A: The Ministries of Education of the respective participating countries have strongly endorsed this program. They strongly support the goal of improving student learning in reading and writing and recognize that, for many of the teachers, this will be the first time that they have received extensive formal training in reading education.
|
About CETT
Q: What is the Centers of Excellence for Teacher Training (CETT) program doing to address low levels of literacy in the region?
A: The Centers of Excellence for Teacher Training has introduced an effective model, based on international best practices, for teacher training that measurably increases children’s reading and writing capabilities throughout the hemisphere, providing these children with a chance for a better quality of life.
Q: How did the CETT program get started?
A: At the 2001 Summit of the Americas in Quebec, the presidents of the Western Hemisphere agreed that the millions of school age children in the hemisphere who are unable to read and write needed to be reached. President George W. Bush proposed the Centers of Excellence for Teacher Training program and seed money was provided through the United States Agency for International Development as a Presidential Initiative.
|
About the CETT Model
Q: Who is providing the teacher training?
A: CETT regional centers are hosted by leading pedagogical universities. CETT partner institutions include:
- Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia
- Universidad Nur in Bolivia
- Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar in Ecuador
- University of the West Indies
- Universidad Pedagógica Nacional Francisco Morazánin Honduras
- Universidad del Valle in Guatemala
- Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra in the Dominican Republic
- Escuela Normal Ricardo Morales Avilés in Nicaragua
- Fundación Empresarial para el Desarrollo Educativo in El Salvador
Q: What does the training model look like?
A: CETT master teachers are trained through the Centers using strategies that incorporate international best practices for teaching reading and writing. Master teachers have been trained in each country. These master teachers, in turn, train teachers from participating schools. A key element of the program is that master teachers visit teachers in their classrooms over an extended period of time to provide coaching and modeling.
Q: How will technology be used to enable the training to reach larger numbers of teachers and children?
A: Special attention is being given to determining how distance-learning methodologies can dramatically increase the number of teachers and children reached. Nur University in Bolivia is piloting a distance-learning course for the Andean Region and the highly regarded Latin American Institute for Education Communication, based in Mexico City, will test distance-learning capabilities for Central America and The Dominican Republic.
|
About Public-Private Partnerships
Q: What contribution will partnerships make to ensure the success of the CETT program?
A: CETT is mobilizing the participation of private sector companies, foundations, government, non-governmental organizations, and citizens throughout the western hemisphere. CETT’s vision is grounded in the creation of public-private partnerships to sustain a program that trains primary school teachers and strengthens their ability to teach children to read and write. While seed funding was provided by the US Agency for International Development, the CETTs are seeking long-term sustainability through partnership with the public and private sector in the region.
Q: What role does the private sector play in supporting literacy improvement and the CETT program?
A: A founding philosophy of the CETT program is that “education, especially the ability to read and write as its foundation, is everybody’s business.” Companies exert tremendous efforts in the area of primary education and literacy training. Companies adopt schools, provide special programs for children of their employees, encourage employee mentoring and volunteerism in disadvantaged schools, promote “stay-in-school” programs, and much more. Partnership between CETT and the private sector will bring new force and advocacy to the fight against child illiteracy. Corporations and governmental organizations working together for child literacy can deliver a strong message that a well-educated population is the cornerstone of personal, social and economic development. Private sector leadership will be integral to the success of the CETT program to emphasize the importance of literacy as a gateway to all learning and a key to a competitive work force.
Q: What are some specific ways the private sector can make a significant contribution to promote literacy development through the CETT program?
A: Private sector partners’ contributions are key to sustaining ongoing CET teacher training, and providing the resources – teaching and learning materials and children’s books – that the program needs to accomplish its goals. If you'd like to help, please contact us.
|
|
|
|
|
