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After more than 14 years of
a devastating civil war that began in 1989, followed by
continuing violence until 2005, Liberia is progressing
slowly from emergency relief to longer term development
activities. Poor infrastructure and the loss of a
knowledgeable and experienced generation as a result of
the prolonged conflict has necessitated a development
approach in all sectors that recreates the basic
foundations on which to build. There are very few
graduates from leadership or training institutions at
this time, as many such graduates fled or were killed.
Of those that fled, few have managed to return to
Liberia to join the rebuilding process. Those
professionals remaining are ill-equipped to face new
challenges in Liberia, as they have limited resources
and are struggling to utilize methods and tools that are
20 years out of date.
With funding from the U.S. Agency for International
Development and the Academy of Educational Development,
Heartland International will host two teacher trainers
and one standard test developer from Liberia in a
professional exchange program focusing on evaluating
student performance in Liberian education systems.
The program will focus on (a) training and practicum
in test development, (b)
test validation, (c) test results analysis,
and (d) educational measurement and evaluation tools
specific to each professional's area
Seminar/Discussion
Topics:
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Overview of Education in the U.S. and its
Relationship to Democracy
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Overview of Education Measurement, Testing
and Evaluation in the U.S.
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Assessment of current education
measurements in Liberia and understanding of needs
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5-day training on measurement, testing and
evaluation methods applicable in developing countries
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5-day train-the-trainer component
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1-day leadership workshop
Site
Visits/Meetings:
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Consortium on Educational Change
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Site Visits/Meetings to be identified
based on participant interests during individual work
day sessions.
Other Group
Sessions:
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Orientation and Goal Setting
§
Daily prep and post-meeting sessions to
review key objectives covered
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3-day Action Plan development
Cultural
Experiences:
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Various summer art and music festivals
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Educational Tour of Chicago
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Visits to Chicago museums
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Education
Measuring, Testing and Evaluation in