Training and Technical Assistance

The Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast and Islands (REL-NEI) is one of ten regional laboratories and has a mission to help pre-K–16 educators use the best available evidence to make decisions leading to improved student achievement and reduced performance gaps. REL-NEI places a special emphasis on helping states, districts, and schools build capacity to use their data effectively; forming and conducting high-quality research and evaluation through new “research alliances”; and helping regional education stakeholders incorporate data-based inquiry practices into their decision-making.

The Pre-Service Teacher Education (PreSTEP) program has the primary objective of helping the Government of Pakistan develop, introduce, and implement effective curricula for a new four-year bachelor’s degree in education and a two-year associate degree in education. To achieve this goal, PreSTEP helps provincial governments create systems, policies and standards that ensure the effective execution of these degree programs.

The Benin Teacher Motivation and Training (TMT) Project is working to improve training and performance of teachers. TMT consists of a number of simple interventions focused around a key theme—a set of clear expectations for teacher performance based on international standards of excellence. The use of this clear and universal set of standards will ensure that all systems meant to support and motivate teachers are focused on the same issues—improving teachers’ and thereby students’ chances of success.

The Educational Quality Improvement Program 3 (EQUIP3) is a Leader-with-Associate Award that is designed to improve earning, learning, and skill development opportunities for out-of-school youth in developing countries.

EQuALLS2 increases access to quality basic education and livelihood skills in areas most affected by conflict and poverty in the Philippines (primarily the Muslim areas in the Mindanao island group in the south). EQuALLS2 is a large-scale project that seeks to benefit 345,000 children and youth in 37 municipalities and four cities by training 37,238 educators and school officials, building the capacity of 850 local education stakeholder groups, and expanding local education resources through public-private partnerships.

The YES (Youth Employability Skills) Network will connect the supply and demand side of labor in Macedonia through various interventions in order to raise the quality of workers and connect them more readily to jobs.

The Youth Employment and Participation (YEP) Project aims to better prepare Kosovo youth for work in a growing market economy and for engaged citizenship in a developing democracy. To meet this goal, the YEP team will work together with selected market areas, engaging employers and other local, regional, and national leaders to blend together resources, skills, and policies for a sustainable system of opportunities and supports for out of school and out of work young people.

The Social Legacy Program (SLP) reaches out to youth and other vulnerable groups in the Europe and Eurasia region, giving them the tools they need to become local leaders and promote social change. Due to widespread socio-economic insecurity and a dramatic collapse in basic social services, these groups face great barriers to finding work and gaining viable skills, while the region on the whole struggles to make the transition towards market-oriented, democratic societies.

Ruwwad, taken from the Arabic word for “pioneers,” is a ground-breaking program created by Palestinians, for Palestinians. Its mission is to empower Palestinian youth and the adults who serve them, so that both groups can become strong local leaders and change-makers. Since 2005, Ruwwad has been planned, designed, and implemented “by youth, for youth,” with a focus on positive leadership development for young women and men ages 14 to 30.

The Garissa Youth Project (G-Youth Project) aims to empower youth in Kenya make sound career and life decisions as they transition from high school to the next phase of their lives. The project is also building the capacity of local institutions and networks to sustain the much-needed services that G-Youth will provide.