Miske Witt and Associates Inc.

A reception at Eastcliff, the historic residence of the University of Minnesota president in St. Paul, MN, on November 13 concluded a weeklong workshop on educating and empowering the most marginalized girls around the world.

Dr. Changu Mannathoko of Botswana, UNICEF's Senior Policy Adviser on Equity and Quality Education, was keynote speaker for the event. Dr. Mannathoko spoke on "Gender Equity in Education for Girls' Empowerment: An Urgent Call for Action."

The event celebrated the unique partnership among eight Country Offices and the Basic and Girls' Education Unit of CARE-USA, the University of Minnesota's College of Education and Human Development, and Miske Witt and Associates to support the Patsy Collins Trust Fund Initiative.

Other speakers at the event included Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar and U.S. Congress Representative Betty McCollum.  McCollum thanked the Country Office CARE staff present for their daily work to improve the lives of girls and women through education.

Country Offices in the partnership include Cambodia, Honduras, Mali and Tanzania (Cohort 1) and Bangladesh, India, Ghana, and Malawi (Cohort 2) in the two PCTFI Innovations cohorts. The partnership workshop that preceded the event was entitled "Measuring and Analyzing Impact:  Developing a Longitudinal Evidence Base of PCTFI Interventions."

Other speakers among the sterling group at Eastcliff included Jean Quam, Dean of the College of Education and Human Development; Robert Jones, Vice President for System Academic Administration; and Jean-Michel Vigreux, CARE Senior Vice President for Program Quality and Impact.

Shirley Miske, President and Senior Consultant, Miske Witt and Associates Inc., expressed special thanks to professors from the University's Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy and Development - Principal Investigator Joan DeJaeghere, Co-Principal Investigator Christopher Johnstone, and lead researchers Frances Vavrus and David Chapman, together with lead researchers and MWAI associates Nancy Kendall, Mark Lynd, and Eric Wilmot.*  Special thanks were also given to Sarah Bouchie, Director of CARE's Basic and Girls Education Unit and Margaret Meagher, Senior Advisor and Coordinator of the Patsy Collins Trust Fund Initiative, along with University of Minnesota graduate students supporting this creative partnership.

Others given special recognition were University of Minnesota President Robert H. Bruininks and his wife, First Lady Susan Hagstrom, who were unable to attend the event but graciously opened their home; and Vice President Meredith McQuaid and Assistant Vice President Carol Klee, University of Minnesota's Office of International Programs, which also sponsored the event.

*Miske Witt & Associates is grateful to Senator Al Franken and to his St. Paul office Constituent Service Director, Greg Buhr, for guidance through the process to secure a visa for Dr. Eric Wilmot, University of Cape Coast, Ghana, to participate in this workshop.

A workshop to address needs of the world's most marginalized girls and other children opened Nov. 9 at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis with a Gallery Walk featuring CARE representatives from eight nations.

Participants viewed photos and other material depicting development successes and ongoing needs in Honduras, Malawi, Mali, Ghana and four other nations.

The workshop is part of a public-private effort developed by the University of Minnesota and Miske Witt and Associates Inc. to undertake a research and development grant from the CARE Patsy Collins Trust Fund Initiative.

The event allowed the University of Minnesota community and others to learn about the work of this innovative joint research effort to promote international development in education. MWAI and the University are partnering with CARE-USA in the initiative.

It was also an opportunity for CARE representatives from the eight country offices to see each other's work to date, including photos, brochures, CDs and other materials.

Shirley Miske, president of Miske Witt Associates Inc., greeted colleagues and friends at the event, attended by about 100. Among them were MWAI Associates Eric Wilmot, Ph.D., University of Cape Coast, Ghana, working with CARE/Ghana (Kumasi Office); Nancy Kendall, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, Madison, working with CARE/Malawi; and Mark Lynd, Ed.D., School to School International, working with CARE/Mali.

Miske Witt and Associates Inc. (MWAI) is a partner with the University of Minnesota's College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) on a $ 1.1 million grant to work in partnership with CARE-USA and eight CARE Country Offices from 2008-2010 on the CARE Patsy Collins Trust Fund Initiative.  PCTFI is an initiative to improve the lives of the most marginalized girls internationally, especially with regard to basic education.  The University of Minnesota and MWAI developed a public-private consortium called MIDEC (Minnesota International Development Education Consortium) in undertaking this research and development grant.

Shirley Miske, President of Miske Witt and Associates, Inc (St. Paul) is a partner on the grant and is working with CARE/Honduras.  MWAI brings three other technical experts to the MIDEC/CARE partnership: 

Eric Wilmot, Ph.D., University of Cape Coast, Ghana, working with CARE/Ghana (Kumasi Office);
Nancy Kendall, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, Madison; working with CARE/Malawi; and      
Mark Lynd, Ed.D., working with CARE/Mali .

The research project involves four lead researchers from the University of Minnesota:  Joan DeJaeghere, Principal investigator, Chris Johnstone, Co-Principal Investigator, and Professors David Chapman and Fran Vavrus.  Nearly 20 graduate students work with the faculty in an applied research approach while participating in an advanced graduate seminar.

The University of Minnesota and MW&A researchers are collaborating with eight countries, grouped into two cohorts. Cohort 1 countries began the project in 2005 and include Cambodia, Honduras, Mali and Tanzania. Each country has taken on the task of educating the most marginalized children, especially girls, through interventions developed specifically for the region.

• Cambodia's intervention is called Bending Bamboo and is designed to address the underlying causes of indigenous girl's marginalization from basic education through a multi-focused intervention program.  The program's components include enabling access to quality education in the seven target villages, adoption of the Child Friendly Schools (CFS) framework, including enhancement of learning environments through the adoption of relevant Bilingual Education, systemic advocacy around the issues of girls' education and indigenous land security, provision of Life Skills classes for out of school girls, and provision of care to the younger siblings usually cared for by girls. 

• Honduras' interventions center on community engagement and promoting collaborative ventures between schools, families, and students for greater educational quality and alternative educational programming. RENACER is involved with a center for abused schools, an alternative evening school program, a community based youth program, teacher professional development and a new early childhood initiative.
  

• The CARE team in Mali is focusing on improving the quality and relevance of non-formal education programs intended to provide vocational training for children living in communities underserved by formal primary schooling and help to build the instructional skill sets of teachers in learner-centered methodologies thereby contributing to education quality.  The program also takes a proactive role to encourage the full participation of youth to engage in both civic and economic development in their communities while they are attending the CED 1st cycle program of studies and upon their return from their studies.
  

• Tanzania's interventions work with issues of work load and social status of girls by developing a community-based girls' leadership program that will target adolescent girls, both in school and out. The program for out-of-school girls is designed to re-integrate girls into formal education through non-formal educational offerings. The Tanzania team also seeks to empower girls through a youth sports program.

Cohort 2 countries were selected in 2007 and include Bangladesh, Ghana, India and Malawi. Cohort 2 countries are also focused on the most marginalized children, but also are undertaking experimental design research methodologies. Cohort 2 countries are still finalizing their intervention plans, but the proposed interventions include:

• Bangladesh has proposed working with School Management Committees to improve teacher attendance and quality of schools.

• Ghana intends to implement a girl to girl mentoring program in which older girls mentor younger girls to improve achievement and attendance.

• India has proposed a training package for teachers to improve learner centered pedagogy and child friendly schools.

• Malawi has proposed a teacher training package to improve learner centered pedagogies.

The U of MN and MWAI currently are working with all Cohort 1 countries around data collection strategies, data management, and planning for longitudinal data. With Cohort 2 countries, MIDEC is providing technical capacity development for intervention planning as well as helping to build capacity for current and future data collection. MIDEC is also collaborating with each country office to develop and implement the research design for each context.

The U of MN, MWAI, and CARE USA will hold a 6-day workshop November 9-14, 2009 for all Cohort 1 and Cohort 2 countries. The workshop objectives include: refining an intervention plan and outcomes that will be observed both short and long term; understanding longitudinal data collection and what that means in terms of measurement and evaluation; and knowledge exchange and reflection for CARE country teams and university faculty and graduate students.

MWAI continues to support the Child Friendly Schools initiative to improve educational quality in the Republic of Macedonia.  MWAI consultants are conducting Trainer of Trainers workshops in literacy and mathematics in June 2009 in Ohrid, Macedonia for teachers and advisors from Macedonia's Bureau for the Development of Education (BDE).  
 
Team leader Jan Westrick, Ed.D. (Valparaiso University, IN, USA), senior consultant Diane Prouty Harris, Ph.D. (Port Charlotte, FL, USA), and literacy specialist Richard Holdgreve-Resendez, M.A. (Michigan State University, USA), are training 55 teachers and advisors.   Curriculum methodologist and senior consultant Nancy Clair, Ed.D. (San Francisco, CA, USA) developed the materials and guide in collaboration with Michele Monson, Ed.D. (Valparaiso University, IN, USA) and Jan Westrick.
 
Also in June, team leader and mathematics coach Judy Rohde, M.A., (Shoreview, MN, USA), together with senior mathematics coaches Mary Ellen Knappmiller, M.A., and Marium Toure, M.A. (Minneapolis School District, MN USA) will conduct the third of three one-week trainings for 70 teachers and advisors in Thinking Mathematics.  This is a staff development curriculum for teachers developed by and used with permission from the American Federation of Teachers. 
 
Beginning September 2009, Macedonian teachers, with support from MWAI and the BDE advisors, will conduct trainings for other primary school teachers in research-based strategies for teaching literacy (Macedonian, Albanian, and Turkish) and mathematics in the early grades. 
 
MWAI has accompanied UNICEF Macedonia and the BDE in the Child-Friendly Schools development process since August 2006.

In support of UNICEF's Child Friendly Schools initiative in the Republic of Macedonia, MWAI is sending Senior Consultant Dr. Nancy Clair and a team of three senior mathematics coaches from Minnesota to conduct a Training of Trainers Workshop in Ohrid, Macedonia March 10-14, 2009.