PREL Recognizes Educational Efforts Made By The Chuuk Women’s Council WENO, Chuuk (The Kaselehlie Press, July 2014) — On Wednesday, June 25, 2014, ten Chuuk Women’s Council (CWC) members received Certificates of Completion from Pacific Resources for Education and Learning (PREL) for completing training and the administration of the Short Assessments for Literacy (SAL) at Mwan Elementary School. SAL is a formative assessment tool developed by PREL on Chuukese and English literacy for grades K5-3. The piloting success at Mwan was made possible with participation of the ten CWC members, who completed SAL training offered by the Pilot DLA project, and sat side-by-side with each student in grades K5-3 to administer SAL. SAL was introduced to the Chuuk Department of Education (DOE) as part of the Pilot Dual Language Arts (DLA) Curriculum Framework project. The project is funded by the Chuuk DOE and led by PREL in collaboration with the DOE. SAL measures Chuukese and English literacy skills through the five categories of alphabetic understanding, fluency, reading comprehension strategies (recall and locate), and writing. Each student is assessed individually, and is asked to read or listen to a text followed by oral questions and a writing prompt. The SAL administrator records students’ responses and uses rubrics to determine each student’s performance level (advanced, proficient, developing, or beginner) for each category. SAL is designed for administration at least three times during a school year, so that teachers document students’ literacy development, and act on the information immediately to make informed decisions about teaching and learning. PREL Senior Specialist Destin Penland stressed the importance of the SAL for both the DOE and individual teachers because the results provide a better understanding of what areas students are struggling with, allowing for more targeted lessons to be created. He advocated for additional opportunities for students to read, write, listen, and speak in both Chuukese and English. He believes that given more chances to practice, and increased exposure, the students are capable of great things. The CWC is working to make such increased opportunities a reality through its initiatives for both parents and their children. Thanks to a grant from the government of Japan, the CWC is currently expanding the SM Poll Center to have a second floor which will host a children and youth learning center that includes a library. The library will be open to the community and host various learning and development activities for families. Penland along with CWC board member Nely Mori Ruben handed out the certificates to the following SAL Administrators: Merina Francis, Batsipa Sarafin, Ermina Conrad, Rosalina Pakiu, Repsina Joseph, Sally Poll, Suomi Phaynid, Sunshine Ranik, Siperia Ruben, and Mary Rose Nakayama. The hard work of these women allowed for the pilot of the SAL to be a success and their continued dedication to Mwan Elementary School and the Chuuk Educational System is to be commended. Though the SAL results indicate there is still much work to be done, the assessment provides a critical starting point for targeting needs and tracking progress.
Posted on: Tue, 29 Jul 2014 08:25:17 +0000
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