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For Applicants | Focus Areas | Haiti/ Education
Eligible Country:
Haiti
Additional Criteria for Applicants:
Please see Section V of the Solicitation for General Eligibility requirements.
Objectives:
PEER is seeking to support research that contributes to several topics around education and educational practices in Haiti. USAID/Haiti would like data for decision making around the following topics:
Children and youth with disabilities
There is a need to expand research about youth with disabilities (including but not limited to visual, hearing, and cognitive disabilities) in Haiti. USAID/Haiti would like to use data to make decisions on the design of future educational activities to increase educational access to youth (4-18 years of age) with disabilities. Some particular research topics of interest include:
- A diagnostic on the predominant types and demographics of disabilities represented in the Haitian youth of public school age (preschool, fundamental and secondary), along with an overview of current practices to address special educational needs by the Haitian education system (both public and private efforts). This should include an overview of the representation, integration, and access of students with disabilities in both mainstream and specialized education.
- A survey of available best practices from around the developing world related to increasing access of children and youth with disabilities to quality education. This could include an overview of educational policies, resources, and services that support quality educational access in Haiti for children and youth with disabilities.
Language of instruction and effective learning
Learning in the country’s mother tongue, Haitian Creole, was formally introduced to public schools in 1982 and has recently been promoted as the primary initial language of instruction, with eventual transition to French instruction at later levels. USAID/Haiti would like information and analyses, within the Haitian context, focused on current practices in language of instruction in the primary grades, throughout Haiti. Research projects should also include examinations of the effectiveness of using Haitian Creole vs. French as the primary language of instruction at different levels and approaches for effective uses and transitions of language of instruction. In addition, USAID/Haiti would like to understand how to transfer knowledge that children have obtained through Creole learning in order to help learn French, of which instruction begins in Grade 2. For example, how could Grade 2 French instructional materials be developed, taking into account prior knowledge of Creole?
Study on teachers’ practices in educational settings
The Inter-American Development Bank’s 2010 Haiti Country Strategy states that between 70 and 80 percent of teachers lack accreditation and one-quarter have an educational level less than the ninth grade. Evidence-based teaching practices are limited; many teachers have not mastered the competencies they are expected to teach; classroom management and disciplinary techniques are anachronistic; and the curriculum is outdated and often overlooked in practice. USAID/Haiti would like data for decision making pertaining to:
- Understanding teachers’ practices in classrooms, outside the classroom communication and coordination with parents, school directors, and local officials;
- Analysis of curricula and teaching approaches;
- Practices for managing non-traditional students in the classroom; and
- Diagnostic of the types of teaching degrees available as well as the degrees held by teachers currently teaching children and youth with disabilities.
Effectiveness of school feeding for improved academic outcomes
It has been shown in other country contexts that school feeding programs can have a positive outcome on academic outcomes. Ongoing efforts by the Government of Haiti, USAID, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and others have been made for school feeding programs in Haiti. USAID/Haiti would like to have information on school feeding practices to in order to better understand nutrition and its effect on academic outcomes in the Haitian context. USAID/Haiti and PEER are particularly interested in the following:
- A survey of available best practices from around the developing world related to the effect of school feeding programs on academic outcomes; and
- An overview of school feeding programs ongoing in Haiti, with comparative analysis of inputs, processes, and where available, outcomes.
Research projects that can address one or more of the above priority areas are highly encouraged to apply.
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