Ministry, Union, the Church and Teachers: Bolivia's Partners in Innovation. LearnTech Case Study Series, No. 6.
A process of developing and testing an instructional methodology called interactive radio instruction (IRI) was begun in 1986 in order to improve the quality of primary school mathematics in Bolivia. When the development phase was complete and implementation well under way, management of the resultant Radio Learning Project (RLP) passed from the non-governmental organization (NGO), Fe y Alegria, to the Ministry of Education and Culture (MEC). Today, seven years after the initial pilot, approximately 600,000 primary-school children have enrolled in the RLP, renamed PARI; more than 8,000 teachers have been trained and certified in the IRI methodology, and in 1992, Radio Math achieved national recognition as the "official" mathematics program of Bolivia. This case study assesses how NGO management sustained RLP continuity, describes how broad-based teacher support laid the base for institutionalization, and looks at how IRI has revolutionized education in Bolivia. Rather than dwell on issues related to methodology or impact, the study assesses the sustainability of PANI from the sociological perspective, focusing on the issues of participation of people and systems key in driving national diffusion and sustainability. An appendix provides a chronology of events. (Contains nine references.) (Author/MAS) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ***********************************************************************
Health Education through Interactive Radio: A Child-to-Child Project in Bolivia
In developing countries it is common for older children to assume much of the responsibility for care of their younger siblings. Based on this observation, the "child-to-child" approach to health education targets these older children as a means of improving child health. As the initial phase in the development of a radio health curriculum in Bolivia, a module on diarrheal disease was developed and field-tested among fourth- and fifth-grade students in Cochabamba. The module consists of 10 interactive radio lessons in which the students respond orally to drill and practice, sing songs, or write key concepts in their notebooks. Following the 25-minute radio broadcast, the teacher conducts a 20-minute session that focuses on application and practice of the new behaviors. The module includes lessons on personal hygiene, water and oral rehydration, home sanitation, and nutrition. The field evaluation revealed the need for modifications in the teachers' role and greater attention to teacher training. Students responded enthusiastically and achieved significant knowledge gains as a result of the program. Plans are underway to expand the radio health program.
Improving elementary mathematics education in Nicaragua : an experimental study of the impact of textbooks and radio on achievement
Because widespread availability of textbooks in the United States preceded research on the effectiveness of instructional materials, there has been little systematic study of their impact on student achievement. The developing world provides an appropriate setting for such studies. This article reports an experimental study of the impact of textbook availability on mathematics achievement of students in Nicaraguan first-grade classes. This intervention is compared with control classes in which textbooks are relatively rare and with a radio-based instructional program that uses student worksheets but no other textual material. Classes were assigned at random to the three conditions. The control and two treatment groups scored similarly on a pretest of mathematical readiness. Both the textbook and the radio treatments had significant positive effects on achievement. Availability of textbooks increased student posttest scores by about 3.5 items correct, approximately .33 of a standard deviation. Availability of the radio instructional program increased student posttest scores 14.9 items, about 1.5 standard deviations. Both interventions reduced the achievement gap between urban and rural students.