International Research and Exchange Board

• In Event: Partnership for effective and sustainable in-service training practice at-scale

Proposal

MCA-Georgia contracts international NGO IREX as a Program Management Consultant on the secondary teacher and principal training component of the MCC Georgia Compact. In this role, IREX contributes to the quality of the training design, content development and delivery of face to face trainings combined with monitoring of follow-up meetings with teachers and principals.

In the final year of project implementation, IREX is supporting the Government of Georgia to plan effectively for the transition from a 5-year, high intensity, donor-funded continuous teacher professional development (CPD) program to a lighter touch CPD approach that will support teachers to maintain and advance recent improvements in instructional practice.To this end, IREX outlined and costed a suite of evidence-based professional development offerings that MoES and TPDC can provide to teachers with existing domestic budget resources. These supports include 1) teacher professional learning communities, to be supported by independent subject associations; 2) general methodological and subject-specific online refresher trainings, 3) supplemental online resources aligned to curriculum standards.

Long-term supports are designed to use existing staff resources within the Georgian education system, for example with TPDC staff taking on roles in the online refresher training program. By aligning resource use for greatest impact, MoES and TPDC are well-poised to continue capitalizing on a policy environment and government investment that provides for teacher career advancement and promotes effective instructional practice.

Author

• Amy Bernath, IREX