USINTEC

Strengthening Institutional Capacity in Elementary Teacher Education, Grant to USINTEC

Granting Agency: Higher Education for Development (HED) - U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
Recipient: U.S./Indonesia Teacher Education Consortium (USINTEC)
Title: Strengthening Institutional Capacity in Elementary Teacher Education
Award Date and Period: 2007, 3 years
Award Amount: $125,000
USINTEC Cost Share: $211,153

Summary

USINTEC, a binational higher education consortium of 16 U.S. and Indonesian institutions, is addressing key development issues related to Indonesian teacher preparation, teacher quality, and a new law that creates the need to certify 2.7 million teachers over the next ten years. One million new teachers need to earn four-year undergraduate degrees to be certified and another 1.7 million who are already teaching need to be upgraded to undergraduate degree levels. This formidable task not only demands developing new programs to certify teachers but also upgrading the educational levels and knowledge of university lecturers who prepare them.

The major objective of U.S./Indonesia collaboration in this grant is to strengthen the institutional capacity of Indonesia's leading teacher education institutions to prepare highly qualified, certified elementary teachers. Primary activities include extended workshops conducted by U.S. and Indonesia partnership faculty combined with collaborative work at Indonesian partner universities in order to meet project objectives to:

assess existing two-year diploma and four-year undergraduate degree curricula and programs in elementary teacher education
assess information communication technologies (ICT) capacity
develop and revise new and existing undergraduate curricula and programs
implement programs

The U.S. and Indonesian partners are collaborating on how to incorporate the new standards set by the Ministry of National Education into content and pedagogy courses, strengthen student teaching, and utilize student-active pedagogies and ICT in the classroom. Anticipated outcomes include new elementary teacher preparation programs and ongoing international collaboration among USINTEC partners that extends their current work with each other.

Grant Activities

Workshops hosted by State University of Jakarta and State University of Semarang

2007: A seven-person U.S. team spent one month in Indonesia. With Indonesian USINTEC counterpart faculty, the U.S. team members conducted a 4-day workshop on elementary teacher education curriculum development and information communication technologies (ICT) hosted by the State University of Jakarta.
2008: A six-person U.S. team spent one month in Indonesia. A seventh U.S. team member funded by Ohio State University accompanied the team. With Indonesian USINTEC counterpart faculty, the U.S. team members conducted a 4-day workshop on strengthening institutional capacity in elementary teacher education hosted by State University of Semarang.

Number of Workshop Participants

2007: 7 Americans, 93 Indonesians
2008: 6 Americans, 71 Indonesians

Workshop Topics

2007: The 4-day workshop focused on
- Indonesian national initiatives in higher education, teacher quality improvement, school management, and ICT development
- institutional needs and assessments of S1 elementary teacher education program development and use of ICT
- ICT strategies, resources, and activities to support learning communities in teacher education programs
- aligning competency standards, courses, experiences, pedagogy, and assessments in elementary science education, mathematics education, social studies and civic education, literacy and language arts education
- university/school/community linkages in support of quality teacher education
- documenting teacher education students' growth and progress through portfolios, classroom action research, and fieldwork
2008: The 4-day workshop focused on
- Indonesian national initiatives in elementary teacher education program development, teacher quality improvement, teacher professionalism, teacher certification, and school management
- best practices in elementary and early childhood teacher education
- classroom action research and reflective teaching
- integrating multicultural education and other subject matter
- portfolios for assessing preservice and inservice teachers
- student active pedagogies in elementary science education, mathematics education, social studies and civic education, literacy and language arts education
- future of USINTEC collaboration
- fellowships available in Indonesia for study abroad

Field Assignments at 13 Indonesian USINTEC Partner Institutions following the Workshops

2007: The U.S. team engaged in field assignments at Indonesian USINTEC partner institutions in order to work with additional USINTEC faculty and to conduct ICT institutional assessments with Indonesian partners
2008: The U.S. team engaged in field assignments at the Indonesian partner institutions in order to work with and conduct workshops for additional USINTEC faculty and faculty from local universities as well as local teachers invited by the Indonesian host universities

Number of Participants during Fieldwork

2007: 7 U.S., 311 Indonesian
2008: 7 U.S., 1171 Indonesian

Total Number of Workshop and Fieldwork Participants

2007 + 2008: 1482

Strengthening Institutional Capacity Outcomes of the HED/USAID Grant

Curricula: Indonesian partner institutions are incorporating teacher professional standards into curricula, courses, and student assessments as they develop 4-year undergraduate programs to certify elementary teachers. The 2008 workshop continued collaboration and planning begun in 2007 among USINTEC faculties to address major issues related to human and institutional capacity building in elementary teacher education and the development of new Indonesian curricula and programs to certify elementary teachers.

Instruction: Indonesian partner institution faculty members are incorporating student active teaching and learning methodologies into their course work.

ICT infrastructure and utilization: The ICT assessment conducted by U.S. and Indonesian personnel at Indonesian USINTEC universities revealed that faculty efforts to incorporate ICT into course work are constrained by lack of sufficient computers on campus for use by faculty and students being trained to be elementary teachers, lack of sufficient high speed internet access, lack of faculty training in the use of computers and the internet for instructional purposes, and the use of remote campuses to train elementary teachers, further distancing students and faculty who train them from computer facilities available on the main campuses. The assessment highlighted the need to address these shortcomings on several levels, both nationally and institutionally.

Programs: Indonesian partner institutions are involved in the ongoing development of new 4-year undergraduate programs to certify elementary teachers. At the time grant collaboration began, the programs were partially developed (with the first year of the programs having been implemented). Hence, collaboration is contributing to the development of the last 3 years of the programs.

Community outreach: In 2008, the Indonesian USINTEC partner institutions invited faculties from surrounding universities (not members of USINTEC) and local teachers to workshops on their campuses during the time the U.S. team members were engaged in field assignments there. Each U.S. team member spent one week each at two Indonesian institutions. Hence, the field assignments of the 7 U.S. USINTEC team members at Indonesian partner USINTEC institutions resulted in an additional 1171 Indonesians participating in workshops jointly conducted by U.S. and Indonesian faculty.

Public-private sector involvement: USINTEC involved three Indonesian Ministry of National Education Director Generals in the 2007 4-day workshop, including (1) Higher Education (DGHE), (2) Quality Improvement of Teachers and Educational Personnel (DGQITEP), and (3) Primary and Secondary School Management (DGPSM). USINTEC also involved the United-States Indonesia Society (USINDO), a major NGO in Washington that promotes U.S./Indonesia government relations.

Dissemination: Information about USINTEC, its HED/USAID grant activities, and USINTEC development of the Alliance for Teacher Quality (ATQ) were reported in the media during the summers of 2007 and 2008 while the U.S. team was in Indonesia. Information was also disseminated in March and July 2008 at two public forums held by USINTEC in Jakarta and through the USINTEC website, www.usintec.org

Visibility: The HED/USAID grant activities brought greater visibility to, interest in, and support for USINTEC institutions and their collaborative agenda to strengthen Indonesian institutional capacity to produce more highly qualified teachers. USINTEC's greatest successes have been increased interest in USINTEC and the Alliance for Teacher Quality (ATQ) in Indonesia and making progress with Ministry of National Education units for overseas scholarships to support both short-term program participants and graduate degree students in USINTEC programs in the U.S.

Scholarships: 95 master's and doctoral sandwich program scholarships for Indonesian students (school teachers and junior faculty members) enrolled in Indonesian USINTEC universities were awarded by the Directorate General for Higher Education, the Directorate General for Quality Improvement of Teachers and Educational Personnel, and the Bureau of Planning and International Cooperation. Those students engaged in 4-month programs at U.S. USINTEC universities in the fall 2008 terms. Work with these Indonesian sandwich program students is building U.S. USINTEC faculty knowledge about Indonesia's educational development needs which is facilitating their work with degree students who are matriculating into USINTEC graduate programs.

Efforts to leverage grant funding: The 16 member institutions of USINTEC are engaged in efforts to leverage HED/USAID grant funding. When USINEC member institutions met in Jakarta in March 2008, they agreed that the USINTEC universities will contribute a minimum of $1 million in institutional funds to ATQ over the next 5 years. During 2008 USINTEC held two public forums to discuss obtaining support for the USINTEC scope of work through the Alliance for Teacher Quality (ATQ), the public-private development partnership established by USINTEC. The forums were attended by multiple Indonesian Director Generals, including Higher Education, Quality Improvement of Teachers and Educational Personnel, Primary and Secondary School Management, and Bureau of Planning and International Cooperation. Also in attendance were representatives from corporations, foundations, regional and international organizations, and NGOs identified by USINTEC as potential ATQ partners. All development costs for USINTEC and ATQ as well as costs for the ATQ public forums have been borne by USINTEC member institutions.