Interethnic Integration in Education Project QUARTERLY PROGRAM PERFORMANCE REPORT No. 13 January 1, 2015 – March 31, 2015 Students from PS Mirche Acev and PS Bajram Shabani on a joint outing Submitted by: Macedonian Civic Education Center (MCEC) under Cooperative Agreement No. AID-165-A-12-00002 USAID Interethnic Integration in Education Project QUARTERLY REPORT #13, January 2015 – March 2015 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 1. Background 3 2. Progress Towards Objectives 4 3. Crosscutting Activities 7 4. Project Activities 11 4.1. Community Outreach 11 4.2. Capacity Building of School Management and Teachers 15 4.3. Demonstration Schools 24 4.4. Providing Incentives to Schools and Communities 31 5. Lessons learned 37 6. Activities to Increase Participation of People with Disabilities (PWDs) 38 7. Activities in the next reporting period 39 8. List of appendices 41 2 USAID Interethnic Integration in Education Project QUARTERLY REPORT #13, January 2015 – March 2015 MACEDONIAN CIVIC EDUCATION CENTER (MCEC) USAID INTERETHNIC INTEGRATION IN EDUCATION PROJECT (IIEP) QUARTERLY PROGRAM PERFORMANCE REPORT No. 13 Cooperative Agreement No: AID-165-A-12-00002 Progress Report No: 13 Reporting Period: January 1, 2015 – March 31, 2015 1. BACKGROUND On December 2, 2011, the Macedonian Civic Education Center (MCEC) signed the Cooperative Agreement with USAID agreeing to provide support to USAID’s Interethnic Integration in Education Project (IIEP). IIEP is a four-year, USD 5.2 million initiative targeting all primary and secondary schools in Macedonia. The main objective of IIEP is to build awareness and provide diversity training, technical assistance, and incentives to school boards, directors, teachers, and administration officials in support of interethnic integration in education. It will build broad public understanding on the benefits for all citizens as a result from integrating Macedonia’s education system. IIEP will also create the political, social and economic environment need for Macedonia to achieve sustained interethnic integration in schools, in other educational institutions and eventually all of society. Complementing this, the project team will strengthen the capacity of school staff, students and parents to address issues of diversity and equity in their schools and communities. Project’s approach is comprised of four mutually-supporting and inter-related components. 1. Community Outreach; 2. Capacity Building of School Management and Teachers; 3. Demonstration Schools; and 4. Providing Incentives to Schools and Communities. Students, parents, teachers, administrators and school board members in all primary and secondary schools across Macedonia will be the primary focus of project activities. Additionally, BDE advisors and education inspectors at national and regional level will also be central to achieving sustained change and will actively participate in capacity strengthening activities. Achieving success also demands that IIEP actively engages stakeholders in schools, communities and local governments in the integrated mix of project activities. MCEC is implementing IIEP on behalf of USAID in partnership with educational institutions in Macedonia (Bureau for Development of Education, National Examination Center, State Education Inspectorate, Vocational Education and Training Center) and local NGOs (Center for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution, Loja, Sumnal, Multimedia, My Career, Macedonian Institute for Media and Youth Education Forum). 3 USAID Interethnic Integration in Education Project QUARTERLY REPORT #13, January 2015 – March 2015 2. PROGRESS TOWARDS OBJECTIVES During the reporting period the following was accomplished: Crosscutting Activities: . IIEP Work Plan for 2015 activities prepared and approved by USAID; . Memorandum of Understanding with the National Examination Center signed; . Partner organizations’ annual performance evaluation for the year 2014 conducted; . Sub-grant contracts with six (6) partner organizations, based on the IIEP Annual Plan of Work for 2015 renewed; . Regular coordination with partner organizations continued (Summary Partners Quarterly Reports are presented in Appendix 1). Monitoring and Evaluation: . Trainings, seminars, workshops, meetings and presentations implemented by each of the components visited in aim to monitor them; . Check lists filled in from the monitoring of the joint student activities; . The electronic application for schools’ small grants reporting prepared; . The preparations for the evaluation of the Demonstration schools activities started; . Additional electronic data for the multilingual schools collected; . The M&E results and findings presented through participation in TV media outlets; . Meeting with the OSCE representative on the M&E findings and results held. Component One, Public Outreach: . Regular coordination meetings for activities with partner organizations Macedonian Institute for Media (MIM), PAC Multimedia and Youth Educational Forum (YEF) organized; . IIEP web site and other web-based communication resources updated; . IIEP public appearances in the media; . Information materials for IIE developed and disseminated; . Regular updates about IIEP activities shared with the institutions, municipalities and schools; . The video documentary as an outcome from the process of the creative workshops implementation in secondary schools produced and preparations from its promotion started; . The organization of the Open Days in the Demonstration Schools supported; . Informal gatherings and briefing meeting with editors-in-chief held; . IIEP/MCEC activities presented at the Peace Corps fair; . Different project activities (joint student activities, trainings, etc.) visited in aim to produce short informative stories; . Public presentation of the final product from the creative workshops with Secondary School from Gostivar held; . Commission for evaluation of the applications from secondary schools regarding the multimedia products formed and first three (3) best products selected; . Ribbon-cutting ceremony in the primary school “Kuzman Sapkarev” from the municipality of Kisela Voda organized. Component Two, Capacity Building of School Management and Teachers: . IIEP achievements in 2014 and Work Plan for 2015presented to the Working Group for Component 2 and 3; 4 USAID Interethnic Integration in Education Project QUARTERLY REPORT #13, January 2015 – March 2015 . Advanced training for school trainers for interethnic integration in education for schools with two/three languages of instruction delivered; . Two (2) working meetings for inclusion of key elements of the IIE concept in the training content for the school directors held; . Second mentoring meetings for support of the SITs from Phase 3 organized; . School support visits and observation of the joint student activities in the multilingual schools conducted; . Support for implementation of IIE activities of the selected schools for renovation form Phase 3 provided; . Meeting with working committee for integration of IIE in regular and extracurricular activities on school level conducted; . Support to schools for planning and implementation of joint student activities, supported by the small grants, provided; . 96 school grants for implementation of joint student activities approved and selected schools started with activities implementation; . Meetings organized with the mayors and municipal officials in ten (10) municipalities that were selected in aim to provide further support for their more focused planning and implementation of the IIE activities on school and local community level; and; . Meetings with the ten (10) schools selected to participate in the sport and fun students’ activities held; . The Manual for IIE for teacher training faculties enriched with the additional content collected from the best practices and lessons learned from the SIT from the demonstration school “Sande Sterjoski”, Kicevo. Component Three, Demonstration Schools: . Five (5) debriefing meetings (one in each Demonstration school) with SIT and teachers-implementers carried out; . Two (2) one-day working meetings with school board members, members of parents councils, municipality officials and school management from all Demonstration schools held; . Five (5) public events – Open days for promotion of project activities organized; . One (1) debriefing meeting with partner organizations and BDE advisors held; . Twenty (20) support meetings for monitoring and mentoring activities per demonstration school) carried out; . One (1) two-day seminar with two groups with SITs from all Demonstration schools carried out; . One (1) two-day training seminar in constructive conflict resolution techniques with professional service staff from Demonstration and non-Demonstration schools organized; . Three (3) student initiatives in three (3) demonstration schools undertaken; . Thirteen (13) groups for running joint extracurricular long term students activities had activities on a weekly basis; . One (1) group of teachers for implementing workshops for acquiring basic concepts of Macedonian and Albanian language formed; . Six (6) demonstration’s school manifestations with integrated pieces, , one (1) humanitarian event, one (1) outing organized; . Two (2) initiatives by parents undertaken; . Four (4) new groups for implementing multicultural workshops established. 5 USAID Interethnic Integration in Education Project QUARTERLY REPORT #13, January 2015 – March 2015 Component Four, Providing Incentives to Schools and Communities: . Meetings