Teach For Armenia

Who (first and last name) is the Team Lead for your application and LEAP Project?

Kristina Tsaturyan

Describe the role the Team Lead plays in your organization. [100-200 words recommended]

The Team Lead (hereinafter TL) is responsible for:

Providing leadership and strategy: The TL is responsible for setting the vision and strategy for the Seroond program, and for communicating that vision to the rest of the team to galvanize the around common goal and working towards it effectively.

Leading the staff: The TL is responsible for leading and coaching the Seroond staff who are implementing the program in schools. This includes overseeing their work, providing guidance and support as needed, and ensuring that they are working effectively towards program goals.

Building relationships: The TL is responsible for building and maintaining relationships with key stakeholders, including Government officials, school leaders and community members. The TL ensures that the program is seen as a valuable and effective resource for schools and communities.

Monitoring and evaluating progress: The TL is responsible for monitoring and evaluating the progress of the program, including tracking student outcomes and assessing the effectiveness of program activities. 

Advocating for the program: The TL is responsible for advocating for the Seroond program both within Teach for Armenia and externally, i.e. communicating the program's impact and value to potential funders, partners, and stakeholders.

Explain how your Team Lead and supporting team members are well-positioned to effectively support the LEAP Project, given other priorities within your organization. [200-500 words - recommended]

Our Team Lead and supporting team members are well-positioned to effectively support the implementation of the LEAP project, despite other priorities within our organization. The LEAP project is a central focus for us, and we recognize the importance of dedicating the necessary resources and attention to ensure its success.

Our Team Lead and Senior Leadership Development Manager possess extensive experience in education, particularly in social-emotional learning and positive psychology—the foundational elements of the Seroond program. They have a proven track record in managing complex programs, coordinating teams, and fostering relationships with stakeholders, making them the ideal leaders for the Seroond program.

To manage priorities within our organization, we have established clear communication channels and regular (weekly) meetings to ensure alignment and avoid conflicts with other ongoing initiatives. Our organization has also dedicated specific resources—staff members and time—to implement the LEAP project.

Furthermore, our organization fosters a collaborative culture that encourages teamwork and shared learning. This environment allows our Team Lead and supporting team members to draw upon the collective expertise within Teach for Armenia.

One-line solution summary: In 20 words or less, summarize your organization's product or program that is the focus of your LEAP Project.

The solution lies in the holistic transformation of public schools in Armenia through introduction of social-emotional education and parental engagement.

Define the problem that your solution seeks to solve. [200-500 words recommended]

According to the World Bank’s Teacher Profile and Policies during the recent years Armenia has made steady progress in reducing poverty, but there is a huge way through, particularly what concerns the human development in Amenia. The labor market in Armenia faces lack of qualified specialists as a main obstacle to the economic development, yet the school system in Armenia failed to meet the challenges of the social and economic development and create education systems that support the development of practical skills and updated knowledge, as well as generic skills such as problem solving, critical and creative thinking, languages and leadership. 

In 2019, Armenia participated in Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), an international assessment focused on mathematics and science. While the country recently saw the highest gains since 2003, Armenia’s most recent TIMSS results still put the country just below the center point of the assessment’s scale.  

Furthermore, according to the Human Capital Index (2020) a child born in Armenia today will be 40% less productive in the future due to lack of complete education and full health, which is lower than the average for Europe and Central Asia. It also shows that a child who starts school at the age of 4 in Armenia can formally expect to complete 11.3 years of schooling by the age of 18. Factoring in what children actually learn, however, an analysis of learning outcomes shows that expected years of schooling equate to 8 years. This results in a learning gap of 3.3 years. 

Recently, the Republic of Armenia started education reforms, particularly on February 4, 2021 the Government of Armenia approved the State Standard for secondary education, thus introducing competency-based curriculum into the secondary education. Though it taps into social-emotional learning, traditionally deeply rooted practices in focusing on memorization only do not promote effective implementation of the reforms.

And although curriculum reform is key for the implementation of competency-based education, it is not sufficient to help teachers tailor their instructional methods and practices for student-centered approaches.

Describe your solution and how it works in simple terms. [200-500 words recommended]

Seroond is a whole school transformation program designed to enhance the social-emotional learning and well-being of students, families, and school teams. The program was created by Teach for Armenia, an organization dedicated to providing quality education for children in Armenia. Seroond's approach is grounded in research on social-emotional learning and positive psychology, and it aims to create a supportive and inclusive school environment that nurtures the whole child.

Seroond's implementation involves a series of steps that are designed to engage all members of the school community. First, the school team undergoes training in social-emotional learning and positive psychology, which includes developing their own social-emotional competencies. This training is intended to enable them to model and teach these competencies to their students.

Next, the program supports the school team in developing and implementing a school-wide social-emotional learning curriculum that is tailored to the unique needs of their students. This curriculum is designed to foster students' social-emotional skills and well-being, including self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. 

In addition to the school-wide curriculum, Seroond also supports teachers in developing individualized and group learning plans for each student. These plans take into account each student's learning variability and help teachers provide targeted support to address any areas of development. We this approach we recognize that all children have different learning styles and needs, and that a one-size-fits-all approach to education is not effective for every student.

Finally, Seroond engages families in the school community and provides them with resources to support their children's social-emotional development and learning. This includes regular communication with families about their children's progress and opportunities for families to participate in school activities and events.

In summary, Seroond is a whole school transformation program that aims to enhance social-emotional learning and well-being for students, families, and school teams. Its approach is grounded in research and involves a series of steps to engage all members of the school community. Seroond's individualized learning plans and focus on learning variability demonstrate a commitment to meeting the unique needs of each student. This approach has proven successful in primary schools in Takhta, Dilijan, and has the potential to positively impact many more students and schools in Armenia and beyond.

Select the key characteristics of your target population. Select all that apply.

• Women & Girls
• Primary school children (ages 5-12)
• Rural
• Poor
• Low-Income
• Persons with Disabilities

In which country or countries does your solution currently operate?

Armenia

Upload your solution's Theory of Change or Logic Model.

Where would you place your solution on Nesta's Standards of Evidence?

To date, what research/studies has your organization conducted that have helped demonstrate the effectiveness of your solution? [200-500 words recommended]

We have conducted the following researches/studies:

Foundational research - research of theories and practices, international resources and programs on social-emotional learning, as well as research of Armenian educational standard. 

Formative research - we have conducted diagnostic and summative tests for Math and Literacy, as well as life skills and six competencies.

Surveys among teachers, parents and principals on the perceptions of the program impact on their children.

What has the research/studies you have conducted revealed about your solution and how did it inform your work moving forward? [200-500 words recommended]

First, we have studied the international experience and literature on the use of social-emotional and personalized learning among different age groups.  done desk review of the interventions. We  have also studied Michael Fullan’s deep learning theory, as well as the Life Skills assessment scale developed by the Dream and Dream Life Skills Assessment Scale that allows us to measure an individual's proficiency in various life skills related to achieving their dreams and goals. It assesses the level of competence in specific areas that contribute to the realization of dreams and helps individuals identify areas for improvement.

During the pilot year of the operations at the primary classes in one of the Seroond schools we have done diagnostic and summative assessments in Math and Literacy, as well as Life skills and six competencies. Also, we have used standard surveys to assess the satisfaction of the parents and teachers with the program. After one academic year, we have seen big gains in both academic achievement and life skills. At the beginning of the year the average score in Mathematics was between 45 - 48% across grades, more than 50% students scoring between 55 & 65% and less than 20% of students scored above 76% in Maths. By the end of the year the average score was between 70% - 88% across grades, more than 57% of students were scoring above 75%, less than 20% of students scored below 35% in Maths in Grades 3 & 4 and 0% scored below 35% in Grade 2. Moreover, we have identified the area for the improvement, as ~40% of Seroond students (across grades) were not yet taking initiative or managing conflict independently and/or with little help. By the end of the year ~90% of Seroond students were taking initiative and managing conflict with a little help and independently.

A year later we have included two more schools in the pilot targeting the middle and high schools. After one year of the implementation along with the improvement of the life skills among students (in average 50% growth in all skills) the students had around 20% growth in academic achievements. We have seen correlation between the life skills growth and growth in knowledge application and critical thinking in the academic test results. While the growth in knowledge in Math was 47% the growth in knowledge application and critical thinking was 120%.

Describe your organization's need to strengthen the evidence base of your solution. [200-500 words recommended]

During these years we have used different evaluation tools to measure the effectiveness of the Seroond program. We have showcased the results both to the Government of Armenia and different stakeholders. Currently we are in the stage of scaling up Seroond across Armenian public schools and transforming the three year transformation program to Seroond authored school model that is implemented in the public schools of Armenia. While we are measuring the overall effectiveness of the program through assessments, we would like to develop tools and a holistic framework for evaluation of specific interventions for the whole child and whole school development. First it will provide additional evidence for the research in the implementation of social-emotional learning in different cultural contexts and age groups, secondly it will increase the trustworthiness of the model among the public and support international cooperation and knowledge sharing with our partners.

During our work in the public schools we have developed and utilized different measurement tools, however, we haven’t much focused on the impact of family engagement and home support to children for the development of the social-emotional skills. While we observe the positive impact it has on the development of social-emotional skills, we would like to develop data proven interventions that support the learning and development of children in the variety of learning contexts, such as families. Additionally, we  need additional data to codify the Seroond model and scale up across Armenia.

What are 2-3 research questions that you would like your LEAP Project to help you answer? [100 words recommended]

1. What are the family engagement strategies that support the development of social-emotional skills of children of different age groups
2. What are the components of social emotional learning at home that promote learning and whole child development?
3. How does the socio-economic background of families affect the social-emotional scores of children?

What type of research/studies do you think will help answer your stated questions? Select all that apply.

• Formative research (e.g. usability studies; feasibility studies; case studies; user interviews; implementation studies; pre-post or multi-measure research; correlational studies)

Please elaborate on your selection above by describing your desired outputs of the 12-week LEAP Project sprint. [200 - 500 words recommended]

• Write a literature review on the family engagement and home environment in promoting wellbeing and sense of belonging among the school community in different cultural contexts.

• Design the survey (analytical framework, methodology, tools, timeline) on how to promote wellbeing and sense of belonging among school communities through parental engagement strategies and home support including the information on socio-economic background and cultural peculiarities.

• Design the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL); CBCL captures the perception of caregivers about children's behavioral and emotional problems and competencies.

• Design strategy for scaling up the model to different regions of Armenia.

How will your organization put these outputs into action? [200-500 words recommended]

After the LEAP Project sprint the team will conduct the survey based on the methodology and with the tools developed throughout the sprint and in line with the timeline set by the team. 

Survey results will be analyzed that will be utilized in several ways: 

1. First, based on the findings the team will work on designing specific interventions that would support meaningful family engagement promoting wellbeing and sense of belonging in the community. Particularly the findings will be codified and serve as a basis for the design of multicomponent parental engagement strategies based on the socio-economic background, child behavioral perceptions and cultural peculiarities.

2. The tools utilized through the survey will be redesigned and used to measure the impact of the parental engagement framework and its further amelioration.

3. The results will be published in an article to support the research on family support and engagement in securing the wellbeing and holistic development of children. 

4. Additionally, the results will be presented to the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport and school communities for scaling up the model across public schools of Armenia.

5. Further, based on the findings we will define the areas that need to be addressed further, such as similarities and differences of perceptions on child behavior and learning among different stakeholders, further interventions to create learning environments that support the sense of belonging and wellbeing of children.

Describe your desired short-term and long-term outcomes of the 12-week LEAP Project sprint for both your organization and solution. [200-500 words recommended]

The desired short-term and long-term outcomes of the 12-week LEAP Project sprint for both our organization and solution are as follows:

Short-term outcomes:

Increased family engagement: In the short term, we aim to see increased family engagement through the implementation of specific strategies that support the development of social-emotional skills in children of different age groups. This includes involving families in workshops, training sessions, and collaborative projects that promote social-emotional learning at home.

Enhanced social-emotional skills: The short-term outcome is to witness the development and improvement of social-emotional skills in children as a result of the components of social-emotional learning implemented at home. Through the LEAP Project, we want to empower families to create supportive environments that foster the acquisition of these skills, such as self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making.

Informed research recommendations: The LEAP Fellows will produce research recommendations, guidance, and strategies based on their literature review and survey design. These outputs will inform our approach to strengthen the evidence base of our solution. In the short term, we expect to have well-designed research tools and frameworks that capture the socio-economic background and cultural peculiarities impacting social-emotional scores and the effectiveness of family engagement strategies.

Long-term outcomes:

Improved well-being and sense of belonging: The long-term goal is to promote the well-being and sense of belonging among the school community in different cultural contexts. By implementing effective family engagement strategies and creating supportive home environments, we anticipate a positive impact on the overall well-being and sense of belonging of students, parents, and teachers. This will contribute to a nurturing and inclusive school community.

Strengthened evidence base: Through the literature review and research recommendations produced during the LEAP Project, we aim to contribute to the existing knowledge base on family engagement, home environments, and social-emotional development. These outputs will inform future interventions and approaches, both within our organization and in the wider education community. By strengthening the evidence base, we can advocate for the importance of social-emotional learning and support the implementation of effective practices.

Scalability and expansion: We envision scaling up the Seroond program model to different regions of Armenia to reach more schools and communities. The long-term outcome is to have a well-defined strategy for scaling up the model, considering regional variations, cultural nuances, and socio-economic factors. This will enable us to extend the impact of the program and promote social-emotional learning and well-being on a larger scale.

In summary, the short-term outcomes of the LEAP Project sprint involve increased family engagement, enhanced social-emotional skills, and the production of informed research recommendations. The long-term outcomes encompass improved well-being and sense of belonging, a strengthened evidence base, and the scalability and expansion of the Seroond program model. These outcomes align with our overarching goal of promoting holistic development and creating inclusive and supportive educational environments for children, families, and communities in Armenia.