The American University Center for Global Peace (AUCGP) engaged in the
Revitalization of Iraqi Schools and Stabilization of Education (RISE)
project under a grant from the United States Agency for International
Development (USAID) in 2003-2004. AUCGP was a subcontractor of Creative
Associates International, Inc. (CAII). The RISE program is a rapid
response effort to increase enrollment and improve the quality of
secondary education through short-term immediate impact activities that
will lay the foundation for more sustainable reform. RISE is restoring
classrooms; providing student and teacher materials; offering accelerated
learning solutions for school drop-outs; and harnessing community
participation to strengthen education in Iraq and establish community
education councils. In addition, RISE is assisting the Ministry of
Education in training national counterparts to manage and run Iraq’s basic
education services.
AUCGP provided technical assistance to these programs in two specific
ways. First, AUCGP designed a rapid assessment tool and participated in
the rapid assessment of more than 2,500 secondary schools in permissive
areas in Iraq in summer 2003. The AUCGP team also conducted in-depth,
community focus group surveys to complement the rapid assessment data, as
well as interviewed faculty and deans of University Schools of Education
and Teacher Training Institutes where secondary level teachers are
trained. The data has been analyzed in a report written by AUCGP and was
initially used to get school supplies to Iraqi schools for the 2003-04
school year. It is also being used as a basis for longer term improvements
and developments of the secondary school system. Second, the AU team
contributed to the design, development, and delivery of a model teacher
and school administrator training program in Iraq in collaboration with
CAII, the Ministry of Education in Baghdad, Iraqi NGOs, and
representatives of Iraqi Regional Teacher Training Institutes.
