1. Escuela Nueva: Learning to Learn and Coexist Peacefully Escuela Nueva Foundation
Vicky Colbert de Arboleda Executive Director 1

2. “For more than 100 years, the lack of school management methods has been the cause of countless complaints. But it has been only in the last 30 years that efforts have been made to find a solution to this problem. And what has resulted? Schools continue exactly the same as before.”
John Amos Comenius 1632 1

3. Basic Education Problems
Latin America´s
Basic Education Problems
Low academic achievements
Incomplete schooling; high repetition and drop out rates
Low self esteem of children
Rigid calendars & evaluation and promotion systems
Traditional, frontal, teacher-centered methods 4

4. Basic Education Problems
Latin America´s
Basic Education Problems
Lack of relevant learning materials and textbooks
Weak school-community relationship
Overloaded, irrelevant curriculum
Untrained teachers in handling multigrade schools; low teacher morale and ineffective, inadequate pre-in service training of teachers 4

5. Basic Education Problems
Latin America´s
Basic Education Problems
Some progress in access and coverage, but high REPETITION and DROP OUT RATES
20% enroll late ; 42% repeat 1st grade ; 30% repeat 2nd grade.
Average schooling: 4.2
50% of students in 4th grade do not understand what they read
Annually, USD $3.5 billion are spent in 20 million repeaters 4

6. Consequences of Repetition
High heterogeneity in ages of children limits learning, specially when conventional teacher-centered methods are used. 4

7. More of the same is not enough!!
Basic Education Reforms in
Latin America
“New paradigms for learning ”
Improving the quality of education implies more than an emphasis on expanding current systems of education
More of the same is not enough!!
It implies a cultural change, requiring:
A shift of emphasis from transmission of information to an emphasis in comprehension and collective construction of knowledge.
A new type of school, renovated teaching methods and a change in the role of the teacher. 4

8. Previous Efforts: Rural
Multigrade Schools
Multigrade schools exist in both, developed and developing countries
Specially in low density and scattered populations
One or two teachers have to work simultaneously with all primary education grades
Multigrade schools are not a second class option 4

9. Multigrade Rationale
In Latin America, multigrade teaching was based on the "Unitary School" methodology
Was promoted by UNESCO in the 60’s worldwide
According to education research, the organization of a multigrade school requires more innovation
These schools require the modification of the traditional teaching practices and the promotion of a child-centered learning process 4

10. Multigrade Rationale This setting requires:
That students be organized in small group
The development of flexible and personalized strategies
The development of learning guides (interactive textbooks) specially designed for independent learning and cooperative work
Quality teacher training and instructional delivery methods are core of effective Multigrade teaching 4

11. Institute of Education. University of London
Multigrade Rationale
Education for All and Multigrade Teaching: Challenges and Opportunities. Angela W. Little (Ed.)
Institute of Education. University of London
Learning and Teaching in Multigrade Settings – invisible and persistent
“Current shortfalls in the achievement of EFA goals are found among communities who live at margin of society and who participate in the margins of the formal education system.
At many of these margins, multigrade teaching is involved.” 4

12. Multigrade Rationale
Education for All and Multigrade Teaching: Challenges and Opportunities. Angela W. Little (Ed.) Institute of Education. University of London
Transforming necessity into a positive pedagogy
“Multigrade teaching that arises through necessity is often considered to be a second class education. However, in some cases, necessity has been transformed into a positive pedagogy, such as the well known Escuela Nueva system, notable for its proactive strategy.” 4

13. What is Escuela Nueva? 4

14. What is Escuela Nueva?
Escuela Nueva transforms the conventional school
Basic education innovation developed in Colombia
Set out to address all the nested factors of education simultaneously, rather than ineffectively tackling each in isolation
Systemically integrates curricular, in-service training and follow up, community and administrative strategies
Guarantees access, quality and relevance of basic education
Evolved from a local and state innovation to a national policy - implementation in most rural schools of Colombia (20,000 at the end of the 80´s.) 4

15. What does Escuela Nueva promote?
Child centered, participatory, cooperative and self-paced learning
Relevant curriculum based on children's daily life
Flexible calendar, promotion and grading systems
Closer, stronger relationship between the school and the community
Emphasis on the formation of democratic and participatory values 4

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23. What does Escuela Nueva promote?
Effective and practical in-service teacher training strategies
New role for the teacher as facilitator
New generation of interactive self paced, self directed learning textbooks 4

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27. AdministrativeComponent
Who does Escuela Nueva benefit?
Children, teachers, administrative staff and community through its four interrelated components, integrated at the school and community level in SYNERGY
Curricular
Component
Teacher training
Component
SYSTEM
AdministrativeComponent
Community Component 14

28. It is possible!! It demonstrated it is possible to improve
coverage, quality and equality of basic education in low income schools.
Si se puede:
!. Recursos 19

29. “The quality of education in Colombia is close to the average of education in Latin America“
220
225
230
235
240
245
250
255
260
265
270
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
14000
16000
Argentina
Chile
Brasil
Colombia
Mexico
Venezuela
Paraguay
Bolivia
Dominican Republic
Honduras
Average
Score
Per capita income USD $
Source: UNESCO. First Comparative International Study on Quality of Education, 1999.

30. “Rural education in Colombia has better quality than urban education”
(Except in big cities of Latin America)
220
225
230
235
240
245
250
255
260
265
270
275
280
Rural Score
Colombia
Argentina
Chile
Brazil
Mexico
Paraguay
Republic
Dominican
Bolivia
Venezuela
Honduras
Average
Cuba
Rural score
Urban score
Source: UNESCO. First Comparative International Study on Quality of Education, 1999.

31. “In mathematics, only Cuba's scores are above Colombia's”
( In rural education)
210
220
230
240
250
260
270
215
225
235
245
255
Cuba
Chile
Brasil
Mexico
Paraguay
Dominican Republic
Bolivia
Venezuela
Honduras
Colombia
Argentina
Mathematics
Language
Source: UNESCO. First Comparative International Study on Quality of Education, 1999.

32. It is possible!!
Escuela Nueva challenged massively the traditional teacher-centered frontal model and promoted active, child-centered, participatory and cooperative learning

33. “Frontal, teacher centered”
“Child centered” 23

34. It is possible!!
The multigrade situation forced the whole system to innovate in:
Pedagogical practices
Evaluation procedures
Textbook policies
Teacher training policies
Inspired the New Law of Education of Colombia 24

35. Escuela Nueva is one of the longest bottom-up innovations that has survived and sustained, despite changes in
political policies 26

36. Results from different statistical analysis confirm:
Superior achievements of children of Escuela Nueva
Significant reduction in drop out and repetition rates
Improvement in self-esteem and civic behavior
The National Planning Department of Colombia concluded:
“Escuela Nueva compensates for socio economic limitations when comparing children of Escuela Nueva of socio economic level 1 with socio economic level 2.” 28

37. It is possible!!
It demonstrated that cooperative learning can initiate positive changes in democratic behavior.
Skills, values and attitudes for peaceful social interaction can be developed at the school. 33

38. “Pedagogical routines that are oriented to group work, participation, self-learning, have a better chance of forming a democratic ethos than those that are merely directive”
José Bernardo Toro 32

39. Global Results of the Study on Democratic Behavior in Guatemala
Evaluations
Global Results of the Study on Democratic Behavior in Guatemala 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 %
Turns
Lead
Feedback
NEU
EUT
Comparative Study on Demoracratic Behavior in Guatemala – AED/Juarez and Associates (R.Chesterfield)

40. Research on Democratic Behavior in Colombia**
Evaluations
Research on Democratic Behavior in Colombia**
“The school influences the development of democratic behavior and peaceful social interaction skills in children.”
“The school's impact is significant and goes beyond the general violence environment.”
** Research led by Universidad del Rosario & Fundación Escuela Nueva Volvamos a la Gente Published in Education for All and Multigrade Teaching: Challenges and Opportunities. Angela W. Little (Ed.) Institute of Education. University of London 41

41. Research on Democratic Behavior in Colombia**
Evaluations
Research on Democratic Behavior in Colombia**
“Escuela Nueva demonstrated significant results in the formation of democratic behavior and peaceful social interaction in comparison with conventional schools.”
There is an important direct impact of the schools system on the practices of the families of students and this is where Escuela Nueva and Conventional schools differ.
** Research led by Universidad del Rosario & Fundación Escuela Nueva Volvamos a la Gente Published in Education for All and Multigrade Teaching: Challenges and Opportunities. Angela W. Little (Ed.) Institute of Education. University of London 39

42. Research on Democratic Behavior in Colombia**
Evaluations
Research on Democratic Behavior in Colombia**
“The probability of parents perceiveing and impact of the school on home practices grows as the level of implementation of Escuela Nueva increases.”
** Research led by Universidad del Rosario & Fundación Escuela Nueva Volvamos a la Gente Published in Education for All and Multigrade Teaching: Challenges and Opportunities. Angela W. Little (Ed.) Institute of Education. University of London 40

43. Adaptation of Escuela Nueva to Urban Populations
1987: Escuela Nueva Foundation (ENF) began a pilot project, supported by IAF, to adapt EN to the urban marginal setting: Escuela Nueva Activa™
Implemented in low-income schools of Bogotá with the poorest academic performance in a local standardized test
After two years of intervention, an evaluation led by National University of Colombia confirmed an increment in language skills of 40.36% and in math of 69%
These schools, with lowest ranking in the city among 2,500 centers evaluated, performed better than the city's average 40

44. Adaptation of Escuela Nueva to Urban Populations
1998
Before Assessment
2000
During
Assessment
2002
After
Language
166
213
241
Mathematics
126
191
229
Evidenced improvement of 45% and 83% in the development of basic competences in math and language, respectively. 40

45. Escuela Nueva´s Adaptation to Displaced Populations4

46. Escuela Nueva´s Adaptation to Displaced, Migrant Populations
In 2001, ENF began the process of adapting Escuela Nueva to serve displaced, migrant populations through the Escuela Nueva Learning Circles Program™
They are spaces of learning within local communities comprised of groups of max. 15 children and a community youth tutor to ease the transition to the formal school
5,745 indirectly benefited, including parents and community members
As it began, 55% of the children were excluded from the school system; after one year of intervention there was a 100% enrollment 40

47. Escuela Nueva´s Adaptation to Displaced, Migrant Populations
Results from UNESCO tests showed how children of EN learning circles obtained the highest level of improvement in both language and mathematics
(36.1% for language and 30.4% for mathematics.)
5th grade children of the learning circles are 17.3 points above the national average, with a score of 69.3 in math and 13.9 in language. (83.6% and 69.7% respectively.)
Children’s self esteem was improved by 18.5 %. 40

48. Escuela Nueva´s Adaptation to Displaced, Migrant Populations40

49. Escuela Nueva´s Adaptation to Displaced, Migrant Populations40

50. Escuela Nueva´s Adaptation to Displaced, Migrant Populations
Self esteem TAE Test
Escuela Nueva´s Adaptation to Displaced, Migrant Populations 40

51. Escuela Nueva´s Main Achievements
Escuela Nueva has a model framework so flexible it can take into consideration cultural and social differences.
It has allowed adaptation in countries as varied as: Brazil – Escola Activa, Guatemala – Escuela Nueva Unitaria, Panama – Escuela Activa, Chile – Mece Rural, El Salvador – Aulas Alternativas, Nicaragua – Escuela Modelo, Honduras - Escuela Activa Participativa / Escuela Nueva, Dominican Republic - Escuela Multigrado Innovada, Paraguay – Mita Iru, Mexico – Interactiva Comunitaria, Peru - Aprendes, Guyana – New School, Philippines - Active School / Child Friendly School and Uganda – New School 42

52. Escuela Nueva´s Main Achievements
Best results in rural primary education in Latin America, after Cuba (UNESCO)
Visited by 35 countries, serving as inspiration for a great number of education reforms
Selected by the World Bank in 1989 as one of the three most outstanding reforms in developing countries, worldwide
The United Nation's Human Development Report (2000) selected Escuela Nueva as one of the three country's main achievements 42

53. Fundación Escuela Nueva Volvamos a la Gente Escuela Nueva Foundation PBX – FAX Ext. 112 Calle 39 No Bogotá D.C., Colombia 1