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School-to-School International
Program Countries
Since 2002, School-to-School International (STS) has been working to improve education and school health in developing countries so that every child can succeed in elementary school.
We are currently implementing our programs in Guinea and have conducted research to improve education in Uganda and the Sudan.
We also work actively within the United States to facilitate a pen-pal program between elementary school students in Guinea and the U.S.
To read more about our activities in each country please follow the country specific links.
Contact information: School-to-School International
PO Box 371056Montara, CA 94037Tel & fax: +1 (650) 728-7138Email: info@sts-international.orgWeb: http://sts-international.orgSchool-to-School International is a tax-exempt, nonprofit
501 (c) (3) organization registered in the State of California.
Copyright 2008 © School-to-School International. All rights reserved.
Students from Correrah Elementary School in Guinea, West Africa (2008)
Our Activities in Guinea
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Pen pal program
Since 2003, STS has worked with the following schools in the US to coordinate pen pal activities with partner schools in Guinea:
Alvarado Elementary School, San Francisco, CA
Metropolitan Learning Center, Portland, OR
French-American International School, Portland, OR
Since the inception of the program, over xxx children have taken part in pen pal exchanges in the US and Guinea.
In 2002 School-to-School International started working in Guinea. We currently have 30 partner schools in Guinea's coastal region, where we provide the following programs:
Contact information: School-to-School International
PO Box 371056Montara, CA 94037Tel & fax: +1 (650) 728-7138Email: info@sts-international.orgWeb: http://sts-international.orgSchool-to-School International is a tax-exempt, nonprofit
501 (c) (3) organization registered in the State of California.
Copyright 2008 © School-to-School International. All rights reserved.
Research
STS conducts a variety of types of research, both for its own monitoring and evaluation purposes, and for clients on a fee for service basis.
Teacher training
Since its inception, STS has trained 150 teachers in active teaching methods, including the development of instructional materials using local resources, school health and hygiene through a life skills approach, and mathematics instruction.
Instructional materials
STS has produced a series health materials, including teacher's guides, posters, and readers, so children can learn new behaviors and dispel old myths - for example, about how malaria is contracted.
School health
With support from the Alcoa Foundation, STS has:
- provided grants to communities (see next section)
- helped schools develop their own school health policies - each school now has its rules about how everyone can maintain a healthy school environment
- trained teachers to use more active teaching methods to teach health - ones that develop life skills, not just memorization of health facts
- organized school sanitation days in which whole communities are mobilized to clean their schools
- and much more...
Community-based small grants program
Also with the support of the Alcoa Foundation, STS has provided $30,000 in small grant funds to 24 communities to improve health conditions in their elementary schools. Community members were trained in school-based health promotion, then they selected projects to be funded and managed the them, providing much of the labor, and ensuring the funds were spent wisely.
The following are examples of our research:
Baseline Health Survey in Guinea, 2004 (French):
An investigation of the current state of nutrition and hygiene in STS partner schools. The key findings include:
- 21.3% of students have failed a year of elementary schools
- Only 0.6% of students reported washing hands with soap after defecating
- 41% of students have intestinal parasites
An analysis of the practices used to evaluate the students knowledge in the classroom and at other levels within the education system. The key findings include:
- There is an urgent need to raise the reliability and validity of the exams as well as lay basic conditions to ensure this occurs.
An evaluation of student achievement in grade 2, 4 and 6 in French and math, 2004-2007. The key findings include:
- Statistics indicated that the tests to measure achievement were found to be of high quality.
- There are important variations in achievement scores between certain schools and zones.
- The results showed an improvement in girl's performance by 2007.
An evaluation of whether or not higher levels of learning have occurred as a result of training activities provided by the UNITY project. The key findings of the first (of three) Monitoring Learning Achievement exercise include:
- Numerous statistical procedures indicated high levels of test and item quality.
- The test scores revealed significant disparities between regions, pupils' languages, types of schools, status of repeaters, their ages, and their home environments.
- Results between girls and boys were comparable.
An evaluation of REPLICA, a program designed to address the particular educational needs of children, teachers and parents in the conflict-affected areas of northern Uganda. The key findings include:
- There was overwhelming support for the REPLICA project at all levels.
- The success of the Guidance and Counselling component was one of the biggest findings, where evaluation participants cited improved relations among school staff and between staff and pupils; and reportedly improved enrollment and retention in REPLICA model schools, especially amongst the girls.
- The School-Based Training model had minimal impact on teachers.
An analysis of the Alcoa School Health and Education II (ASHE II) project impacts. ASHE II is a project designed to improve the quality fo health education in the schools and improve the health knowledge and practices of the students and teachers, in those schools. The key findings include:
- In comparison to the baseline, teachers use more diverse methods of knowledge transfer in a lesson.
- Students greatly improved their ability to dispel myths regarding malaria, HIV/AIDS and diarrhea.
- The parents, teachers and school directors highlighted an increase in the implementation of healthy behaviour initiatives that have taken place in conjunction with ASHE II activities.
STS has also worked with several partners to provide materials to schools in Guinea, including:
- Partage Québec Guinée: to facilitate the distribution of 8,000 textbooks and novels to 16 schools.
- Individual donors like Noranizan Mohd Adzahan, a graduate student at Cornell University who mobilized her fellow students in "the Bradley Challenge," named after their dormitory. Nora's group assembled 3 boxes of books and school supplies that STS delivered to partner schools in Guinea.
- Teachers at Alvarado Elementary School in San Francisco, CA who pooled contributions from students to provide soccer balls for partner schools in Guinea
