About The Programme
The “English Access Micro-Scholarship Program” is the initiative of the United States Embassy/ Consulate General in Kenya and the United States Department of State. The program is run under the auspices of the Office of English Language Programs at the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
The Access Program provides a foundation of English language skills to bright, economically disadvantaged 13 – 20-year-old students worldwide through after-school and intensive programming. Access students gain an appreciation for U.S. culture and democratic values, increase their ability to participate successfully in the socio-economic development of their countries, and gain the ability to compete for and participate in future U.S. exchange and study programs.
The program will also support programming for alumni, teachers, directors, administrators and ministry officials that in this case is being conducted in collaboration with English Language Professionals Association of Kenya (ELPAK).
Description
This was a one-year program divided into two periods that included workshops and follow up sessions. 30 Access teachers from Mombasa, Kwale, and Kilifi were targeted with each receiving over 60 hours of in-person training and follow up. The first period workshop focused more on training and the subsequent ones were to find out the level of application of knowledge gained and cascading, determine challenges faced, and come up with a way forward along with the training.
Topics covered included;
Project Based Learning, Community service, Peer observation, sharing best practices, Peer mentoring, developing assessment tools, drawing indicators for success, using US department of state online resources, creating rubrics, and using action plans for improvement.
Other activities were;
1. Making corrective action where necessary
2. Reinforcing strong points from practice
3. Sharing of best practices
4. Classroom observation