[5]The High School Social Science Development and Teacher Education Project for Armenia (HST), a program of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the US Department of State, provided professional development in modern teaching methodologies to Armenian high school teachers and developed new curricula and instructional materials to be used in high school social science classes.
The project was designed to strengthen the capacity of high schools and internationalize the secondary education system in Armenia.
Through rigorous training at a US university, a group of six high school teacher trainers created two handbooks: Handbook for Training High School Teachers and Curriculum Units on High School Social Science. These handbooks currently were then pilot tested and refined for use in training courses in high schools and in 10 teacher-training facilities established by IREX throughout Armenia.
• Recruit Qualified Program Participants. IREX conducted recruitment in Armenia for six qualified high school teacher trainers and 18 pilot school representatives to participate in the program.
• Provide Specialized Training to Teacher Trainers (TTs). TTs traveled to the United States to complete an intensive training program, which was designed based on an extensive field assessment in Armenia to determine the areas of high school education that needed the most reform.
• Publish and Test Teaching Handbooks. Upon their return to Armenia, the TTs published the two handbooks and tested them in the select pilot schools. The TTs trained pilot-school representatives in the HST teaching methodology and the pilot school teachers tested the materials in their own schools as well.
• Support In-Country Teacher Training. TTs conducted biweekly and regular joint seminars in their respective pilot schools, schools that voluntarily joined the program, and teacher-training facilities. IREX staff monitored these seminars, along with classes in the pilot schools, through regular monthly site visits.
irex@irex.org [6]