Worldfund's mission is to raise the quality and relevance of education in Latin America in order to transform lives and break the cycle of poverty. Our program, the Inter-American Partnership for Education (IAPE), trains English-language teachers in Mexico's public schools. The goal is to create a community of innovative and committed English language educators who will transform English instruction in Mexico because it is a critical skill in the global marketplace.
Latin America is facing an educational crisis and the need for Worldfund's teacher training programs in Mexico's public school system cannot be overstated. 40% of Mexican 15 year olds scored at or below Level 1 on OECD's 2009 PISA reading exam, meaning they are not able to perform basic reading tasks. 70% of Mexicans do not have a high school level education (OECD Indicators 2009) and more than 40% of 15 year olds who are actually in school are functionally illiterate (2009 PISA Exam).
IAPE features the Rassias Method, a rigorous, interactive, and highly effective system that banishes inhibitions and fosters authentic communication. Each training session consists of 8 days of intensive English instruction, taught by certified Rassias immersion instructors, followed by two days of practical training in Rassias teaching techniques. IAPE also focuses on building a sustainable infrastructure for mentoring, networking, and ongoing peer support.
IAPE impacts the way that thousands of Mexican children experience the English language, a minimum requirement for the global workforce. The program targets public school teachers, providing them with new techniques to enliven the classroom and get results. To date, IAPE has served 1,360 teachers in 27 of Mexico's 33 states, reaching over 260,000 students since 2008. In 2013, we expect to reach 360 new teachers, who will reach close to an additional 86,000 students per year.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
