The president of NorArar Education NGO Mher Davtyan and the head of educational programs Arpine Baghdasaryan were hosted at the Republican Pedagogical-Psychological Center on July 13th, 2023.
The aim of the meeting was to summarize the results of the “Help me read” program implemented in cooperation with the RPPC.
So, RPPC director Lilit Mnatsakanyan spoke about the program implemented within the framework of the memorandum signed between the two parties, emphasizing its effectiveness in developing the skills of children with reading difficulties.
M. Davtyan and A. Baghdasaryan presented a summary report on the “Help me read” program. Then, the work done so far was clarified and summarized, and the next phase was discussed.
The “Help Me Read” program was funded by the ” Hovnanian Family Foundation” and by individual benefactors.
The aim of the program is to develop the abilities of the academic staff involved from partner schools and the specialists of Vanadzor and Alaverdi TPPSCs through mutual cooperation and inclusive reading teaching. The most important part of the work is to develop the skills of children with reading difficulties.
The program was implemented in 10 general and secondary schools located in rural and urban areas of Lori region, the beneficiaries of which are:
- ✦ educational staff of schools
- ✦ children with reading difficulties
- ✦ children with SEN
- ✦ staff of TPPSCs’
98 children from 10 schools participated in the program. As a result, changes in various sub-components of reading skills were observed among the students.
The program was implemented in the following stages:
- ✦ Training courses for educational staff of schools and TPPSCs’ specialists
- ✦ Assessment of children’s needs. The reading needs of the students involved in the program were studied and a methodology of interventions to improve reading skills was proposed as well.
- ✦ Summarizing of data and provision of the intervention plan
- ✦ Implementation of interventions in which teachers and teacher assistants worked with children for 8 weeks guided by the intervention plan format
- ✦ Mentoring support, in the framework of which online meetings were held with teachers, teacher assistants, directors, and deputy directors to discuss the process of using interventions and planned work
- ✦ Final assessment of students’ reading skills.
We believe, that the teachers and specialists of the educational establishments will definitely use this methodological base, adapting it to the needs of their students to help them develop their reading skills.
