Outcomes of the project “943 – development of target schools in the country” in East Kazakhstan region
Every new project presents an opportunity to rethink one’s work and develop. At the initiative of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the republican project “943 – development of target schools in the country” is being implemented in the new academic year as part of the national report “Quality education accessible to all”. The aim of the project is to boost the quality of education in educational organizations. A total of 25 target schools of the region are participating in this project.
In order to implement the project, a Project Office has been established in East Kazakhstan region on the basis of Örken East Kazakhstan Regional Scientific and Methodological Center for Informatization and Education Development, by the Order of the Head of Education Administration of East Kazakhstan region dated July 31, 2024 No. 358-1.
The action plan of the Project Office focuses on providing consulting and methodological support to the selected schools, with a key emphasis on improving the quality of education.
The Project Office consists of methodologists from the Regional Methodological Center and District (City) Methodological Offices. Each methodologist is assigned to a specific target school, the mentors completed advanced training courses on the topic “Transformation of Methodological Activities” on the basis of the East Kazakhstan regional branch of Orleu National Centre for Professional Development JSC Institute for Professional Development of Educators.
As part of the project “943 – development of target schools of the country”, a meeting was organized for headmasters of target schools and methodologists from regional and district methodological centers on the topic “Accessible quality education: strategies for joint development of schools” within the framework of the Regional August Conference in order to set up the strategic directions for the professional activities of school leadership and methodologists.
During the meeting, the speakers and participants discussed the implementation of the action plan of the Project Office and the priority areas of work of teachers of target schools, got acquainted with the trajectory and tools of school development with the support of methodologists.
The Project plans to offer a three-level (basic, intermediate, advanced) professional development course to teachers from target schools, including primary school teachers and subject teachers. The first steps have already been taken! Currently, 605 teachers are taking free online professional development training courses on the platform of Orleu JSC. An individual profile of each target school has been developed in order to identify the basic needs of organizations in terms of ensuring the educational process, management and personnel support, material and technical equipment. This analytical document includes a data analysis. Based on the issues outlined during the analysis of individual profiles of schools, individual plans have been developed for each school to achieve key performance indicators (KPI), which will be implemented in the 2024-2025 academic year.
In order to evaluate the level of knowledge of learners in grades 4-11, it is planned to conduct an entrance, intermediate and final assessment via the online platform Testter.kz this academic year.
Based on the results of the entrance assessment conducted in September, specific methodological work directions have been pinpointed for students and teachers, and systematic work is underway.
In order to implement the project, at training and methodological meetings for target schools, the members of the Project Office, jointly with experts from the East Kazakhstan regional branch of Orleu National Centre for Professional Development JSC Institute for Professional Development of Educators, briefed on the plan for conducting entrance assessment and the effectiveness of analytical analysis, as well as post-course support with an emphasis on developing and delivering practical workshops for teachers. The mentors are visiting the target schools assigned to them and provide them with methodological assistance.
We are confident that the planned activities during the year, such as training sessions, methodological support, coaching, exchange of opinions, monitoring of attendance, lesson analysis, sharing best practices, case studies, etc., will push schools to a new level of development in achieving positive results, i.e. improving the quality of education.