Sil Lead

During FY23, SIL LEAD participated as a subcontractor on 3 education projects funded by USAID and 1 project funded by a non-government organization. These projects took place in the Philippines, Mali, and Panama. Work on the USAID-funded projects was performed as a subcontractor to the following organizations: RTI International, Creative Associates International, and World Vision. Each of these projects was designed to improve the quality of education in the respective countries and was carried out in collaboration with the host country through its Ministry of Education. SIL LEAD's involvement in these projects involved technical assistance in curriculum review, evaluation, and design; policy review and support; enhancement of local capacity through training and consultation; development and production of instructional materials; the training of writers, teachers, and trainers; and facilitation and support of workshops. Specific FY23 accomplishments by project follow. 1) Philippines ABC+ (RTI International): The ABC+ program seeks to improve early-grade literacy in the mother tongue and learners' transition of reading ability to Filipino and English. In FY23, SIL LEAD contributed to the development of decodable and leveled early-grade reading materials in the Akeanon, Bikol Miraya, and Southern Sorsoganon languages. Editing guides were also prepared for Bikol Miraya and Southern Sosoganon. A final report was submitted for the Region VI language mapping activity. SIL LEAD consultants also developed guides for preparing scopes & sequences and editing guides. The ABC+ Bloom Library bookshelf now contains books in eleven languages of the Philippines. 2) Mali BWB (World Vision): For the "Begin with Books" prize, SIL LEAD developed over 400 accessible books in Mali's Soninke and Mamara languages and added sign language to 20 selected books. The project focused on adapting existing books from various platforms and developing 25 new decodable books per language. In FY23, SIL LEAD delivered the last 91 books for each language and a final report on the project. 3) Somalia BAB (Creative Associates International): The Bar Ama Baro ("teach or learn") project aims to increase access to quality education for out-of-school children and youth ages 8-15 through accelerated education programs (AEPs) in targeted regions of Somalia. The project seeks to increase student enrollment at the AEP sites, improve their safety, and monitor their acquisition of literacy, numeracy, and social and emotional skills. In FY23, SIL LEAD developed a set of scripts for short video-based teacher training materials for in-service teacher training before closing out its work on the project at the end of March. 4) Panama MECSE (Organization of Ibero-American States): SIL LEAD was contracted by the Organization of Ibero-American States to carry out a project funded by the InterAmerican Development Bank. The scope of work included analyzing existing early-grade learning materials in 4 indigenous Panamanian languages: Bugle, Embera, Guna, and Ngabere. In FY23, SIL LEAD developed the survey questionnaire and had it translated into each language. A local Panamanian organization carried out the survey and digitized the results. SIL literacy specialists analyzed the survey data and prepared a final report with recommendations. The final report was presented in Panama to the Ministry of Education as the project's final deliverable.

Supporting SIL International with its Bloom book creation software continues to be one of SIL LEAD's service areas. In FY23, SIL LEAD 1) continued to support SIL International's Bloom maintenance and development efforts; 2) issued and maintained Bloom Enterprise subscriptions serving communities in Guatemala, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and the Philippines; 3) facilitated the creation of a Bloom Library bookshelf that includes nearly 4,500 books created by awardees of various All Children Reading competitions in 10 countries and 25 languages.

SIL LEAD continued to provide capacity building and other direct services to SIL International and its operating units. Specific FY23 areas of service follow. 1) Consultant development and management: SIL LEAD's senior multilingual education and literacy consultant continued working on a series of documents that will be leveraged to develop the capacity of current and future SIL LEAD consultants. These materials may also be drawn on to provide training to client staff and in the field for various projects. 2) Proposal development services: SIL LEAD assisted SIL in identifying relevant business opportunities and developing proposals to secure grants with a particular focus on government funding, both for SIL-specific projects and joint projects. 3) Financial training services: SIL LEAD continued with its work on a training module designed to strengthen the capacity of SIL units when working with government contracts. 4) Capacity building services: SIL LEAD also supported SIL and its operating units with expertise related to various processes needed in working with outside funders.

Community-based language development: SIL LEAD assisted community-based organizations in their language development efforts through its community organization grants program.