Rosetta Steps Education Center

The Rosetta Steps Education Centers is founded in honor of Mrs. Rosetta Benson Harris a mother, teacher and educator who died during the years of the Liberian Civil War. Mrs. Harris was born to humble beginnings in New Kru Town one of Liberia's most populous shanty town till date to a mother who though illiterate and a  petty trader, believed in the transformative power of education.

The center began operation in the year 2018 in the childhood home of Mrs. Harris as a reading room but due to demands from the community has metamorphosized over the period of 5 years into a school and a center of learning for the entire community.

The purpose of our organisation is twofold 

1. To formulate and provide Liberian children and adults from underserved communities in which we operate the ability to acquire knowledge and skills that equips them to become productive citizens of society and reach their full potential as humans.
2. To serve as  channel to attract donation and goodwill to assist  members of our community with basic social services to enhance the quality of life they live.

We serve our communities by  

a) Educational Impact

Formulating educational programs that target children, youth and adults in our community. In the year 2021 we implemented a small business seed program called Project Hope on behalf of Mastercard. This program in addition to training provided participants with a seed capital of USD 500.00 each.

b) Financial Impact

sourcing grants that help us cater to the health needs of our community 

c) Health

We provide case management services to parents and community members. In February of 2022 we successfully conducted free health screenings for 125 students and staff of the Rosetta Steps School.

d) Socio Economic Impact

providing employment to 23 members of our community 

We are considered to be the heartbeat of our community.

Why?

 The life of our founder Ms. Ama Harris is a testament to the difference quality education makes. Her mother Rosetta Benson Harris was born to an illiterate mother and petty trader. Rosetta was blessed to have received education at the Bromley Mission High School, from there on she would go to attend the University of Liberia where she graduated Suma Cum Laude and then continue her educational sojourn at the Fresno State University College in California USA where she obtained a Masters Degree in Education ad-nd English. 

Through education Rosetta was able to provide a different quality of life for her children. 

Our reason is simply because we believe in the transformative power of education in promoting socio economic growth.

Website: www.rosettasteps.org

Facebook: Rosetta Steps Education Center | New Kru Town | Facebook

Ms. Tukus Ama Harris  is the founder and  Executive Director of the Rosetta Steps Center.  She oversees a team of 25 teachers and is responsible for curriculum development, training and enrichment at the Rosetta Steps School which is a Nursery to Junior High School with a student population of 250.

As Team Lead for the READ TO SUCCEED program she manages a team of educators and instructional designers to ensure that the program aligns with Rosetta Steps overall educational vision and mission. 

She is also responsible for ensuring that the program is delivered effectively, educational materials are of high quality  and that the program meets the need of the target audience.

Assisted by a team of 10 teachers Miss Harris has successfully led 6 cycles of Read to Succeed programs and offered phonics and reading programs to over 650 students in the New Kru Town , Caldwell Community.

Successful Projects include 

• TOTAL Liberia Learn to Earn Adult Literacy Program   30 participants
• INAIVU Read to Succeed Program 2021/ 2022   60 participants
• NOCAL Read to Succeed Program 2018/2019    300 participants
• Served as implementing partner for Mastercard sponsored Project Hope - Small Business Literacy  Seed Program    80 participants

Our Team Lead and supporting staff have had over 5 years of experience in supporting similar projects.

EXPERIENCE

Our trainers come with hands on experience obtained from teaching our over 200 students of the Rosetta Steps School on a daily basis.

 Our regular school session runs from 8am to 3pm. Our teachers have successfully managed 4 after school programs to date. Participation is on a rotational basis and teachers receive  additional stipends for their participation. We consider the effective administration of our literacy program as a top priority and are able to make all necessary adjustments to ensure that we are able to participate in the LEAP program as we believe that it would provide us with suggestions and ways to measure and improve the effectiveness of our teaching.

LOCATION

The Rosetta Steps Education Center is located in the Caldwell Road, Bushrod Island community. The location of the center is ideal in that it is in a low income community and within walking distance from several communities such as the New Kru Town and Duala communities which are communities with a high level of illiteracy and lack of access to quality education. The location of our facility in a low income community provides our team with an endless access to program participants.

FACILITY

Our facility, The Rosetta Steps Campus is a 15 room facility located on 2 lots. 6 of such rooms are fitted with televisions and audio equipments for learning. The center also has a specified audio visual room equipped with projectors, television, computers and tablets.

Our facility is powered by solar and that enables us to have access to 24 hours supply of electricity.

TEACHING RESOURCES

As reading and literacy is our focus we have a well stock library of flash cards, writing resources, visual aids, audio aids etc. We have purchased and are set to receive 30 Samsung held tablets. 

As winner of the Orange Liberia Digital Program we are one of ten schools were awarded digital learning package.

Read To Succeed is an after school feeding program that provides reading and and cognitive enhancement tutorials for students.

The current literacy rate of Liberia stands at  a dismal approximately 48.3 percent. The country was engulfed in a brutal civil war between the years 1989 to 2003, a large percentage of the teachers in Liberia received their high school and college education during this tumultous period of Liberia's history where the focus was on survival. Hence they themselves have large learning gaps that were left unfilled.

Not only is more than half of our countrys population illiterate, the standard of education provided is so poor that high school graduates have the cognitive skills of primary school students when compared to other countries in the region. Students from at risk communities suffer the most. During recruitment for our last Reading program we found that 95 percent of the participants read at below their respective grade levels.

Poverty and malnutrition is also an issue.

Our program has a three pronged approach nutrition, education and training.

The Read to Succeed Program recruits students from under performing schools within and around our community in batches of 60.

These students are then offered a preliminary basic reading ,phonics and sight words test in order to determine their proficiency in reading. Skills measured include word per minute according to grade level, knowledge of letter sounds, sight words recognition, blending skills, fluency in reading, word knowledge, comprehension skills etc.

Our students are then divided into three different groups based on the assessment carried out.

Classes are held thrice weekly for two hours a day over a period of 4 months Students are given program branded tshirts to wear during the program in order to enable them to blend easily with other students. Students are offered a sandwich or hot meal and a drink prior to the commencement of classes.

In total students are exposed to 144 hours of learning over a period of 6 months. Assessments are carried our every 6 weeks in order to gauge students advancement on an individual level. Every success is celebrated.

INDIVIDUAL LEARNING

Students are able to advance according to their individual learning ability in a comfortable and friendly environment.Every student is provided with a set of learning materials which include, sight words listing, reading comprehension material etc.

Students are also taught basic mathematics and calculation skills. The inclusion of learning through songs, recital, role play and play.

Materials used include IXL Learning, Hooked on Phonics, Flash Cards, SRA Learning material etc. 

SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

Our second approach is that teachers and parents of the recruited students are encouraged to attend and learn along with the students. Our program enables teachers from such schools to witness our teaching methodology and we also provide them with learning and instructional packets that could be used for learning.

Ages 12 to 18

This is due to the fact that most students in underserved communities start school at a very late age. It is very common to find students of this age range still in primary school.

Eventhough we have not conducted a proper research into the effectiveness of our reading programs. We however have evidence of the following,

1. In one control group 60% of students enrolled in the program scored a 25% increase in test scores after only three weeks of exposure to our programs.

2. Every student enrolled in our programs experienced an increase in their average work per minute reading with the highest jump noticed as initial score of 8 to 35 in just two months of training.

3. Interviews conducted with parents and students point to the fact that students performance in other subjects improved significantly after attendance in our programs. 

4.During recruitment for our last cycle held in 2022 a school stated that they would only allow Rosetta Steps  assess to their students if the center was to sign an agreement  that in the event any of such students sought enrollment in our institution after the program, these students were to be rejected. The Rosetta Steps Center refused this offer.  The school backed down and true to their fears 10 of the students that were enrolled in the after school program changed schools as their parents were able to see a significant improvement in their wards performance after just 3 months of after school programs.

The research studies have affirmed the following for us

• Phonemic awareness and phonics is the key to learning.
• The use of technology greatly enhances learning outcomes
• Students are underperforming not because they lack any form of intelligence but mostly due to the method of instruction that is being used.
• By teaching a student to pronounce words they receive a confidence boost that enables them to delve into the meaning of words. Inability to pronounce is a major impediment to learning.
• Students under performance in Mathematics is due mainly to their attitude towards the subject and fear of mathematics which stems from self doubt, low self esteem and inability of teachers to relate mathematical concepts towards everyday life. During one of our training sessions we realised that none of the teachers of the five schools involved knew why the measurement of PI was 3.14. A simple demonstration using a string to measure the diameter of a circle and showing that this string when placed around the circumference of same circle needed to be placed three different times with a balance measurement of .14 led to one of our greatest aha moments ever experienced.
• Lack of electricity, technology and internet.
• Lack of proper teaching materials. No work text. No teacher key books. No Teacher workbooks have been published for over 30 years.

There is no better time than now. The Rosetta Steps Education Center has over the years implemented what we have gauged as effective programs however we have not developed a proper method that we can provide to donors that prove the effectiveness and the impact of our programs.

The LEAP Program would enable us to have a different view on the current program and have evidence based innovation implemented.

Our organisation has over the years invested heavily in infrastructure and teaching but lacks proper evidence that proves that our intervention work.

1) Is there a way that we could make more impact using the resources we currently have?

2) What kind of  evidence/ materials do we need to effectively market our program to attract funding.

3) What could be done differently and how? Where are our shortfalls as an organisation?

Assessment and review of our current methodology with suggestions on ways to maximize outreach using limited resources.

Creation of a program brochure for marketing and grant proposals.

The establishment of proper manuals systems and controls that would ensure consistent replication of our programs.

Creation of a system of record keeping, tracking that clearly shows the impact and outreach and success of our programs.

At the conclusion of the LEAP Project our organisation and board will review all suggestions and recommendations proposed by LEAP fellows.

We would then vote to decide on suggestions to be adapted and the time frame for implementation. 

My desired outcome of the LEAP Project sprint for my organisation would be

1. Improvement efficiency
2. Creation of a matrix for the measurement of project short term impact
3. The establishment of cost cutting measures