Right Decisions for Effective Education-Strenghten Education for All Children! Erasmus Project

Project Title

Right Decisions for Effective Education-Strenghten Education for All Children!

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for school education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Disabilities – special needs; Early School Leaving / combating failure in education

Project Summary

The achievements of a child w/SEND are closely related to a quality education that requires good documentation, assessment and follow-up throughout the educational life from the beginning of early childhood. To improve the quality of education, teachers should be able to make effective decisions about the individualized plans (IEPs) of the students with the standards & criteria set in the light of well-designed data collection and documentation. It is important that children with IDs should have the followed and recorded history of education. Because it is critical to develop transition plans for adulthood, which will include career choice, education & other related topics. Starting the child’s educational records from early childhood will make it easier taking decisions about the following years in a more healthy way.

In Turkey, special education procedure starts educational appraisal & educational placement decision completed by Guidance and Research Centers (RAMs) of Ministry of National Education (MEB). RAMs only record students’ current performance on annual evaluations. It is based on a single interview within the appointment system. In addition, the evaluation criteria used by RAMs may also have problems reflecting the child’s age, character traits & environmental factors. Educators involved in the education process of children with IDs in early childhood period centers, primary and secondary schools and special education and rehabilitation centers (target group) are obliged to carry out their education based on the IEPs of those children.

However, the documentation approach of these schools and centers is a problem. Teachers are having problems completing these tasks and cannot use data driven decision-making approaches based on certain standards and criteria about the IEPs of children with IDs. In this sense, data gathering and documentation functions cannot be performed regarding the factors that affect students’ performance positively or negatively.

This project aims to meet those problems through developing an ICT based documentation & performance assessment tool for educators to measure teaching and learning processes and achievements from early childhood to the end of the first 8 years of schooling focusing on children with IDs. This will provide an opportunity for the educators to take data driven decisions about children’s IEPs based on specific standards and criteria through real-time recordings in the classroom. This system will provide a performance testimony for these children for their further education. This project also aims to design a training program for teachers to improve their competencies on student evaluation and documentation and to develop an self-learning environment for teachers.

Our partnership reinforces transnational & intersectoral collaboration and holds the whole range of the competencies required to implement such a project. Collaboration of academia, civil society, public and private sector reflects the views of different sectors and countries to the outputs and is in full compliance with the project objectives. Three transnational meetings, two joint staff trainings, and four multiplier events will ensure the dissemination project result.

I. OUTPUTS
O1: System design and system documentation for ICT based application tool
O2: ICT based application tool
O3: User Manual (a manual on how to use the software both for educators and for those who will do final evaluations)
O4: In-service teacher training program (for all educators working for children w/SEND to assess individual development plans of these children, educational environments and their own performances)
O5: Web site and sharing platform

II. JOINT STAFF TRAININGS: Two joint staff trainings will be organized in the European partners’ countries in order to provide input for project
outputs.

III. TRANSNATIONAL MEETINGS: Three meetings will be held in Turkey and in the countries of the European partners in order to follow up project activities and to change ideas among partners regarding project deliverables.

IV. MULTIPLIER EVENTS: (to disseminate project findings and results)
1.Dissemination and awareness raising on ICT based application tool (O2,)
2.Awareness raising meeting on in-service training program for teachers and E-learning Platform (O2, O3, O4,O5)
3.Awareness raising meeting in Finland(O2,O3, O4, O5)
4.Awareness raising meeting in the Netherlands(O2,O3, O4, O5)
This project will create impact at national and the EU levels. Through a good monitoring and documentation system, teachers will enable to follow and assess IEPs of their students based on determined standards & benchmarks in the light of a solid, well-designed data collection & documentation. This project will also have an effect to change methods and change code of conducts to assess the children w/SEND, the teachers and the schools.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 212870 Eur

Project Coordinator

GAZI UNIVERSITESI & Country: TR

Project Partners

• MINISTRY OF NATIONAL EDUCATION
• STICHTING CHRISTELIJKE HOGESCHOOL WINDESHEIM
• HACETTEPE UNIVERSITESI
• ZIHINSEL YETERSIZ COCUKLARI YETISTIRME VE KORUMA VAKFI (ZICEV)
• ITA-SUOMEN YLIOPISTO
• PIKOMTEK AR-GE YAZILIM EGITIM DANISMANLIK LIMITED SIRKETI