GVI Phang Nga Achievement Report

15
th
July 2014

GVI Teaching Children projects placement and pre/post testing already making a
difference in English classes at the Baan Tam Namchai Foundation in Baan Nam Khem




Summary
It has been a very exciting month on the Teaching Children program as we implemented our
placement and pre/post testing system into regular English classes at the Baan Tharn
Namchai (BTNC) Foundation here in Ban Nam Khem. The system was created by volunteers
and designed specifically for Kindergarten children at the Foundation. With this system in
place it will not only let us measure student improvement and monitor our teaching
methods but also to keep in line with our long term goals including supporting our partner
organizations with their activities, providing a high standard of English education to the
community and providing volunteers with teaching skills and experience. This also supports
the UN Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to achieve universal primary education.

Report
Not long after the 2004 tsunami an Australian organization Hands Across the Water built the
first Orphanage and Foundation in the Phang Nga area. Initially it was to support 32 children
who had lost their parents and were left without food, shelter or support. The Baan Tharn
Namchai orphanage and foundation is now home to over 85 children. Not only does BTNC
provide childcare services for these children but also offers a range of educational programs
for preschool children, teenagers and young mothers.

GVI, with the help of teaching children volunteers, have been running 6 regular English
classes for 13 kindergarten students at the foundation for just over a year. Volunteers and
students alike have very much enjoyed these classes but have had no tools to measure
student improvement or our teaching methods. Our placement and pre/post testing system
enables us to do this as well as deliver more effective and appropriate classes.





Over the months of April and May, teaching children volunteers with the help of staff
created a curriculum designed specifically for children at the kindergarten keeping in mind
their needs and abilities. Once this was completed volunteers then started working on
designing a sequence of tests that would be completed before and after each topic in the
curriculum and a method in which to measure their improvement.

On the 3
rd
of June volunteers started placement testing with our 2 advanced classes at the
kindergarten testing a total of 8 children. Once students were placed in appropriate classes,
pre testing begun. Over the course of 3 weeks students were taught 2 topics, the alphabet
and numbers.

Below are the students results from the first pre and post tests. Both tests had a total of 8
questions in each.



See below table for percentage of student improvement

Student
Name
Male or
Female
Pre Test
Result %
Post Test
Result %
Percentage
of
improvement
Number of
Days Attended
Boss M 87.5 100 12.5% 6
Pancake F 37.5 75.0 37.5% 4
IK Que F 87.5 100 12.5% 6
Polina F 0.0 12.5 12.5% 2
Toa-Poo M 75.0 100 25.0% 6
Fa Sae F 25.0 62.5 37.5% 6
Ten M 25.0 50.0 25.0% 6
Bai Boon F 37.5 50.0 12.5% 1



0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Boss Pancake IK Que Polina Toa-Poo Fa Sae Ten Bai Boon
Pre Test 1
Post Test 1


Although we are still in the early stages of testing the results above show that students, on
average, have improved by 21.87%. We are excited by these results and can only hope that
student improvement will continue to rise through the end of the school year.

Having watched the volunteers put so much time and effort into creating the pre/post
testing system and now having implemented into KG classes, seeing the first results is very
exciting. It also gives the volunteers something extra to work towards as they look at the
results its clear all their hard work has paid off, they can clearly see theyve made a
difference. - Holly Briggs (Community Coordinator)

GVI will continue to work towards its long-term objectives to support English education in
the Phang Nga area, in line with the UN Millennium Development Goal to support universal
primary education. If you would like to read more about this project and sign up to
volunteer, please visit our website, like our facebook page, check out our blog and follow us
on twitter for the latest information straight from the field.