Teaching Teachers through Distance Methods: An Evaluation of a Sri Lankan Programme. Education Division Document, No. 40.

Overview & Synopsis

This report describes the development process of a distance education program in Sri Lanka run by the Institute of Distance Education for nongraduate teachers inservice, and presents results of the program's evaluation. Two teacher education courses--an elementary education course and a combined science/mathematics course--were offered. The courses ran for 3 years. The overall aims of the evaluation were to assess the performance of program participants, to evaluate the internal efficiency of the program, and to make recommendations concerning its future. The evaluation was carried out by two Swedish consultants, who were responsible for the bulk of the training, and one Sri Lankan. Data were collected through a survey of course graduates, classroom observation of teaching practices, and interviews with relevant officials and program staff. Results suggest that the distance program is functioning well and has become established among Sri Lankan teachers and educators as an acceptable mode of delivery for teacher education, and that the market for the program will exist into the foreseeble future. Appendixes provide evaluation methodology and a listing of interviewees. (Contains approximately 30 references.) (LL)