Rural Opportunity towards Pathway for Empowerment (ROPE)

Fostering awareness, exposure and English language skills in a meaningful and integrated manner

In rural India, students often cannot choose and pursue higher education opportunities due to a lack of relevant knowledge, skills and access to opportunities. ROPE is a rural after school program that facilitates children’s growth in knowledge, skills and mindsets so that they can access and create, learning and career opportunities for themselves and their communities, with dignity.

bookmark_border

Bookmark

Overview

Information on this page is provided by the innovator and has not been evaluated by HundrED.

Web presence

2021

Established

150

Children

1

Countries

Target group

Students upper

Updated

April 2023

We hope to see children grow with confidence and awareness of themselves and the world. We hope that the English language does not become a barrier to accessing opportunities for any child. We hope learning becomes relevant and meaningful for students, where they learn, apply and reflect on their learning experiences to form actionable insights and feel empowered to thrive.

About the innovation

Why did you create this innovation?

In rural India, children do not pursue higher education opportunities due to a lack of foundational knowledge and skills and limited access to opportunities. Even students who complete school often struggle to pursue higher-ed opportunities because of low proficiency in English and key socio-emotional skills and dispositions. This impacts their confidence and limits their access to opportunities.

What does your innovation look like in practice?

ROPE integrates English language learning with socio-emotional skills and dispositions like collaboration, critical thinking, curiosity, grit, and empathy. The program is divided into 4 levels and aims to progressively build these skills and dispositions. The program curriculum begins with phonemic awareness in level 1 and ends with advanced reading comprehension and oral comprehension skills in level 4.
The key features of the program are:
- English literacy is integrated with socio-emotional skills and dispositions and themes of self and civic awareness
- The curriculum is contextualised to the geography and socio-cultural elements of the area
- It is evidence-backed to support ESL learners better
- The program is proficiency-based and not age-based
Each level is a 3-month-long blended learning experience with a pre-designed curriculum and pedagogical approach, where students engage in a guided hour-long learning experience each day to build the key skills.

How has it been spreading?

Program started with 2 out of 4 levels, 2 teachers and 19 students in a 3-month cycle. Today, we run 4 levels of the program with 7 teachers, an integrated student curriculum & 60 students engaged in each of the 3-month cycles. In last 2 years, we executed 6 cycles of the program with students in 12 villages. All our teachers come from the same community as our students, and 3 of them were students in the program till 6 months ago. We have created 20 contextual storybooks, used as learning resources in the program and freely available globally. Students from the program have participated and shared their voices on national platforms.
Over the next 2 years, we will make the curriculum & operational model of the program accessible, for free, across the globe, especially in rural regions.

If I want to try it, what should I do?

1. Build a team of teachers/ facilitators who believe in building safe learning spaces integrated with socio-emotional learning
2. Till our curriculum is not freely available, contact Shrutika Silswal at shrutika.silswal@sef.org.in
We will provide you with support with operational processes, student curriculum, assessments and data systems to track progress in language and socio-emotional skills.

Implementation steps

1: Build a team of teachers/facilitators

Build a team of facilitators who display proficiency in English language and believe in holding safe-learning spaces for students.
Train the teachers through an experiential and reflective cycle of training enabling them to build a deeper connection with the social-emotional learning practices they are delivering inside classrooms. Some suggested ways to support teachers are- experiential workshops, execution rehearsals and reflection.

2. Conduct an admission drive for students

Make students aware about the program, the objectives and experience tha t it offers. Onboard parents of the students and inform them about the program thoroughly. If you choose to facilitate this virtually, students would need access to zoom on a device and internet connection. In this case, make the expectation clear with the students and parents. If possible, the organization can support the student with a device and/or internet connection.

3. Conduct a baseline assessment of language

Using the assessment content for each level, conduct the student assessment, starting with phonemic awareness. Record student responses in the teacher assessment material and upload the data using google forms for each child. Use this assessment to determine the level of course allocated to each student based on their proficiency level.

4. Onboard students

Inform students about the level of course allocated to them. You can create a level-wise WhatsApp or telegram group (based on availability), this is to ensure regular communication.
Familiarise students with course facilitators, logistics of their everyday class and support them in setting goals for the next 2-3 months.

5. Execute first 5 weeks of student curriculum

Execute the first 5 weeks of the curriculum, with an hour-long class 4-days a week.

6. Conduct a mid-line assessment to track progress

You can choose to conduct a mid-course assessment to learn about the progress made by each student in the first 5 weeks. Using this data, you can create individual differentiated support for each child.

7. Execute next 5-weeks of student curriculum

Execute the final 5 weeks of the curriculum, with an hour-long class 4-days a week.

8. Conduct endline assessments to check growth

Conduct and end-line assessment for the course allocated to them. Add the data to the data system and evaluate the growth of each student.

9. Conduct a performance task for SEL

To learn about the socio-emotional growth of each child, you can conduct a performance task (a learning activity that asks students to perform to demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and proficiency).

10. Analyse data and share progress with students

At the end of the cycle, ensure to analyse data from the language assessments and performance task.
Use this data to:
- Celebrate and communicate growth to each child
- Celebrate and communicate growth to facilitators
- Informing next cycle of the program