A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Mission

To assist education, government, community agencies, businesses, and labor groups to maintain cultural literacy and improve the quality of life by helping to strengthen educational programs and processes for children, youth, and adults.

Key Initiatives

PREL's key initiatives are aligned with its goals and priorities:

Strengthening Teaching and Learning. PREL is providing technical assistance and training to teachers and administrators on curricula and practice, technology applications, and development and dissemination of tools and strategies to strengthen teaching and learning. With PREL's assistance, the Republic of Palau established content standards and benchmarks for language arts and social studies.

Transforming Schools and Other Learning Environments. PREL helped to launch the Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration (CSRD) program in its eligible entities of Hawaii, Guam, CNMI, and American Samoa. PREL also finds ways to ensure that other entities will benefit from nationwide work on comprehensive school reform through research-based models. An example of comprehensive school reform is the Al Maron project in Ebeye Public School described under Signature Programs.

Fostering Partnerships and Connections. PREL's work strategy has been to plan with people, not for them, and to foster partnerships and networks. Examples of these partnerships include leadership teams and conferences and institutes that are described under signature programs. A region-wide network of service centers has been established in CNMI, Guam, American Samoa, and Yap State to ensure frequent and sustained interaction among PREL and its constituencies.

Addressing Literacy as a Priority. The development of literacy in children and adults is PREL's most pressing priority. PREL is implementing the Reading Success Network (RSN), a national initiative developed by the Southern California Comprehensive Assistance Center, to support reading instruction in grades K-3. PREL also is implementing the Strategic Teaching and Reading Project (STRP) developed by the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. Several materials and products have been created to support literacy while maintaining cultural values and indigenous languages of the Pacific region: student-developed CD-ROMs in Yap State; stories written by Pacific teachers; a CD-ROM that archives a set of more than 1,500 stories/titles in 10 Pacific languages; and a Read Aloud audiotape series in various Pacific languages.

Signature Programs

Pacific Educator in Residence (PEIR) Program. This program provides a structured professional development experience for qualified Pacific educators during a year's residency at any one of PREL's office sites. Its purpose is to develop Pacific educators' personal and professional skills in the context of PREL's ongoing work, thereby enhancing PREL's strategic alliances in the region. As part of their program of work, PEIRs identify how they will apply their new knowledge and experiences within their respective educational systems. Approximately 33 PEIRs have gone through the program over the past 12 years.

Leadership Teams. The Pacific Curriculum and Instructional Council (PCIC) serves as one of PREL's leadership teams. This Council is made up of curriculum chiefs or their representatives from each entity served by PREL. Results of their work include a cultural profile framework, identification of priority areas for technical assistance and training, and a plan for integrated services for each entity.

PREL's Research and Development Cadre has provided leadership in research studies conducted in the region. The Retention and Attrition of Pacific School Teachers and Administrators study was designed to provide insights into absenteeism, stress/burnout, and attrition among teachers and school administrators throughout the Pacific region. Work currently is under way on the Pacific Language Use in Schools (PLUS) study.

Pacific Educators' Conference. PREL annually convenes a Pacific Educators' Conference in cooperation with the region's educational community. The largest gathering of Pacific educators in the region, the Pacific Educators' Conference has an average attendance of 1,000 participants. In recent years, Pacific Islanders have been presenters in about 90 percent of the more than 120 workshops. Pre-conference institutes have grown from 1 institute with 25 participants to 7 institutes with over 250 registered participants.

Project Al Maron. In January 1997, Project Al Maron (community members coming together) was born out of a need to address multiple facilities, curricular, and staff development needs. In this spirit, the government and Ebeye Board of Education invited PREL to become a key partner in the transformation of Ebeye Public School. PREL's role has been to provide training and technical assistance for school improvement; conduct needs assessments; assist in further development of the school improvement plan; and coordinate time and resource contributions to ensure that everyone plays an active role. Improved facilities and student learning environment, greater community involvement, and stronger accountability have resulted from this partnership.

Specialty Area

As one of the three laboratories assigned the specialty area of Language and Cultural Diversity, PREL provides regional and national leadership in: (1) language use and student literacy, and (2) culturally inclusive staff development practices. Through publications, conference institutes, region-wide classroom research, teacher training, and a satellite teleconference, PREL's specialty area supports educators in their efforts to improve instruction and student learning. Staff developers use research-based practices for improving literacy among second language learners through an inclusive model for training, targeted to apply effective staff development practices in culturally appropriate ways.

Selected Recent Products

Pacific Interactive CD-ROM provides a framework that allows teachers or students to access subject area content in various media forms and then use the 'option-click' command to create beautiful, full-featured multimedia reports or presentations.

Reading Aloud to Children is a series of bilingual audiotapes and guides that encourage parents and other caregivers to read together with their children, both in their first language and in English. The tapes explain the importance of reading aloud in the development of literacy, provide specific read-aloud techniques, and demonstrate those techniques using a story or legend native to the language being featured. Reading Aloud to Children has been produced in English and Hawaiian, Marshallese, Pohnpeian, Samoan, Woleaian, Yapese, Chuukese, and Palauan. Versions in Kosraean, Chamorro, Carolinian, and Ilocano are expected to be completed in 1999.

Retention and Attrition of Pacific School Teachers and Administrators (RAPSTA) Study in the Pacific Region. PREL has completed a set of entity-specific studies on teacher and school-administrator absenteeism, stress, and attrition in each of PREL's 10 American-affiliated entities. These studies were done in collaboration with other entities to (1) raise awareness of risk factors affecting educators in the Pacific, and (2) provide insight for addressing concerns related to absenteeism, stress, and attrition in Pacific schools.

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[ Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (NWREL) ]

This page last modified 25 October 1999. (lvb)