Radio Programming

Classroom Resources

Sèk Matine - SEL Morning Meeting Guide (1st and 2nd Grades)

Sèk Matine, or "Morning Meeting," is an SEL-curriculum designed for 1st and 2nd grade Haitian classrooms. Available in Haitian Creole, the guide provides 36 weeks of scripted, 15-20 minute sessions for teachers to use at the beginning of the day to get their students engaged and excited for the day ahead. Activities include call-and-response, singing, dancing, and so much more!

Explore the SEL Sèk Matine Guide

SEL Children's Books: Ana ak Tiga

Explore our series of children's books developed from the Vision of a Haitian Child, SEL framework. These seven SEL books, all part of the Ana ak Tiga series, not only cover topics present in the SEL framework but also have comprehension questions, a leveled reader's theater as well as strategies students can use to deal with whatever topic the book addresses.

Explore the Ana ak Tiga SEL book series

Literacy Curriculum: Haitian Creole and French (1st and 2nd Grades)

M ap li nèt ale (Haitian Creole) and Je parle bien français (French) are scripted curricula for Grades 1 and 2 that meet international standards for evidenced-based best practices in literacy instruction. They are designed specifically for Haiti's development context and to meet the educational needs of Haitian children. They are co-created and developed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Haiti's Ministry of National Education and Vocational Training (Ministère de l'Éducation Nationale, et de la Formation Professionnelle/MENFP).

Explore the literacy (Haitian Creole and French) curricula

Ayiti Li Kreyòl (ALiK) Assessment

The Ayiti Li Kreyòl (ALiK) assessment evaluates the reading performance of students based on vocabulary knowledge, reading comprehension, phonemic awareness, word recognition, and reading fluency. This formative assessment, administered by teachers at the beginning, middle, and end of the school year, includes small to long paragraphs with accompanying comprehension questions. There are three (3) versions of the ALiK Assessment: ALiK 1 (for Grade 1); ALiK 2 (for Grade 2); and ALiK 3 (for Grade 3).

Access the ALiK assessments and ALiK explainer guide 

Literacy Remediation Program (3rd Grade)

Developed to improve the reading skills of the lowest-performing students in 3rd grade, this literacy remediation program complements the Haitian Creole (M ap li nèt ale) and French (Je parle bien français) curricula for 1st and 2nd grades. Literacy remediation program sessions are led by teachers or tutors and are done outside of the classroom (after school). There are three main documents: a teacher's guide for Haitian Creole remediation lessons; student worksheets for Haitian Creole remediation lessons; and a teacher's guide for French remediation lessons

Access the 3rd grade literacy remediation program documents

Storybooks Haiti

Additionally, access a complete collection of children's books available in Haitian Creole and developed in partnership with Storybooks Haiti. The collection includes stories of traditional animal fables as well as stories of contemporary city life. Stories cover a variety of topics from responsibility to gender equality.

Access the collection

Teaching Resources

Sèk Matine - SEL Morning Meeting Guide

Sèk Matine, or "Morning Meeting," is an SEL-curriculum designed for 1st and 2nd grade Haitian classrooms. Available in Haitian Creole, the guide provides 36 weeks of scripted, 15-20 minute sessions for teachers to use at the beginning of the day to get their students engaged and excited for the day ahead. Activities include call-and-response, singing, dancing, and so much more!

Explore the SEL Sèk Matine Guide

SEL and Classroom Libraries Synthesis Document 

This document, designed for practitioners, simplifies and highlights the main themes covered in the SEL program for 1st and 2nd grade students. In addition, this document summarizes key activities related to classroom libraries and additional support to the 1st and 2nd grade literacy program; conducting Read Aloud sessions with students; independent reading; how to use word walls; how to administer the ALiK assessment to understand a student's reading level in Haitian Creole; etc. 

Explore the SEL and Classroom Libraries Synthesis Document

Teacher Training Videos: Mother Tongue Literacy, Teaching Pedagogy, Student Engagement & Classroom Management

These technical videos for teachers, produced in Haitian Creole, cover a variety of key themes: utilization of the M ap li nèt ale (Haitian Creole) and Je parle bien français (French) curricula; mother tongue literacy; multimodal teaching techniques; student engagement; and positive discipline (classroom management). 

Access the teacher training videos 

Ayiti Li Kreyòl (ALiK) Assessment

The Ayiti Li Kreyòl (ALiK) assessment evaluates the reading performance of students based on vocabulary knowledge, reading comprehension, phonemic awareness, word recognition, and reading fluency. This formative assessment, administered by teachers at the beginning, middle, and end of the school year, includes small to long paragraphs with accompanying comprehension questions. There are three (3) versions of the ALiK Assessment: ALiK 1 (for Grade 1); ALiK 2 (for Grade 2); and ALiK 3 (for Grade 3).

Access the ALiK assessments and ALiK explainer guide 

ECD Synthesis Document

This guide, designed for practitioners, summarizes key themes covered in the ECD program for pre-K, level 3 (grande section) students: 5 pillars of SEL; how to conduct Read Aloud sessions with students; play-based learning; using Haitian Creole decoding books; pre-numeracy; etc. This document also provides helpful tips for teachers on lesson planning, classroom management, and creating a comprehensive schedule of daily activities. 

Explore the ECD Synthesis Document

Literacy Remediation Program (3rd Grade)

Developed to improve the reading skills of the lowest-performing students in 3rd grade, this literacy remediation program complements the Haitian Creole (M ap li nèt ale) and French (Je parle bien français) curricula for 1st and 2nd grades. Literacy remediation program sessions are led by teachers or tutors and are done outside of the classroom (after school). There are three main documents: a teacher's guide for Haitian Creole remediation lessons; student worksheets for Haitian Creole remediation lessons; and a teacher's guide for French remediation lessons.  

Access the 3rd grade literacy remediation program documents

Reading Comprehension Strategies and Tools for Teachers of MTB-MLE Classrooms

This guide was designed by the Reading Comprehension Interest Group for teachers, teacher trainers, and education project staff to know how to support children to develop reading comprehension skills in contexts where more than one language is spoken and/or taught in schools and communities. Mother Tongue-based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) is a term used to refer to contexts where children’s Mother Tongue, or first language, is used as a resource in classrooms to help build children’s understanding in that language as well as in other languages. Check-out the attribution page for more information on the creators!

Explore the reading comprehension teacher guide

Parenting Resources

Positive Parenting Videos

A parent is a child's first teacher. Produced in Haitian Creole, these videos recognize the importance of this role and equip parents with tools to help their children succeed. The four videos focus on the following themes: Positive Discipline; Activities that will Build a Solid Foundation; Experience Builds Brain Architecture; and Nutrition (interactive song). 

Explore the positive parenting videos

Baptism Preparation Resources: Parenting for Success in the First 1,000 Days of Life

The connections between theology and science are truly beautiful. Our Baptism Guide for parish priests marries the science of healthy childhood development with our theological understanding of God’s love for all children. During Baptism preparation classes, parish priests distribute our Parenting for Success in the First 1,000 Days handouts to parents and caregivers. These handouts, contextualized for the Haitian context, review tips and strategies to support parents and caregivers during their child's first 1,000 days and beyond. Topics covered include: 1) nutrition, 2) parenting for success, and 3) school readiness.

Handouts - Haitian Creole  Handouts - English

Reports, Publications, and Briefs

Strong Beginnings for Children in Haiti: 2020-2024 Learnings Brief | Brief | 2024

There are numerous challenges facing young children in Haiti, including political upheaval, gang violence, civil unrest, community violence, closures, shortages of necessities, and natural disasters. This fragility has had a detrimental impact on the learning and development of young children. To address these multifaceted risk factors facing children in Haiti, the Strong Beginnings initiative focused on leveraging the assets of the primary settings—lakay, lekol, legliz (home, school, and parish)—where young children learn and develop daily. Over four years and spread across six of the 10 departments in Haiti, Strong Beginnings has worked to activate this lakay-lekol-legliz (L3) system through interventions and approaches that were need-based, developed in partnership with communities, iteratively tested and improved, and gradually scaled. 

This Learnings Brief highlights the interventions, lessons learned, and recommendations from this L3 systems activation work over the last four years.

Strong Beginnings for Children in Haiti: 2020-2024 Learning Report | Report | 2024

There are numerous challenges facing young children in Haiti, including political upheaval, gang violence, civil unrest, community violence/closures, shortages of necessities, and natural disasters. This fragility can have a detrimental impact on the learning and development of young children. To address these multifaceted risk factors facing children in Haiti, the Strong Beginnings initiative has focused on leveraging the assets of the primary settings—lakay, lekol, legliz (home, school, and parish)—where young children learn and develop daily. Over four years and spread across six of the 10 departments in Haiti, Strong Beginnings has worked to activate this lakaylekol-legliz (L3) system through interventions and approaches that were need-based, developed in partnership with communities, iteratively tested and improved, and gradually scaled. This report summarizes what we have learned through this L3 systems activation work over the last four years. 

Investigating Community Perspectives to Early Childhood Programming: Qualitative Study in Nippes, Haiti | Report | 2023

On August 14, 2021, a 7.2 earthquake hit the Tiburon peninsula of Haiti, destroying infrastructure, particularly schools, and significantly impacting children and families (UNICEF, 2021). According to UNICEF, more than half a million children in those communities struggled to access safe drinking water, shelter, and hygiene. Additionally, lack of access to appropriate nutrition and limited education support could further affect the long-term development of these children, particularly in the Nippes department that was affected by the earthquake. As a response to some of the challenges facing young children in Nippes, the GC-DWC and partners launched the System Activations in Emergencies to Leverage the Home, the School, and the Church to Address Early Child Development (L3) project. This report summarizes our learning.

Activating the Home, School, and Church L3 System in Northern Haiti | Report | 2023

Within Haitian Catholic parishes there are three settings of the social ecology where young children are in regular contact with individuals who affect their learning and development: home (lakay), school (lekòl), and church (legliz) or L3. Building on the reality that the Catholic church is deeply embedded in, and has influence over, the school, home, and broader community life of young children, the University of Notre Dame's Global Center for the Development of the Whole Child (GC-DWC) partnered with five parish communities in the Diocese of Cap-Haïtien in Northern Haiti to meet young children's (ages 0-6) holistic needs across the L3. The five innovation communities provide a unique platform for developing and pilot testing WCD programs for young children alongside community members. The GC-DWC team recently engaged two different learning strategies to assess L3 work in Northern Haiti: repid evaluation, assessment and learning methods (REALM) and a Qualitative Impact Protocol (QuIP). This report summarizes our learning. 

Leveraging community-based innovations during COVID-19 to strengthen the Haitian school system | Publication | 2021

Neil Boothby, Anna Hart, Hannah Chandler, and Dominique Dupuy

This publication explores the impact of COVID-19 on the Haitian education system and identifies innovative practices to strengthen education in Haiti moving forward.

Improving Reading Instruction and Students’ Reading Skills in the Early Grades: Evidence From a Randomized Evaluation in Haiti | Publication | 2020

Juan Carlos Guzmán, Kate Schuenke-Lucien, Anthony J. D’Agostino, Mark Berends, and Andrew J. Elliot

This publication unpacks the impact of Read to Learn, an early-grade literacy intervention, from the fall of 2014 through the spring of 2016 in Haiti. 

Training Teachers to Improve Literacy Education | Brief | 2020

This brief answers the question “How do you effectively train teachers for improved literacy outcomes in low-resource settings?” It provides a summary of findings and key lessons from a recent successful intervention in Haiti and points to areas in need of greater attention.

Improving Reading in the Early Grades | Brief | 2020

This brief seeks to answer the question “What works to improve reading in low-income contexts?” It provides a summary of cross-national evidence, shares findings and key lessons from a recent successful intervention in Haiti, and points to areas in need of greater attention.

Extra Supports to Improve Learning Outcomes at Scale | Brief | 2020

This brief speaks to the question of "How do we support all learners in mastering basic skills, especially those facing the most difficulties in low-income country contexts?"

Culturally Sustaining Socio-Emotional Learning | Brief | 2020

This brief seeks to answer the questions “Why is SEL important for improving student outcomes in low-income contexts, and what are lessons from the Haitian SEL program?” It provides a summary of evidence on SEL, shares findings and key lessons from the SEL Task Force and pilot program, and points to future directions for this work.

National Census of Haiti's Catholic Schools | Report | 2012

Français (rapport complet) | English (abridged)

GC-DWC Haiti springs from a comprehensive assessment of the country’s Catholic education system through the Catholic Education Renewal Project. In 2011, GC-DWC Haiti (formally ACE Haiti) worked with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and the Episcopal Commission for Catholic Education (CEEC) to assess the needs of Haitian Catholic schools. Completed in 2012, this rich diagnostic portrait encompasses:

• an extensive survey and GPS mapping of the estimated 2,315 Catholic schools in Haiti, achieved through the innovative use of technology and training of Haitian data collectors;
• an assessment of governance and management capacity and the needs of all 10 (arch)dioceses and national Catholic educational organizations; and
• a detailed facilities evaluation of over 200 Catholic schools destroyed or damaged in the 2010 earthquake.