Twenty Criteria For System-wide Education Reform In Developing Countries
SER-20 FRAMEWORK
The SER-20 Framework, developed by Dr. Harry L. Saint Cyr, outlines a comprehensive approach to education reform in countries. This research-based model consists of twenty essential criteria grouped into four key cadres: Leadership Vision, The Learning Environment, Stakeholder Involvement, and Adequate Resources. By adhering to these criteria educational leaders can effectively drive meaningful change, fostering sustainable economic growth and development in their nations. Embracing the SER-20 Framework is a crucial step toward achieving a robust and impactful educational system.
FOUR AREAS OF FOCUS
I. Leadership & Vsion
II. Adequate Resources
III. The Learning Environment
IV. Stakeholder Involvement
SER-20 FRAMEWORK
Twenty Criteria for System-wide Education Reform in Developing Countries
SER-20, a groundbreaking framework designed by Dr. Harry L. Saint Cyr for system-wide education reforms in developing countries. This research-based model empowers leaders by providing a clear paradigm to guide their efforts in transforming education. Comprising four essential cadres—Leadership & Vision, The Learning Environment, Stakeholders’ Involvement, and Adequate Resources—SER-20 outlines twenty critical criteria that must be met at a high level to drive meaningful educational change. By implementing these criteria, countries can unlock pathways to sustainable economic growth and development.
To ensure the effective implementation of the SER-20 Framework, it is essential to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the chosen contexts to ascertain the current status of each of the 20 criteria. This analysis will provide valuable insights into the environments in which the SER-20 Framework is being applied. Each criterion will be evaluated and categorized according to the SER-20 four-level assessment rubric: Need Improvement, Progressing, Meet, and Exceed. We are in the process of developing a tool designed to assess each of the 20 criteria outlined in the SER-20 Framework. For further details regarding SER-20, please visit our website at www.ser20.org.
Leadership & Vision
1. Shared Vision
1a). Develop a national shared vision for education with collaboration from all stakeholders that guide all educational decisions.
1b). Create a national shared vision for education that serves as the backbone for developing a strategic plan that will support the nation’s vision and mission for education.
2. Strong Government
2a). Develop an in-depth understanding of the government's role in the nation's education.
2b) Implement measures that support, enforce, and ensure the successful achievement of the country's educational plans, goals, and objectives for education.
2c). Establish policies that guide the curriculum, instructional practices, and day-to-day operations of all the nation's schools.
2d). Establish and enforce laws and regulations that guarantee equitable access to education for all.
2e). Establish and adopt policies for performance-based evaluation standards that govern the teaching and learning of prescribed skills.
3. Political Alignment
3a). Establish and enforce policies that foster citizens that are knowledgeable in their country's civic duties and responsibilities.
3b). Ensure that political ideologies and political decisions are aligned with the nation's shared vision for education.
3c). Ensure that political decisions are aligned with the nation's strategic plan for education.
3d). Enact legislation that governs the day-to-day operations of the nation's schools as aligned with the nation's shared vision for education.
4. Strong Regulations
4a). Establish a regulatory body that enacts and enforces strong regulations that foster and promote the nation's education delivered with the utmost quality.
4b). Establish a regulatory body that governs personnel qualifications and requirements that ensure quality education for all.
4c). Establish a regulatory body that enforces policies that protect the privacy and security of all students.
5. Enforceable Policies
5a). Enact educational legislation and policies that are aligned with the nation's constitutional laws, provisions, and legislations.
5b). Establish policies that are aligned with the nation’s shared vision and strategic plan for education.
5c). Establish policies that protect learners' privacy and safety inside and outside their learning environments.
6. Planning & Design
6a). Develop a strategic plan that clearly delineates goals, objectives, and strategies that are aligned with the nation’s shared vision for education.
6b). Establish and enforce instructional practices and strategies that are aligned with the nation’s strategic plan for teaching and learning.
6c). Plan, design, and adopt instructional planning and designs that guarantee equitable access to quality education for all learners indiscriminately.
7. Implementation & Evaluation
7a). Develop and adopt an implementation plan and strategies that clearly delineate the required steps for implementing the nation’s strategic plan for education.
7b). Create an implementation team that ensures effective implementation of the nation’s strategic plan for education.
7c). Form a highly qualified evaluation team with members that are well-versed in both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies.
7d). Create and adopt an evaluation plan that is guided and supported by research-based methodologies for designing, collecting, and analyzing all the data.
7e). Design and implement an evaluation plan that effectively assesses each of the twenty criteria for system-wide school reform prescribed by the SSR-20 Framework.
Adequate Resources
8. Adequate Funding
8a). Establish policies and procedures that result in securing adequate funding for the nation’s education system.
8b). Establish and enforce national policies and procedures for increasing the country’s Gross National Product that shall cause increased funding for education.
8c). Develop and create programs that provide adequate funding for individualized learning based on learners’ needs.
8d). Make informed political decisions that positively impact the nation’s economic growth and development and that can provide adequate funding for education.
8e). Make robust education investments necessary to ensure a successful public education system.
9. Budget & Staffing
9a). Establish policies and guidelines for developing a budget implementation plan that supports the nation's vision and strategic plan for education.
9b). Design and adopt strategies and guidelines for effective allocations of funds for education for meeting the nation's vision and strategic education plan.
9c). Adopt strategies and guidelines for ensuring the hiring and supporting of qualified personnel across the educational system.
9d). Create and adopt strategies for mentoring and developing staff members for leadership roles in the education system.
10. Infrastructure Development & Expansion
10a). Design and implement a robust national infrastructure that supports the nation’s shared vision for education and its strategic plan for educational reforms with input from all stakeholders.
10b). ). Establish a department, division, or commission with the mission to analyze, plan, implement, and evaluate the nation’s ongoing infrastructure development and expansion plan.
10c). Ensure that adequate resources are identified, pursued, and made available to create and support the execution of the nation's infrastructure development and expansion plan.
10d). Establish guidelines, procedures, and policies for infrastructure development and expansion.
10e). Enact legislations that support a robust infrastructure that supports the nation's shared vision for education.
11. School Building Expansion & Maintenance
11a). Create and adopt a plan for school building expansion and maintenance that is aligned with the nation's shared vision for education.
11b). Establish a department or a division with the primary responsibility to analyze, plan, implement, and evaluate the nation's school building and expansion plan cyclically to ensure that the nation's shared vision for education is accomplished.
11c). Adopt policies, procedures, and guidelines for continuous school expansion and maintenance with inputs from all stakeholders.
11d). Ensure that adequate resources are made available to support school building expansion and maintenance planning, programs, and activities.
The Learning Environment
12. Strong Educational Leadership
12a). Create a national department of education that understands its role as the bridge that connects political leaders, community leaders, and business leaders to the education system in terms of policies, programs, and all activities related to the nation's education system.
12b). Establish national and local educational leadership teams that put learners first and have extensive pedagogical knowledge and skills in exercising their governance.
12c). Establish national and local educational leadership teams that understand the nation' shared vision for education and that have the expertise to help realize that vision.
12d). Establish national and local educational leadership teams that understand the importance of their roles and the impacts of their governance on the nation's shared vision for education.
13. Learning Theories Alignment
13a). Ensure that instructional planning, strategies, and decisions are aligned with adopted educational learning theories and that these educational learning theories are infused into all pedagogical decisions.
13b). Ensure that adequate resources are allocated to ensure that all stakeholders are well-versed in all the major theories and frameworks guiding educational perspectives and practices today.
14. 21st-Century Learning Environment
14a). Establish, promote, and enforce policies that birth and nurture 21st-Century Learning Environments that equip learners with the skills and knowledge to solve real-world problems.
14b). Establish policies that ensure adequate and necessary resources are allocated for the design, promotion, implementation, and evaluation of 21st-century learning environments.
14c). Allocate adequate resources for increasing personnel's skills and knowledge in the teaching and learning of 21st-century skills.
14d). Adopt research-based frameworks and theories for establishing essential conditions for leveraging resources for the teaching and learning of 21st-century skills.
15. Curriculum Focus
15a). Design, adopt, and implement a national curriculum that is aligned with the nation's vision for education.
15b). Adopt a multicultural curriculum framework that ensures the inclusion of learners' individuality with the utmost emphasis on the whole child.
15c). Design and implement a curriculum with the input of all stakeholders.
15d. Design and implement strategies that build stakeholders’ awareness, knowledge, and understanding of the nation’s adopted educational curriculum.
15e. Enable local school leaders and schools to design and develop an individualized curriculum that best meets the needs of their individualized learning context.
16. Qualified Personnel
16a). Establish and adopt strong policies, regulations, and procedures for staff building.
16b). Establish and adopt policies and procedures for system-wide staff growth and development.
16c). Create, adopt, and establish policies and protocols for hiring, promoting, and retaining qualified personnel system-wide.
16d). Establish a department that regulates and oversees staff management and development.
16e). Establish enforceable policies and procedures for staff qualifications' verifications.
16f). Adopt and integrate information and communication technology that best supports the hiring, maintenance, and retention of qualified personnel.
17. Information and Communication Technology Integration
17a). Develop a shared vision for leveraging information and communication technology in teaching and learning with inputs from all stakeholders.
17b). Create and develop a strategic plan for infusing information and communication technology into teaching and learning that is aligned with the nation’s shared vision for educational technology.
17c). Adopt policies and procedures that establish the conditions for leveraging information and communication technology for teaching and learning.
17d). Adopt procedures and policies for building qualified staff with a high level of skills and knowledge in leveraging information and communication technology for teaching and learning.
17e). Establish national and local divisions that oversee the planning, implementation, and evaluation of the nation’s strategic plan for information and communication technology in teaching and learning.
17f). Adopt and implement research-based practices, frameworks, and learning theories that foster equity in technology-infused learning environments.
17g). Establish policies, guidelines, and procedures that promote and foster learners’ equitable access to information and communication technology in their teaching and learning careers.
17h). Ensure that robust infrastructure for the technology is aligned with the nation’s vision for leveraging information and communication technology in teaching and learning.
18. Academic Equity
18a). Establish rules, regulations, strategies, and procedures for creating national and local education systems that cater to students from all cultural, religious, and socioeconomic backgrounds.
18b). Adopt a curriculum that caters to students of all kinds while providing an exceptional learning experience based on learners’ individualized learning styles.
18c). Ensure that adequate resources are equitably allocated to ensure that learners' academic needs are met based on their individualized needs.
18d). Create and adopt learning measurement strategies that measure learners' academic performances based on their individualized needs.
18e). Adopt an individualized pedagogy that fosters and celebrates learners' individuality and independence.
18f). Establish guidelines, procedures, and regulations that create, provide, and foster equitable learning opportunities for all learners based on their individuality.
18g). Establish an educational system that encourages learners to embrace their individuality by building their capacity to contribute to their country’s economic growth and development.
Stakeholder Involvement
19. Community Engagement
19a). Design and implement strategies that engage parents, students, teachers, school leaders, and community leaders in the nation's education system.
19b). Design and implement activities that promote and encourage the participation of all stakeholders in the teaching and learning process.
19c). Design and adopt strategies that foster community engagement in the learning process for the support of all learners.
19d). Design and implement programs and activities that encourage past, present, and future students to take part in the nation’s teaching and learning process.
19e). Design and implement a communication plan that ensures that the community is knowledgeable of the nation’s vision for education.
20. Business Partnerships
20a). Design and implement strategies that encourage, promote, and foster schools and business relationships that are mutually beneficial to both parties for the benefit of all learners.
20b). Adopt strategies and policies that encourage the inclusion and participation of the business community in key decisions-making processes relating to the nation's education vision and planning.
20c). Establish open-door policies that foster business partnerships with schools that foster learners' twenty-first-century skills, management skills, and leadership skills.
20d). Established policies that encourage businesses’ inputs to important decisions relating to instructional strategies, practices, and outcomes.
20e). Design and implement a communication plan that ensures that the community is knowledgeable of the nation’s vision for education.
ASSESSING THE SER-20 FRAMEWORK
Each condition is measured using a four-level scale rubric—Need Improvement, Progressing, Meet, Exceed. A carefully designed assessment tool should measure each criterion individually and to assign each a scale level using the hierarchical four scales level below, with Need Improvements being the lowest scare score and Exceeding being the highest scale score.