Our Results

Since Cooperative for Education (CoEd) began in 1996, we have provided life-changing educational opportunities to nearly 100,000 students.

How do we know our programs work?

We evaluate the success of each project and share the results with our partners. With the help of independent researchers from Marroquín University in Guatemala City, we analyze student and teacher outcomes through surveys, interviews, and pre- and post-tests. Below are highlights from our most recent measurable results studies (from 2007 and 2008).

We also know that our programs are working through the success stories of our graduates.

• Read about how our programs have helped rural Guatemalans such as Oscar and Roberto break the cycle of poverty for their families.

Textbook Program

Of the teachers interviewed:

• 91% believe their teaching has improved since they received the textbooks. 
• 97% experienced an increase in student comprehension. 
• 88% report that their way of teaching has changed for the better as a result of the program.
• 80% say student retention has increased.
• 90% say that student understanding has increased.

Of the students interviewed:

Textbooks free up 26% of class time to engage students in active discussion.

• 90% consider the Textbook Program helpful in facilitating learning and retention.
• 75% of students interviewed said that they are using what they learned from textbooks in their current studies as high school students.

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Computer Program

Of the students interviewed:

• 89% of students use their computer lab as a way to improve their future chances of getting a good job.
• 88% say that taking computer classes has changed their lives for the better.
• 79% say the skills they learn in their CoEd computer courses are useful to their lives.
• 71% intend to study computers at the high school level.

Of the program graduates interviewed:

83% of graduates are taking their computer skills to the next level.

• 83% use their newly acquired computer skills to further their education in vocational high schools or to acquire higher-paying jobs.
• 100% thought that the computer classes were very helpful or helpful in enabling students to continue their education to the next level and to do homework, research, and presentations.

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Culture of Reading Program (CORP)

Of the teachers interviewed:

• 100% say they use at least 10 new CORP advanced teaching methods in their classrooms.

In addition, independent research indicates that:

• The reading scores of third-grade students participating in the program improved by 17.5 percentage points over the course of one school year, an improvement more than four times that of a comparison group of non-CORP students.
• On average, first and second graders in CORP improved their overall reading scores by 28.1 and 17.9 percentage points, respectively.

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Scholarship and Community Give-Back Program Studies

The dropout rate of scholarship students is 44% lower than that of non-scholarship students.

• 100% of scholarship students who graduate from middle school go on to high school.

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