Tiger Girls — Harvard Evaluation Update

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By Richard Rowe  
Tiger Girls — Harvard Evaluation Update

Tiger Girls

The TIGER Project (These Inspiring Girls Enjoy Reading) is a project of OLE International being carried out in partnership with UNHCR and International Relief & Development with generous support from UNHCR Innovation. The goal of the TIGER project is to demonstrate and document the effectiveness of an innovative and scalable community ­based approach to learning that is being carried out with adolescent girls in the Za’atari Refugee Camp in Jordan. The program aims to increases the sense of agency, meaning, and connection of the participants while also supporting their personal learning goals. The objective of this demonstration project is to show that the methodology will enable the girls to take greater control over their lives as they develop basic knowledge, critical skills, and meaningful relationships.

Harvard Evaluation Team Visits Za’atari
A team from the Harvard Graduate School of Education program, traveled to The Za’atari Refugee Camp in Jordan in June to conduct a process evaluation of the pilot TIGER program. The purpose of the trip was to assess how well these goals are being achieved and to propose interventions and/or modifications to strengthen the program. Through interviews with coaches, focus group discussions with TIGER girls, and observations of each of the TIGER teams, the program was found to be successful in increasing girls’ motivation to go to and stay in school. The combination of direct academic support, community service projects, and strong trusting relationships between the coaches, the girls, and their families has made the TIGER girls a “network of girl change makers” within the camp. Many girls reported that the TIGER program has increased their confidence in school, provided new collaborative problem solving skill sets, and promoted a strong social network that involves the coaches and TIGER peers in various aspects of their lives.

Please help us do more!
The Harvard team produced a set of recommendations that will help OLE build upon and seek to expand the program within the camp, and at additional locations. They also set a modest goal of providing a field trip for the girls. “From our conversations with the girls, we learned that they would like to have the opportunity to go on a field trip outside of the camp. To help the girls achieve this dream, please donate to the TIGER field trip campaign here or the Tiger Girls fund here. Over the next few days we are urging our supporters to make donations to the the Tiger Girls fund so that we can take advantage of the GlobalGiving matching fund campaign.