Brenda Wawire, Ph.D.
Brenda Wawire, Ph.D.
Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction, Foreign and Second Language Education
Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL - 2017
Graduate Certificate, Measurement and Statistics
Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL - 2017
Graduate Certificate, Program and Evaluation,
Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL - 2016
Master of Arts, Modern Languages, Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages
University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS - 2013
Bachelor of Education Arts, English and Literature, Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya - 2009.
Research Faculty I, Literacy, and Foreign and Second Language Specialist
Dr. Brenda Wawire is a research faculty member at the Learning Systems Institute at Florida State University. Wawire's research centers on strengthening language and biliteracy skills among learners from linguistically diverse communities to contribute to policy-relevant evidence to make education systems responsive to the learning needs of children and youth from diverse backgrounds. Within these areas, she explores how to strengthen a child's language and literacy skills, which are predictors of word recognition, oral reading fluency, and reading comprehension. Wawire’s research also explores evidence-based structured pedagogical approaches to support multilingual learners at risk of reading failure and pedagogical practices that help them transition to English or colonial languages. Her research also examines teacher education. She examines models of effective pre-service and in-service teacher education that enhance core teaching knowledge and skills and classroom processes in low middle income contexts. Her current research examines how environmental factors such as home literacy environment, socio-economic status, family traits, and individual traits impact education outcomes among multilingual children at risk of reading failure. This research explores individual variability in learning outcomes among multilingual children at risk of reading failure from low resource contexts.
Wawire’s work is shaped by more than 12 years of experience designing and conducting policy-relevant research in foundational learning, teacher training, language of instruction, teaching effectiveness, and learning outcomes. She has research, teaching, and partnership experience in Kenya, Malawi, and Rwanda. Her work has been published in the Scientific Studies of Reading, Learning and Individual Differences, Reading and Writing, Reading Research Quarterly, Curriculum Journal, and the Journal of Curriculum Studies. Her research has been funded by USAID, Jacob’s Foundation and Gates Foundation.
More About Dr. Wawire's Work
LSI Team Examining the Educational Experiences of Refugee Families in Tallahassee
LSI Receives SHARE Grant To Support Strengthening Teacher Education and Practice Activity
Professional Experiences
2024 - Research Faculty/Literacy and Foreign Language Specialist, Learning Systems Institute, Florida State University
2021 – 2023 Associate Research Scientist, African Health and Population Research Center, Nairobi, Kenya
2017 – 2021 Teaching Assistant Professor, Department of African and African-American Studies, University of Kansas
2013 – 2017 Graduate Research Assistant and Instructor, School of Teacher Education, Florida State University
Professional Memberships or Affiliations
Comparative and International Education Society (CIES)
American Association of Applied Linguistics (AAAS)
African Language Teachers Association (ALTA)
National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages(NCOLTCL)
Projects
Wawire, Brenda (PI), Nkrunmah, Ivy (Co-PI), Bohn Manuel (Co-PI) (September 2025 – September 2026). Exploring levels of bilingualism among early grade multilingual learners in Kenya. Funded by Jacob’s Foundation.
Jeong Joshua, (PI), Wawire, Brenda (Co-PI). (September 2025 – September 2026). Father involvement and early child development and learning in Sub-Saharan Africa: a multidisciplinary systematic review and meta-analysis. Funded by Jacob’s Foundation.
Wawire, Brenda (PI), Celia Reddick (Co-PI), Twomie, Julie (Co-PI). (March 2025 – December 2025). Strengthening school experiences for refugee young people, families, and their teachers in Tallahassee. Funded by the Learning Systems Institute & FSU office of Research.
Wawire, Brenda (PI), (January 2025 – December 2027). Jacobs Foundation. Individual Variability in reading outcomes among Learners at Risk of Reading Failure: Evidence from Kenya. Funded by Jacobs Foundation.
Barnes-Story, Adrienne (PI), Wawire, Brenda (Co-PI). (October 2024 – September 2025) . Testing the viability of e-CPD across Malawian Higher Education Institutions. Funded by Notre Dame University under the USAID Supporting Holistic and Actionable Research in Education (SHARE) envelope. Grant cancelled due to USAID stop order.
Moses Ngware (PI), Wawire, Brenda (Co-PI) (November 2022 – April 2026). Developing readers’ study: designing, piloting, and measuring an approach to targeting struggling readers in primary schools in Kenya. Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. APHRC continued to manage this grant after I transitioned to Florida State University.
Wawire, Brenda (PI). (November 2022 – December 2023. Evaluating the Quality of Implementation of Competency-Based Curriculum in Kenya: Evidence of Effective Lessons. Funded by African Population and Health Research Center, Human Development Theme Innovation Fund.
Wawire, Brenda (PI), Ojiambo, Peter (Co-PI). March 2019 to December 2019. University of Kansas Research Inc. KU STARTALK Swahili Academy. Funded by the National Security Agency.
Wawire, Brenda (PI), Predolac, Esra (Co-PI). (August 2018 – August 2021). Benchmarks for Teaching Effectiveness. Funded by the Center for Teaching Excellence, University of Kansas.
Publications
Peer Reviewed Publications
Wawire, B.A., Nkunika, F., Robinette., J., Manyau, M., Barnes-Story, A. (In press). Teacher educator knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy: systemic impacts on initial teacher education programming. Trends in Higher Education.
Koo J., Conti, N., Wawire, B.A., Barnes-Story, A. Roles. (2025). Relationships and Experiences among the Stakeholders in the Teaching Practice in Malawi. Teaching and Teacher Education. 165. 105169
Wawire. B., Kiambati, F., Muhia, N., & Mugo, G. Abuya A, B. (2025). Competence-Based Curriculum in Select African Countries: A Scoping Review of Practices, Lessons, and Challenges. The Journal of Curriculum Studies, 1 – 30.
Wawire, B. A., Wawire, G. N., & Kiroro, F. (2025). The Structural Relations of Component Reading Comprehension Skills in Kiswahili: The Influence of Socio‐Economic Status and Home Literacy Environment. Reading Research Quarterly, 60(1), e593.
Kiambati, F. G., Juma, S. W., & Wawire, B. A. (2024). Accessibility of digital systems in information retrieval by users with visual impairment. Quality Assurance in Education, 32(4), 533–550.
Wawire, B. A., Barnes-Story, A. E., Liang, X., & Piper, B. (2024). Supporting multilingual children at-risk of reading failure: impacts of a multilingual structured pedagogy literacy intervention in Kenya. Reading & Writing, 37(8), 1975–2005.
Wawire, B.A., Ojiambo, P., Muchira, J., Wawire, P.N., (2023). Effective Intensive Language Programs: The Case study of a Kiswahili STARTALK Program Model. Journal of National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages.34, 69 – 34.
Wawire, B., Barnes-Story, A., Kiru, E., & Kim, S. (2023). Primary school learning in sub-Saharan Africa during COVID-19: a scoping review of responses and recovery initiatives induced during school closures. Current Issues in Comparative Education, 25(1), 25–50.
Muchira J.M., Morris R. J., Wawire B.A., & Oh C., (2023). Implementing Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) in Kenya: Challenges and Lessons from Korea and USA. Journal of Education and Learning, 12 (3), 62-77.
Wawire, B. A., & Barnes-Story, A. (2023). Translanguaging for multiliteracy development: pedagogical approaches for classroom practitioners. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 26(2), 173–188. Wawire, B. A., Liang, X., & Piper, B. (2023). The Mediating Role of Text Reading Fluency in Reading Comprehension in English and Kiswahili: Evidence from Multilingual Contexts in Kenya. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 39(3), 173–191.
Wawire, B. A., Piper, B., & Liang, X. (2021). Examining the simple view of reading in Kiswahili: Longitudinal evidence from Kenya. Learning and Individual Differences, 90, 102044.
Wawire, B. A. (2021). Promoting effective early grade reading: the case study of primary teachers’ preparation programs in Kenya. Curriculum Journal, 32(2), 247-268.
Wawire, B. A., & Zuilkowski, S. S. (2021). The role of vocabulary and decoding language skills in reading comprehension: a cross-linguistic perspective. International Multilingual Research Journal, 15(1), 23-42.
Papi, M., Bondarenko, A. V., Wawire, B. A., Jiang, C., & Zhou, S. (2020). Feedback-seeking behavior in second language writing: motivational mechanisms. Reading and Writing, 33(2), 485-505.
Wawire, B. A., & Kim, Y. S. G. (2018). Cross-language transfer of phonological awareness and letter knowledge: causal evidence and nature of transfer. Scientific Studies of Reading, 22(6), 443-461.
Books
Wawire, B. A., Muchira J.M., Ojiambo P.O., (2025). Hujambo! A Standards-Based Approach to Introductory Kiswahili. Volume 1. University of Kansas Press. ISBN: 9781611950632. https://olrc.ku.edu/sites/olrc/files/documents/projects/kiswahili/Hujambo%20Volume%201_2025%20Version%20online.pdf
Wawire, B. A., Muchira J.M., & Ojiambo P.O. (2025). Hujambo! A Standards-Based Approach to Introductory Kiswahili. Volume 2. University of Kansas Press. ISBN: 9781611950649
https://olrc.ku.edu/sites/olrc/files/images/Hujambo%20Volume%202_2025%20Version%20online.pdf
Book Chapters
Vollan O. O., Wawire B., Gyasi R. M., & Asego C. (2023). Utility and implications of using education technologies as distance learning solutions for inclusive education and lifelong learning in Africa. In Inclusive and Lifelong Learning.
Wawire, B.A., (2023). Translanguaging in Indigenous Kenyan Languages: Include all Learners, no Silencing. Clarisse A., Boua H.M., Jaumont F. (Editors). A Bilingual Revolution for Africa. (pp.) Location. Publisher.
Wawire, B.A. (2023). Language and Literacy Practices in Kenya. In Joshi, R.M., McBride, C.A., Kaani, B., Elbeheri, G. (eds). Handbook of Literacy in Africa. Literacy Studies, volume 24. Springer, Cham.
Technical Reports
ADEA & APHRC. (2023). Report of Case Studies on Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Africa’s Educational Systems. Abidjan, Nairobi: Association for the Development of Education in Africa & African Population and Health Research Center.
APHRC & MoE, Kenya (2024). Gender Mainstreaming Practices in Basic Education and Teacher Training in Nairobi. African Population and Health Research Center & Ministry of Education. https://aphrc.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/13.11.2024-Gender-Mainstreaming-in-Education-Systems-Report.pdf
Barnes-Story, A.E., Robinette, J.J., Wawire, B.A., Schell, K., Koo, J., Jones, D. (2025). Large Class Pedagogy: A report of findings from Teaching Practice Schools in Malawi. Florida State University.
Honors and Awards
2025 – 2027 Research Fellowship Jacobs Foundation.
2015 – 2016 International Peace Scholarship, Philanthropic Educational Organization
2015 – 2016 Richard A. Horovitz Fund for Professional Development
2015 – 2016 Dissertation Research Grant, Florida State University
2014 – 2015 International Peace Scholarship, Philanthropic Educational Organization
2013 – 2014 College of Education Scholarship, Florida State University
2010 – 2011 Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant, Jackson State University Institute of International Education