My burning passion to improve the quality of basic education in the world, especially in developing countries, inspired me to apply to Florida State University. I was excited to learn from world-class faculty members in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, especially Dr. Stephanie Zuilkowski.

The STEP Activity aims at strengthening the capacity of Teacher Training Colleges to train teachers in early-grade instruction. This aim is aligned to the Ministry of Education’s National Reading Program (NRP), which is being implemented in Standards 1 - 4 of Malawi’s primary schools. STEP also aims at providing pathways for continuing professional development for all of Malawi’s primary teachers to excel.

Faculty from the Learning Systems Institute (LSI) and the School of Teacher Education at FSU will work with the Education Development Center (EDC) on the Teacher Excellence Initiative, a five-year, $49.5 million USAID project.