Tallahassee, Fla. – The Learning Systems Institute at Florida State University is entering its fourth year working in Zambia on the Transforming Teacher Education Activity. The USAID-funded project, led by LSI, aims to strengthen the capacity of Zambia’s pre-service teacher training institutions to improve student learning outcomes.

During year three of the activity, LSI staff and its partners finalized new instructional modules for language and literacy for use in pre-service teacher training programs in colleges of education (COE), trained lecturers from 12 colleges and universities on the new materials, developed and rolled out of a revised school experience approach along with accompanying guidelines and observation tools, and provided support to two Zambian lecturers to participate in FSU residencies and two Zambian lecturers to participate in master’s degree programs.

The participatory action research team published a peer-reviewed article in an international journal. In collaboration with the University of Zambia (UNZA), Transforming Teacher Education (TTE) supported a special master’s program in literacy, language, and applied linguistics open to the lecturers who participated in TTE. The lecturers can complete their master’s degrees in one year, half the usual duration of study. Coaching visits commenced, allowing lecturers to receive feedback on their instruction from TTE staff and UNZA partners.

“I’m proud of the work that the TTE team has accomplished through year three,” said Stephanie Simmons Zuilkowski, LSI’s Associate Director for Research and the TTE Project Director. “We’re looking forward to building on the knowledge foundations the lecturers now have and furthering the development of their pedagogical skills.”

In 2023-24, TTE will continue to move towards improved knowledge and pedagogy in early grade reading instruction among lecturers and student teachers, greater capacity among lecturers to conduct research relevant to early grade reading and pre-service teacher education, professional learning networks among lecturers and increased knowledge of teacher professional ethics. These results are expected to positively impact student learning outcomes, particularly in literacy, as newly trained teachers enter classrooms in the coming years.

In year four of the activity, TTE will provide a variety of learning and training opportunities for literacy and language education (LLE) lecturers/faculty. These opportunities include residencies at FSU, advising for students in the UNZA’s special master’s program, pedagogy training for COE/university literacy and language education lecturers and follow-up coaching to the same lecturers.

Second, TTE will continue to support stronger relationships between COEs/universities and their demonstration schools. TTE will also conduct follow-up monitoring of COEs/universities and their demonstration schools to explore the effectiveness of demonstration school engagement.

Third, the project team will continue strengthening the updated school experience approach and related materials. TTE will conduct trainings on updated materials and follow-up monitoring visits to COES/universities.

“As we move into the final two years of this activity, we’re thinking continuously about sustainability and ensuring that the positive changes that we’ve seen will continue on after the activity ends,” said Zuilkowski.

LSI has been at the forefront of developing innovative solutions that bridge theory and practice in education. For over 50 years, LSI has delivered systems that measurably improve the learning and performance of organizations and individuals here in Florida and globally. To learn more about LSI, please visit LSI.FSU.edu.