LSI Provided Training to 111 Teacher Educators and Education Leaders in Rwanda

In 2021, Florida State University’s Learning Systems Institute (LSI) began work on the USAID-funded Rwanda Tunoze Gusoma (Schools and Systems) activity. The overarching goals of the program were to support the Ministry of Education in ensuring that the Kinyarwanda literacy environment in all pre-primary and lower primary schools and classrooms is of high quality, inclusive, and utilizes best practices in the teaching and learning of foundational literacy skills.

Before the project was ended prematurely, the LSI faculty provided continuous professional development training to 32 teacher educators who instruct early childhood coursework and 43 teacher educators who instruct lower primary coursework at the 16 teacher training colleges (TTCs), as well as to 36 education leaders who support the TTCs.

Additionally, the team supported the Rwanda Education Board (REB) to reform the Teaching Practice and School Attachment framework. A technical group referred to as the Teaching Practice Advisory Group met multiple times across project years to revise the framework to integrate six elements: high-quality training for all stakeholders, school selection by TTCs, regular observations by teacher educators, collaboration among stakeholders, mentoring and coaching, and monitoring and accountability.

“We are incredibly proud to have supported the Rwanda Education Board as they reformed the Teaching Practice and School Attachment Framework, providing student teachers with a stronger system of feedback and support,” said Principal Investigator Dr. Adrienne Barnes-Story. “This new framework also helps teacher educators conduct their student observations and assessments in a more efficient and organized manner.”

At the time of project closure, LSI faculty were supporting REB to revise the TTC curriculum for lower primary and early childhood literacy-related coursework and nationally scale-up the reformed Teaching Practice and School Attachment Framework.

Workshop in Rwanda in August of 2024

Group photo of the Tunoze Gusoma planning staff