National Reading Program Implementation and Expansion -- Malawi

Four-photo collage highlighting literacy and teacher professional development initiatives. Top left: a student seated outdoors reads a colorful educational booklet. Top right: a group of educators stands in a classroom holding classroom progress charts during a training activity. Bottom left: teachers participate in a workshop, using laptops and responding to questions during a professional development session. Bottom right: education program participants pose for a group photo beside a banner for a USAID-supported National Reading Program upper-primary reading materials development activity.

National Reading Program Implementation and Expansion -- Malawi

Funding Partner: USAID
Principal Investigator: Dr. Adrienne Barnes-Story

Project Information

USAID contracted Florida State University (prime) and School-To-School to implement the National Reading Program Implementation and Expansion Activity (NRPIE). The objectives of this activity included engaging with the MOEST and key stakeholders and curricular experts in Malawi to provide technical assistance across several curriculum-related activities.  At the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology in Lilongwe and the Malawi Institute of Education in Zomba, Florida State University provided technical support to federal stakeholders to develop Performance Level Descriptors, Performance Benchmarks, and Targets for Standards 1-4 Literacy and Math in Chichewa and English; develop Scopes and Sequences for Standards 5-8 Literacy in English and Chichewa; and draft Teachers Guides and Learner Books for Standard 5 Literacy in English and Chichewa.

2022 Update

During the past year, LSI has provided intensive capacity development to the Malawi Institute of Education (MIE) through workshops and virtual sessions in this USAID-funded project. Together, we have developed new Teacher Guides and Learner Books for English and Chichewa Language Arts classes for grades 5 and 6 to be used in all primary schools across Malawi. Materials were drafted, piloted at 20 primary schools across the country, revised, and refined. Through this process, our team improved the capacity of 10 MIE staff and approximately 80 other professionals (teachers, teacher educators, and curriculum writers) in the areas of literacy education, curriculum development, and monitoring and evaluation. We will support MIE staff and other professionals during the upcoming year to draft, pilot, revise, and refine new Teacher Guides and Learner books for grades 7 and 8.

2023 Update

USAID contracted Florida State University (prime) and School-To-School to implement the National Reading Program Implementation and Expansion Activity (NRPIE). The objectives of this activity include engaging with the Ministry of Education (MOE) and key stakeholders and curricular experts in Malawi to provide technical assistance across several curriculum-related activities.
During the past year, LSI provided intensive capacity development to the Malawi Institute of Education (MIE) through workshops and virtual sessions in this USAID-funded project. Together, we have developed new teacher guides and learner books for English and Chichewa language arts classes for grades seven and eight to be used in all primary schools across Malawi. Through this process, our team improved the capacity of 10 MIE staff and approximately 100 other professionals (teachers, teacher educators, and curriculum writers) in literacy education, curriculum development, and monitoring and evaluation.