Nigerian Center for Reading Research at Bayero University Kano, Nigeria

Four-photo collage illustrating an international education partnership and professional exchange program. The top-left image shows four participants standing together inside the Florida State University Learning Systems Institute. The top-right image shows a group of educators, university representatives, and program partners posing together at a conference venue. The bottom-left image shows participants gathered outdoors during a site visit or networking event. The bottom-right image shows a larger group assembled near a USAID display during an educational program activity. Participants wear a variety of professional and traditional attire, reflecting cross-cultural collaboration and international engagement in education and development initiatives.

Nigerian Center for Reading Research at Bayero University Kano, Nigeria

Funding Partner: USAID Nigeria
Principal Investigator: Dr. Stephanie Simmons Zuilkowski

Project Announcement

September 20, 2017

Acquiring reading skills can be difficult in an ideal setting, let alone an environment affected by crisis or conflict. That, however, is the harsh reality more than 2 million children living in northern Nigeria face each day.

With the support of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), a new partnership between researchers at Florida State University and Bayero University-Kano in northern Nigeria aims to tackle these problems by strengthening the country’s ability to provide high-quality education and improve children’s reading skills. Together, the two universities are working toward the creation of the Nigerian Center for Reading Research and Development.

“I’m excited about the opportunity to have a long-term impact on the quality of reading instruction in Nigeria,” said Learning Systems Institute faculty member Stephanie Simmons Zuilkowski, assistant professor of international education and the principal investigator on the FSU project. “We’re not just doing a few trainings and moving on to the next project. It’s a multiyear commitment to helping Bayero University-Kano, one of the most prominent universities in northern Nigeria, to become a regional center for excellence, the place where African governments and nongovernmental organizations will go to find technical assistance to improve reading instruction.”

Funded by USAID, the lead U.S. government agency working to end extreme global poverty, FSU’s Learning Systems Institute and Florida Center for Reading Research will collaborate in the implementation of the project.

“Research consistently links poor reading comprehension to extreme poverty, high infant mortality and slower GDP growth,” said Florida Center for Reading Research Associate Director Yaacov Petscher. “We hope that by focusing the efforts of researchers both here and in Nigeria on literacy efforts we can make an impact on some of the issues that children in Nigeria face.”

The project is more than a quick fix, though.

Each year, an integrated postdoctoral fellowship program will welcome to FSU two Bayero University-Kano reading education faculty. Ultimately the fellowships will lead to creation of the Nigerian Center for Reading Research and Development and a master’s degree program in reading when the last two fellows return from their FSU residency.

“I look forward to assisting them in achieving their goal of creating the Nigerian Center for Reading Research,” FCRR researcher and Assistant Professor of Education Laura Steacy said. “This is an exciting opportunity to partner with Bayero University-Kano to improve reading instruction in Nigeria.”

At the end of the three-year period, FSU will assist in planning an on-campus conference in Nigeria. The conference, in which FSU faculty, the Bayero University-Kano fellows and other faculty will present research, will help establish a reputation of excellence for the Nigerian Center for Reading Research.

The conference will be at Nigerian Center for Reading Research’s new International Conference Center, now under construction.

The project with Bayero University-Kano is but one part of USAID’s commitment to the improvement of reading outcomes for 100 million children worldwide. To this end, USAID is implementing primary grades reading projects around the world.

And because of FCRR’s international reputation as one of the world’s preeminent centers for reading research and LSI’s decades of experience in international educational development, FSU has become a highly prized partner on a number of USAID reading projects.

In Ethiopia, for instance, LSI faculty have been working for five years under the direction of Research Triangle International to improve primary grades reading outcomes by improving the quality of pre-service teacher education throughout the country, training hundreds of teacher educators and developing training modules in seven local languages. In a separate project in Nigeria LSI is working with Creative Associates International to improve pre-service teacher education as well as access to schooling among the poorest children in two northern states adversely affected by decades of civil conflict. And in Honduras LSI teams will soon partner with the Education Development Center to improve reading outcomes in that country as well.

In each of these efforts LSI faculty are bringing the fruit of FCRR research to bear in meeting USAID’s goals to improve reading outcomes worldwide.

“We are pleased about this collaboration and the development of the National Center for Reading Research at Bayero University. We look forward to seeing better prepared teachers and improved reading outcomes for Nigeria school children as a result of this program,” said Stephen M. Haykin, Mission Director, USAID/Nigeria.

While the Learning Systems Institute and the Florida Center for Reading Research have a long history of collaboration in reading research and development in Florida, this is the first opportunity for the FSU institutes to work together on an international project. “We appreciate FCRR Director Don Compton’s support for this collaboration and we are thrilled to have this opportunity to work with FCRR and USAID to bring FSU expertise to bear on the challenge of improving reading outcomes for children in northern Nigeria,” LSI Director Jeffrey Ayala Milligan said. “We hope it is just the first of many future collaborations with FCRR and other FSU research centers.”

2019 Update

  • In August 2019, the Nigeria Centre for Reading Research and Development held the National Reading Conference at Bayero University, Kano. Approximately 800 participants attended the conference organized by BUK with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Northern Education Initiative Plus (NEI+). Institutions and book vendors represented many states from all over Nigeria. Drs. Adrienne Barnes, Nicole Patton Terry, Stephanie Zuilkowski, and Jarret (Jay) Terry represented the Florida State University. The Nigeria Centre for Reading Research and Development was established as a result of the partnership between the Learning Systems Institute at FSU and the Bayero University, Kano. For the last two years, several scholars from BUK have come to Tallahassee, Florida to engage with FSU faculty and students, participate in graduate studies and research related to early grade reading instruction. Several faculty members from the Learning Systems Institute and the College of Education have collaborated with BUK in Nigeria on developing curriculum and materials for early grade reading. They have also conducted numerous workshops for teacher educators in Nigeria and mentored university scholars in their journey towards excellence in reading research and teaching. These efforts aim to prepare future generations of Nigerian school-teachers, and consequently improve children’s reading and literacy outcomes in the country.
  • The Learning Systems Institute at Florida State University—represented by Drs. Stephanie Simmons Zuilkowski and Adrienne Barnes, welcomes Dr. Aisha Umar Tsiga and Dr. Amina Adamu both faculty from the Nigerian Center for Reading Research and Development at Bayero University in Kano, Nigeria. The university fellows will be at the FSU campus in Tallahassee till June 2019 as part of a USAID-sponsored partnership between Bayero University and Florida State University. 

2020 Update

August 14, 2020
This activity supported the training and mentorship of six BUK Faculty Fellows on cutting-edge research, teacher training, and the process of publishing academic articles during a six-month residency at the FSU Learning Systems Institute. The partnership culminated in establishment of a new Nigerian Center for Reading Research and Development on the BUK campus.

“This new focus on raising this quality of teaching and learning was borne out of the realization that reading is fundamental to education,” said Prof. Muhammad Yahuza Bello, Vice-Chancellor of BUK. “No nation can achieve meaningful development without inculcating effective reading skills amongst its growing generations.”

Now a permanent part of the BUK community, the new Research Center will facilitate research on all matters that affect reading and the teaching of early grade reading in Nigeria. The six BUK Faculty Fellows are thought leaders, researchers and champions for the adoption of the best teaching and learning practices in reading throughout Nigeria.

During their time on the Tallahassee, Florida campus, the BUK Fellows participated in scholarly activities, published journal articles, and presented their work at educational forums.

In coordination with other USAID activities, the fledgling Center hosted two national conferences attended by more than 800 education stakeholders at the national, state, and local levels to share and publicize reading research findings for the Nigerian context.

“At USAID we have a passion for education and high hopes for its future in Nigeria,” Mission Director Stephen M. Haykin said. “In that spirit, this partnership played a critical role in ensuring the next generation of Nigerian children is equipped with the reading skills that will serve as the basis for a lifetime of learning.”

The partnership promises to benefit education in Nigeria for years to come, having developed a new cadre of leaders and trainers in reading research who will champion the advancement of high-quality reading instruction, learning and research for future generations of teachers in primary grade reading strategies to effectively teach more children to enjoy a lifetime of reading.

The Center also serves as a clearinghouse where education stakeholders can leverage data and approaches to effect positive changes in the classroom and improve learning across Nigeria through stronger reading curricula for millions of students.

Research shows that a child who starts to read in a language he or she understands will be better equipped to take on learning a foreign language in later grades, and ultimately get more out of his or her education.

Since 2015, USAID has embraced this concept, distributing more than three million books and teacher’s guides for early grade reading in Hausa and English in the north. Similar materials are under development in Igbo and Yoruba to serve children in other areas of Nigeria.

Nigeria’s education system is challenged to keep pace with its rapidly growing population. USAID works to strengthen state and local education systems in partnership with all Nigerians. The Center is an important step forward to deepening early grade reading resources available in Nigeria.