Higher Education Capacity Building

PRE-SERVICE TEACHER EDUCATION (PSTE)

As an institution that values teacher education, the Learning Systems Institute (LSI) at Florida State University aims to improve pre-service teacher education (PSTE) programs around the world. Our activities focus on multiple aspects of teacher education, including 1) understanding the context of PSTE within the country and collaborating with local actors to identify opportunities for improvement; 2) providing intensive and continuous professional development and training to teacher educators and key stakeholders who oversee teacher education; 3) supporting those key stakeholders to refine PSTE curricula to reflect evidence-based and inclusive practices; and 4) engaging participants from all levels of the sector to improve the systems of instruction, practice, assessment, and feedback for PSTE programs and student teachers.

LSI builds sustainable programs through the empowerment and support of Ministries of Education and its parastatals to implement meaningful and timely programming. For example, we begin our activities by partnering with the Ministry of Education and relevant stakeholders to conduct a collaborative Baseline Situation Analysis aimed at revealing the strengths of the system, the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of teacher educators and student teachers, and how policies impacting PSTE programs are operationalized. Once these data have been jointly analyzed, we move into providing intensive, continuous training mentorship and coaching to teacher educators and government stakeholders. Systemic and curricular review/updating processes take place only after key stakeholders have been engaged in professional development focused and relevant to the task.

LSI’s approach involves collaborating with policy and key decision-makers to increase the capacity of local organizations as they execute sustainable program changes to improve pre-service teacher education. The evidence generated from LSI work has influenced curriculum reforms and policy actions around the systems for supporting student teachers throughout their program, including changing national frameworks for implementing the Teaching Practice and School Attachment.

PRE-SERVICE TEACHER EDUCATION PROJECTS

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  • Malawi Strengthening Teacher Education and Practice (2022-2027)

    A $15.6 million project sponsored by USAID to improve teacher training in Malawi, the Strengthening Teacher Education and Practice Activity will improve the higher education system that trains primary school teachers in the country, as well as the professional development practices that support teachers through their careers. LSI faculty is working with 22 teacher training institutions across the country to improve teacher education programs and develop new training materials related to literacy and numeracy education. The STEP project is a landmark investment by USAID to support the institutions of higher education that provide preservice teacher education (TTIs).

    STEP Malawi Activity

  • Rwanda Tunoze Gusoma (2021-2026)

    LSI is a partner of FHI 360 in implementing the Tunoze Gusoma (Schools and Systems) Activity. The primary goal of the activity is to ensure that literacy instruction of Kinyarwanda in pre-primary and lower primary schools is high quality, inclusive, evidence-based and effective. LSI leads the pre-service teacher education component focused on increasing teacher educators’ capacity to teach literacy-related pedagogical skills in the Kinyarwanda language to student teachers.

    Tunoze Gusoma Activity

  • Teacher Excellence Initiative in Egypt (2022-2027)

    LSI is a partner on the Education Development Center, which is implementing the Teacher Excellence Initiative (TEI) in Egypt, funded by USAID Egypt. The main objective of the TEI is to enhance the quality of pre-service teacher education. The project aims to align teacher standards, curriculum, and instruction in Mathematics, Science, Technology, and Language Arts (Arabic and English) with the goals of Education 2.0 in Egypt across all education levels. The project focuses on improving the quality and relevance of teacher preparation in Egyptian public universities, ensuring that pre-service teachers possess the necessary skills to support student learning in K-12 schools across the country, with an emphasis on grades 1-4.

     

    TEI Egypt Activity

  • Nigeria Centre for Reading Research and Development (2017-2021)

    This capacity development project established the Nigeria Centre for Reading Research and Development (NCRRD), as a collaboration between Florida State University and Bayero University Kano. The activity was funded by USAID Nigeria. The NCRRD is now fully established and operating as a producer of research, a partner on education development projects, and a convener for stakeholders nationwide on early-grade reading. The NCRRD is sustainable and well-positioned to bring in external funding, as well as to provide enhanced pre- and in-service teacher education throughout the country.

     

    NCRRD Nigeria Activity

  • Zambia Transforming Teacher Education Activity (2020-2025)

    LSI is currently leading a five-year, $15 million project sponsored by USAID to improve pre-service teacher training in Zambia. LSI faculty, in collaboration with partners School-to-School International and the University of Zambia, works with 12 universities and colleges of education in the country to improve the training of primary grade teachers. Over the five-year period, the program will give more than 60 Zambian teacher educators the skills to deliver effective instruction to 9,000 college and university students studying to become primary grade teachers.

     

    TTE Zambia Activity

  • Philippines Advancing Basic Education (ABC+) (2020-2023)

    LSI was a partner to RTI International in implementing the ABC+: Advancing Basic Education in the Philippines project. This activity supportrd the Department of Education, local governments, and the private sector in addressing factors that contribute to low learning outcomes in Bicol (Region V) and Western Visayas (Region VI), as well as implementing a smaller set of interventions in select School Divisions in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). LSI worked with Bicol University and Western Visayas State University to design modules for university courses on early literacy development to strengthen the pre-service preparation of future teachers. 

     

    ABC+ Philippines Activity

  • Nigeria Northern Education Initiative Plus (NEI+) (2015-2020)

    LSI partnered with Creative Associates International to implement the Northern Education Initiative Plus project.  The five-year project had the goal of improving early reading skills in two states in northern Nigeria that have struggled with educational quality as well as regional instability.  FSU’s main work focused on improving preservice teacher education institutions’ use of the evidence-based materials for literacy education, increasing teacher educators’ capacity to teach early grade literacy pedagogy, and supporting the development of Professional Learning Communities between TTIs, state and federal partners, and other key stakeholders. 

     

    NEI+ Nigeria Activity

  • Reading for Ethiopia’s Achievement Developed Technical Assistance READ -TA (2012-2018)

    LSI partnered with RTI International to implement the READ TA project, supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development. The activity aimed to support the Ethiopian Ministry of Education in its efforts to develop a nationwide reading and writing program. The project reached 15 million children in all schools and all regions of Ethiopia. LSI provided technical assistance to Regional State Education Bureaus (RSEBs), Colleges of Teacher Education (CTEs) and the Ethiopian Ministry of Education in curriculum and materials development for preservice teacher education.

     

    READ TA Ethiopia Project