Former College of Education Professor Robert Morgan founded the Learning Systems Institute in 1969 to solve critical challenges related to education and human performance worldwide.
The project, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, was a multiyear, multimillion-dollar effort that resulted in a 20 percent across-the-board increase in student achievement with LSI being credited as a significant player in the transformation of Korean education in the 1970s. The success of the project in Korea laid the foundation for LSI's international work over the last five decades.
Learn about LSI's transformational work in Korea:
Purpose-Driven Education System Transformations: History Lessons from Korea and Japan | Analytical Case Study of the Korean Educational Development Institute
Funded by the United States Army, the LSI faculty developed the “ADDIE” (Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, and Evaluate) model, which is still the standard framework in designing and developing educational and training programs. ADDIE has been a standard for professionally developed, high-quality distance education programs, whether print-based or online. It is also heavily used in corporate e-learning and training nearly 50 years after its launch.
LSI faculty directed the USAID-funded Improving the Improving Efficiency of Educational Systems project from 1984 to 1994. This $58 million effort involved a consortium of universities focused on developing educational research and assessment tools for government ministries and international organizations in more than a dozen developing nations.
The Job Skills Education Program (JSEP) was designed to provide soldiers with the prerequisite knowledge and skills required for successfully learning their Military Occupational Specialties MOS. When the JSEP was put into effect, it replaced the Army's Basic Skills Education Program BSEP with a sophisticated, computer-based system. JSEP was later applied by companies like AT&T, Ford and GM.
Founded in 1989, this program conducted a major system analysis of Florida public education and applied large-scale system design principles that would enable the introduction of empirical research methods to make significant improvements.
Published by Dr. Branson as the initiating event for the School Year 2000 project, his "Upper Limit Hypothesis" argued convincingly that the teaching-centered model of schooling had become obsolete and he supported a learning-centered approach. The intention was to make all students progressively more responsible for managing their learning progress.
With funding from the U.S. Congress, LSI was tasked with moving all Naval instructions online so they could be accessed at any time and from any remote locatio
A former high school principal and associate professor in the FSU College of Education became the director. Under Dr. Lang’s leadership, the institute continued its international work with USAID and also amped up its domestic K-12 educational research by forming two prominent centers: the Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR) in 2001 and the Florida Center for Research in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (FCR-STEM) in 2007.
The Florida Center for Research in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (FCR–STEM) was created by the Florida Legislature and competitively awarded to Florida State University in 2006. It is another highly respected center operated by LSI faculty and staff.
FCR-STEM's creation of an electronic performance support system that features a powerful portal linking teachers to online tools for planning and implementing instruction connects educators with thousands of existing resources for teaching math and science launched in 2008. This innovative system, like no other, led CPALMS to become Florida’s official source of state standards just three years after its launch.
In 2005, the LSI staff was awarded a grant from the Department of Homeland Security to develop a training system for security personnel. Five years later the system was completed and it is still being used by DHS and commercially.
A professor in the College of Education, Milligan had a long record of working in southeast Asia, dating back to his time as a Peace Corps volunteer, and he continued to build on LSI’s reputation as a force in international development while maintaining its strong work in the U.S. educational system.
Florida State University's Dr. Stephanie Zuilkowski, a researcher at FSU’s Learning Systems Institute, received an Early Stage Career Research Prize from the British Journal of Educational Psychology.
FCR-STEM trained and then delivered 100's of 3D printers and kits to classrooms around the state of Florida. LSI partnered with the state of Florida to encourage hundreds of teachers to incorporate hands-on STEM kits and 3D technology into class lessons.
The Learning Systems Institute celebrated its 50th year at Florida State University. In its first 50 years, LSI amassed about $530 million in grants and contracts and worked to establish educational programs in 25 countries.
LSI staff wins the Florida Tax Watch Productivity Award for Achievement of the Year in Technology for the CPALMS Curriculum Mapping Application and another Florida Tax Watch Productivity Award for the CPALMS Student Tutorial
The LSI staff was once again recognized with the Florida Tax Watch Productivity Award for My Stem Kits.
Razzouk joined LSI in 2003 and he is one of the most productive faculty members at Florida State University. As an entrepreneur, Razzouk brings to LSI and FCR–STEM the capacity to forge partnerships, manage large-scale projects, and apply technology in creative ways to advance K-12 education.
LSI is a research and development unit that is heavily dependent on competitive external contract and grant funding. This funding is critical to make the positive impact in teaching and learning around the world. Continued funding support is an excellent indicator of the high-quality work that the LSI team produces. In 2022, LSI surpassed $750 million in contract and grant funding since inception making it one the top producing institutes and centers in this area.
Dr. Stephanie Simmons Zuilkowski, Associate Director for Research at the Learning Systems Institute, was awarded the Ralph Stair Prize for Innovation in Education. The honor is awarded biennially to an individual or collaborative team at FSU who has developed innovative education approaches that demonstrate the potential of having great impact nationally and internationally.
President of the United Nations General Assembly, Mr. Dennis Francis, Deputy Chief of Cabinet, Ms. Inga Kanchaveli, and Communications Adviser to the President, Dr. Mariam Shaikh, visited the Learning Sysytems Institute to discuss how LSI is innovating learning worldwide.
CPALMS is an online toolbox of information, free vetted resources, and interactive tools to help educators effectively implement teaching standards. It provides access to thousands of standards-aligned, high-quality instructional and educational resources designed specifically to support standards-based instruction. In 2024, the platform reached a major milestone, surpassing one billion resource views and downloads.
The grant from the Gates Foundation aims to build evidence on the impact of pre-service teacher training on foundational learning. Dr. Stephanie Simmons Zuilkowski is the principal investigator on the project, which will be implemented in Zambia. The study will examine the knowledge and pedagogy of student teachers who have completed their pre-service teacher training in public colleges of education.
LSI was honored with the Multilingual Education Leadership Award. The University of Maiduguri Language Centre presented the award in collaboration with UNICEF. This award recognizes the impactful contributions and support of the use of mother language in general and language development in particular conducted by LSI.
The FSU InSPIRE workforce development team received formal recognition for excellence in innovative education with the Ralph Stair Prize. A crucial part of InSPIRE’s mission, Carrie Meyers and Jim Reynolds co-lead the winning workforce development team together.
LSI joined with the World Bank, UNESCO-IICBA and the Ministry of Education, to host Educators Shaping Futures, which aimed to raise awareness and build coalitions for change so that teachers everywhere are prepared and supported to succeed in their crucial roles.
The Florida Center for Research in STEM (FCR-STEM) at Florida State University has awarded its first-ever Innovating Teacher of the Year honor to Anna Prindle of Holley-Navarre Intermediate School. The award will be presented at Holley-Navarre on May 14, 2026.
The Florida Center for Research in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (FCR–STEM) was created by the Florida Legislature and it was competitively awarded to Florida State University (FSU) in 2006. The Learning Systems Institute (LSI) has been the sole operator of FCR-STEM for the last two decades.
LSI began working with FSU’s International Programs in a venture that was designed to allow the university to benefit from the processes, relationships and logistical infrastructure LSI has spent nearly six decades developing. The team at LSI will work with the Provost and the Office of Research to help establish FSU as a leader in international education and academic and service projects.