Annual Report: USAID Transforming Teacher Education

The activity is led by Florida State University, in collaboration with the Ministry of General Education, ten Colleges of Education, and two Universities, including the University of Zambia and Chalimbana University. The activity has two primary objectives: to equip targeted colleges of education and university faculty and lecturers with the skills and experience necessary to deliver effective instruction to teachers in training, and to standardize, align, and link practical, evidence-based, pre-service teacher training and content with the primary school literacy curriculum. Additionally, the activity aims to equip pre-service teachers in Colleges of Education and universities with the professional skills necessary to deliver quality literacy instruction in primary schools. The geographic coverage of the activity includes two universities offering primary degrees, UNZA in Lusaka district and Chalimbana university in Chongwe district, as well as 10 Colleges of Education offering diplomas for Early Childhood Education (ECE) and primary teaching. The target beneficiaries of the activity include 72 lecturers in the Literacy and Language study areas, 11 primary schools, 1 ECE pre-primary school, and 500 students who will work with 30 learners in a class to reach 15,000 learners per year. During the reporting period from October 1, 2020, to September 30, 2021, the activity successfully launched and accomplished the majority of its Year 1 Workplan goals on time, despite the challenges of starting up and operating in Zambia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Key accomplishments include the completion of the situation analysis, the review and revision of language, literacy, and ethics modules for use in colleges of education and universities, and the commencement of the graduate foundational literacy course for lecturers. The activity also established a temporary and then a permanent office, hired local staff, procured computers and equipment, set up email addresses and bank accounts, and developed procedural handbooks. A website landing page was launched, and the Technical Working Group was established. The activity also submitted the Activity Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Plan (AMELP) and the Sustainability and Gender plans for the activity. The situation analysis was conducted from February 26 to March 17, 2021, with data collected both in-person and online. The transcriptions of the interviews and focus group discussions were completed on April 20, and the situation analysis report was finalized and submitted to USAID on April 27. The report was shared with the UNZA core technical team for comments, and feedback was received on April 27. The activity has made significant progress in its first year, and the next steps will focus on implementing the graduate foundational literacy course for lecturers, continuing the situation analysis, and implementing the sustainability and gender plans. The activity will also continue to work with the Ministry of General Education, Colleges of Education, and universities to strengthen the capacity of pre-service teacher training institutions and improve student learning outcomes in early grade reading instruction.