Monitoring the implementation of a new literacy teacher training curriculum in Ethiopia

• In Event: Reforming pre-service teacher education reading/literacy program in Ethiopia

Abstract

Ethiopia is currently in the process of developing a new national mother tongue literacy curriculum with the support of USAID. As part of this vast project, the nation’s colleges of teacher education (CTEs) began teaching a new, research-based approach to reading instruction in the fall of 2014. This presentation focuses on the results of a mixed-methods study examining the implementation of the first module—Cognitive Development and Literacy Skills—at more than a dozen CTEs teaching in seven languages. We will use data from classroom observations, instructor interviews, and student focus groups to discuss the challenges and opportunities presented during a full-scale reform of primary grade literacy instruction. Early results suggest that the CTE instructors are largely following the new module as designed, with students responding positively to the new approach and its more participatory pedagogy. However, CTE instructors do not yet have all of the tools they need to be successful, as most CTEs lack background resources, adequate copies of the module for students, and technology that would allow instructors to show the accompanying power points and videos to the students. Additional training may also be necessary to develop greater comfort with the technical material among the CTE instructors.

Authors

• Stephanie Simmons Zuilkowski, Florida State University

• Flavia Ramos-Mattoussi, Florida State University

• Marion Fesmire, Florida State University