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Session Submission Summary

University partnerships for sustainable development: the case of the Nigeria Center for Reading Research

Thu, April 18, 1:30 to 3:00pm, Hyatt Regency, Floor: Pacific Concourse (Level -1), Pacific J

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

International aid projects are often unsustainable—the interventions or activities funded cannot be supported by the country after the donor-supported staff leave. This is the case in the field of education as well as in other areas. In Nigeria, substantial sums have been invested in early grade reading projects by donors over the last decade. These projects have been supported by foreign experts, due the lack of sufficient Nigerian personnel trained in reading development. To address this gap, the University of Bayero—Kano and Florida State University have partnered to create the Nigeria Center for Reading Research and Development (NCRRD), with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The NCRRD has several goals: to train teachers, teacher trainers, and reading program staff through masters and specialist degrees in early grade reading; to become a center of excellence for reading research in sub-Saharan Africa; and to provide local reading experts to donor-funded projects in Nigeria and throughout the region. To develop the center faculty’s expertise, six fellows will spend a semester at Florida State University, where they will sit in on reading courses, be mentored in center administration, and develop their grant writing and management skills. Each fellow will be paired with a Florida State University faculty member to jointly produced peer-reviewed journal articles and present at conferences.

USAID’s education strategy for 2011-2015 listed improving reading skills for 100 million children in primary grades and increasing equitable access to education in crisis and conflict environments for 15 million learners as two of its top three priorities. These goals have been reaffirmed in USAID’s 2016-2020 education strategy. USAID has invested widely in reading projects in sub-Saharan Africa, including Senegal, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, and Uganda, as well as elsewhere in the world.

To further its literacy goals in Nigeria, USAID is supporting the Northern Education Initiative Plus (NEI+) to improve access and quality of education for more than two million children in three northern, conflict-affected states. Implemented by Creative Associates International (CAI), NEI+ will strengthen the states’ ability to provide quality education and improve children’s reading skills by incorporating early grades reading instruction concepts, techniques, practices and materials into national teacher education programs and training as many as 45,000 teachers who can reach children in schools and non-formal learning centers.

Florida State University’s Learning Systems Institute is proud to partner with CAI and other US and Nigerian-based organizations to help implement this important project. Specifically, FSU has been tasked with developing courses for pre-service teachers on research-based strategies for teaching early grades reading and training teacher educators at teacher education colleges in Bauchi, Sokoto and a third state to deliver these courses as part of their program of study for early grades teachers. FSU will also carry out targeted studies in both states to better understand how primary grades reading instruction and other subjects can be successfully integrated into the curricula of non-formal learning centers in order to expand access to higher quality education for schoolchildren in conflict-affected areas of northern Nigeria. Clearly, NEI+ represents a major effort on the part of the Nigerian and US governments, as well as Nigerian and US-based non-governmental organizations to improve the access to and quality of education in northern Nigeria.

Despite the high level of financial commitments made to literacy in Nigeria, to date, insufficient attention has been paid to the need for highly trained local professionals proficient in reading instruction, materials development, and teacher training. Many development projects have funded one-off or short-term workshops, but these efforts have not been intensive or long lasting enough to produce a deep cadre of local reading specialists. This is the gap we aim to fill with the creation of the Nigerian Center for Reading Research and Development (NCRRD). This effort demonstrates the impact that universities can have on their communities as well as the world. Developing local Nigerian expertise in reading instruction will benefit not only donor-funded projects, but also the Nigerian education system as a whole. We also aim to diversify the body of peer-reviewed literature on early grade reading, with a focus on issues of contextual relevance and sustainability in low- and middle-income countries.

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