In December 2008, the USAID/Ethiopia Teach English for Life Learning (TELL) Program organized a two-day refresher course for 20 Master Trainers (MTs) in the use of the English for Ethiopia student textbooks and teachers’ guides, specifically created for this program by Alabama A&M University, with funding from USAID’s Africa Education Initiative.

During the refresher course, MTs reviewed the Teacher Trainers (TOTs) training plan and helped the TELL team with the final preparations for the upcoming TOT trainings. At the end of the refresher course, the MTs were deployed to all 11 regions in Ethiopia to conduct the TOT trainings. MTs successfully trained a total of 288 TOTs in active-learning methods, effective classroom practices, basic literacy skills, and assessment techniques. Each Master and Teacher Trainer received six books (one of each of the textbooks and teachers’ guides on active teaching for grades 6, 7, and 8).


TELL’s Cascading Training Approach*:



* Piloting will occur in year 1 only.