TELL trained a total of 59 supervisors in April 2009 on teacher observation skills, to prepare the supervisors to monitor the impact of TELL's large-scale teacher training effort.

Following the training, TELL supported these supervisors to conduct teacher observations on a sample of the 20,000 6th, 7th, and 8th grade English teachers trained under the TELL Program in early 2009.

Data from the observations have been analyzed and are presented in the program's newly released "Classroom Observation Activity Data Analysis Report". A total of 301 classroom observations were conducted in a sample of schools across the 11 regions of Ethiopia. The results summarized in the report indicate that:

• Nearly 90 percent of teachers observed used the TELL strategies and over 80 percent used TELL methods they acquired from TELL training.
• TELL successfully conveyed the various lessons from English for Ethiopia textbooks and has demonstrated to have had an impact on improving teachers’ teaching strategies and methods.
• Teachers praised the availability of the materials provided by TELL and the applicable and practical nature of the trainings’ strategies and methods.
• Challenges centered on students’ poor background knowledge, the scarcity of facilities and resources, and a difficulty for trainees in applying certain TELL strategies and methods in their classrooms.

Importantly, TELL developed a supervisor guide and observation protocol that will provide tools for ongoing teacher monitoring and support by Ministry of Education staff.