Supporting Instructional Improvement in Jordan

Professional Development Directors: Tom Corcoran and Bill Stroud (CPRE-TC)
Research Team: Tom Corcoran and Megan Silander (CPRE – TC)

CPRE is partnering with the new Queen Rania Teacher Academy (QRTA) to develop and deliver programs that support new teacher education and in-service training. The QRTA aims to be a center for excellence in teacher in-service education and policy deliberation for Jordan and the Middle East region. It is committed to providing high-quality programs for public school teachers in Jordan, and eventually through the region.  QRTA grows out of Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah’s commitment to improving the quality of education and teacher education in particular. In late 2009, the Queen Rania Teacher Academy (QRTA) and Teachers College of Columbia University (TC/CU) formed a new partnership, which was facilitated by the Columbia University Middle East Research Center (CUMERC), to contribute to meeting this challenge. Funded by the Jordan Ministry of Planning and United States Agency for International Development, and supported by the Ministry of Education (MOE), the Partnership is developing and demonstrating a model of high quality professional development that is scalable within Jordan and supports the use of effective instruction in Jordan elementary and secondary schools. Over the next five years, QRTA and CPRE-TC will provide a set of scalable professional development activities focused on improving instruction in science, mathematics, and English writing and aim to reach a wide range of educators, administrators, and officials in Jordan’s educational system. The school networks will focus on instructional improvement and building leadership capacity within participating schools. QRTA now serves nine school networks – each with 20-25 schools.  Each network focuses on either mathematics, science, or writing in English. The networks are now serving all regions of Jordan. 

Product(s):

Growing School Networks for Instructional Improvement in Jordan, 2009-2010 (Marian A. Robinson, CPRE Research Report #RR-70, August 2011).