Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College faculty are sharing a path of teacher development they hope will lead to a better education for India’s burgeoning population of school-aged children.

Called the India Support for Teacher Education Program (In-STEP), the year-long project funded by a $4.3 million grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development is bringing 110 India teacher educators to ASU for an intense, semester-long immersion in a world-class teacher education program. Teachers College also is collaborating closely with India’s Ministry for Human Resources Development to implement the program.

The coveted project was awarded to Teachers College over other U.S. education institutions due to its large-scale program of teacher preparation, close partnerships with more than 180 diverse, preK-12 schools and proven ability to manage complex international programs, according to Ara Barsam, senior director of grants and associate research professor.

“Engaging globally is a key ASU aspiration,” he said. “The In-STEP project provides a tremendous opportunity for us to expand our impact beyond metropolitan Phoenix and the United States to where our Teachers College model is being recognized worldwide.”

Barsam wants the program to equip and inspire the 53 Indian teacher educators who converged on ASU this fall, and the 57 coming next September, to new levels of professional performance. In preparation, he traveled to India in July to assess the needs and strengths of the Indian participants through focus groups and interviews before they arrived in the U.S.