The Goodnight Educational Foundation has awarded North Carolina Independent College and Universities (NCICU) $1 million over two years to support the implementation of the Science of Reading initiative into the curriculum for teacher education students.
Last April, the General Assembly enacted legislation requiring Educator Preparation Programs (EPPs) to begin providing coursework in the Science of Reading which focuses on multiple aspects of phonics, spelling, and oral language/comprehension. With this grant, NCICU will establish a task force to assist the 31 private colleges and universities which have EPPs with implementation strategies.
“We recognize that reading and comprehension are keys to student achievement at all levels of education,” said NCICU president, Hope Williams, “and we are deeply appreciative of this critical support from the Goodnight Educational Foundation to support development and implementation of the Science of Reading curriculum at the 31 NCICU Educator Prep Programs.”
The NCICU task force will provide training in the “Science of Reading” for EPP faculty at each of the NCICU EPPs as well as for pre-service teacher candidates and recent graduates who are teaching in school districts served by our EPPs. The grant to NCICU will also fund summer workshops which will include local superintendents and principals along with EPP faculty. Individual EPPs will develop self-studies in the Science of Reading assisted by subgrants for curriculum re-design which will be available through the project.
Dr. Monica Campbell, professor of Education and coordinator of the Elementary Education Program at Lenoir-Rhyne University, and Dr. Mary Knight-McKenna, professor of Education and director of Master of Education at Elon University, will co-chair the Task Force. Dr. Patsy Pierce, EPP former faculty member at Meredith College, and Denise Adams, director of NCICU’s Digital Learning Initiative will manage the work of the task force on behalf of NCICU.