VGC receives $1.3M subcontract for product and professional development, creation of national higher education consortium
The Vaughn Gross Center for Reading and Language Arts at The University of Texas at Austin has been awarded a $1.3 million subcontract to develop scientifically based reading research (SBRR) instructional products, professional development, and a national higher education consortium to facilitate and sustain the implementation of Reading First.
Diane Pedrotty Bryant will serve as primary investigator (PI) and Pam Bell Morris as co-PI of the project, which is funded by RMC Research Corporation through a contract with the U.S. Department of Education. The new project will support the “next generation” of work identified by the National Center for Reading First Technical Assistance (NCRFTA) as it assists states in implementing their Reading First grants. The project will focus on providing states with information that will support their continuing technical assistance efforts with districts and schools and promote sustainability after their Reading First grants end.
“We are excited and eager for this opportunity to work at the national level to help schools improve their reading instruction,” Morris said.
The new project will have three primary functions:
- Product development.
- Professional development (PD).
- A national Reading First higher education consortium.
As the project is still in the planning stages, the exact topics of the products and PD have not yet been determined. What is known is that products will be based on SBRR, and the team will facilitate the dissemination of instructional practices based on SBRR. The PD component will consist of training that includes products developed at the Vaughn Gross Center and research symposia on topics identified by NCRFTA.
The team hopes to recruit 15 educators from institutions across the country for the higher education consortium. The consortium will provide higher education faculty members with SBRR products that they can integrate into their preservice teacher-education courses and field experiences, and it will facilitate networking among members. The consortium will represent a model of leadership development to promote integration and sustainability of SBRR and scientifically based reading instruction (SBRI) in higher education.
“We hope to empower the faculty to go back to their teacher-preparation courses and focus on SBRR and SBRI. And in turn, they will serve as consultants for us . . . to help us learn more about best practices in working with faculty. I see this as a two-way street,” Bryant said. “For the goals of Reading First to be maintained, prospective teachers must learn how to implement effective reading practices based on what we know about SBRR and SBRI.”