A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Reading Excellence Act

The Reading Excellence Program is a competitive discretionary grant program that awards grants to states to improve K-3 reading instruction. States receiving Reading Excellence grants, in turn, compete their funds to low-performing, high-poverty school districts. The program is designed to provide children with the readiness skills and support they need to learn to read once they enter school; teach every child to read by the end of the third grade; and use research-based methods to improve the instructional practices of teachers and other instructional staff.

The first grant competition was completed August 1999. An expert review panel selected 17 states as the first Reading Excellence Act grantees. The 1999 grantees are Alabama, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Vermont and West Virginia.

• We currently estimate 1,600 schools will be assisted by Reading Excellence Act funding to implement improved reading strategies.
• The first subgrants to school districts are expected to be awarded by the grantees in winter 2000, and activities in local schools should start by the spring in most states.
• The Reading Excellence Program was appropriated $260 million for FY2000 to fund approximately 12 new states. The FY2000 grant process will start in early 2000, with applications due in spring 2000.

Improving K-3 Instruction through Reading Research

The Reading Excellence Act is focused on improving K-3 instruction in elementary schools that serve the nation's neediest children through the use of scientifically based reading research.

Programs carry out the following purposes:

• Teach every child to read by the end of third grade.
• Provide children in early childhood with the readiness skills and support they need to learn to read once they enter school.
• Expand the number of high-quality family literacy programs.
• Provide early intervention to children who are at risk of being identified for special education inappropriately.
• Base instruction, including tutoring, on scientifically based reading research.

The Reading Excellence Act contains a definition of reading that must be used by all participating schools as they implement improved reading. Reading is a complex system of deriving meaning from print that requires:

• Skills and knowledge to understand how phonemes, or speech sounds, are connected to print.
• Ability to decode unfamiliar words.
• Ability to read fluently.
• Sufficient background information and vocabulary to foster reading comprehension.
• Development of appropriate active strategies to construct meaning from print.
• The development and maintenance of a motivation to read.

For more information, contact Nancy Rhett at (202) 260-8228, or e-mail Reading_Excellence@ed.gov.
Also, visit the Department's Web site at http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/REA/.

Examples

Florida

The Florida Department of Education received $26,000,000 from FY1999 funding for a three-year grant that is being used for state activities and subgrants to as many as 27 local educational agencies.

In addition to grants to eligible school districts, the funds support:

• A state-funded coordinator who collaborates with the Florida Reading and Family Literacy Center (FLARE) to provide the latest reading research, professional development activities, materials, and products to local educational agencies, schools, teachers, school personnel, and parents;
• A state-funded library housing professional development materials that include scientifically based reading and family literacy research literature and descriptions of effective practices;
• Regional centers that provide teacher support, modeling, coaching, and videoconferencing to school personnel; and
• A research project focusing on effective reading strategies for English language learners.

Eligible local educational agencies are invited to attend a workshop designed to familiarize local educational agencies with the requirements for subgrants and provide models of effective programs.

Texas

The Reading Excellence and Academic Development Program for Texas (READ for Texas) received $35,999,855 under the Reading Excellence Program to support research-based reading programs. The state is focusing on developing a comprehensive model of beginning reading instruction founded on scientifically based reading research for use by eligible school districts. Support for developing the comprehensive model is being provided by the Center for Academic and Reading Skills (CARS), the Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts (TCRLA), and the Texas Family Literacy Center (TFLC). The three centers also provide materials for professional development and support state staff in assisting school districts with the implementation process.

School districts receiving funds are required to carry out the following activities: conduct professional development for teachers and instructional staff on the teaching of reading according to scientifically based reading research; select one or more programs of reading instruction using scientifically based reading research; provide family literacy programs; implement programs to assist kindergartners not ready for the transition to first grade; and use supervised individuals who have been trained using scientifically based reading research.

Utah

The Utah State Office of Education received $8,000,000 under the Reading Excellence Program to improve reading in kindergarten through third grade. As many as eleven local school districts are participating in this program. The program is operating in collaboration with the University of Utah to infuse the latest findings from scientifically based reading research into curricula and instruction in the state's poorest schools.

The state of Utah highlights coordination with existing federal and state programs as a priority. In addition to state staff, a team of six technical specialists works directly with schools and communities in different regions throughout the state to: provide technical services; conduct seven professional development workshops over two years for district and school leadership teams; monitor implementation of the subgrants; and provide feedback to the Director, Reading and Literacy Partnership, and the evaluator.

Finally, the Reading Excellence grant helps the state with a critical need it has identified. Priority will be given to school districts demonstrating a commitment to the implementation of programs that meet the needs of students who are English language learners.

Publications

For additional information on the Reading Excellence Act, please visit: http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/REA/research.html or the America Reads Challenge Publications Page http://www.ed.gov/americareads/resources.html.

• Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children

National Academy of Sciences (National Research Council).
A definitive work that synthesizes research on reading for preschool through grade 3.
• Starting Out Right: A Guide to Promoting Children?s Reading Success
  National Academy of Sciences.
  Provides practical information for teachers, parents, and tutors based on Preventing Reading Difficulties.

• Start Early, Finish Strong: How to Help Every Child Become a Reader.
  America Reads Challenge (U.S. Department of Education).
  Explains what can be done to accelerate the pace of the national reading initiative to help every child become a reader by the third grade.

• So That Every Child Can Read?America Reads Community Tutoring Partnerships: A Review of Effective and Promising Practices and Volunteer Reading Tutoring Programs.
  Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory.
  Reports on 61 partnerships for community tutoring sponsored by America Reads. Gives guidance for program design and many examples of good programs in operation. Internet availability:

• Teaching Reading Is Rocket Science: What Expert Teachers Should Know and Be Able To Do.
  American Federation of Teachers (AFT).
  Presents the case for more technically trained elementary school teachers. The appendix lists what a teacher or expert advisor needs to know. Internet availability:

• Learning to Read and Write: Developmentally Appropriate Practices for Young Children: A Joint Position Statement of the International Reading Association and the National Association for the Education of Young Children.
  International Reading Association.
  Contains a review of the literature and identifies key elements for instruction for early childhood education. Internet availability:

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