10.09.06

VCU AWARDED $4.4 MILLION TO PROMOTE EARLY LITERACY
New Early Reading First grant is the 2nd awarded in Virginia

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Mike Frontiero
VCU School of Education
(804) 827-2415
mdfronti@vcu.edu

RICHMOND, Va. (Oct. 9, 2006) – The Literacy Institute at Virginia Commonwealth University has been awarded a $4.4 million dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Education to boost language and early literacy skills of young children in Richmond Public Schools.

“We are committed to enhancing early literacy skills in neighborhoods that need additional support,” said VCU School of Education Assistant Professor Joan A. Rhodes, Ph.D., who is directing the three-year grant. “Intervention at the preschool level focuses on language and concept development, as well as phonological and print awareness which are the foundation for children’s long term success in learning to read.”

VCU competed nationally for the Early Reading First grant and was one of only 32 institutions and organizations to receive one this year. The 32 federal grants total more than $101.6 million. Only two such grants have been awarded in Virginia since the creation of this federal initiative, and VCU has both.

VCU’s first grant -- Richmond Early Reading First -- is a collaboration of the VCU School of Education, VCU School of Social Work, The Literacy Institute at VCU, community child care programs in VCU’s Head Start program, and Richmond Public Schools. This  three-year, $3.3 million grant was awarded in 2004.

In this new project -- Partnership for Excellence in Early Language and Literacy Skills (PEELLS) -- The Literacy Institute at VCU will work with Richmond Public Schools to strengthen the early literacy component of Head Start and Virginia Preschool Initiative programs, and will reach 252 preschoolers each year. The Literacy Institute at VCU is a partnership between the Virginia Literacy Foundation, the VCU School of Education, and the VCU Center for Public Policy.

“These university-community partnerships show VCU’s commitment to young children’s early development and learning through supporting their families and teachers,“ said School of Education Associate Professor Evelyn Reed-Victor, Ph.D.   

The grant will provide additional books and other educational materials to 14 classrooms in five elementary schools, professional development courses for teachers in early literacy, and family literacy specialists who can work with multilingual families to provide reading support for their children.

Early Reading First is designed to transform existing early education programs into centers of excellence that provide high-quality, early education to young children, especially those from low-income families. Its overall purpose is to prepare young children to enter kindergarten with the necessary language, cognitive, and early literacy skills to prevent reading difficulties and ensure school success.

"We want to make sure children enter elementary school ready to learn how to read," U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings said in announcing the grant award. "Early Reading First uses research-based strategies to introduce young children to books and concepts like letters, sounds and vocabulary. These first years of life are critical for a child's development, and Early Reading First helps ensure children start life on the right track."

Dr. Rhodes is co-directing the grant with Dr. Reed-Victor, and Virginia Board of Education President and The Literacy Institute at VCU Executive Director Mark E. Emblidge, Ph.D.

###

About The Literacy Institute at VCU:  The Literacy Institute at VCU – a partnership between the Virginia Literacy Foundation, VCU School of Education, and VCU Center for Public Policy – was formed in 2002 to ensure that Virginia’s public policy makers are kept aware of the problem of illiteracy in the state and to directly combat that problem through research and development projects. With its partners’ combined pedagogical and public policy expertise, the Institute has enjoyed great success in its fundraising efforts, which focus on state and federal grants and contracts to oversee research in literacy-related fields. The Institute is in a unique position to craft an agenda for adult literacy that will make an impact on policy makers at both the state and federal levels.

About VCU and the VCU Medical Center:  Located on two downtown campuses in Richmond, Va., Virginia Commonwealth University ranks among the top 100 universities in the country in sponsored research and enrolls 30,000 students in more than 180 certificate, undergraduate, graduate, professional and doctoral programs in the arts, sciences and humanities in 15 schools and one college. Sixty of the university’s programs are unique in Virginia, and 20 graduate and professional programs have been ranked by U.S. News & World Report as among the best of their kind. MCV Hospitals, clinics and the health sciences schools of Virginia Commonwealth University compose the VCU Medical Center, one of the leading academic medical centers in the country. For more, see www.vcu.edu

SOE News

• More News
• Contact
  
  Mike Frontiero
  News Editor/Public Relations Director
  mdfronti@vcu.edu
  804.827.2415
  P.O. Box 842020
  Richmond, Va. 23284-2020