The Department of Education recently received a $15,600 sub-grant award from North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities (NCICU) to support its program development in response to the NC Department of Public Instruction mandate that all teacher preparation programs incorporate Science of Reading (SoR) theory and methodology in their teacher preparation programs. “Science of Reading” refers to evidence-based reading instruction practices that address the acquisition of language, phonological and phonemic awareness, phonics and spelling, fluency, vocabulary, oral language, and comprehension that can be differentiated to meet the needs of individual students. Current North Carolina in-service teachers, as well as higher education professionals, are presently being trained in using SoR in their classrooms and in teacher preparation programs. The goal is to ensure that current and future teachers are well trained in literacy approaches so that every child is a competent reader by the third grade.

Prof. E. Nicole Lee and Dr. M. Iyailu Moses wrote the sub-grant that was submitted to NCICU. According to Dr. Moses, Department Chair, “Funding from this planning grant will allow the department to thoroughly evaluate its programs in Elementary Education and Health & Physical Education and revise the curriculum to include SoR training for our prospective teachers.” Prof. Lee stated that, “The grant will also provide funding to obtain updated learning materials that align with SoR standards that students will need to encounter and be trained in using before they enter the public schools.” This sub-grant is one component of a larger award to NCICU by the Goodnight Educational Foundation to advance the development and implementation of the Science of Reading curriculum at the 31 NCICU Educator Prep Programs.