Dr. M. Iyailu Moses participated as a round table presenter at the NCICU Science of Reading Summer Faculty Institute held at High Point University June 5 and 6. The summer institute brought together NCICU member faculty who have spent the past year engaging in personal acquisition of Science of Reading content and incorporating this learning approach into their curriculums. In discussing the Saint Augustine’s University Department of Education’s effort to include Science of Reading curriculum, Dr. Moses shared the rigorous curriculum review and course redesign of several courses within the Elementary Education program conducted by Prof. E. Nicole Lee and Dr. Moses in response to the State Board of Education mandate that Science of Reading theory and practice be incorporated into all educator preparation programs provided by higher education institutions in North Carolina. The goal is to ensure that every elementary teacher will be equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to impact the successful experience of learning to read for all children in the state.

Science of Reading offers a structured approach to literacy instruction based on scientific study of the brain describing where and how learning takes place. Thus far, the process at SAU has necessitated a curriculum change for the three teacher preparation programs: Elementary Education, Health and Physical Education and Music Education. Syllabi for two courses, Bridge to Teaching and Learning and Teaching Reading in the Elementary School, have been re-written, and were used in the spring semester, with several others remaining to be completed. The department has recently received teaching materials that will be used by our students in these classes to gain deeper insight through hands-on experience in using them prior to actual practice in the elementary classroom.

The NCICU Summer Faculty Institute, independent faculty training, and classroom resources have all come as a result of the generous support of the Goodnight Educational Foundation through NCICU.