Contact: Monty Jones, (512) 499-4363

Date: February 12, 1998

UT System News Release

U.T. Regents Express Commitment to Reading Initiatives

AUSTIN – A project to increase coordination and integration of reading initiatives throughout the University of Texas System was announced Thursday (Feb. 12) by Donald L. Evans, chairman of the U.T. Board of Regents, and Chancellor William H. Cunningham.

The project was announced as part of a report to the Board of Regents detailing more than 75 programs and activities at system institutions designed to improve the reading skills of Texas schoolchildren.

"Our institutions are deeply committed to assisting public schools in teaching reading, and they are working with considerable success on a broad spectrum of programs toward this end," Cunningham said. "One of our greatest needs at this time is to develop greater collaboration among these programs so that everyone can benefit from the most promising new ideas and techniques."

After hearing presentations on three of the initiatives, in Austin, Dallas, and Houston, the regents approved a resolution urging increased funding of university-based reading programs and emphasizing the need to transfer university research and pilot programs into practical classroom activities in elementary and secondary schools.

"The Board of Regents is excited about the range of innovative approaches in the U.T. System for providing excellent teacher preparation programs," Evans said. "A basic element of such programs is advanced research into appropriate teaching methods, childhood development, cognition, learning disabilities, and related topics that have a direct impact on how well children learn to read.

"As Gov. George W. Bush has made clear through his statewide reading initiative, there is a critical need for Texas to do a better job of opening the wonders and pleasures of education to all our children, and enhanced programs for the preparation of teachers are fundamental to these efforts. We strongly support the coordination and integration of these programs so that the best ideas and findings through cutting-edge research can be shared all across the state."

Evans added: "This is an excellent example of the way the substantial resources of Texas universities can be employed for the benefit of all of society, and we commend all the U.T. faculty, students, and staff who are participating in these projects."

The resolution approved by the regents supports reading and literacy programs as one of "the core priorities" of the U.T. System and commits the board to working with the state's elected officials to attract "significant additional public and private financial resources" for such programs.

Presentations were made to the regents on a reading tutorial program at U.T. Dallas that has become a national model; the statewide reading center located at U.T. Austin; and a multidisciplinary reading skills diagnostic center at the U.T. Health Science Center at Houston.

Summary of Three Programs

Resolution Passed by the Regents