Contact: Monty Jones, (512) 499-4363

Date: February 12, 1998

Reading Initiative

Resolution

WHEREAS, The Board of Regents of the University of Texas System recognizes the clear responsibility of higher education institutions to provide excellent education and training for the future teachers of Texas public schools;

WHEREAS, Excellence in teacher preparation programs necessarily involves the conduct of advanced research into appropriate teaching methods, childhood development, cognition, learning disabilities, and related topics;

WHEREAS, Universities have a responsibility for public service by applying knowledge developed on university campuses to problems in the larger society, including, for example, the dissemination of new knowledge about effective ways of teaching and learning to the state's elementary and secondary classroom teachers;

WHEREAS, Governor George W. Bush has sponsored a comprehensive, statewide reading initiative with the goal of making sure that each and every child in Texas learns to read, has challenged all Texans to join him in realizing this goal, and has encouraged a multifaceted and innovative campaign to attack the problem of inadequate reading skills;

WHEREAS, Texas faces a serious challenge -- indeed, a crisis, as Governor Bush has described it -- in developing the reading skills of its population, as indicated by reports that almost one-fifth of Texas third- and fourth-graders did not pass the state's basic reading test in 1997;

WHEREAS, The general academic and health institutions of the University of Texas System are at the forefront of state and national efforts to enhance the teaching of reading, as documented by the research, outreach, and other programs cited in the "1997-1998 U.T. System Report on Reading Initiatives"; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the Board of Regents fully supports Governor George W. Bush's reading initiative and commits the University of Texas System to a central and continuing role in helping to achieve the goal that all Texas children learn to read; and, be it further

RESOLVED, That the Board of Regents does hereby commend all faculty, staff, and students who are contributing to the improvement of reading skills among the state's public school pupils, whether through cutting-edge research into the way children learn, innovative tutorial programs, strengthening of teacher-education programs, or other activities; and, be it further

RESOLVED, That the Board of Regents enthusiastically endorses the determination by Chancellor William H. Cunningham that research, instructional, and outreach initiatives related to the teaching of reading constitute one of the core priorities of the University of Texas System; and, be it further

RESOLVED, That the Board of Regents strongly supports the Chancellor's initiative to seek increased coordination and integration among the reading-related programs of the U.T. System's academic and health institutions, including programs in educational and scientific research, teacher preparation, instructional and tutorial activities, and other reading initiatives; and, be it further

RESOLVED, That the Board of Regents directs the Chancellor to report to the Board on the extent and nature of reading-related initiatives at System institutions, with particular attention to increased outreach to the public schools, as well as to report on how these diverse reading-related activities can be better coordinated; and, be it further

RESOLVED, That the Board of Regents supports a concerted and continuing effort to attract significant additional public and private financial resources for the support of reading initiatives that involve interaction between U.T. System institutions and the public schools of Texas, and, toward this end, the Board is committed to working constructively with the elected leaders of Texas to identify and access new resources for support of these initiatives.

ADOPTED BY UNANIMOUS VOTE OF THE BOARD OF REGENTS

February 12, 1998

Summary of Three Programs

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