Contact: Melanie Pritchett, (512) 499-4246

Date: November 24, 2003

UT System News Release

UT System Receives $7.5 Million Grant to Support Reading Initiative

AUSTIN - The University of Texas System has received a $7.5 million grant from the Texas Education Agency to provide oversight for the technical assistance infrastructure for the "Texas Reading First Initiative."

"Reading First" is the academic cornerstone of the federal "No Child Left Behind" legislation and over the next six years TEA will receive approximately $532 million from the U. S. Department of Education to improve reading instruction in grades K-3. The UT System Office of Academic Affairs will be responsible for administering the oversight.

Approximately 40 regional technical assistance specialists will be hired to assist the UT System in providing oversight for the effective implementation of the "Reading First" plans in funded school districts and charter schools. These highly trained specialists will provide on-site support to 550 campuses in 114 school districts and charter schools statewide.

"Nearly 47,000 Texas school children will be impacted in this ambitious state and federal effort to improve student achievement in reading," said Melanie Pritchett, assistant vice chancellor for educational alignment and the project director. "Specialists will monitor program implementation, mentor local campus coaches, train school district and charter school personnel, teach demonstration lessons and model best practices on funded campuses to ensure that Texas Reading First plans are being implemented in accordance with scientifically based reading research and Texas Reading First grant specifications."

The specialists will work in collaboration with the TEA, the Texas Center for Reading & Language Arts at UT Austin, the Center for Academic & Reading Skills at the UT Health Science Center at Houston and the Texas Institute for Measurement, Evaluation and Statistics at the University of Houston.

"This is another example of the UT System's strong commitment to improving student performance in K-12 education in collaboration with school districts, "said Chancellor Mark G. Yudof.

The UT System also has received $4.5 million in grants and awards for other projects included in the "Every Child, Every Advantage" initiative launched in May of 2002. This initiative includes programs for teacher education, professional development for current teachers, and research-based instructional programs in elementary and secondary schools.

Office of Academic Affairs

Every Child, Every Advantage Program