In a significant move to address early literacy challenges, the Harvard University’s READS Lab has announced an expansion of its Model of Reading Engagement (MORE) program. This initiative, supported by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) and a federal Education Innovation and Research (EIR) grant, aims to double its reach and impact, helping more children learn to read.
The MORE program, which has already shown long-term positive impacts on early reading comprehension, will now extend its services to fourth-grade students, reaching a total of 20,000 students. This expansion is a response to the alarming statistic that over half of children in the U.S. are not proficient readers by the end of third grade, a critical milestone for literacy development.
Sandra Liu Huang, CZI’s Head of Education, expressed enthusiasm for the continued support of the READS Lab’s research-based work. She emphasized CZI’s commitment to enabling impactful products that help teachers integrate learning science into classrooms, unlocking the full potential of every student.
Dr. James Kim, principal investigator and professor of education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, highlighted the effectiveness of the MORE program. He described it as a low-cost, high-impact intervention that causes lasting improvements in students’ reading abilities. The program’s success in North Carolina, where students demonstrated higher achievement across subjects, including reading and math, underscores its potential to make a significant difference in early literacy.
The expansion of the MORE program is part of the broader Reach Every Reader initiative, which focuses on five key areas of research: pre-literacy skills and early childhood development, screening and diagnostic assessments of literacy development, early intervention and support for developing readers, literacy tools and practices for educators, and scalability and collaboration with other researchers and organizations.
With the combined support from CZI and the EIR grant, the READS Lab is poised to make a substantial impact on early literacy, providing more children with the foundational skills they need to succeed in their educational journey.
Source: Harvard Lab Expands To Help More Children Learn To Read