University of Indianapolis receives $750,000 grant for aid in state reading initiative
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Lilly Endowment Inc. gave the University of Indianapolis a $750,000 grant through its initiative, the Science of Reading method.
The grant is supposed to aid UIndy’s College of Education and Behavioral Sciences to meet a statewide requirement change in Indiana, for both education majors and teachers.
The grant has two parts to it, both connected to Indiana’s new requirements, current education majors will learn the Science of Reading method which uses phonemic awareness as one of the key strategies to help younger students learn how to read.
Through UIndy, current teachers will be able to get credentialed in this literacy method.
“It is incredibly important that the Indiana literacy rate improves,” UIndy’s School of Education Dean John Kuykendall said. “By better equipping Hoosier teachers and education majors with the tools they need to help students learn to read faster and better, this grant can truly lead to a transformational change and a lifetime of difference for our youngest readers.”
The university is one of 28 Indiana colleges to receive this grant to support integrating the method into teacher preparation programs.
State law is requiring the method to be in learning programs starting July 1, 2024.