May 1, 2017
By KEITH RYAN CARTWRIGHT
Rutherford County Schools
Students from Kittrell and Christiana elementary schools are among the 11,000 Tennessee students who will benefit from more than $8.5 million awarded for this year’s Read to be Ready grant program.
Tennessee Education Commissioner Candice McQueen recently announced 212 grant recipients for the summer reading program, which includes the two Rutherford County schools.
The grants “fund educational camps that target rising first-, second- and third-graders who are not on grade level in reading during the critical summer months,” according a release from the Tennessee Department of Education.
“Summer reading loss can have a significant impact on the academic progress made by our students during the school year,” said First Lady Crissy Haslam, who worked closely with the Department of Education and Human Services to expand the Ready to Read Summer Grant program through an investment of $30 million over the next three years.
Haslam described the program as innovative.
The program is strategically designed to curb the summer slide, “improve reading proficiency across the state,” Haslam said.
“To reach our goals as a state, we know that our struggling readers need support beyond strong, daily classroom instruction for 180 days of the year,” McQueen said. “Ready to Read summer programs help communities ensure our youngest learners are getting the targeted support they need year-round.”
The goal of the Ready to Read campaign is to increase third grade reading proficiency in Tennessee to 75 percent by 2025.
Results from the first year indicated for the nearly 600 students who participated, there were increases in their abilities to read fluently and decode words, increased phonemic awareness and increased confidence and interest in reading, according to the Department of Education.
More than three-quarters of the school districts in Tennessee applied for the grant.
McQueen and Haslam have been visiting classrooms across the state in an effort to raise awareness of the program.