Shelby County program works tirelessly to support educators with literacy best practices.

Ensuring that teachers and leaders are trained in research-backed literacy methodology to support the schools they serve, the Memphis Literacy Institute exemplifies putting best practices first. In working to fulfill their mission, the MLI has established a Reading Specialist Certificate program, school-based partnerships, professional learning cohorts, and an annual Literacy Conference.

Housed under Memphis Teacher Residency, the MLI was created to tackle the most challenging issues facing educators in the Mid-South.

The Tennessee Reading Research Center has selected Memphis Literacy Institute as the inaugural Literacy Champion Award recipient. This award was created to recognize an organization that has shown exemplary partnership with the TRRC on literacy issues. The TRRC was challenged to choose among several nominees making important contributions. The MLI was chosen through a selection process that included a review of criteria established for the award.

This year’s Literacy Champion Award was presented to the team and stakeholders of the Memphis Literacy Institute, on November 5th at the MLI’s offices in the Crosstown Concourse.

We are thrilled to present the Memphis Literacy Institute with the 2024 award.

Find out more about the institute here. 

For more information:
Trace Riggs, Communications Manager
triggs3@utk.edu
865-974-0782

Multi-Year Research Project Will Analyze Summer Reading Benefits and Losses in Grades K-5

Deborah Reed, Tennessee Reading Research Center Director,  is the recipient of a $1.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences. The project will review and meta-analyze two bodies of research: One on the summer learning effect and on the other on the effectiveness of summer reading interventions. The results of the four-year project could inform school planning for summer programs, existing policies on students’ summer learning, and the gaps in what we know about students’ reading achievement over the summer. Also partnering on this work are Terri Pigott from Georgia State University and the Tennessee Reading Research Center’s Research Assistant Professors Anna Gibbs and Huibin Zhang.

Find our more about the project here.

On September 19, 2023, from 4-6 p.m., at the Hodges Library (Lindsay Young Auditorium, Room 101), on the campus of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, the Tennessee Reading Research Center and the College of Education, Health, & Human Sciences’ Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion present a screening of the documentary, “The Right to Read.”

Open to members of the public and to those within UT System with an interest in literacy as a form of social justice. Registration is limited to 150 attendees.

Parking and Transportation: Parking for the event is: G17 Garage (1800 Lake Ave). A charter bus will run to the event from parking. Attendees will need to pick the charter bus up on Terrace Ave behind the G17-Lake Avenue/G11-Terrace Avenue garages. See image:

Schedule for bus:

• Before event – From G17 to Hodges: 3:30 and 3:50 pm
• After event – From Hodges to G17: 6:05 and 6:15

Agenda: After a welcome, the documentary will be screened (1 hour 20 minutes) and followed by a facilitated discussion (30 minutes) and closing. The film features the work of Oakland NAACP activist and former teacher Kareem Weaver, who believes literacy is our most important civil right. It also features schools and families in California, Virginia, Mississippi, and Memphis, Tennessee as they address children’s literacy.

The event is aligned with President Boyd’s and Chancellor Plowman’s charge for UT to be a leader in literacy, and it is aligned with the college’s DEI action plan.

From the directors: “The Right to Read shares the stories of an activist, a teacher, and two American families who fight to provide our youngest generation with the most foundational indicator of life-long success: the ability to read.

That’s why Oakland-based NAACP activist Kareem Weaver believes literacy is one of the greatest civil rights issues of our time and is fighting for better reading instruction. “What good is winning the right to vote if we can’t even read the ballot?” Fed up with the bleak reading scores in his own community, Kareem files a petition with the Oakland Unified School District demanding change.“

By Macy Roberts, CEHHS Student News Reporter, Class of 2024

In March, the Tennessee Reading Research Center: A Reading 360 Initiative established its official social media presence. The TRRC was started by the UT System and the Tennessee Department of Education in 2022 and can be found under the username @TNReadResearch on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and soon YouTube.

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In a recent community celebration, the Department of Theory and Practice in Teacher Education (TPTE) celebrated five recipients for their contributions to education in East Tennessee.

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