Professor Deborah Reed has spent most of her career teaching youngsters to read—and helping teachers improve reading education.
Her interest in the field stems from two very different experiences: studying Russian with dreams of becoming a foreign diplomat and teaching English at an adjudicated alternative school.
After a nationwide search, Reed was hired in July 2022 to direct the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences’ new Tennessee Reading Research Center: A Reading 360 Initiative. Developed in collaboration with the Tennessee Department of Education and the UT System, the center is a key component of Reading 360, an array of statewide initiatives to ensure that Tennessee school districts, teachers, and families have the resources needed to help students read on grade level by third grade. Reading 360 is a $100 million effort, funded with $60 million of one-time federal COVID-19 relief funding and $40 million in federal grants.
The center has received $5 million over three years through Reading 360 to evaluate Tennessee’s efforts to boost literacy rates by improving teacher training and teacher preparation statewide.