The Science of Reading in Action

The Foundation is extremely grateful to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo™ for awarding a grant to help create our newest pilot program, Science of Reading in Action.

In 2019, the Texas Legislature mandated that all school districts and public charters implement science of reading strategies in all kindergarten through third grade classrooms. The science of reading is a systematic approach to reading instruction that emphasizes phonics, matching the sounds heard in spoken words with individual letters or groups of letters.

Teachers receive extensive training and are expected to apply science of reading strategies in their classrooms. To support this initiative, we partnered with Spring Branch ISD’s Office of Curriculum and Instruction and Region 4 Education Service Center to launch Science of Reading in Action, which equips 45 kindergarten and first grade teachers with read-aloud book collections, custom-design lesson guides, and other tools to support high-quality, science of reading instructional strategies. While additionally empowering and engaging students to discover the joy of reading through authentic literature.

We look forward to reporting back on the success of this initiative as we roll out the resources to more kindergarten through first grade classrooms in the coming school year.