$750,000 grant is given to the University of Indianapolis to support the state reading campaign

Indianapolis, Indiana – Through its Science of Reading approach effort, Lilly Endowment Inc. awarded a $750,000 grant to the University of Indianapolis.

The award is intended to help the University of Indiana’s College of Education and Behavioral Sciences comply with a change in state requirements for teachers and education majors.

The two components of the grant are related to the new requirements in Indiana. Firstly, current education majors will learn the Science of Reading method, which emphasizes phonemic awareness as a critical strategy for teaching younger pupils to read.

Current educators will be able to obtain certification in this literacy approach through UIndy.

“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 has been awarded this funding to assist the integration of the approach into teacher training programs, making it one of 28 colleges in Indiana to do so.

According to state law, the approach must be used in educational programs beginning on July 1, 2024.