KSOE Reading Recovery Center Awarded Eight Million Dollar HEROES Grant 

October 26, 2020

The eight-million dollar, federally-funded project, awarded in 2019 is a multi-year, national four-campus effort led by Ohio State University and focuses on teachers who instruct K-3 students placed in special education for reading instruction. The grant offers the potential to train 48-60 teachers, and one teacher-leader, in special education techniques rooted in Lasallian social justice and equity values held closely here at Saint Mary’s. 

The grant started in January 2020 and goes to June 2024. It expands the repertoire of the Reading Recovery Center and has a strong focus on word work and reading books in context. This means putting phonics into action when reading text. The students learn how to apply their lessons immediately. The HEROES class is open to 16 states affiliated with the Center and their first course began just under a month ago using distance learning. They have teachers training in five school districts two states this year, all connected through distance learning. 

The Reading Recovery Center at Saint Mary’s College has been offering hybrid training to its teachers since 2010, so even with the pandemic, they haven’t missed a beat. The strong network of nearly one thousand teachers has proven to be helpful during this time. They are able to meet together virtually and share ideas on how to continue their efforts and make an impact on their students even during these uncertain times. They plan together, co-teach, collaborate, and diagnose the classrooms and provide intervention. Teachers who go through the Reading Recovery programs offered through Saint Mary’s are strong problem-solvers and innovative thinkers. They ask themselves “how do we serve all students and meet all needs?” and collaborate on a solution together. 

For the teachers enrolled in the Reading Recovery Center Training Programs, their work is a life commitment. Our leaders in Reading Recovery at Saint Mary’s College, Dr. Adria Klein and Dr. Debra Rich, feel that “the new HEROES grant has provided us with the opportunity to expand our offerings in the Center. The Reading Recovery Center was already serving special education students in the Literacy Lessons Certificate Program, but with this new project, RRC can expand our outreach”. It allows them to provide intervention training to teachers in order to meet a broader range of student needs. Reading Recovery has been at Saint Mary’s since 1993, and this is their third grant to further reimagine how teachers can help their students achieve despite the challenges they face inside and outside of the classroom. 

To learn more about what the Reading Recovery Center does, click here

This is a featured story from the Fall 2020 KSOE Newsletter. To read more featured stories, click the button below. 

KSOE Fall 2020 Newsletter