A collaboration of college students, local school districts, and literacy educators has received a nearly $200,000 grant from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). The grant was established, in part, because of how inspirational the program has been to leaders at DESE.
The Western Mass. Literacy Collaborative (WMLC) was founded by Elms College in Springfield three years ago — in the hopes of closing gaps in literacy rates among local students. The program trains prospective educators, referred to as Literacy Intervention Teachers (LITs), on the best ways to provide literacy education before embedding them in school summer programs.
"The LITs are hired by participating school districts, and they teach reading using evidence-based materials and culturally- and linguistically-sustaining literacy practices at elementary and middle school summer sessions," explained Dr. Laura Porter, an Elms College professor who also directs the collaborative.
The WMLC received $190,000 from the state through Early Literacy Consortium grants, which were modeled off of their program and aim to support similar initiatives across the state.
"We had a few forums where we shared our work," Porter recounted. "Representatives from the Massachusetts Deptarment of Elementary and Secondary Ed. were in the audience, seeing what we did and from that, they created the Early Literacy Consortium Grants."
Those grants are one piece of a larger initiative by the Healey administration to improve literacy rates across the Bay State — something that's been called a top priority by officials within DESE amid concerning literacy rates nationwide.
Porter said that the WMLC allows college students to get hands on experience in an actual school environment, sharpening their literacy education skills. The program also creates a pipeline where those students can continue to work in local districts and maintain the connections they established as LITs.
"We want to broaden that net of young people who become educators," Porter said. "We're giving them some experience in local area school districts, and really also hoping that then they will stay in this area and continue this work."
The WMLC was started by Elms College, but now includes other local higher education institutions, including Springfield College and Westfield State University. They work with public schools in Springfield and East Longmeadow, and this year expanded into early education sites Educare Springfield and Square One.
