Below is a press release from the Barksdale Reading Institute:
The Barksdale Reading Institute will bring to close its more than two decades of early-literacy work in Mississippi, Kelly Butler, CEO of the Institute, announced today.
For over twenty-two years BRI has worked hand-in-hand with Mississippi's schools of education, public schools and pre-k programs, and thousands of dedicated teachers, and has played a critical role in the significant improvement in reading scores in the state. In 2000, Mississippi students ranked 49th on fourth-grade reading scores as measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). In 2019, Mississippi ranked 26th, at the national average, and is among the top performers in accelerating growth for children in poverty and for children of color.
BRI was established in 2000 as the result of a $100-million commitment by Jackson native Jim Barksdale and his late-wife, Sally, a native of Hazlehurst. From the outset the Barksdales stressed that their funding was not a gift but an investment. Recently, Mr. Barksdale said, "Looking at the increased NAEP scores, which I am confident BRI has contributed to, and at the tens of thousands of students whose reading skills have improved significantly, I'd say that's a pretty good return on our investment."
The institute has consistently advocated an explicit, systematic approach to teaching the foundational skills of reading and writing. Through its work it designed and tested a number of models, introducing a literacy block into each school day that incorporated evidence-based practices and expert coaching coupled with high-quality professional development of teachers. This model went to scale in 2013 with passage of the Literacy-Based Promotion Act, Mississippi’s 3 rd -grade reading law.
BRI leveraged its resources to bring to Mississippi the top literacy experts in the country and many have continued to support and guide the work. BRI’s CEO has served with Carey Wright, Mississippi’s Superintendent of Education, on the Advisory Board of the Southeast Regional Education Lab, the research arm of the U.S. Department of Education through the Institute of Education Sciences.
BRI has approached its work through partnerships, believing that work done in collaboration with educators at every level of the system has the greatest impact. Responding to inquiries from more than 20 states about its work in pre-service teacher preparation, BRI initiated The Path Forward, a multi-state project in collaboration with The Belk Foundation (NC) and The Hunt Institute (NC). Six state teams were selected for Cohort 1 in 2021, including Arizona, Colorado, Massachusetts, Missouri, North Carolina, and Ohio.
Most of the Institute’s educational assets will live on in BRI’s Reading Universe through its partnership with two nationally recognized organizations: WETA, the flagship PBS station in Washington, D.C. and First Book, an international organization focused on building a pathway out of poverty through education equity. As BRI closes the book next summer on its Mississippi operations, WETA and First Book will launch the initial prototype of BRI’s Reading Universe, which aims to be the premier source of information about teaching reading and writing to students in grades pre-K through 6 th grade. “Teaching more children to read and write proficiently is the number 1 challenge facing our nation’s schools,” said Kareem Weaver, an expert adviser to Reading Universe and a long-time advocate for literacy and civil rights.
“Reading Universe will give every teacher, every school, and every district free, instant access to authoritative, engaging and video-rich information about what it really takes to teach reading well.”
