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Project to Boost Literacy through Data-Guided Practice

Key Takeaways

  • Five-year, $9.99M literacy initiative: The University of Iowa’s IRRC, Wyoming Department of Education, and Foundations in Learning launched Project Skyword Literacy, funded by a U.S. Department of Education EIR grant.
  • Focus on grades 3–5 rural students: The project uses the WordFlight reading intervention, IRRC implementation and coaching support, and evaluation by the University of Iowa’s Center for Evaluation and Assessment.
  • Data-guided, evidence-based approach: WordFlight is a personalized intervention designed to bridge phonics and fluency, with diagnostic and ongoing formative assessment to support automatic word recognition and fluency.

The University of Iowa's Iowa Reading Research Center (IRRC) and the Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) have partnered with Foundations in Learning on literacy support for rural students in grades 3-5. The initiative, "Project Skyword Literacy: Lifting Decoding and Fluency through Data-Guided Practice," is funded by a five-year, $9.99-million Education Innovation and Research (EIR) grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

The project aims to scale proven models for boosting literacy, utilizing Foundations in Learning's WordFlight reading intervention solution, implementation and coaching support from the IRRC, and evaluation by University of Iowa's Center for Evaluation and Assessment. The goal: to expand evidence-based literacy instruction and build high-quality literacy support systems for students.

WordFlight is a personalized reading intervention program that uses learning science to "bridget the gap between phonics and fluency," Foundations in Learning explained in a news announcement. The solution is designed to systematically develop students' ability to generalize and apply that knowledge to support automatic word recognition and fluency. It also provides diagnostic and ongoing formative assessment as students progress.

"This grant allows us to provide WordFlight to students who need personalized intervention to support their foundations for reading fluency, while testing and expanding models for educators on the ground to sustainably support high-impact interventions. This will allow us to serve more students, especially in rural districts and those with fewer resources," said Allison Zimmermann, CEO of Foundations in Learning, in a statement. "We could not have asked for better partners to bring these ideas to fruition and build towards our vision to make literacy accessible for all by leveraging the science of learning."

"This project provides an opportunity to examine evidence-based practices across schools in Iowa, Wyoming, and other states," said Seth King, associate professor of special education at the University of Iowa and an IRRC Research Fellow. "The findings will provide useful guidance for supporting students who struggle with foundational reading skills."

About the Author

Rhea Kelly is editor in chief for Campus Technology, THE Journal, and Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at [email protected].

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