Manchester University opens new literacy lab
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The Henney Department of Education at Manchester University has opened a new literacy lab designed to provide reading support to young students in the local community.
The lab—funded by a $500,000 grant from Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment Inc.’s Advancing the Science of Reading in Indiana initiative—gives Manchester students the ability to work one-on-one and in small groups with preschool and elementary students under the leadership of a reading coach.
“Offering a space on campus where community could come onto campus, and our students could work side by side with a professional in the instruction, it just felt like a win-win-win,” said Heather Schilling, professor of education and director of clinical experience at Manchester.
Schilling told Inside INdiana Business that the lab provides a different kind of experience for Manchester’s teaching students.
“Especially from the sophomore year on, they spend time in classrooms, observing and then gradually taking over small groups and lessons,” she said. “But the difference with this lab is we can tailor sessions to meet different grade levels of our community students, give them an opportunity to come on campus and receive one-on-one or very small group instruction, specifically in reading.”
Manchester said the Lilly Endowment grant complements a statewide effort launched in 2022 to improve reading achievement in K-12 schools by helping teachers implement Science of Reading principles in their classrooms.
Schilling said the university has always used Science of Reading as a preparation tool for its students, though it previously didn’t go by that name.
“We called it evidence-based best practices. The phonologic awareness, phonemic awareness, phonics—the pillars of good reading—our instruction has always been in that. The difference is we now have really specific language to use. Now, the rest of Indiana, we have a shared language,” she said. “Teacher prep and classroom teachers, we’ve held onto practices that we like but may not be meeting the needs of all students.”
Part of the grant allowed the university to hire Tracy Walda, a 2015 Manchester graduate, to serve as reading coach for the literacy lab.
The literacy lab is located on the second floor of Funderburg Library on the North Manchester campus. The university said it has worked closely with local schools to identify children in preschool through sixth grade who will benefit from intervention and enrichment in reading.
“The idea is that we can focus on phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, whatever, those children are needing support in,” Schilling said. “Right now, the focus is on doing some interventions with students who may not have those basic skills needed to read well.”
Schilling said they have already started working with local students, and the goal is to eventually open the program up to older students, as well as allowing parents to sign their kids up to bring them to campus themselves for additional instruction.
“This summer, we will be working with our local schools to to create an invitation list for a summer slide program,” she said. “Those children need some extra support during the summer so that they don’t move backwards in their reading ability. We can offer that as well.”
The university will host an open house and story time on Oct. 26 during Manchester’s Homecoming and Family Weekend.