The UIC Early Reading First projects are funded through grants from the U.S. Department of Education in collaboration with the University of Illinois at Chicago Center for Literacy. We are a collaborative team of early childhood teachers, school administrators, university faculty, early literacy coaches, and advanced graduate students who are building centers of early literacy excellence for three- and four-year-old children in schools in urban Chicago.

APLLE: Achieving Preschool Language and Literacy and IMPACT: Instructional Model Program for All Children and Teachers: Early Language and Literacy Excellence are our two current ERF initiatives. These are being implemented in collaboration with the Archdiocese of Chicago in schools with high numbers of children who are from low-income backgrounds. The preschool instructional teams (teachers and assistant teachers) at these schools work with UIC literacy coaches and other staff to enhance their classroom literacy environments and implement a literacy- and content-rich curriculum. Charting a Course to Literacy, a program in partnership with three Chicago Public Schools Charter Schools, was completed in 2010.

Comprehensive professional development coordinated with intensive in-classroom coaching is the key to the success of these Early Reading First programs. For more information, please visit our website at http://www.uic.edu/educ/erf/.

Contact Info:
William Teale Ed.D.
Jeffri Brookfield, Ed.D
Maureen Meehan, Ph.D.
Center for Literacy
1040 W. Harrison
Chicago, IL 60607

Tel: (312) 413-1546
Fax: (312) 355-3787