UIC Early Reading First

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Welcome to UIC Early Reading First

Quick Links for Families and Teachers at the bottom of this page

Staff Spotlight

Laura Abbruzzese

Alishia Atkins
Literacy Coach

"Alishia Atkins has been a literacy coach with UIC—ERF since 2010 and is currently working with both Pope John Paul II School in the Brighton Park neighborhood and St. Hyacinth Basilica School in Logan Square." learn more...

Project Highlights

UIC-ERF Works - Again!
Read about how children in UIC-ERF project schools during the 2010-2011 school year made significant gains on early language and literacy skills and how they compared to similar children who did not experience UIC-ERF. learn more...

What We've Learned:About Digital Read Alouds and Preschoolers
UIC Research Assistant Extraordinaire Katie Paciga recently completed her dissertation research (and therefore is now Dr. Paciga) that looked at the effects of different types of eBook formats on preschool children’s listening comprehension. Her findings have informed the entire early childhood education field about digital technologies and early literacy learn more...

New UIC-ERF Staff
Moving into a new school year is saying goodbye to some veteran UIC—ERF staff and hello to others. We welcome four new Research Assistants, learn more...

In the News
The UIC Early Reading First projects have been featured in stories in the Chi-Town Daily News and UIC News. learn more...

Presentations & Publications
Click Here for a listing of presentations and publications that have arisen from UIC Early Reading First.

UIC Early Reading First projects are funded through grants from the U.S. Department of Education and conducted through 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.

This website provides general information about our two current projects in Archdiocese of Chicago Schools and a prior four-year project that ended in September 2010 with Chicago Public Schools Charter Schools. It also offers family members in our or any ERF project activities to do at home to help their children in early reading, writing, and language development. learn more...

Current Projects

Achieving Preschool Language and Literacy Excellence
(APLLE) 2008-2012

The Achieving Preschool Language and Literacy Excellence (APLLE) project is a partnership between UIC and four Archdiocese of Chicago schools: Our Lady of Tepeyac School, St. Agnes of Bohemia School, St. Ann School, and St. Gall School. learn more...

Instructional Model Program for All Children and Teachers: Early Language and Literacy Excellence (IMPACT) 2009-2012

The Instructional Model Program for All Children and Teachers: Early Language and Literacy Excellence is a partnership between UIC and five Archdiocese of Chicago schools: Pope John Paul II Catholic School, St. Ethelreda School, St. Hyacinth School, St. Dorothy School and St. Pius V School. learn more...

Completed Project

Charting a Course to Literacy Early Reading First

(CCL-ERF) 2006-2010

The first UIC Early Reading First Project, Charting a Course to Literacy, begun in 2006, ended in the fall of 2010. It was a partnership between UIC and three Chicago Public Schools Charter Schools: Chicago International Charter School Basil Campus, LEARN Charter School, and Passages Charter School. learn more...

Quick Links for Families and Teachers:

For more information on our projects, or to volunteer your assistance in the UIC-ERF efforts,
please contact the project director William Teale at wteale@uic.edu.

The developer of this website, the University of Illinois at Chicago, received Early Reading First grants from the United States Department of Education. The United States Department of Education has not reviewed, nor does it guarantee the accuracy, legal sufficiency under Federal law, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of the information contained on this website. Further, the contents of this website do not necessarily represent the policy of the United States Department of Education and the inclusion of information for particular items is not intended to endorse any views expressed or products, programs or services offered.