Barksdale Reading Institute
Oxford Office
1003 Jefferson Avenue
Oxford, MS 38655
(662) 236-5600
http://msreads.org
Mr. Claiborne Barksdale, Chief Executive Director
bri@msreads.org

Because today's children are growing up in an information age in which reading and writing play a critical role, both economically and socially, Jim and Sally Barksdale established the Barksdale Reading Institute to improve literacy in Mississippi.

The Barksdale family's $100 million gift to The University of Mississippi Foundation has developed essential partnerships among the Mississippi Department of Education, seventy-six public schools for the 2000 - 2001 school year, and the eight public universities.

The Institute's goals for systemic change are to:

• Implement the Mississippi Department of Education's Reading Initiative, Every Child a Reader, as the foundation for the systemic reading reform model.
  
• Incorporate the Mississippi Reading Reform Model into the undergraduate elementary education teacher preparation programs at the eight public institutions of higher learning.
  
• Use professional development, classroom site supervision, and electronic communication (Star Schools Network and Internet) to disseminate and implement the Mississippi Reading Reform Model in pre-kindergarten through third grade.

MODEL DEVELOPMENT BY THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION (to top)

The development of the Mississippi Reading Reform Model began with a review of literature and an analysis of Mississippi data. The study was conducted to compare the instructional practices of Mississippi teachers with research-based best practices. The study results are presented in the publication Research to Action. This review of literature was the basis for the Mississippi Board of Education's decision to develop a reading initiative in July of 1997 with the establishment of the Mississippi Reading Initiative, Every Child a Reader.

Next, the most current research and other reading initiatives were studied by Mississippi's teachers and administrators of early literacy programs, K-3 schools, and universities to develop resource publications and make recommendations concerning professional development for the Reading Initiative. The primary sources utilized were:

• Dr. Reid Lyon's research for the national Institute of Child Health and Development (NICHD)
  
• National Research Council's (NCR) Preventing Reading Difficulty in Young Children
  
• U.S. Department of Education's Comprehensive Assistance Center's Reading Success Network (RSN)
  
• International Reading Association (IRA)
  
• National Association of the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
  
• National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL)
• To support this initiative, the Mississippi Legislature passed Senate Bill 2944 during the 1998 session to create a Reading Sufficiency Program of Instruction. The program provided funding for research, development, and implementation in the Reading Initiative's pilot schools. The data analysis of the pilot program led to the revisions that established the Mississippi Reading Reform Model.

RESEARCH-BASED REFORM MODEL (to top)

The Mississippi Reading Reform Model's scientifically based reading research (SBRR) conclusions have been incorporated into a comprehensive process of prevention/intervention. The model's components include:

• Reading Instructional Intervention Process
  
• Extended Instruction
  
• Parent/Family Literacy Programs
  
• Effective Instructional Practices for Teachers,
• Administrators, and Support Staff

To successfully implement the Mississippi Reading Reform Model, the foloowing SBRR conclusions were used as the cornerstones for pre-service education, professional development of current teachers, and technical assistance to schools:

• Well-designed prevention programs to promote students' development of appropriate language-related readiness skills for early literacy in pre-kindergarten and parent/family centers.
  
• Improved reading instructional practices incorporated into pre-kindergarten through third grade classrooms that utilize a balance of the six dimensions of reading instruction (phonemic awareness, decoding, fluency, comprehension, background knowledge and vocabulary, and motivation).
  
• Expanded parent/family literacy programs and community support.
  
• Extended instructional opportunities through reading tutorial partnerships that incorporate the six dimensions of reading instruction.

THE PROCESS OF INTERVENTION (to top)