About the Program
Learning to read and write in the elementary grades is the foundation for developing content-area knowledge in later grades; however, ongoing achievement gaps between African American students and other groups continue to reflect the impact of lower literacy attainment.
Literacy ReclaimEd is a no-cost, grant-funded professional development opportunity that addresses the achievement gap in elementary literacy for African American students. This initiative equips second- through fifth-grade classroom educators to improve literacy instruction and better meet the unique needs of African American students.
We are recruiting schools to participate in this initiative during the 2025–2026 school year.
Teachers will:
- Increase their knowledge and efficacy in teaching students foundational language and literacy skills
- Expand their understanding of general linguistic concepts and dialect
- Grow their knowledge of culturally responsive teaching strategies
Students will improve their:
- Proficiency towards mastery of basic early literacy skills to access complex text and think critically
- Proficiency in grade-level standards
- Ability to shift between their home dialect and academic language
Literacy ReclaimEd weaves together three promising strategies that build on existing evidence-based literacy supports:
Foundational skills in literacy instruction grounded in the science of reading
Culturally responsive practices for diverse readers
Classroom-based coaching, both in-person and virtually
FAQs
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What are the eligibility requirements?
Schools should have predominantly socioeconomically disadvantaged students and Black students.
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How long is the commitment?
Participating schools will work with UnboundEd through the 2025–2026 school year.
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How many hours of professional learning and instructional coaching will UnboundEd provide?
Teachers will participate in eighteen hours of in-person learning on Structured Literacy and another six hours of in-person training on language variation, including bidialectalism, and culturally responsive practices for diverse readers.
Additionally, UnboundEd will provide seven days of instructional coaching to each school.
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What supports will teachers receive?
Teachers trained under Literacy ReclaimEd will be prepared to provide differentiated literacy instruction that includes:
- Contrastive analysis of African American English (AAE) and General American English (GAE)
- Explicit instruction in dialect shifting
- Culturally relevant instructional techniques and assessments
Participating teachers will receive six lesson plans that include explicit differentiated instruction on dialect-shifting.