Defense department grant will help Craven students with reading

Craven County Schools can expand a pilot project on innovative reading instruction to a total of 14 schools with a $1.5 million Department of Defense grant the system learned it received this week.

“We are thrilled that Craven County Schools was awarded the Department of Defense Education Activity grant,” said Col. Frank P. Bottorff, exiting MCAS Cherry Point commander. “This grant will have a direct impact on improving the reading skills of numerous students to include the children of our Marines, Sailors and government employees. Our military families don’t just live here, we are an integral part of the community and we’re happy to be a part of a program that benefits so many schools.”

Larry Moser, Craven County Schools' superintendent, said, “This program, called Fast Forward, is a research-based program that will help all of our students at those schools with at least 25 percent enrollment of military-connected students.”

That includes those students in the district serving families stationed at Cherry Point, Camp Lejeune and New River Air Station.

The pilot project, a new way to teach reading, was conducted last year at Trent Park Elementary by Craven County Schools. The project uses a program from Scientific Learning to help struggling readers develop cognitive skills that are a foundation for reading achievement from kindergarten through 12th grade.

“We liked the program and what we saw as gains,” Moser said. “Our system personnel went after the grant.

“We all know that reading is essential for success in the 21st Century. The more we know about how the brain learns to read, the more apparent it becomes that we need to choose instructional strategies and programs that will result in improved student performance.”

Dr. Shirley Miles, the Defense Department Education Activity director, said in a news release that “this is the first year DoDEA has been able to execute our grant program. It’s very gratifying to be able to offer assistance to the schools that are educating our military’s children. We are looking forward to seeing how the districts implement the programs they’ve developed.”

Craven is one of 22 school districts serving military installations that are invited to submit a grant proposal through a program included in the John Warner National Defense Authorization Act of 2007. The program was designed to expand funding for the schools, which serve the 92 percent of military family students who do not attend base schools.

Sue Book can be reached at (252) 635-5666 or sbook@freedomenc.com.