Promoting the Science of Reading in Higher Education

Professors, you are cordially invited to join!

Stronger Together: The Alliance for Reading Science in Higher Education (STARS-HE)

STARS is a collaborative alliance of university professors who are supporting each other to deepen their knowledge of reading research and reduce the gap between research and practice.  

The vision of the Stronger Together: The Alliance for Reading Science in Higher Education (STARS-HE) Consortium is that all teachers will learn and implement the science of reading through training received in their pre-service teacher training programs and their advanced degree programs.

The mission of the STARS-HE Consortium is to support:

• Teacher training faculty to continually deepen their understanding of the science of reading and to develop and implement scientifically-aligned practices in their coursework and field experiences,
• Public school districts to create systems to support teachers to implement reading science,
• Departments of education and state superintendents to collaborate with teacher training faculty to align teacher licensure exams and program accreditation with reading science.

To accomplish this mission, the STARS-HE Consortium is engaging in the following actions to form a collaborative alliance of those experts advancing the science of reading in higher education:

1. Creating a network of higher education faculty who are interested in collaborating, learning and sharing resources through:

• Presentations at professional conferences
• Pre-conference gathering at professional conferences
• Sharing information in professional publications
• Networking and sharing resources in a private Facebook group

2. Sharing documents and other resources

3. Forming an advisory board that can be a resource to Institutes of Higher Education, Departments of Education, and legislators who seek guidance and expertise on how to advance the science of reading in their institutions and states.

A 12-year-old Oregon student who has dyslexia recently wrote this moving poem.

We were given permission to share his poem on the condition of anonymity.

You are wrong 

Red line 

It’s you’re not your 

Red line 

It’s there not their 

Red line 

It’s their not they’re 

Red line 

It’s science not sience 

Red line 

Friend not freind 

On 

And 

On 

Red line 

It makes me sad 

I try so hard 

I feel powerless 

I feel like I’m letting people down 

Everyone else is doing really good 

I am the only one that isn’t doing good 

If I ask for help they’ll think I’m dumb 

There is nothing I can do 

I’m not good enough 

This is stressing me out 

I don’t think I can get it all done 

I’m not going to do good on the spelling test this week

I won’t be able to get my reading done 

There is still math to do 

And On 

And On 

And 

On 

I was going into a downward spiral 

I’m not good enough 

I’m crying 

I can’t even talk

But then 

I saw a light at the end of the tunnel 

I told people what was going on 

How hard everything was 

Then one day 

I went to a person’s house 

They took different tests 

Told me to move tiles 

Told me to spell certain words 

After several times 

We were done 

My mom told me 

You have dyslexia 

I felt sad at first 

It felt like people were telling me I was dumb Then I started to realize 

I am not dumb 

I just need a push in the right direction 

I remembered that other people I know have dyslexia

I looked at them and thought they were really smart

I am getting help 

I’m learning new tools 

I’m not dumb 

I am good enough 

It’s never going to go away 

But you can learn to overcome it 

You are good enough 

* Electronic documents underline misspelled words in red 

Join us each Monday night at 7 pm as Jared interviews a student or community member connected to the world of dyslexia. Missed a past interview? You can watch all past videos on our Youtube channel or on Jared's Instagram page - @jaredsblank!

Early Bird registration has been extended to July 18th!

Thank you for everything that you do, and have a safe and enjoyable summer!