Drexel Receives $1.4 Million Grant to Establish Hub for Literacy Reform

Drexel Receives $1.4 Million Grant to Establish Hub for Literacy Reform

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Drexel University's School of Education has received a $1.4 million grant from the Wilson-O'Connor Family Foundation to establish a translational research-to-practice hub in an effort to address the nation's literacy crisis. The Advocacy, Leadership, Learning, Implementation and Educational Policy @ Drexel (ALLIED) Hub will unite experts in structured literacy, implementation science and educational leadership. It will provide access to evidence-based information and tools for parents, educators and community partners to strengthen literacy teaching and learning across schools and communities nationwide.

The ALLIED Hub's stated mission is "to ensure that every child has the opportunity to unlock the power of literacy." By combining research, practice and community engagement, the Hub will create guidance and provide resources to equip school district leaders to champion transformational change, creating a future where all students thrive as confident, capable readers and writers, according to its leadership.

"The ALLIED Hub will provide much needed guidance for school leaders seeking to impact transformational literacy reform in schools," said Barbara A. Wilson, co-founder of Wilson Language Training®, who will be a part of the Hub's advisory board. "Educators need deep support from their leaders, and this resource will assist in accomplishing a true partnership to make lasting change happen."

Nationally, 69% of fourth graders read below the "Proficient" achievement level, according to the U.S. Department of Education's 2024 National Assessment of Education Progress. The ALLIED Hub will strive to address this by translating cutting-edge research into practice, serving as a national resource for administrators, leaders, educators and policymakers.

"This new hub is a step forward with evidence-based efforts to support literacy. It brings together academics and research that we can put into practice right away in the community," said Aroutis Foster, PhD, interim dean and professor in the School of Education, who is steering the creation of the Hub. "When children are struggling to read, every day matters. This new hub will allow parents and educators to access structured literacy tools and resources that were previously difficult to find. It will also allow our doctoral-level students to lead transformational change in education systems and improve literacy outcomes."

Building on this vision, the Hub will also establish data systems to evaluate the impact of its programs and analyze how leadership training influences student reading achievement. This effort reflects the University's long-standing commitment to applied research that drives measurable improvement in classrooms and communities.

"I am honored to lead this important initiative at a time when our schools urgently need coordinated, evidence-based solutions to improve literacy outcomes," said Lori Severino, EdD, a literacy researcher and advocate, who was a faculty member in Drexel's School of Education from 2012 to 2022, who will serve as the Hub's inaugural director. "The Hub was created to meet this need - connecting research, practice, and leadership to transform how districts support literacy. At Drexel's School of Education, we're creating a space where collaboration fuels change - and every child's success becomes possible."

The School will also use the grant to create a new concentration in literacy leadership and implementation science within its award-winning doctoral (EdD) program: the Education Doctorate in Leadership and Management. The program, which earned the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED) Program of the Year Award in 2019, is nationally recognized for its excellence, innovation and impact. The new concentration will focus on system-wide implementation of literacy initiatives, preparing leaders to drive evidence-based change grounded in neuroscience, implementation science and leadership. The first cohort is expected to begin in the fall of 2027.

"The reading failure we see in our nation's schools is not just an educational problem - it is a human rights, equity, and public health crisis," said Reid Lyon, PhD, a distinguished neuroscientist, author and literacy educator, who will serve on the Hub's leadership team. "To transform our schools and ensure that every child learns to read, education leaders and teachers must unite around a shared, science-based knowledge and a common language of instruction and implementation. The new EdD concentration will prepare collaborative teams of leaders and teachers to transform school systems and structures through the continuous acquisition and interpretation of student reading data."

Alongside a digital platform, the ALLIED Hub will also feature a dedicated space within the School of Education. This space will be unveiled at a ribbon-cutting ceremony next year.

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