School of Education (SOE) in Nevada State University (NSU) has received over a $2 million federal grant from the Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) in The Department of Education for 2022-2027. This is to promote preschool-2nd grade teachers’ early literacy practice for children, including multilingual learners and children with disabilities.

Funded by the Department of Education, Office of English Language Acquisition (2022-2027)

Award: T365Z220025

With this funding, The Futuro Project will empower teachers to promote equity for those children who speak languages other than English with or without disabilities. By using the Science of Reading, the Futuro Project will:

Provide early childhood teachers professional development to gain a deeper understanding of how children learn to read, what skills are involved, and how those skills work together;
Provide an evidence-based best practice approach for teaching foundational literacy skills;
Promote the development of foundational reading skills for both typical and atypical readers;
Support family engagement by providing home literacy activity resources;
Collaborate with stakeholders (NDE, CCSD, RPDP) to promote support for teachers to develop and enhance effective instructional practices in literacy;
Collaborate with the UNLV Center for Research Evaluation and Assessment to ensure the quality of program implementation.

Early literacy skills are critical to become successful readers and lifelong learners. The Futuro Project will bring substantial benefits to NV children and families by providing teachers professional development to strategically support multilingual children.

Dr. Youngae Choi, Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education, directs the Futuro Project and Dr. Vanessa Mari, Associate Professor of Bilingual Education, is the co-principal investigator of the grant.

The Futuro Project is one of the fifth largest grants in the history of NSU. In fact, this grant is the only one awarded in NV from OELA in 2022.

For more information about the Project contact Dr. Youngae Choi at Young.Choi@nevadastate.edu

Team Members

Jennifer Singh, MBA (Administrative Assistant III)

Emma Seiter (Student Worker)

Bradly Marianno, Ph.D. (Center for Research Evaluation and Assessment, UNLV. External Evaluator)

Mark Spinrad, Ph.D. (Center for Research Evaluation and Assessment, UNLV. External Evaluator)

Vanessa Mari, Ph.D. (Associate Professor of Bilingual Education)

Jennifer Renville (Reading Specialist, Assistant Principal of Bendorf ES)

Suzie Hinrichsen (ECE Literacy specialist, Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program)

Youngae Choi, Ph.D (Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education)