Tennessee announces ‘Reading 360’ initiative to improve literacy

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - The Tennessee Department of Education announced a $100 million initiative to support literacy throughout the state.

Officials said the department will use $60 million in one-time pandemic relief funding and $40 million in federal grant funding to launch Reading 360.

The Reading 360 Program will provide resources to help families and educators gain the tool necessary to help students read on their grade level by the third grade.

According to TDE, only one-third of Tennessee third graders were reading at grade level before the start of the pandemic.

The program will increase access to tutoring, provide online support for students and equip teachers with additional training and phonetics kits.

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