ECU College Of Education Hosts Margaret Blount Harvey Literacy Institute | Eastern North Carolina Now

 Publisher's note: The author of this post, Kelly Setzer, is a contributor to ECU News Services.

 East Carolina University's College of Education hosted the spring 2016 Margaret Blount Harvey Literacy Institute on Jan. 30 for students and educators in the Latham Clinical Schools Network, a privately funded partnership that supports the enhancement of 39 school systems in eastern North Carolina.

 Margaret Blount Harvey Literacy Leaders board members, who represent districts in the network, and undergraduate students in the ECU College of Education attended separate workshops and sessions throughout the day.

 Board members examined literacy instruction in public schools and the issues and challenges that literacy leaders and teachers face. The workshop allowed board members to share strategies for addressing challenges.

 The session for students included a review of the development and progression of literacy skills and instruction needed to be successful on the standard reading exam required for licensure in North Carolina.

 "The institute truly helped our future teachers become more prepared to teach and reinforce literacy skills, particularly those early literacy skills and strategies focusing on word recognition and identification," said Dr. Katherine Misulis, chair of the Department of Literacy Studies, English Education and History Education at ECU.

 The Margaret Blount Harvey Institutes are planned by reading education faculty members in the ECU College of Education and sponsored by Margaret and the late Felix Harvey, and daughters Leigh McNairy and Sunny Burrows.

 Offered in the spring and fall, the institutes are named for Margaret Blount Harvey of Kinston, a former member of the State Board of Education, N.C. Education Research Council, N.C. School Improvement Panel and the Learning Disabilities Association of North Carolina.