A large proportion of the students who graduate from our public schools face barriers that prevent them from reading and writing at grade level. Achievement gaps in our schools systematically increase with the number of students living at or below the poverty line, coinciding with increasing segregation by race, ethnicity, and language background. This makes literacy achievement not just an educational issue, but one of equity and civil rights.

In the field of literacy, there is a global chasm between the science of language and literacy acquisition and the practice of teaching children how to read and write. Basic and translational research on language and literacy acquisition often overlooks or minimizes social and cultural contexts, leading to deficit perspectives toward culturally and linguistically diverse students, families, and communities.

The Maryland Initiative for Literacy and Equity (MILE) will harness research-to-practice partnerships in the fields of education, speech and language pathology, library sciences, policy, and community stakeholder outreach. These efforts are aimed at driving integrative research, both translational and basic, that is contextualized with respect to marginalized communities across race, culture, ethnicity, and language, as well as neurodiverse populations.

This initiative seeks to transform and integrate practices in education, speech pathology, library sciences, and parent/family engagement through streamlined and cutting-edge models of professional development and community outreach.