Supporting Our Programs

23

2016 Annual Report

The foundation’s efforts as part of a $3.8 

million, two-year U.S. Department of Educa-

tion Innovative Approaches to Literacy (IAL) 

grant for 2014 – 2016 are nearing comple-

tion. The grant assists the foundation in 

furthering its work in high-need communi-

ties and bolstering early literacy initiatives 

around the nation.
The foundation’s 2014 – 2016 grant goal is 

to serve an additional 4,000 families through 

12,000 READY! for Kindergarten parent 

kits. The foundation is on track to surpass 

this goal by nearly 2,000 families. More than 

15,000 READY! kits are anticipated to be 

provided to families at parent workshops, 

and 300,000 books will be given away in the 

communities served by the grant.
A randomized control trial was conducted 

as part of the grant by Washington State 

University and The Chicago School of 

Professional Psychology (Paul Strand, 

Ph.D., Richland, Dan Koonce, Ph.D., 

Chicago, 2016). This evaluation deter-

mined that READY! for Kindergarten had 

a significant impact on the early literacy 

scores for all groups. 
The findings conclude that students of 

families exposed to READY! had “statisti-

cally significant higher scores” (based on 

the DIBELS and WJLNI) than those whose 

families were not exposed to the READY! 

program. Average DIBELS Letter Naming 

scores were 17.24 and 12.73, respectively.

The Regina D. Weiss Literacy Legacy 

Fund supports special reading-related 

projects of The Children’s Reading Foun-

dation to further enhance children’s liter-

acy. Some efforts include the purchase of 

new books to give to children and families 

and the development of resources to 

encourage the love of reading together. 
The foundation was selected by the Weiss 

family in 2011 to help carry on the memory 

and work of their cherished wife and 

mother, the late Regina D. Weiss, through 

a literacy legacy fund in her honor. Regina 

was a reading teacher for 33 years, dedi-

cating her life to helping children’s literacy. 

She understood that literacy unleashed 

the intellectual powers of understanding, 

original thought, and imagination.
To date, nearly $30,000 has been donated to 

the Regina D. Weiss Literacy Legacy Fund. 

U.S. Department of Education 

Innovative Approaches to 

Literacy Grant