Not every school has the same access to staffing, technology or professional development and for many rural communities, those gaps can shape a student’s academic trajectory before they leave elementary school. A new federally funded rural literacy initiative led by researchers in the College of Education and Human Development at Texas A&M University aims to change that.

Project ROOTS, which stands for Rural Opportunities Through Literacy, Observation, Tutoring and STEM, is a five-year effort to strengthen reading and science instruction in 100 rural schools across Texas and Mississippi. The project aims to serve approximately 4,000 students in grades 3-5 each year through a combination of community tutors, AI-powered tutoring and preservice teachers serving as virtual coaches.

“Rural schools have strong relationships, deep community ties and an incredible commitment to students and families,” said Dr. Rafael Lara-Alecio, a Regents Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology and the project’s principal investigator. “What they often lack is not will or talent, but access.”

The $15 million grant was awarded through the U.S. Department of Education’s Education Innovation and Research Program, a federal initiative that funds proven approaches to improving student outcomes. The program operates at three funding levels, with ROOTS selected at the highest, known as the Expansion tier, which is reserved for scaling research that has already demonstrated strong results.

Lara-Alecio said the project builds on more than three decades of research. “Project ROOTS is the next step in a 35-year evidence-building led by our primary team of researchers,” Lara-Alecio said. “Across our prior initiatives, supported by more than $136 million in funding, we have provided sustained professional learning to approximately 300,000 educators and reached two-thirds or more of Texas districts.”

The ROOTS framework was designed around the realities of rural education. The model pairs community members trained as in-person tutors with an AI platform that provides real-time progress monitoring and targeted practice. Preservice teachers act as virtual coaches and teacher site supervisors round out the framework.

“Rural schools often operate with limited staffing and resources,” said Dr. Roya Pashmforoosh, an assistant professor of bilingual/ESL education and a co-investigator on the project. “The intention is not to replace educators, but to ensure that every student receives personalized, consistent support.”

The project team includes Regents Professor Dr. Beverly J. Irby and Dr. Fuhui Tong as co-principal investigators, along with co-investigators Dr. Marcia Montague and Dr. Ramona Pittman. Researchers at the University of Southern Mississippi will help carry out the work across both states.

Tong, who also serves as associate provost and dean of the Graduate and Professional School, said the team hopes to produce research that outlasts the funding. “We hope to build sustainable systems, including professional development, tutoring models and data-informed supports, so that more schools can benefit beyond the life of this grant,” Tong said.

Dr. Kara Sutton-Jones, the project’s research and reporting coordinator, said the focus on early literacy is critical. “By grade 3, reading becomes the foundation and gateway for future academic learning,” Sutton-Jones said. Irby added, “I hope through this project that we’re able to make a real difference for students’ literacy-infused science outcomes with the tutors, in-service and pre-service teachers, and campus leaders.”

The grant was awarded through the Texas A&M Research Foundation with support from 150 Texas superintendents and 10 Mississippi superintendents who helped demonstrate demand for the project in rural districts across both states.

For media inquiries, contact Ruben Hidalgo.