Gov. Lee Marks ‘Read Across America’ Week, Literacy Month in Tennessee

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Today, Gov. Bill Lee capped March 2-6 as Read Across America Week and proclaimed it Literacy Month in Tennessee, highlighting the Administration’s continued work to strengthen literacy and prepare young readers for success. The Governor visited students at Huntingdon Primary School in Carroll County.

“Tennessee students are leading the nation in reading proficiency gains thanks to our state’s strong literacy strategy and teachers’ dedication to supporting young readers,” said Gov. Lee. “Every student deserves the opportunity to thrive, and in the month of March, we’re celebrating our continued commitment to literacy and ensuring that every child can reach their full potential.”

Lee’s Fiscal Year 2025-26 budget proposal includes more than $27 million in state funding to continue prioritizing K-3 literacy programs to provide students with multiple pathways to becoming a strong reader.

The proposal builds upon Lee’s strategy to boost K-12 literacy and address learning loss, which passed with broad bipartisan support in 2021. The strategy provides strong support and resources beginning in kindergarten, including free tutoring, summer camps or options for re-testing.

The Governor continues to work in partnership with the General Assembly to make key investments in Tennessee’s literacy strategy, which includes:

Proven Phonics-Based Instruction

Currently, an historic 41 percent of third graders in Tennessee are meeting expectations in reading. In addition, the 2024 Nation’s Report Card results further demonstrated Tennessee’s gains, with the percentage of tested students scoring as proficient outpacing the national average in both 4^th and 8^th grade reading. To continue building upon significant reading proficiency gains, Tennessee has hired and empowered more teachers to use proven phonics-based instruction, in which students learn to read by sounding out words, to better serve K-3 students struggling to read at grade level.

Successful Reading 360 and TN ALL Corps Initiatives

Tennessee launched Reading 360 in 2021, offering optional grants and resources tailored to the needs of individual districts, which has led to almost full academic recovery and created the largest permanent summer school program serving pre-K-9^th grade and the largest state tutoring program in the country with hundreds of thousands of Tennessee students served.

Reading 360 provides additional strong support for young learners, including free tutoring, summer camps and regular reading screener tests that begin in kindergarten, so parents and teachers can determine the right pathway based on the unique needs of each student.

Additionally, Tennessee implemented Tennessee Accelerated Literacy and Learning (ALL) Corps to provide ongoing tutoring for students throughout the school year.

Leading the Nation in Prioritizing In-Person Learning

Tennessee led the nation in getting kids back to school after time away from the classroom in 2020, offering in-person learning in every school district across the state.

Governor’s Early Literacy Foundation

The Lee Administration has invested more than $14.5 million to further the mission of the Governor’s Early Literacy Foundation, which seeks to strengthen early literacy in Tennessee by equipping children with books and innovative literacy programming at no cost. The Foundation established Tennessee as the first state to offer Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and the first at-home book delivery program for K-3 students and teachers.

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