Rewriting the Future: UB, AI and the Next Chapter in Literacy

Nearly one in five U.S. adults struggles with the comprehension skills needed to participate fully in society: completing job applications, following medical instructions or filling out ballots, for example. Children aren’t faring much better. According to the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress, just 30% of fourth graders read at a proficient level. Scores for both fourth and eighth graders have dropped since 2019 and have shown no meaningful progress since the early 1990s.

The burden falls hardest on communities of color, immigrants and low-income families, with ripple effects for economic growth, public health and social justice. Low literacy in the U.S. costs an estimated $2.24 trillion annually in lost productivity and increased social services.

At the same time, new technologies like artificial intelligence are reshaping classrooms. UB researchers are asking: how can AI support literacy instruction responsibly—enhancing, not replacing, the human connection kids need to become confident readers?

UB’s Graduate School of Education (GSE) has been tackling these challenges for decades through its Center for Literacy and Reading Instruction (CLaRI). Founded in 1963, the clinic partners with schools across Erie County, offering tutoring, assessment and evidence-based interventions for children and parents, with special emphasis on under-resourced schools.

CLaRI also serves as a training ground for graduate students and a hub for pioneering literacy research. “As educators, it is our job to provide systematic, evidence-based instruction to students,” GSE Dean Suzanne Rosenblith says. “Strengthening CLaRI through new resources, technology and faculty will help us expand research, reach more families and make a greater local-to-global impact.”

That expansion is now possible thanks to a generous endowment from UB alumna Elizabeth (Liz) A. Czarnecki, EdM ’94, BA ’76. Her gift, inspired by her passion for reaching underserved populations with reading and writing instruction, as well as the death of her husband, establishes the Mark J. and Elizabeth A. Czarnecki Professorship and the Czarnecki Resource Fund in Literacy, supporting CLaRI’s tutoring, programming and faculty recruitment.

Over the years, CLaRI has adapted to meet local families where they are. “When parents asked for more programming, especially in the summer, we expanded from two semesters of tutoring to year-round services,” said Ashlee Campbell, CLaRI’s associate director.

Today, students can join Saturday morning tutoring sessions with certified specialists or half-day summer literacy “camps,” where small groups work on phonics, fluency, writing and comprehension in a relaxed environment. “There’s a real need in the community that we fill,” Campbell said.

The pandemic amplified that need. In 2021 John Strong, associate professor of literacy education and CLaRI associate director of research, partnered with colleague Blythe Anderson, assistant professor of literacy education, to launch a summer program addressing learning loss. With donor support, they hired UB student tutors to provide small-group, evidence-based instruction.

The results were immediate. Within a month, reading gains were significant enough to publish in Reading & Writing Quarterly. Since then, hundreds of students in WNY have benefited, and the program has been replicated across multiple summers and school districts.

Strong is also a co-principal investigator for UB’s Center for Literacy and Reading through AI (CELaRAI), a new initiative exploring how artificial intelligence can be responsibly integrated into early literacy instruction. One of the center’s flagship projects is the AI Reading Enhancer—a student-centered tool that helps personalize reading support. It can generate tailored text, analyze reading in real time and offer immediate literacy assistance. By strengthening key skills like phonics, word recognition, fluency, and comprehension—especially for children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds—CELaRAI is helping to raise the bar in literacy education.

The center also plays a national leadership role in promoting responsible uses of AI, supporting research, community engagement, and training efforts that aim to shape the future of early literacy.

CLaRI also prepares UB graduate students for the realities of today’s classrooms. Beyond theory, they practice evidence-based methods under faculty supervision, equipping them to meet students’ widely varied reading levels.

GSE student Madison Stercula recalls her first years teaching second grade. “I had no idea there’d be such a discrepancy in reading levels in one class. CLaRI gave me the tools and support to meet those challenges. It reminded me why I wanted to teach in the first place,” she said.

Stercula has also used AI to support, not sideline, struggling readers. “One student had a limited vocabulary and would become really overwhelmed when there was a lot of text on the page. I instructed AI to simplify word choice and reduce the sentences, and he was able to engage without being singled out or isolated.”

Her experience reflects a broader goal: to send graduates into schools not only as teachers, but as literacy leaders who can influence curricula, support peers and eventually shape educational policy.

For Czarnecki and her sons, Christopher and Gregory, the gift is personal. It’s an homage to her longtime career as an educator working with English language learners and special education students, as well as a tribute to her late husband’s legacy of service to the university as a member of the UB Foundation Board of Trustees and vice chair of the UB Council.

The endowment will equip the center to reach even more individuals, families and educators—to buy more books, hire more tutors and prepare more teachers in training across Western New York—while helping to recruit and retain talented faculty like Strong and Anderson, whose pioneering research is transforming literacy instruction, research and intervention nationwide.

“A gift of this magnitude has significant reach and potential impact for so many,” said Rosenblith. “Its impact will ripple for generations.”

The Czarnecki Professorship also ensures UB has the resources to keep pace with technology—exploring how AI can reduce teacher burnout, personalize learning and extend literacy instruction beyond the classroom, while grounding every innovation in evidence and equity.

At CLaRI, success isn’t just about test scores—it’s about how kids feel about reading. Children choose their own books, explore graphic novels and celebrate small milestones. “Even if a book is beyond a child’s level, we don’t say no,” Campbell explained. “We find ways to engage them in the story. It’s about nurturing confidence and curiosity.”

That philosophy—backed by evidence, fueled by community partnerships and now strengthened by the Czarnecki endowment—is why UB is at the forefront of addressing the literacy crisis.

“We’re not just teaching kids to read,” Stercula said. “We’re helping them understand the world, think critically and grow into thoughtful citizens.”