We give you the tools to support them on the path to literacy
SANDRA DUNAGAN DEAL CENTER FOR EARLY LANGUAGE AND LITERACY
OUR HISTORY
Founded in 2017 by the Governor’s office and the state legislature, our charge is to improve reading outcomes for the children of Georgia. Former Governor Deal and First Lady Sandra Dunagan Deal made literacy and early childhood education a priority during Governor Deal’s tenure.
Housed at Georgia College & State University in Milledgeville, the Deal Center works tirelessly to provide research, professional learning, and community engagement throughout the state. Through a number of partnerships at local and state levels, we collaborate to promote a novel approach for a fully transformed birth through age eight system to put all children on the path to reading success.
70%
of Georgia‘s children are not reading proficiently in fourth grade*
The Deal Center is working to change that
*NAEP, 2024
The Deal Center is at the core of funding, translating, and deploying evidence-based language and literacy practices to child-facing spaces in Georgia—giving everyone the tools to support children.
The Deal Center is dedicated to advancing research in language and literacy practices throughout Georgia to ensure every child meets their potential.
WHO WE SERVE
We fund, aggregate, and interpret evidence-based language and literacy research into deployable strategies for educators, healthcare, professionals, state agencies, community initiatives, and parents—anyone in child-facing spaces.
PROGRAMMING
We are responsible for promoting access to our evidence-based resources through training, workshops, speaking events, community initiatives, and more. We translate and compile research to inform and share.
GRANTS
We distribute grant funds to improve the language and literacy landscape through implementation science research and community coalitions. We support grantee collaboration and networking.