New Thompson Scholar Will Guide Winthrop Students to Teach Reading Readiness (10/28/25)

HIGHLIGHTS

• Minnie Mize, an associate professor in education core and special education in the Richard W. Riley College of Education, Sport, and Human Sciences, has created the Reading, Engagement and Academic Development Initiative (READI) to train undergraduate and graduate students as literacy mentors.
• With READI, Mize proposed the students begin in spring 2026 conducting twice-weekly tutoring sessions for 10 weeks at the Title 1 elementary schools in Rock Hill.

ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA - A special education faculty member who proposes a new reading initiative has been selected as Winthrop University's 2025-26 Thompson Scholar.

Minnie Mize, an associate professor in education core and special education in the Richard W. Riley College of Education, Sport, and Human Sciences, has created the Reading, Engagement and Academic Development Initiative (READI) to train undergraduates as literacy mentors to work with low-income students at Rock Hill Title I schools and to train graduate students to serve as supervisors.

Provost Sebastian van Delden said Mize's project builds powerful connections between the campus and the community. "By uniting service, scholarship and community partnership, READI truly reflects the mission of Winthrop - to prepare students to lead a world in transition," van Delden said.

In Mize's proposal, she offers this outline:

*READI will unite existing Winthrop programs, the Education Core 202 course and the Master of Arts in Educational Studies (MAED) program, to create a unified program that supports student readiness.

*The program will create a READI Scholars program where seven Education Core 202 students who each need to complete 18 field hours will receive training to become literacy tutors. MAED graduate students will act as their mentors and field monitors. The combined efforts of READI participants will generate more than 70 hours of tutoring during spring 2026, while reaching expanding groups of students if the program continues.

*The program will offer annual academic seminars to bring education, psychology and sociology experts together to discuss with the Winthrop community the topics of resilience, motivation and educational development. Undergraduate and graduate participants will co-author research posters for Winthrop's research symposium and present findings on their work at state and regional conferences.

*The initiative will establish a digital platform that students will operate to share their tutoring experiences, reflection videos and achievement results through social media platforms or Winthrop's website.

*READI builds on a $6,000 Winthrop Research Council grant awarded for 2025-26 that funds the tutoring phase in the Title I elementary schools in Rock Hill. The Thompson Scholar award would expand the initiative to Winthrop by funding research dissemination and digital communication for undergraduate and graduate students. The two awards create a dual system that produces quantifiable school results and sustained campus development.

*READI expands on an evidence-based tutoring model that Mize has already used successfully in the schools. Her undergraduates taught elementary students who gained between +24 and +86 words correctly read per minute in 10 weeks. Winthrop undergraduate mentors implemented these lessons with 99 percent instructional fidelity and reported growth in teaching competence. These experiences shifted students from field observers to practitioners capable of delivering structured literacy intervention, she said, aligning academic coursework with authentic instructional performance.

Tutoring Starts in the Spring

With READI, Mize proposed the students begin in spring 2026 conducting twice-weekly tutoring sessions for 10 weeks at the Title 1 elementary schools. She proposed that READI continues beyond the Thompson Scholar year through permanent integration within the MAED curriculum and Education Core 202 framework.

About Mize

At Winthrop, Mize is director of the Master of Arts in Education Studies program and has served as course chair for Education Core 202. She has led multiple mentoring and tutoring studies at the university to examine literacy, resilience and intervention efficacy. She also has served as a McNair Scholars faculty mentor and received Winthrop's Research Award for excellence in scholarship for her college.

She holds a Ph.D. in special education from the University of Texas at Austin and a M.Ed. and B.Ed. from Seoul National University of Education in Seoul, South Korea.

About the Thompson Scholar Program

The Thompson Scholar program is generated through the Robert and Norma Thompson Endowment which was established during the university's first capital campaign. Over the past two decades, it has provided a $5,000 award so faculty members can work on projects that help students and the community and strengthen the university's academic, intellectual and co-curricular life.

Bob and Norma Thompson confirmed their excitement with the scholar choice. "Norma and I applaud the selection of Dr. Mize and her READI program. It addresses a critical cultural need in ways that strengthen the Title I student performance along with the capabilities of Winthrop's students," Bob Thompson said. "We're proud to help her efforts."

Bob Thompson, retired vice president of Springs Industries, formerly served on Winthrop's Board of Trustees from 1992-05 and 2008-14, including a term as chair. His other civic commitments include serving as chair of the Winthrop Foundation and on the Board of Visitors. He received the College of Business and Technology's Pinnacle/Summit Award in 2011, which recognized him for his leadership and support of public and higher education. His wife, Norma, has dedicated her life to the community as a homemaker, former elementary school teacher and civic volunteer.

For more information, contact Judy Longshaw, news and media services manager, at 803/323-2236 or e-mail her at [email protected].