RUSTON, La. (KNOE) – Louisiana Tech University’s College of Education and Human Sciences announced it has established a new Center for Literacy and Learning designed to expand evidence-based reading support for children and professional development for educators across North Louisiana.

The university’s Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Leadership said the launch of the Center for Literacy and Learning at Louisiana Tech, also known as L3, will provide diagnostic assessments, tutoring and workshop opportunities, combining academic research with hands-on clinical practice.

“As literacy rates and reading achievement continue to present challenges across Louisiana and the nation, the Center for Literacy and Learning is rooted in supporting evidence-based instruction, applied research, and community partnerships,” said Dr. Dustin Whitlock, interim department head of Curriculum, Instruction, and Leadership.

Officials said planning for the center began more than a decade ago as faculty sought to expand literacy services for local schools and the surrounding community, but the effort faced delays due to space and funding challenges.

University leaders said momentum increased after faculty partnered with the Louisiana Department of Education and literacy experts nationwide to create a professional learning course for Louisiana K-3 educators. The course, “The Science and Art of Teaching Reading,” focuses on structured literacy practices aligned with Science of Reading research. Louisiana Tech said funding connected to the course and the state education department helped make the center possible.

Megan Hunt, a teacher at A.E. Phillips Laboratory School, was selected to lead the center. Whitlock said Hunt brings a strong background in foundational literacy instruction and is working toward becoming a certified UFLI coach.

“Mrs. Hunt’s skill and expertise allow her to support both students and educators through high-quality literacy instruction and professional learning,” Whitlock said.

Hunt said the center is aimed at building long-term support for literacy instruction through collaboration with districts, families and community partners.

“Literacy affects all aspects of life and is ultimately how people access opportunity and how communities grow stronger,” Hunt said. “When children become proficient readers, it represents more than just academic progress; it changes the trajectory of their lives.”

Local school leaders also praised the partnership. Michelle Thrower, K-2 facilitator for Lincoln Parish Schools, said professional development and resources connected to Louisiana Tech have supported literacy growth in the district.

“Our collaboration with Louisiana Tech has been a cornerstone of our success in elevating literacy proficiency across Lincoln Parish Schools,” Thrower said, citing DIBELS growth tied to the UFLI Foundations curriculum in K-2.

Louisiana Tech said the center will operate through three main components:

• The Literacy Clinic
• The Literacy Institute
• The Literacy Resource Center.

The center is expected to provide individualized assessments, targeted intervention services, literacy workshops and educator professional development.

Officials said the components will be developed in phases over the next few years.

For more information, Louisiana Tech said the public can contact Dr. Dustin Whitlock at whitlock@latech.edu.

A Department of Homeland Security watchdog report revealed that staff members at an ICE detention center in Louisiana used a prohibited chokehold to “gain control” of a person being held there and stabbed another in the hand with a pen when an officer could not close the door to a housing unit.

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The newly released findings about Winn Correctional Center in central Louisiana follow the DHS inspector general’s review of video of the use-of-force incidents as part of an unannounced facility inspection. The report, which was published on the DHS website, also noted that the officer who stabbed the detainee with a pen was disciplined.

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Staff members failed to maintain safe and sanitary conditions, the report says, noting leaking vents and ceilings with insulation falling through. Staff members used napkins and Styrofoam containers to collect the water from the leaks, according to the report.

Scrutiny of conditions inside ICE detention centers that house more than 60,000 detainees has been growing.

Earlier Wednesday, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin defended his agency’s detention standards on Capitol Hill amid complaints about ICE’s Delaney Hall detention facility in Newark, New Jersey. That center has been the site of frequent protests.

Rep. Tim Kennedy, D-N.Y., accused Mullin of leaving detainees without food or medical care.

Mullin rejected the claims. “You can say all you want, but don’t accuse me of something that’s not accurate,” he said.

The inspector general made nine recommendations, ranging from environmental health and safety standards to proper handling of use-of-force incidents and maintaining food service standards.

ICE is working to address all of the issues, including by providing additional staff training, a spokesperson for the agency said.

“These minor infractions included failing to provide detainees exercise equipment, record keeping errors and leaking vents. Another infraction included providing a shared computer for legal research that would allow other detainees to see other detainees’ case information,” the spokesperson said.

A spokesperson for DHS said the report shows that the facility complies with detention standards.

“ICE has higher detention standards than most U.S. prisons that hold actual U.S. citizens,” the spokesperson said.

Winn Correctional is one of the largest ICE detention centers in the country, housing more than 1,500 men. It opened in 1990, and ICE took it over from the state in 2019.

The report was produced after an unannounced inspection by the DHS inspector general, whose office recently got an infusion of $20 million and plans to boost its inspections from four to six per year to potentially as many as 40 to 60.

ICE lists 70% of the 1,500 detainees at Winn as having “No ICE threat level,” meaning they do not have violent criminal histories.

Winn is an hour north of Alexandria, which is one of four hubs for ICE deportation flights around the country.