July 1, 2021

CARSON CITY, Nev. – The Nevada Department of Education (NDE) and Renaissance, a global leader in pre-K–12 education technology, are celebrating the success of the READ Nevada partnership, which first launched in May 2020. The program launched as part of NDE’s pandemic response effort to increase equity and to provide digital reading resources to all students in Nevada.

In just 13 months, students from all over the state accessed 6,434,814 digital books on myON and logged 58,307,757 minutes of reading.

Nevada is the first state nationally to provide all pre-K-12 students personalized access to myON, Renaissance’s digital reading platform offering 24/7 access to thousands of fiction and nonfiction books to read online and offline. Since the launch of the partnership, NDE and Renaissance—along with Nevada State Library, Archives and Public Records and local public libraries—have supported the reading initiative, enabling students to log in and read age-appropriate texts based on their individual reading levels, personal interests, and preferences.

“In the past year, Nevada has been faced with numerous challenges, and we have risen to the occasion to ensure that students continue their learning and stay on the path to future success,” said Jhone Ebert, Superintendent of Public Instruction. “I want to recognize the collective efforts of our District Curriculum Directors, Regional Professional Development Programs, librarians, and community partners who supported the READ Nevada partnership and provided educators, students, and their families with access to these amazing reading resources.”

“This partnership is a true testament to the collective efforts of our Nevada community to prioritize reading,” said Dr.Darl Kiernan, READ Nevada Project Manager and Education Programs Professional at NDE. “Research tells us that students are more motivated to read when they can make choices, and myON expands the choices available to them. I am thrilled to see students gaining intrinsic motivation to read and building curricular background knowledge aligned to standards with myON.”

Going forward, the platform will remain a hub for summer reading, ensuring that students can access as much literature as they would like. In the long term, the READ Nevada partnership plans to bring in additional local partners and organizations that can continue to expand the resources available to students.

“Throughout the entire READ Nevada partnership, the team at NDE and their partners have shown an unwavering commitment to providing students with opportunities to continue reading and learning,” said Todd Brekhus, chief product officer at Renaissance. “We’re excited to be a part of this great initiative and provide students all across Nevada access to thousands of diverse, high-interest digital books on myON.”

About the Nevada Department of Education

The Nevada Department of Education (NDE) leads and collaborates with Nevada’s 17 school districts and the State Public Charter School Authority to advance educational equity Statewide. With offices in Carson City and Las Vegas, NDE oversees all pre-K-12 education in the State, working to achieve its mission to improve student achievement and educator effectiveness by ensuring opportunities, facilitating learning, and promoting excellence. Under the leadership of the State Board of Education and the Superintendent of Public Instruction, NDE impacts the achievement of nearly half a million children and 30,000 educators.