The Reach Every Reader program will combine scientific research with methods of tracking and predicting students' reading abilities to develop a web-based screening tool to identify kindergartners at high risk of reading difficulties.
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MIT President Rafael Reif said "struggling to read can be a crushing blow with lifelong consequences" and when millions of children struggle, it's "a crisis for our society."
Chan called the five-year effort "a unique combination of cutting-edge education and neuroscience research."
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Zuckerberg created Facebook while a Harvard student but dropped out. Chan graduated from the Ivy League school in 2007.