Kansas University will get about $4 million to find ways to improve how reading is taught to children.

Hugh Catts, chairman of KU’s speech-language-hearing department, said most teachers today focus on things like word recognition instead of a broader understanding of a text.

The Lee’s Summit, Mo., school district is partnering with the university to help with the research, which will provide instructional materials to teachers to assist with the process.

KU researchers are working with four other universities on the project, and their efforts are part of a larger, $120 million Reading for Understanding Research Initiative, funded by the U.S. Department of Education.