BALTIMORE \u2013 The Maryland State Department of Education has been awarded a three-year, $45 million federal grant to help advance literacy in students from birth through grade 12. The grant is MSDE\u2019s largest competitive grant in nearly three years.<\/p>\n
The Striving Readers\u2019 Comprehensive Literacy Grant, awarded by the US Department of Education, will support the State\u2019s Comprehensive Literacy Plan (CLP), including pre-literacy skills, reading and writing. The grant will be awarded in three increments, $15 million each, contingent on funding. <\/p>\n
\u201cI believe that every child in Maryland deserves access to a world-class education regardless of what neighborhood they happen to grow up in,\u201d said Governor Larry Hogan. \u201cStrong literacy skills are essential to educational success, and this grant will help ensure our students have the tools they need to compete for the jobs of the future.” <\/p>\n
Dr. Karen Salmon, State Superintendent of Schools, said that literacy skills are foundational for all students.<\/p>\n
\u201cLearning starts with literacy, and stronger programs early in a child’s life will never stop paying off,” Dr. Salmon said. “We are looking forward to the opportunity to provide resources to our local school systems to enhance their literacy programs across reading, writing and mathematics, as well as to increase professional learning development for staff.”<\/p>\n
The State CLP is based upon five keys: educational leadership; strategic professional learning; continuity of standards\u2019 based instruction; comprehensive series of assessments; and tiered instruction and intervention. A state-wide workgroup consisting of local system experts and other stakeholders will provide additional input on the Maryland CLP. Its first meeting is October 5.<\/p>\n
Maryland\u2019s local school systems will benefit from the grant, as 95 percent of the funds will be passed to local systems to support their literacy work. Each system interested in the special funding will implement a district CLP, aligned to Maryland\u2019s literacy plan but based on local needs. For example, a system might need early literacy programs in PreK or specialized professional development at the secondary level.<\/p>\n
Maryland\u2019s new grant places special emphasis on disadvantaged children, including those living in poverty, English learners, and children with disabilities. The State\u2019s plan targets evidence-based strategies and interventions, and alignment of State literacy plans between learning and literacy for birth to age 5 with kindergarten through grade 12.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"