Last year, Ohio policymakers established a statewide science of reading initiative. And this year, that initiative is well underway. Districts and schools are required to use curricula and materials that appear on the state-approved list of high-quality options. Thousands of teachers and administrators are participating in mandated professional development. And in 115 schools and districts, reading coaches are providing intensive support to school staff.
These are promising, evidence-based developments that should give families and advocates hope for improved student outcomes. In a previous piece, I cautioned that it will take time for those outcomes to materialize. But time isn’t the only key to an early literacy turnaround. Faithful implementation matters, too. And thanks to the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE), Ohio’s implementation efforts just received a significant boost.
On October 18, Governor DeWine announced that Ohio had been awarded a $60 million Comprehensive Literacy State Development grant (CLSD). According to USDOE, the purpose of these discretionary grants is to “create a comprehensive literacy program to advance literacy skills, including pre-literacy skills, reading, and writing.” Funds can be spent on children from birth through twelfth grade, and should prioritize traditionally underserved groups like economically disadvantaged students, English language learners, and children with disabilities.
Ohio was among twenty-three grant awardees, and received the second-highest amount of funding. As part of the grant, early childhood education programs and pre-, elementary, middle, and high schools will be able to apply to the Department of Education and Workforce (DEW) to become comprehensive literacy implementation sites. Local education agencies (LEAs) that are located in the same region and plan to collaborate and share resources are permitted to apply as partnerships. Subgrants will be awarded in four age groups: birth to kindergarten, grades K–5, grades 6–8, and grades 9–12. DEW plans to issue a request for applications for K–12 subgrants in early 2025, with awardees announced in late spring. Subgrants for birth to kindergarten will occur separately and later.
If selected—the process is competitive—sites must use their grant funds to strengthen the way teachers and administrators are implementing the state’s science of reading initiative. The governor’s media release provided several ideas. For example, sites can offer coaching for teachers and principals on how to bring the science of reading into classrooms. Although the state is already funding reading coaches in more than 100 schools, Ohio is home to thousands of schools. There’s no shortage of places that don’t currently have a coach but would benefit from one. These federal funds can help with that.
Sites can also provide staff with training on best practices for the use of high-quality instructional materials. Teachers and administrators are already required to complete state-approved professional development by June 2025. But additional opportunities that go beyond the state-provided training would be beneficial. Moreover, hundreds of districts and charters weren’t using high-quality curricula or materials prior to the state’s science of reading initiative. That includes more than half of Ohio’s lowest-performing districts according to third-grade reading proficiency. Providing staff in these schools with additional training that’s specifically aligned with the new curriculum and materials they’ll be using could go a long way toward making teachers comfortable with this big change and bolstering their knowledge and skills.
It’s worth noting that this isn’t the first time Ohio has won a CLSD grant. In 2019, the state was awarded $42 million. That might be why DEW already has several resources available for applicants who are looking to boost their chances of being selected. Those resources include recommendations like administering the Reading-Tiered Fidelity Inventory (which can help identify areas of strength and opportunities for continuous improvement); writing or updating a local literacy plan (DEW requires all programs and LEAs applying for CLSD subgrants to complete a local literacy plan); and ensuring that building administrators have already completed professional development in the science of reading (applications for CLSD will be due before administrators are required to have completed training).
Over the next few years, there will undoubtedly be bumps on the implementation road. But this federal grant should help make the journey for some schools a lot smoother. Governor DeWine said it best: “This funding will further advance our efforts to make Ohio a model state, both in terms of how we support teachers with the training and tools they need to raise literacy achievement, and how we provide our students with the skills they need to be successful throughout life.”
