The Delaware Department of Education is making $7.2 million available through the Bridge to Practice, a grant program to advance early literacy.
The program is a part of Gov. Matt Meyer’s effort to improve literacy rates in Delaware.
Meyer declared a statewide literacy emergency in January, with reading proficiency in grades 3-8 sitting at 41%, according to 2025 student assessment scores. Proficiency rates have been stagnant over the last few years.
The grant’s goal is to help every student read on grade level by the end of third grade, when lessons transition from learning to read to reading to learn.
Delaware Department of Education associate secretary for academic excellence Kathy Kelly said the grants will help student outcomes.
“The Bridge to Practice grants are really grants that are focused around actually moving early literacy, helping districts and charters do the things that will support educators and becoming extremely proficient at their craft,” Kelly said.
That includes professional learning opportunities for teachers that are student-centered and focused on the science of reading, Kelly added.
“It could look like someone has adopted new instructional materials, and they want to make sure every teacher gets the training that they need on those materials,” Kelly said. “It could look like really providing that coaching support and getting coaches and trained in how to do some student centered coaching.”
And the individual awards are not limited capped at a certain cost as long as the total awarded funds are $7.2 million or less.
“We've found that when you have a targeted amount of funds that you're looking to spend, sometimes when you put a cap on it, you either don't get to utilize all of those funds because you have put that cap, or people [only] request what they think they can get because there's this amount that they can have,” Kelly explained.
This time around, Kelly said her team is trying to get districts and charters to request the funds they actually need.
“And then depending on how many requests we get and how many applications, we can look at what are the essential components and funding pieces, and… work with them on their funding,” Kelly said. “And then [we can] help to find other funding opportunities that they have, that they can kind of braid those funds together to get what they need.”
Applicants have until Oct. 13 to declare their intent to apply and Nov. 14 to submit applications.
The Department of Education will announce the grant recipients in December.
