The Literacy for We The People project is meant to improve evidence-based literacy in grades 4 through 8 through civics and history classes.
Delaware’s literacy rate hit a 27-year low in 2024, and Delaware’s fourth grade reading proficiency only ranked higher than Alaska and New Mexico, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
Monica Gant, Associate Secretary of the Teaching and Learning Support Team, says that those statistics might mean more than meets the eye.
“Often times when folks generally look at how students are performing in eighth grade they’re thinking ‘Oh my gosh, they can’t read?’ Well, no, those students are able to read, they’re just not able to apply the information that they’re receiving in the way that’s being asked.” she told DPM.
Dr. Michael Feldman, Education Associate for Social Studies at the Delaware Department of Education, says those statistics don’t mean students can’t read, but it demonstrates that literacy standards change as students mature.
“So that’s why you might see a bump in early literacy grades, but then we see a decline when we get to 8th grade. It’s not because all of sudden they lost their ability to decode words. It’s the text got more complex, the literacy demands are more sophisticated as they go through the grade levels.” he told DPM.
The $8.7 million dollar grant will be dispersed to the DDOE over the course of the next five year.
In a release, the DOE says that program will use the grant to:
- Strengthen educator capacity to deliver explicit, evidence-based literacy instruction integrated with civics and history in grades 4–8, aligned to the Delaware Literacy Coalition’s Strategic Plan for grades 4-8.
- Increase student attainment of English language arts and history/social studies standards while deepening civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions;
- Scale Science of Reading-aligned practices already underway in Delaware’s Early Literacy Leadership Academy (ELLA) and Secondary Literacy Leadership Academy (SeLLA),
- Expand integrated literacy approaches across the social studies disciplines and other content areas to align with Delaware’s literacy standards for grades 6–12.
The department says this will expand the learning models to partner states while keeping Delaware at the center via contribution to the national evidence base on effective literacy and civics integration.
