About Early Literacy Grants (ELG)

History and Purpose of the Early Literacy Grant Program

In 2012, the Colorado Reading to Ensure Academic Development (READ) Act established the Comprehensive Early Literacy Grant (ELG) Program, a comprehensive approach to improving early literacy, focused on implementing and sustaining scientifically and evidence-based reading instruction. This is a grant program focused on system-wide early literacy efforts that began with the Comprehensive Early Literacy Grant. In 2018, House Bill 18-1393, revised the READ Act to expand the Early Literacy Grants to include two additional grant programs - Sustainability Grants for those completing a Comprehensive Early Literacy Grant and an Annual Literacy Professional Development Grant.

SB 19-199 amended the Colorado READ Act and incorporated changes to the Early Literacy Grant program requiring an update to the rules. The state board approved the amended rules for the administration of the Early Literacy Grant program during the September board meeting. Updates include increased funding, additional reporting requirements and training for K-3 teachers.

Colorado READ Act Statute

Rules for the Administration of the Early Literacy Grant Program

Benefits of the Comprehensive ELG Program

The program is designed to distribute funds to local education providers, including school districts, BOCES, and district charter schools or Institute Charter Schools, to ensure the essential components of reading instruction are embedded into all elements of the primary, K-3 teaching structures in all schools, including universal and targeted and intensive instructional interventions, to assist all students in achieving reading competency.

Through the Comprehensive ELG Program, the Colorado Department of Education:

Assists grantees in establishing instructional systems based on Scientifically Based Reading Research to improve the quality of reading instruction for all K – 3 students.
Helps schools implement a multi-tiered support system to reduce the number of students reading below grade level.
Provides professional development to principals, teachers and intervention teachers on effective instructional practices and the underlying teaching infrastructures to improve reading achievement among K – 3 students.
Assists grantees in administering and interpreting approved interim and diagnostic assessments pursuant to the READ Act.
Supports implementation of school-wide literacy programs as well as programs designed for targeted and intensive instructional interventions.
Assists grantees with testing schedules and interpreting assessment data.

Allowable Uses of Funds

Funding must support the grantee’s K-3 literacy program: Funds may be used for activities, staff, materials, and other purchases that help embed the essential components of reading instruction into all elements of the K-3 teaching structures in schools. Funds may only supplement and not supplant any moneys currently used for this purpose. Uses that will be considered for funding include, but are not limited to:

Supplemental staff salary, stipends, and/or benefits;
CDE-approved instructional programming and related training from vendor-approved providers;
CDE-approved assessments and related training from vendor-approved providers;
Professional development from the CDE-approved Topic-Specific Advisory List of Professional Development list;
CDE-approved ELG Implementation Consultant support;
Travel, registration, and entrance costs to attend in-state training and conferences; and
SBRR-aligned instructional materials (specific to the K-3 literacy program).

Annual Literacy Professional Development Grant (ELG PD)

Benefits of the ELG PD Grant

Funding is restricted to LEPs that are already implementing evidence-based or scientifically based universal instruction and interventions that are resulting in significant student academic growth toward reading competency. If an application does not provide evidence of this, the application will not be further reviewed or considered for funding. Grants may be awarded to an applying local education provider (LEP) that is a school district on a district-wide basis or to individual schools of the school district. An LEP may apply individually or as part of a group of LEPs. Applications will be accepted from individual schools but must be authorized and submitted through their LEP. If funded, a charter school’s authorizer would be their fiscal agent.

Eligible LEPs include:

a school district,
BOCES,
a district charter school, and
an institute charter school.

Allowable Uses of ELG PD Funds

Funds from this opportunity may be used to supplement, not supplant, any funds currently used to support SBRR professional development. Uses that will be considered for funding include:

Costs associated with employing literacy coaches who are trained in the science of reading and in teaching the foundational reading skills of phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary development, reading fluency including oral skills, and reading comprehension to provide educator professional development in teaching foundational reading skills
Professional development from the CDE-approved Topic-Specific Advisory List of Professional Development
Onsite consulting, coaching, and/or training to support effective literacy instruction provided by an ELG Implementation Consultant from the CDE-approved ELG Implementation Consultant Advisory List
Training related to programming from the CDE-approved 2020 Advisory List of Instructional Programming, provided by the approved vendor or a vendor-approved trainer
Training related to assessments from the CDE-approved READ Approved Diagnostic and Summative Assessments and/or READ Approved Interim Assessments, provided by the approved vendor or a vendor-approved trainer
Related tuition, fees, books, materials, and/or training program costs, and
Stipends, substitutes, and/or travel costs to attend approved and selected professional development opportunities