About Early Literacy Grants (ELG)

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.

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).

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.

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