$149M Comprehensive Literacy State Development Grant (CLSD) awarded to 22 states and Washington, D.C.

In September 2024, the $149 million competitive Comprehensive Literacy State Development (CLSD) Grant was awarded to 22 states and Washington, D.C. Congratulations to Alaska, California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Virginia! The FY2024 competition is focused on evidence-based activities that provide explicit intervention and support in reading and writing for children from birth to grade 12.

What did States include in their plans?

Partnerships with Institutes of Higher Education (IHE). States could earn extra points by coordinating with IHE, so most awardees plan to work with local universities for strengthening pre-service courses in explicit, systematic, and intensive instruction in evidence-based literacy methods.

High-quality instructional materials (HQIM). Many of the awarded States plan to improve literacy outcomes by supporting the evidence-based instructional practice of high-quality curricula. Here are a few examples of how awarded States described this strategy in their project abstract:

• DC CLSD: adopt and implement high-quality instructional materials and evidence-based curricula in all literacy classrooms
• Kentucky CLSD: every subgrantee will be using evidence-based, high-quality instructional resources (HQIR) to deliver coherent and aligned instruction to all students and to support struggling readers to narrow the achievement gap
• Massachusetts CLSD: increase the use of high-quality core instructional materials in high-need schools and districts
• Nebraska CLSD: support the selection, implementation, and continuation of high-quality instructional materials and evidence-based practices to promote adequacy in resources for underserved students in early learning programs and school settings.
• New Mexico CLSD: support strong implementation of high-quality instructional materials across all subgrantees
• Rhode Island CLSD: every subgrantee will provide student experiences that are aligned and coherent across Tiers I, II, III by implementing evidence-based and intentionally aligned instruction and interventions
• Tennessee CLSD: prioritize districts that are currently lacking adequate support with an increased focus on ensuring high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) are being utilized in grades 6-12.
• Virginia CLSD: increase the number of students with access to high-quality instructional materials (HQIM)

What does this mean for school districts in awarded States?

Awarded states must subgrant at least 95% of funds to Local Education Agencies (LEA) via a competitive grant. Priority must be given to subgrantees serving low-income/high-need students from a diversity of geographic areas.

What grades will be served? The CLSD grant requires States to reserve 15% of funds for birth-Kindergarten entry. The remaining funds must be split evenly between Grades K-5 and 6-12 for professional development and intensive, supplemental, accelerated, and explicit intervention and support in reading and writing.

What will be funded? When States release their LEA grant applications (likely this Winter), they will outline the project requirements unique to their state. But from a regulatory perspective, here’s what is described:

• For birth-kindergarten entry subgrants, awards will be focused on high-quality professional development opportunities for early childhood educators.
• For K-5 and 6-12 subgrants, awards will be focused on high-quality professional development and providing intensive, supplemental, accelerated, and explicit intervention and support in reading and writing for children whose literacy skills are below grade level.

What can I expect from my State?

State grant applications will vary, but district administrators can expect:

• District-level grant applications
• Prioritization given to districts serving a high percentage of Title I students
• A mirrored focus to the current literacy initiative in your state
• Emphasis on evidence-based literacy instruction. CLSD requires alignment to the ESSA definitions of Strong, Moderate or Promising Evidence (Levels I-III).

To see Savvas’ high-quality instructional materials alignment to ESSA’s evidence criteria, visit www.savvas.com/evidencebased