Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy Grant Program
Grant: Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy Grant Program
Agency: U.S. Department of Education
Division: Office of Elementary and Secondary Education
Deadline: May 9, 2011
Description: The purpose of the Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy grant program (SRCL) is to advance literacy skills – including pre-literacy skills, reading and writing – for students from birth through grade 12, including limited-English-proficient students and students with disabilities. Through this program, the U.S. Department of Education will award competitive grants to State educational agencies (SEAs) to support competitive subgrants to local educational agencies (LEAs) or other eligible entities for the purpose of advancing literacy skills.
This funding competition contains three priorities, two of which are absolute and one of which is a competitive preference. The following priorities are absolute; only applications that meet these priorities will be considered:
- Priority 1: Improving Learning Outcomes. To meet this priority, an applicant must propose a project that is designed to improve school readiness and success through grade 12 in the area of language and literacy development for disadvantaged students.
- Priority 2: Enabling More Data-Based Decision-Making. To meet this priority, an applicant must propose a project that is designed to collect, analyze and use high-quality and timely data, especially on program participant outcomes, in accordance with privacy requirements, to improve instructional practices, policies and student outcomes in early learning settings and in elementary and secondary schools.
The following priority is a competitive preference priority. Applications that meet this priority will be awarded up to an additional five points.
- Effective Use of Technology. To meet this priority, an applicant must propose to use technology to address student learning challenges and provide an evidence-based rationale that the proposed technology program, practice or strategy will increase student engagement and achievement or increase teacher effectiveness.
State educational agencies that are awarded grants under this program must subgrant no less than 95 percent of funds received to local educational agencies or, in the case of early literacy, to local educational agencies or other nonprofit providers of early childhood education.
Fit for Public Broadcasting: This program only accepts applications from state educational agencies (SEAs), but it is still important for public media stations. SEAs that receive awards must subgrant 95 percent of the funding to local educational agencies or other nonprofit organizations. Applications that demonstrate effective use of technology will be awarded up to an additional five points and will therefore be more likely to receive funding. Public media stations can contribute expertise and experience in educational technology and are therefore valuable to SEAs that are planning to apply for these funds. Public media stations should contact the SEA in their states to discuss partnership and subgrant opportunities.
Eligibility: Only state educational agencies are eligible to apply.
Anticipated funding: An estimated $178,000,000 is available for this program, and the U.S. Department of Education expects to make between three and 18 grants with an average size of $25,000,000. An applicant's proposed budget must conform to the state-specific budget limits articulated in the program notice.
How to apply: Applications can be obtained online. Applications must be submitted electronically via Grants.gov. Online submission requires registration, a process that usually takes three to five business days but can take as long as four weeks. Be sure to visit Grants.gov and begin registering well in advance of the deadline. In order to do business with the U.S. Department of Education, applicants must register their Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number and Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) with the Central Contractor Registry (CCR) and must maintain an active CCR registration while the application is under review and, if awarded a grant, during the project period.
Resources:
Program notice
Program website
