Twenty School Districts to Receive
Reading Grant Funds
Springfield, Ill. – The Illinois State Board of
Education today announced a third round of Reading First
Grants. The funding is awarded to Illinois Schools for
implementing innovative reading programs and promoting
student achievement.
Twenty Illinois schools districts will share almost $38
million through the federal No Child Left Behind’s
Reading First Program. The grant awards are designed to
improve reading achievement in grades pre-kindergarten
through third by implementing a classroom reading program
based on phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary development,
reading fluency and reading strategies.
“It is critical that all children learn to read
well at an early age,” said Randy Dunn, State School
Superintendent. “Every child deserves the opportunity
to learn to read and succeed in school--indeed, reading
is the basis for so much future success in school--and
Reading First Grants will give many more young students
that chance.”
These grant awards will allow these 20 school districts
to participate in the Reading First Program during the
remainder of FY06 and FY07. These same districts may be
offered continuation of funding in Reading First through
FY09 contingent upon documentation of satisfactory program
implementation and positive student reading outcomes.
The districts receiving third round Reading First
Grants include:
- Lincoln Elementary School District 156
- Cicero School District 99
- East Alton School District 13
- City of Chicago School District 299
- Springfield Public School District 186
- Kankakee School District 111
- Aurora West Unit School District 129
- Scott-Morgan Community Unit School District 2
- Country Club Hills School District 160
- Joliet Public School District 86
- Park Forest School District 163
- Bellwood School District 88
- Harvey School District 152
- Maywood-Melrose Park-Broadview District 89
- Fairmont School District 89
- Dolton West School District 148
- Akin Consolidated School District 91
- Brookwood School District 167
- Madison Unit School District 12
- Peoria Public School District 150
The focus of the Illinois Reading First grant is to support
districts and schools in their efforts to implement a
comprehensive reading program for K- 3 students that is
grounded in scientifically based reading research (SBRR)
and scientifically based reading instruction. The program
will assist school districts in applying this research
in the classroom, including proven instructional and assessment
tools, in order to teach all children to read well.
The “Reading First" grants will be
used to:
- Provide professional development that recognizes
and removes barriers to reading;
- Help schools choose appropriate assessments, implement
scientifically-proven literacy programs and learning
strategies;
- Help schools and communities improve family literacy;
and
- Support early literacy in students and families where
English is not their native language.
The Reading First Program, is a six-year, six-billion-dollar
program that provides grants to states to target their
most disadvantaged school districts with funds to pay
for professional development for reading teachers, instructional
materials, and assessment tools that will improve the
quality and effectiveness of reading instruction for all
K-3 students.
For further information please go to this website http://www.isbe.net/ils/ela/reading/html/read_first.htm.
Should you have any questions/concerns about the Reading
First Program please contact:
Debra Coet-Hanna
Reading First Consultant
dcoethan@isbe.net
(217) 557-7232
or
Dr. Maureen Richel
Reading First Consultant
mrichel@isbe.net
(312) 814-3598
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