Over $7 million in grants go to DE schools

Salisbury, Md. – More than $7.1 million in Bridge to Practice grants are to go to 28 districts and charter schools across the state to strengthen and improve early literacy instruction as part of the implementation of Delaware’s Early Literacy Plan.

“These dollars help you learn real time with the real students in front of you. So if you’ve got students that are struggling or students that need to be challenged, you have coaching and support to help you with that,” Secretary of Education Cindy Marten said in an interview with WMDT. “So it’s really professional learning that’s targeting the interventions for students that might need additional help as well. So we’re trying to give teachers what they need, not just before the school year or in a workshop, but in real time with your very own children in their classrooms.”

The grants support the implementation of Delaware’s Birth through Grade 3 Early Literacy Plan through “professional learning, high-quality instructional materials, instructional coaching and school leadership,” according to a release from the Delaware Department of Education. A next phase of implementation builds on Delaware’s broader “science-of-reading work” by “ensuring that research, policy, funding and professional learning translate into strong, consistent classroom practice.”

“We know how to teach children to read, and we believe every Delaware student can become a strong reader,” Marten said in a statement released by the department. “Passing strong policy is important. Providing resources is important. Training educators and providing coaching are important. But none of those things alone is the outcome we are working toward. The work is making sure what we know reaches students through strong instruction every day and then showing our progress in ways we can reliably measure, see and report. That is how we move plans into progress and stay accountable as we go.”