Five school districts in central South Dakota getting total of $5.4 million to advance statewide literacy initiative

The South Dakota Department of Education awarded 28 school districts the Elevating Literacy Across South Dakota (ELA-SD) Grant.

A total of $39.7 million ($39,700,000) will be distributed between the districts over four years. In the central part of the state, the Chamberlain, Colome, Eagle Butte, Leola and Todd County school districts will receive a combined $5.4 million.

The purpose of the grants is to create a comprehensive literacy program to advance literacy skills, including pre-literacy skills, reading, and writing, for children from birth through grade 12, with an emphasis on disadvantaged children, including children living in poverty, English learners, and children with disabilities. This includes strengthening foundational reading instruction– especially phonics– particularly in the early grades, to ensure all students build the skills necessary for lifelong literacy success.

Education Secretary Dr. Joseph Graves says the ELA-SD grants provide resources to assist school districts in the effective implementation of the state’s comprehensive literacy plan, known as the South Dakota Literacy Framework. He says approach deepens our understanding of how the brain learns to read, the necessary skills readers must develop to become proficient readers, and the appropriate methods teachers must use to effectively teach students the gateway skill of learning to read.

The ELA-SD Grant is funded from the federal Comprehensive Literacy State Development grant, awarded to the department last year.

To learn more about the ELA-SD Grant and the literacy initiative in South Dakota, visit the Moving Literacy Forward in South Dakota webpage at www.doe.sd.gov/literacy/.