ELG - Professional Development

History and Purpose

House Bill 18-1393 amendments to the Colorado Reading to Ensure Academic Development Act (READ Act) authorized the Early Literacy Grant Annual Professional Development (ELG PD) Program. This grant opportunity is designed to support Colorado educators in implementation of scientifically based reading research (SBRR) programs and strategies for K-3 students.

An effort championed by the State Board of Education (SBE), these funds are specifically intended for early literacy professional development for elementary educators.

professionals gather around a table and have a discussion

ELG - Professional Development Eligibility

Grants may be awarded to an applying local education provider (LEP) that is a school district on a district-wide basis or to individual schools of the school district. An LEP may apply individually or as part of a group of LEPs. Eligible LEPs include:

a school district,
BOCES,
a district charter school, and
an institute charter school.

Applications will be accepted from individual schools but must be authorized and submitted through their LEP. If funded, a charter school’s authorizer would be their fiscal agent.

Funding is restricted to LEPs that are already implementing evidence-based or scientifically based universal instruction and interventions that are resulting in significant student academic growth toward reading competency. If an application does not provide evidence of this, the application will not be further reviewed or considered for funding.

Allowable Use of Funds

Funds from this opportunity may be used to supplement, not supplant, any funds currently used to support SBRR professional development.

Funding uses that will be considered include:

professional development from the CDE-approved 2021 Topic-Specific Professional Development Courses list,
onsite consulting, coaching, and/or training to support effective literacy instruction provided by an ELG Implementation Consultant from the CDE-approved 2021 ELG Implementation Consultant Advisory List,
training related to programming from the CDE-approved 2020 Advisory List of Instructional Programming, provided by the approved curriculum vendor,
training related to assessments from the CDE-approved READ Diagnostic and Summative Assessments and/or READ Approved Interim Assessments, provided by the approved curriculum vendor,
related tuition, fees, books, materials, and/or training program costs, and
stipends, substitutes, and/or travel costs to attend approved and selected professional development opportunities.

2023-2024 ELG - Professional Development Grant

The 2023-2024 ELG - PD application window will open January 18, 2023. Applications are due by Wednesday, March 15, 2023, by 11:59 p.m. CDE will host an application information webinar on Friday, January 27, 2023, at 11:00 a.m.

Click here to register for webinar

This grant opportunity is geared to support Colorado educators in the implementation of scientifically- and evidence-based reading programming and strategies for kindergarten through third grade (K-3) students. These funds are specifically intended for early literacy professional development for elementary educators. This grant opportunity is designed to support Colorado educators in implementation of scientifically based reading research programs and strategies for K-3 students.

For updates related to ELG - PD, sign up for the READ Act Communication listserv here and The Scoop here.