School District awarded Striving Readers Grant

Elyria City Schools will receive more than $1 million in state funds to assist students with reading.

More than $33 million of Striving Readers Grants were awarded May 23 to 46 school districts, and schools associated to districts, from the Ohio Department of Education.

The funds are geared toward improving language and literacy development of the state’s children, according to a news release fromthe Department of Education.

According to the list, Elyria Schools was the only Lorain County district to receive the award.

The list showed that $1.05 million will be provided to students in grades K-12 to help improve and challenge students’ literacy and communication skills in the district.

Ann Schloss, associate superintendent of Elyria Schools, said $839,605 will go toward middle school programs and the improvement of their literacy curriculum.

Grades K-5 will receive $86,801.24 and Elyria High School was awarded $127,738.

Schloss said the most of the fundsare focused onmiddle school students.

Middle school students need more of a challenge in English or literacy, she said.

The district wants to increase fluency and comprehension in all grade levels, including struggling students and those who need to be challenged, Schloss said.

“We want to elevate all kids in their language arts ability,” she said.

Other than programing, the district is planning to hire three staff members to oversee coaching, monitoring and evaluations of students, alongside staff, Schloss said.

Schloss and others in the district said they were awarded with the amount of funds asked for.

She said the district is looking to begin the process in June.

“Reading is the foundational skill that ultimately allows us to learn more, and through this application process, we were able to see the great work happening in Ohio’s schools,” said Paolo DeMaria, state superintendent of public instruction in the news release. “These Striving Readers grants put crucial resources directly into classrooms across the state, and we’re excited to work with awardees to improve outcomes for Ohio’s most vulnerable children.”

Last fall, Ohio was awarded a $35 million Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy Grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

Approximately 95 percent of the $35 million was distributed directly to local schools or early childhood providers to improve literacy outcomes for children from birth through grade 12, the release said.

The three-year grant focuses on serving the greatest numbers of students living in poverty, students with disabilities, English learners and students identified as having reading difficulties.

The grant builds on Ohio’s commitment to ensuring all students have the reading skills needed to succeed in education and life.

The Department of Education recently worked with Ohio educators and educational leaders to develop Ohio’s Plan to Raise Literacy Achievement, as well as to update and refine Ohio’s English language arts learning standards, the release said.

In addition, the Third Grade Reading Guarantee aims to ensure all students are reading at grade level by the end of third-grade.

Through this initiative, schools diagnose reading issues, create individualized Reading Improvement and Monitoring Plans and provide intensive reading interventions.