The state’s department of education recently announced two grants totaling nearly $3.75 million to support local school districts and charter schools as they implement initiatives to improve student literacy in the early grades.
Mount Laurel schools will get $17,190 from a Funding for Optimal Comprehensive Universal Screeners (FOCUS) grant. BRIDGE (Building Responsive Instruction Through Data Guided Evaluation) is another grant from the state.
The two grants include $2.3 million for FOCUS, which supports high-quality literacy screening assessments that meet the education department’s criteria and can also be used to provide related professional development for teachers and support students.
“The BRIDGE and FOCUS Grants will strengthen New Jersey’s status as one of the best public-education
systems in the nation,” said Gov. Phil Murphy. Through providing millions of dollars for hundreds of school districts and charter schools to improve their literacy education, we will ensure that our young learners are confident readers capable of thriving academically and becoming thoughtful, informed citizens.
“By bolstering our efforts to improve literacy rates statewide, these grants will further our
administration’s goal of making New Jersey the best state in the country to raise a child.”
“Literacy is a foundational skill that is needed for learning in all other subjects,” Education Commissioner Kevin Dehmer explained. “Through this initiative, we are providing schools the support they need, so every child begins their education fully prepared to become lifelong readers and successful learners.”
“A child who can read confidently can rewrite their future, and this funding will help ensure our students
and teachers have the resources they need to turn the page, strengthen foundational literacy skills, and
open the door to new opportunities,” noted state Senate Majority Leader M. Teresa Ruiz.
“This literacy initiative will help us build a more equitable and responsive education system.”
The BRIDGE and FOCUS grants will help school districts implement a 2024 law signed by Murphy and sponsored by Ruiz that requires all school districts to conduct at least two literacy screenings each year for every student in kindergarten through third grade to evaluate reading skills and offer any needed learning support.
Districts that serve those students were eligible to apply, and all 277 of those that did – as well as charter schools – will receive funding based on student enrollment. Funds of $1.4 million are being awarded to 19 districts and charter schools for BRIDGE, a competitive grant that provides support for schools in the use of screening data to implement evidence-based literacy instruction in K-3 classrooms.
The state grants were available to school districts and charter schools where 40% of students
receive free or reduced lunch and 80% or more of third graders do not meet
expectations of the 2023-’24 New Jersey Student Learning Assessments in English Language
Arts.
The BRIDGE program calls on awardees to report on promising practices, innovative
strategies and lessons learned that will be published on the education department’s website to inform other districts and charter schools as they consider literacy strategies.
The grant programs will run until May 31 of next year. Funding comes from the 2025 state budget, of which $5.25 million has been allocated for the grant programs. Another round of grants from remaining state budget funds will be announced at a later date.
The full list of state school grant recipients can be viewed at www.nj.gov.
