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, Le ola 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. District Amount Awarded Aberdeen $1,800,000 Belle Fourche $1,800,000 Bennett County $900,000 Chamberlain $1,200,000 Clark $900,000 Colome $900,000 Eagle Butte $600,000 Edgemont $900,000 Flandreau $1,200,000 Henry $900,000 Hot Springs $1,800,000 Huron $3,100,000 Iroquois $900,000 Leola $900,000 Marion $900,000 Oglala Lakota County $3,100,000 Rapid City Area $3,100,000 Sioux Falls $3,100,000 Sisseton $1,800,000 Summit $900,000 Todd County $1,800,000 Tripp-Delmont $900,000 Wagner Community $1,800,000 Waverly $900,000 White Lake $900,000 Willow Lake $900,000 Wilmot $900,000 Woonsocket $900,000 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/. ...read more read less