CTL a partner in $17+ million federal Striving Readers grant

April 12, 2006

CTL is a major partner in an initial $17 million, five-year Striving Readers grant through the United States Department of Education. One of only eight such grants awarded nationwide, and the only one to focus on a consortium of rural schools, the funds will enable the Kentucky Content Literacy Consortium (KCLC) to increase student achievement by improving the literacy skills of middle and high school students, including English language learners. KCLC also includes Danville Independent Schools as the fiscal agent for the grant, and both the University of Louisville and the University of Kentucky.

KCLC includes six Kentucky school districts in addition to Danville that are also partners in the Striving Readers grant: Eminence Independent, and Bullitt, Pike, Washington, Jessamine and Rowan County Schools. Twenty-three middle and high schools will participate in KCLC activities over the next five years. Each will implement two programs: A proven school-wide initiative to boost literacy in all subject areas for all students, and a research-based intervention for struggling sixth and ninth grade readers.

CTL will facilitate all professional development for the consortium, a key component of the project. In partnership with the University of Louisville College of Education and Human Development, CTL staff will train literacy coaches to work with teachers to implement CTL's Adolescent Literacy Model in each of the 23 KCLC Striving Readers schools. The model is based on CTL’s prior work in content literacy, including research sponsored by the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education, and takes a school-wide approach to teaching literacy, based on the developmental needs of adolescents.

Under the grant, coaches who complete 100 hours of training annually will be eligible to receive a Master’s degree in secondary literacy and leadership from U of L. Starting in June and each summer for the next five years, CTL staff will also work with all 1000 teachers in the 21 KCLC schools through a series of five-day intensive Content Literacy Institutes.

“The collaborative nature of the model emphasizes work among teachers across disciplines who work with common groups of students,” says CTL Coordinator of Program Design and Research Amy Awbrey. “This ensures that teachers will use common methods over time, so they can build new habits of literate learning behaviors with students who would otherwise struggle to apply these skills as they learn.”

In each KCLC school, the literacy coaches will also provide intervention for struggling readers through the Learning Strategies Curriculum, a targeted intensive program developed at the University of Kansas for sixth and ninth grade students who are reading at least two years below grade level. The University of Kentucky Collaborative Center for Literacy Development will provide ongoing evaluation of all aspects of KCLC Striving Readers work.

For more information, contact:
Amy Awbrey
v: 502.895.9500 x318