REL Mid-Atlantic is partnering with the New Jersey Department of Education’s (NJDOE) Division of Teaching and Learning to strengthen the state’s ability to use data to improve literacy instruction, and ultimately, student outcomes.
Partnership organization: NJDOE, Division of Teaching and Learning
Current Projects
NJDOE received a $50 million, five-year Comprehensive Literacy State Development (CLSD) grant from the U.S. Department of Education in 2024 to improve reading proficiency from birth through grade 12. NJDOE used its CLSD funding to release four local grant opportunities to help school districts improve their literacy outcomes by hiring and training literacy coaches, using high-quality instructional materials, engaging families, and implementing evidence-based interventions. For example, the coaching local grant program helps districts hire and train coaches, and coaches participate in NJDOE-led training over five years. Another local grant program supports evidence-based literacy instruction and professional development specifically to benefit students in grades 6 through 12 who are not meeting grade-level literacy standards. A different local grant program aims to strengthen connections between families, schools, and communities to promote home-based literacy for children from birth through age 3. REL Mid-Atlantic is supporting NJDOE to identify data collection needs and co-develop grantee data collection forms, co-interpret data from local grantees, and co-develop an evaluation plan for the state’s overarching CLSD grant.
In the short term, this project will enable NJDOE to provide strong oversight of the CLSD grant program and improve future rounds of local grants. Over time, NJDOE will build capacity to identify lessons learned, strengthen its approach to grant monitoring and evaluation, and identify ways that districts can improve students’ literacy without grant funds.