Feds award Oregon $11.5 million, perhaps millions more to come, to improve literacy instruction

By ALEX BAUMHARDT/Oregon Capital Chronicle

SALEM — Oregon’s highest needs schools that are focused on revamping literacy instruction and boosting student reading proficiency will get federal financial help next year.

The U.S. Department of Education has announced it will send Oregon schools $11.5 million next school year, and could potentially allocate up to $57 million over the next five years to help the state’s Early Literacy Success Initiative. That initiative was passed by the Legislature in 2023 with an investment of $120 million in state dollars.

An investigation by the Capital Chronicle found the state has spent more than $250 million in the past 25 years to improve reading instruction in schools. But that money has failed to help more than a generation of students, with many teachers not using methods that work to teach reading. Many, the investigation found, were not taught effective reading instruction in the state’s public colleges of education.

Over the last 25 years, nearly two in five Oregon fourth graders and one in five eighth graders have scored “below basic” on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, often referred to as the nation’s report card. That means they struggle to read and understand simple words.

Schools can use the federal dollars for teacher development, reading tutors and specialists, literacy coaches and new reading curriculum, according to the news release from the U.S. Department of Education. Most Oregon schools are using one of the 15 reading curriculum on the state Board of Education’s approved materials list, but about 30% are not, according to Pooja Bhatt, director of education initiatives for Gov. Tina Kotek’s office.

About 95% of the federal money will be funneled to districts through a competitive application process via the Oregon Department of Education, according to Marc Seigel, a spokesperson for the department. Precedence will go to schools with a high proportion of historically underserved students, including multilingua students and students with disabilities.

The rest of the federal money will help fund a comprehensive statewide literacy plan, Seigel said.

Oregon received the second highest award among the 23 state grants. Only the New Mexico Department of Education received more – about $11.9 million.

• Oregon Capital Chronicle is a nonprofit Salem-based news service that focuses its reporting on Oregon state government, politics and policy.