ORS 327.831 Eligibility for grants; application requirements; department duties

Any school district or public charter school that is an elementary school may apply for a noncompetitive grant under the Early Literacy Success School Grant program as provided by ORS 327.829 to 327.837.

Grants awarded under ORS 327.833 are not competitive, but a school district or public charter school must comply with the requirements prescribed by ORS 327.829 to 327.837 and by rules adopted by the State Board of Education under ORS 327.829 to 327.837.

To be eligible for a grant under ORS 327.833, a school district or public charter school must submit to the Department of Education an application that includes:

An early literacy success plan. The plan must be updated every two years and must establish four-year goals for the school district or public charter school to achieve for making progress in satisfying the purposes of the Early Literacy Success Initiative, as described in ORS 327.827. The plan must include:

A review of the early literacy program, including the English language arts curricula used by elementary schools of the school district or by the public charter school, using criteria established by the department;

A student growth assessment for all students and disaggregated by student groups that have historically experienced academic disparities; and

A description of how the school district or the public charter school will provide:

Professional development and coaching, as described in ORS 327.829 (2)(a);

Extended learning programs, as described in ORS 327.829 (2)(b); and

High-dosage tutoring, as described in ORS 327.829 (2)(c).

An accurate, up-to-date inventory of literacy assessments, tools, curricula and digital resources used by the school district or public charter school to support literacy in early elementary grades. The school district or public charter school must:

Ensure that the literacy assessments, tools, curricula and digital resources of the inventory are based on research-aligned literacy strategies and are formative, diagnostic and culturally responsive; and

Include in the inventory the date of adoption of the literacy assessment, tool, curriculum or digital resource.

Strategies for communicating and engaging with the following regarding the plan:

Elementary schools of the school district;

Families of the school district; and

Members of the school district community.

An application described in subsection (3) of this section must be presented and approved by the school district board or the governing body of the public charter school at an open meeting following:

Oral presentation of the application by an administrator of the school district or public charter school to the school district board or the governing body of the public charter school; and

Opportunity for the public to comment on the application.

To the greatest extent practicable, a school district or public charter school shall align an early literacy success plan developed under this section with the plan developed for distributions from the Student Investment Account as provided by ORS 327.185 (7).

For the purposes of this section, the department shall:

Establish timelines and forms for applications submitted under this section;

Evaluate applications before awarding grant funds;

Assist school districts and public charter schools in prioritizing early literacy investments with funds received under this section; and

Provide technical assistance to school districts and public charter schools in developing and implementing the early literacy success plan required for the application.