Nonprofit Awarded $3.9 Million to Develop Literacy Curricula, Tools

Last week, the United States Department of Education (DOE) doled out $26 million in grants to support literacy in high-needs schools. Among the recipients is a technology nonprofit that delivers free literacy resources and progress tracking tools for students in grades 5–12.

Through the DOE’s Innovative Approaches to Literacy program, CommonLit was awarded another $1.9 million this round, bringing the total award amount to approximately $3.9 million. According to the nonprofit, the funds will be used to build out technology on the site, such as the progress tracking tools that analyze student performance on key reading and writing skills.

CommonLit also plans to expand its library of free content with the funds, creating its own open educational resources and full-year curriculum. CommonLit’s library already includes close to 500 titles, including news articles, poems, short stories and historical documents that have been donated from partners like the Society for Science & the Public, NPR and the Digital Public Library of America. The instructional materials are 100 percent research-based and aligned to Common Core State Standards, according to the website. 

To learn more about the literacy resources and tools, visit the CommonLit site.

About the Author

Sri Ravipati is Web producer for THE Journal and Campus Technology. She can be reached at [email protected].

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