Comprehensive Literacy State Development Grant
Information regarding the Comprehensive Literacy State Development Grant.Sections 2222–2225 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 authorizes the Comprehensive Literacy State Development (CLSD) Grant. This competitive grant advances literacy skills through the use of evidence-based practices, activities and interventions, including pre-literacy skills, reading, and writing. The grant serves children from birth through grade twelve, with an emphasis on disadvantaged children, including children living in poverty, English learners, and children with disabilities.
Stay informed on the CLSD grant and other statewide literacy initiatives in California! Join the CDE’s Literacy listserv by sending a blank email to: join-cde-literacy@mlist.cde.ca.gov.
2024 CLSD
Background Information
The California Department of Education (CDE) was awarded $38 million in CLSD 2024 grant funds to leverage and expand existing statewide infrastructure, guidance, and expertise to bring coherence to the system of literacy supports to improve student outcomes over a period of five years.
The grant also has four priorities: (1) Projects that incorporate State Education Agency (SEA) partnerships with Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs); (2) Projects designed to address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic using evidence-based instructional approaches and supports to meet challenging academic content standards without contributing to tracking or remedial courses; (3) Projects designed to promote education equity and adequacy in resources and opportunity for underserved students. California will focus its grant work on addressing the literacy needs of underserved students, including multilingual learners, to support the screening and identification of reading disabilities (e.g., dyslexia), and evidence-based instructional approaches tailored to students' specific needs; and (4) Projects that support students and their families at key transitional stages in their education by ensuring coordinated, high-quality professional development for educators in these transitional stages. California will focus its grant work on evidence-based professional development focused on alignment between early childhood and elementary settings, as well as older students who are reading significantly below grade level.
Project objectives include:
- Leverage state capacity and partnerships, including coordination with IHEs and subgrantees, to ensure pre-service teachers and in-service teachers have sufficient and consistent knowledge and skills to support evidence-based literacy instruction, intervention, and assessment.
- Revise California’s Comprehensive State Literacy Plan (SLP) to include updated evidence-based practices and guidance documents, as well as promising practices and implementation guides from 2019 CLSD subgrantees.
- Continue to build local capacity to establish, align, and implement literacy initiatives that emphasize family and community involvement and expand educational options, ensuring equity in student access and addressing the needs of CA’s most vulnerable children, particularly related to the impacts of COVID-19 on students and educators.
For additional information on the CLSD grant proposal, please see Item 15 of the State Board of Education (SBE) July 2024 Agenda (DOCX).
Subgrantee Eligibility and Funding
The CDE will distribute grant awards to consortia of county offices of education to support the project objectives outlined above following a competitive grant process in 2025.
State Literacy Plan
A primary objective of the 2024 CLSD grant program is to revise and update the comprehensive SLP with updated evidence-based practices and guidance documents, as well as promising practices and implementation guides from 2019 CLSD subgrantees.
Statewide Literacy Needs Assessment
The CDE is seeking data from the Comprehensive Statewide Literacy Needs Assessment which will be disseminated to all California local educational agencies (LEAs) in December 2024, to inform revisions and updates to the SLP. A technical assistance webinar provides more information about the needs assessment process.
Statewide Literacy Needs Assessment (Coming Soon)
Statewide Literacy Needs Assessment Technical Assistance Webinar Recording 
(Video; 23:48)
State Literacy Plan Team
A new SLP team will be selected through a formal application process, open from December 1, 2024, through January 10, 2025. Selected applicants will meet virtually in February and March 2025 to respond to the revised SLP and provide additional recommendations. These meetings will be hosted and facilitated by the CDE and partners.
2019 CLSD
Background Information
The California Department of Education (CDE) was awarded $37.5 million in CLSD grant funds to leverage and expand existing statewide infrastructure, guidance, and expertise to bring coherence to the system of literacy supports to improve student outcomes over a period of five years.
The grant also has two priorities: (1) projects that include evidence-based family literacy strategies and (2) projects that increase educational options for groups of students who have traditionally been underserved.
Project objectives include:
- Align local and state literacy initiatives through a coordinated effort to build state and local capacity over the life of the project.
- Develop and implement an evidence-based comprehensive SLP that aligns and integrates state literacy initiatives, content standards, and state guidance documents to support teachers of students, birth through grade twelve.
- Build local capacity to establish, align, and implement local literacy initiatives that emphasize family and community involvement to address the needs of California’s most vulnerable children.
For additional information on the CLSD grant proposal, please see Item 10 of the State Board of Education (SBE) July 2019 Agenda (DOCX).
Literacy Lead Agency Eligibility and Funding
The CDE distributed seven grant awards to county offices of education to support the project objectives outlined above. The CDE announced a Request for Applications (RFA) on May 5, 2021, to fund the CLSD competitive grant awards. Links to the RFA and Funding Profile are below. In May 2024, California applied for and was awarded a one-year No Cost Time Extension, which will allow grantees to continue grant-funded activities through September 30, 2025.
CLSD Grant: Literacy Lead Agency RFA Web Page
Funding Profile and Funding Results
The CDE identified seven county offices of education to serve as local Literacy Lead Agencies to support the project objectives outlined above. The grantees began work on September 1, 2021. Additional information about the work of each local Literacy Lead Agency and their partners is available on the CLSD Literacy Lead Agency web page.
State Literacy Plan
A primary objective of the CLSD grant program is to develop and implement a comprehensive SLP that aligns and integrates state literacy initiatives, content standards, and state guidance documents to support teachers of students, birth through grade twelve. After months of development and revisions based on stakeholder feedback, the State Board of Education adopted the final California Comprehensive State Literacy Plan (PDF) on March 17, 2021. The CDE and its partners will work to implement the plan over the life of the CLSD grant. For more information about the development of the SLP, please visit the State Literacy Plan Development web page.
State Board of Education Agenda Items and Memoranda
All SBE agenda items and memoranda related to the CLSD grant are available on the CLSD SBE Agenda Items and Memos web page.
Program Authorization
Additional Information
Online Literacy Resources Repository
The CDE has developed resources to support the implementation of the SLP and build local capacity to establish, align, and implement local literacy initiatives that emphasize family and community involvement to address the needs of California’s most vulnerable children. Resources have been developed and posted online over the life of the CLSD grant. These include resources developed by the Literacy Lead Agencies over the life of their respective projects. The Online Literacy Resources Repository
is housed on the CDE’s platform, California Educators Together
. By signing up for a free account, educators in the field will be able to access these resources for professional learning and to develop local literacy plans. All resources, tools, and templates within the repository have been reviewed and vetted by members of the SLP Team.