Thursday, April 4, 2024
On March 11, the Joint Committee on Finance approved the 2024-25 early literacy instructional materials list. Districts that purchase these materials, including consumables needed to implement these materials, on or after March 11 are eligible for a partial reimbursement grant. More details of the grant and the grant application will be available here soon.
Note that due to the timeline for the availability of these funds and the fact that these grants must be prorated based on the number of districts that apply and the amounts they are applying for, it is possible that reimbursements will not be provided to districts until 2026. DPI cannot guarantee any specific amount of funding.
Similar to federal funding grant reimbursements, districts will need to provide invoices in the claim process as evidence that eligible titles were purchased within an eligible calendar window.
Here is the list of early literacy instructional materials eligible for grants in 2024-25.
- Bookworms Reading and Writing K-3 (Open Up Resources, 2022)
- Core Knowledge Language Arts K-3 (CKLA, Amplify Education, 2022)
- *EL Education K-3 Language Arts (Open Up Resources, 2017)
- **Wit and Wisdom (Great Minds, 2020) with Geodes and PK-3 Reading Curriculum (Really Great Reading)
*Note that EL is available in an open-source format and is physically published by different publishers. The only publisher eligible for these grants is Open Up Resources.
**Note that to be eligible for these grants, an LEA must provide evidence that they are using all components of this package.
Schools and districts not using these titles may form a team and use the Wisconsin Act 20 Curriculum Crosswalk Toolkit to document whether the early literacy instructional materials they are using meet the Act 20 definition of science-based early literacy instruction.
Partial Reimbursement Grants for Early Literacy Curricula
DPI plans to open a grant application soon at https://dpi.wi.gov/wi-reads. The eligible grant period will begin March 11, 2024 and will cover any costs made after the period begins (including consumables). Grant awards may cover up to 50 percent of costs and will be prorated based on demand.
Districts may not receive reimbursements until 2026 to account for the crossing of school and fiscal years. Again, the amounts reimbursed will be pro-rated based on the total eligible requests, so we cannot guarantee any specific amount of funding.
Additional details related to payment and grant processing will be provided as they are shared and posted.