The total amount for the SRCL program in Fiscal Year 2010 is $200 million. Of these funds, Congress directed $10 million to go to formula grants to States so they may establish and support a State Literacy Team (with members who have expertise in literacy development and education) who will help the State in developing a comprehensive literacy plan. The remaining funds are to be used for national activities and for a discretionary grant competition. The discretionary grant will award funds to State Education Agencies (SEAs) so they may run a subgrant competition and award subgrants to eligible entities for services and activities that have the characteristics of effective literacy instruction.

The formula allocation is based on each State’s share of funds under part A of Title I of the ESEA for fiscal year 2009 (excluding those funds awarded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 2009). However, no State shall receive less $150,000 to establish or support a State Literacy Team.

The deadline was Sept. 30, 2010.

The continuation of this award will be dependent on future appropriations.

Funds will be available until September 30, 2011 (and under the one-year Tydings provision, until September 30, 2012).

Each SEA receiving funds for State Literacy Teams shall provide annually to the Secretary information on the status of the implementation of activities funded under this program. A formal, external evaluation will not be required for the use of these funds.

Yes, unless those requirements are inconsistent with the requirements described in this document.

SRCL formula grant funds may be used for costs that are reasonable, necessary, and integral to the formation and administration of a State Literacy Team and for the development of the State comprehensive literacy plan. Additionally, in using SRCL funds, States must comply with applicable federal regulations, particularly the cost principals contained in OMB Cost Circular A-87.

Yes. Each SEA receiving funds will be required to submit a comprehensive literacy plan to ED by February 1, 2011. We intend to consider a State’s comprehensive literacy plan as part of the SRCL discretionary grant program.

The comprehensive literacy plan must address the needs of children from birth through grade twelve. It should also improve alignment and transition between grades. It should include all of the key components of an effective state literacy system, including clear standards; a system of assessments to inform instruction; guidance on the selection and use of curriculum and interventions; teacher preparation and professional development aligned with standards; and a system of data collection, evaluation, and program accountability.

SRCL Formula Grant FAQs from the Webinar:
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State educational agencies (SEAs) are eligible applicants.

Sungrants will be awarded by SEAs that win the SRCL discretionary grant competition. Grantee SEAs can award subgrants to the following entities: local educational agencies (LEAs) and—in the case of early literacy—LEAs or other nonprofit providers of early childhood education that partner with a public or private nonprofit organization or agency with a demonstrated record of effectiveness in improving the early literacy development of children from birth through kindergarten entry and in providing professional development in early literacy, giving priority to such agencies or other entities serving great numbers of percentages of disadvantaged children. Such partners may include libraries, Head Start Centers, health care providers, or other community-based organizations if they meet the statutory requirements.

For the purposes of this grant program, “comprehensive literacy” includes pre-literacy, reading, and writing skills for all students – including disadvantaged students, limited-English proficient students, and students with disabilities—from birth to grade 12.

Yes. The FY 2010 Consolidated Appropriations Act (Pub. L. No. 111-117), which authorizes the Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy program, provides that the SEA shall ensure that at least 15 percent of the subgranted funds are used to serve children birth through age 5, at least 40 percent of the funds are used to serve students in kindergarten through grade 5, and at least 40 percent of the funds are used to serve students in middle and high school including an equitable distribution of funds between middle and high schools.

No. Distribution of funds across age specific bands is set by statute.

No. An individual subgrantee might serve children using a different funding distribution. For example, if a subgrantee was an early childhood education agency, all subgrant funds might be used to serve children birth through age 5; alternatively, an SEA may award funds to an LEA to undertake comprehensive (birth through grade 12) literacy activities. It is not necessary for an SEA to run three separate subgrant competitions for each funding distribution band. However, the SEA is responsible for ensuring that the total amount of SRCL subgrant funds is allocated according to the statutorily mandated funding distribution. In responding to Selection Criteria (D)(ii) of the Notice Inviting Applications, the SEA should clearly explain how it will design its subgrant competition to ensure compliance with the required funding distribution.

The Department estimates that it will make between 3 and 18 awards, ranging between $3,000,000 and $70,000,000 each (with average size of awards $25,000,000).

In order to balance the goal of stimulating comprehensive literacy reform through funding high-quality plans with the goal of recognizing a number of SEAs that can serve as models for other SEAs, the Department has developed mandatory budget limits for each SEA. These limits were determined by ranking every State according to its share of the national population of children in poverty ages 5 through 17 based on data from “Table 1: 2009 Poverty and Median Income Estimates – States” released by the Small Area Estimates Branch of the U.S. Census Bureau in December, 2010. The State should develop a budget that is appropriate for the plan it outlines in its application; however we will not consider an SEA’s application if its request exceeds the maximum in its budget range, as follows:

The budget limits are for each year, not for the entire grant period. Thus, an applicant may propose a five-year budget that includes annual requests of up to the relevant categorical award limit.

An SEA may use up to 5 percent of the awarded funds to provide leadership activities, including technical assistance and training, data collection, reporting, and administration.

No. There is no requirement for matching funds, in-kind contributions, or a local project cost-share.

Food expenditures are only allowable if food is not for entertainment and is necessary and reasonable to accomplish project goals.

No. Construction costs are not allowed to be charged to the Federal funds for a Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy grant. This is a requirement of the Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) at 34 CFR 75.533. (Applicants can access EDGAR provisions on the Department's website at http://www.ed.gov/policy/fund/reg/edgarReg/edgar.html.) However, Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy grant funds may be used for minor remodeling (which does not include any structural alterations) to accomplish the program's purpose and objectives, such as to enhance the quality of the physical environment to make it more conducive to developing early language and early reading skills. (See the Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) at 34 CFR section 77.1, definition of "minor remodeling," which you can access on the Department's website at TOP


25. Is direct teacher support an allowable expense under the discretionary grant?

So long as the expense is necessary and reasonable to accomplish the program's purpose and objectives, direct teacher support such as salaries for specialists or new teachers, stipends, bonuses, or scholarships generally would be allowable.

Yes. However, the rent must be reasonable and necessary to accomplish the program’s purpose and objectives.

Yes. Only include resumes and letters of support in the appendices section of the submitted application.

No. It is permissible to prepare charts in a single-spaced format.

Attachments must be in .pdf (portable document file) format in order to effectively upload to Grants.gov. This is a change from some previous Department grant competitions.

Executive Order 12372 concerns the Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs, and essentially gives States the opportunity to review and provide comments to Federal agencies on applications for Federal discretionary (competitive) grants. SRCL grants are subject to Executive Order 12372 if your State is listed as having a Single State Point of Contact. Further information about the Single State Point of Contact (SPOC) process and a list of names by State can be found at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants/spoc.pdf.

We anticipate that grants will be awarded in August 2011 for a project period of up to 60 months.

The applications are due May 9, 2011. They must be submitted via www.Grants.gov. Your application must be fully uploaded and submitted and must be date and time stamped by the Grants.gov system no later than 4:30:00 p.m., Washington, D.C. time, on the application deadline date. The amount of time it can take to upload an application will vary depending on a variety of factors, including the size of the application and the speed of your Internet connection. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you do not wait until the application deadline date to begin the submission process through Grants.gov.