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The U.S. Department of Education (ED) awarded 31 multi-year grants under the fiscal year (FY) 2008 Early Reading First (ERF) Program, which supports local efforts to enhance the oral language, cognitive, and early reading skills of preschool-age children, especially those from low-income families, through strategies, materials, and professional development that are grounded in scientifically based reading research. Congress appropriated $112.5 million for the FY2008 ERF program. Abstracts of each project grantee [PDF] are posted on ED's Web site.
ED uses a two-phase system to select recipients for the Early Reading First program that includes a pre-application and a full application. All applicants must submit a pre-application that briefly addresses certain key concepts. Applicants invited to submit full applications will be expected to respond to more specific selection criteria. In accordance with the Early Reading First statute, peer review panels were convened and included three experts in early reading development and early childhood development as required by the statute.
The Early Reading First program is a competitive grant initiative that will enhance reading readiness for preschool children in high poverty areas and where there are high numbers of students who are not reading at grade level. For more information on this grant competition, visit ED's Web site or contact Catherine D. Clarke, ASHA's Director of Education and Regulatory Advocacy, via e-mail at cclarke@asha.org or by phone at 800-498-2071, ext. 5611.
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