FY25 Reading Diagnostic and Intervention Fund Mini Grant RFA
The Kentucky Department of Education’s (KDE’s) Office of Teaching and Learning has issued a request for applications (RFA) for the fiscal year 2025 Reading Diagnostic and Intervention Fund Mini-Grants. Kentucky public school districts must apply on behalf of individual schools. The Kentucky School for the Blind and Kentucky School for the Deaf also are eligible to apply.
The RFA can be found on the Competitive Grants from KDE webpage.
As specified in KRS 158.792, the Reading Diagnostic and Intervention fund is created to help teachers and library media specialists improve the reading skills of struggling readers in kindergarten through grade three (3). The Reading Diagnostic and Intervention Fund mini grant will help districts adopt high-quality instructional resources (HQIRs) that support the implementation of structured literacy practices for tier 2 and/or tier 3 reading instruction in kindergarten through grade three (3). Primary, or tier 1, HQIRs rated green on EdReports may be considered for purchase with mini-grant funds for the purpose of implementing tier 2 instruction.
A district/school shall use funding to purchase instructional resources to support the implementation of structured literacy practices, supplement, not replace, the classroom comprehensive reading program and align with the KDE’s definition of HQIRs as listed below:
Important Dates
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TODAY, October 22, 2 p.m. ET: Technical Assistance Webinar
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October 29, 4 p.m. ET: Deadline for questions. All questions must be sent to KDERFP@education.ky.gov.
 October is Dyslexia Awareness Month
It is a good time to reflect on how best to support the literacy development of students with dyslexia or those with characteristics of dyslexia.
Since dyslexia affects at least 1 in 10 people, educators need to be prepared to offer additional support and appropriate interventions for students with dyslexia so they can be successful.
The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) promotes dyslexia awareness by offering parents and educators resources that will help them understand and address dyslexia. New resources from the National Center on Improving Literacy have been added to the Dyslexia Toolkit webpage. Explore the resources to learn more about what dyslexia is, how schools can screen students for dyslexia risk, using data to identify supports for students with dyslexia, what effective reading instruction looks like and how to intensify reading instruction for students with dyslexia.
Progress Monitoring as Part of the Reading Improvement Plan
Per the Read to Succeed Act amendments to KRS 158.305, if a student’s rate of progress toward proficiency in reading needs accelerated interventions as demonstrated by the results of an approved universal screener and reading diagnostic assessment, the local school district shall provide intensive instructional services, progress monitoring measures and supports through grade 3 via a Reading Improvement Plan.
Progress monitoring involves using brief, reliable assessments to track students' progress and response to instruction or intervention. The frequency of assessments varies based on the intensity of support, with data collection and graphing being essential. Goals are set and regularly compared to student progress.
Depending on the intervention tier, assessment frequency differs. This method typically targets one or two key skills for tracking growth and making necessary adjustments. Accurate decision-making requires ongoing data, and district and school teams use progress monitoring data to assess intervention effectiveness, ensuring positive outcomes for students within a multi-tiered support system.
A free progress monitoring data tool is available on the National Center for Intensive Intervention website. The graphing tool is designed to help educators collect academic progress monitoring data across multiple measures. This tool allows educators to store data for multiple students (across multiple measures) and graph student progress.
For more information about progress monitoring, visit KyMTSS.org.
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