DPI is accepting applications for state-funded grants for partial reimbursement for the purchase of early literacy curriculum from the Early LIteracy Curriculum Council’s (ELCC) curriculum list.  

Visit Early Literacy Curriculum Grants for guidance and the link to the application. 

Districts, independent charter schools (ICS), and private schools participating in private school choice programs (PSCPs) are eligible to apply.  

For purchases made for the 2024 – 2025 school year:  

• Curriculum must appear on the ELCC’s 2024 – 2025 list.   

• Purchases must have been made between January 1 and December 31, 2024.  

For purchases made for the 2025 – 2026 school year:   

• Curriculum must appear on the ELCC’s 2025 – 2026 list.  

• Purchases must be made between January 1, 2025 and May 9, 2025.  

Currently, funds for the partial reimbursement grants are not available. Therefore, submitting a grant application is not a guarantee of payment.  

If the Joint Committee on Finance (JCF) makes the funding available prior to July 1, 2025, partial reimbursement grants will be paid. If the JCF does not make the funding available, the funds are allocated to Wisconsin’s general fund, sometimes referred to as Wisconsin’s budget surplus. If this happens, no partial reimbursement grants will be funded or paid. 

Visit Early Literacy Curriculum Grants for guidance and the link to the application. 

 

April 23, districts and independent charter schools will receive access to EarlyRead, an application within WISEsecure. The link to access EarlyRead will be provided soon. EarlyRead includes Early Literacy Diagnostic Assessment Reimbursement (ELDAR), a digital form to request reimbursement for early literacy diagnostic assessment for 2024 - 2025, as required by Act 20. 

The form includes: 

• Number of students (unduplicated count) who required diagnostic assessment after the midyear or spring screening window by grade-level (5K through 3rd grade) 

• Drop down menu to select the diagnostic assessment(s) from the DPI provided list used within the district or independent charter school 

• Total amount of reimbursement requested (reimbursement will be prorated; the exact reimbursement rate will be known after the application window closes) 

• Attestations about accuracy of the request and existence of documentation of the purchase 

More information, including what qualifies for reimbursement can be found at https://dpi.wi.gov/wi-reads/early-literacy-assessment-and-act-20.  

ELDAR is available through May 23, 2025. 

District assessment coordinators (DAC) will automatically have access to EarlyRead and ELDAR. Others who need access (such as a business manager) can request access through WISEsecure; the request must be approved by the district security administraotr (DSA). Click here to access WISEsecure. 

The funds for diagnostic assessment reimbursement are from a state budget appropriation for assessment (separate from the funds for Act 20 work held up in a lawsuit). The diagnostic assessment funds are available and will be distributed shortly after the application window closes. 

Growing Readers will also be used for the annual Act 20 data reporting requirement. The reporting portion of the application will be available May 5, 2025. 

Guidance about the promotion policy requirement in Act 20 has been updated. Guidance about intensive summer reading programs and intensive instruction, progress monitoring, and supports are now available.

Two parts of existing guidance were revised to reflect the department’s commitment to on-going literacy development and fully meet statutory requirements: 

For students who are promoted from 3rd to 4th grade without completing their personal reading plan, the following supports apply: 

• the student is offered an intensive summer reading program each summer until the student meets/exceeds expectations on the reading portion of the statewide summative assessment (such as Forward); AND 

• the student is provided with intensive interventions, progress monitoring, and supports until the student meets the goals of their 3rd grade personal reading plan. 

While, the on-going intensive interventions, progress monitoring, and supports are only required until the student meets the goals of their 3rd grade personal reading plan, it is best practice to continue the supports until the student is meeting/exceeding grade-level expectations. 

The personal reading plan itself does not need to follow the student in its exact form beyond 3rd grade; the goals have to follow the student. Make local decisions about how to document the intensive intervention, progress monitoring, and supports and the specifics of collaboration with parents/caregivers. 

Good Cause Exception: Alternative Summative Assessment 

 

It’s important that young people of all ages have reading models – people in their lives who talk about what they’re reading and their reading habits. In service to being a reading model, today, I’m talking about something I read. 

I’ve loved John Green since Looking for Alaska (circa 2005). Green’s latest book is Everything is Tuberculosis in which he uses his platform as an author and online content creator to explain, well, everything about tuberculosis. Largely controlled in the US, worldwide, tuberculosis is the leading cause of death from an infectious disease, killing 1.25 million people in 2023. Green shares stories of contemporary young people battling tuberculosis, tells the history of tuberculosis, and discusses treatment strategies for tuberculosis. 

Ultimately, Everything is Tuberculosis makes the argument that tuberculosis is still killing people because of greed (on the part of pharmaceutical companies) and racism. It is especially timely given that USAID has, historically, been an important source of tuberculosis prevention, testing, and treatment. (I accessed the audiobook which is read by Green.) Excerpts could easily be used as informational text for practicing reading or writing standards in middle or high school.