Bill Text: NJ A4899 | 2022-2023 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes Literacy Acceleration Home Reading Grant Program.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-12-05 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Education Committee [A4899 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2022-A4899-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman REGINALD W. ATKINS
District 20 (Union)
Assemblyman WILLIAM B. SAMPSON, IV
District 31 (Hudson)
Assemblywoman SADAF F. JAFFER
District 16 (Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblyman Stanley, Assemblywoman Carter, Assemblyman Kennedy, Assemblywoman McKnight, Assemblyman Verrelli and Assemblywoman Chaparro
SYNOPSIS
Establishes Literacy Acceleration Home Reading Grant Program.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act establishing the Literacy Acceleration Home Reading Grant Program and supplementing chapter 6 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The Commissioner of Education shall establish and administer the Literacy Acceleration Home Reading Grant Program. The purpose of the grant program shall be to increase reading opportunities for students in grades kindergarten through six throughout the State in order to improve reading proficiency.
b. The grant program shall support home reading programs implemented by school districts in partnership with nonprofit organizations. A participating school district shall partner with a nonprofit organization that provides a home reading program. The grant program shall, at a minimum:
(1) mail independent reading level books to the residences of students in kindergarten through sixth grade on a weekly basis;
(2) provide at least six but not more than nine books a student may permanently keep which are to be chosen by the student;
(3) build on pedagogical and literacy principles to improve reading comprehension; and
(4) annually collect, disaggregate, and distribute detailed data to the commissioner on metrics of the grant program, including the number of books read and non-identifying demographic data.
2. a. A school district wishing to participate in the grant program shall submit an application to the Department of Education in a form prescribed by the commissioner. An application shall include, but not be limited to:
(1) information on the nonprofit with which the school district is partnering to administer the home reading program;
(2) a detailed description of the grant program and how it addresses the elements of the grant program described in section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill);
(3) a description of the goals of the grant program and a method of measuring student academic success and program outcomes;
(4) a description of the methods to be used to identify underperforming students for participation in the grant program;
(5) the number of students able to be supported by the grant program and the number of students expected to participate, if different;
(6) the projected per student and aggregate cost of implementing the grant program; and
(7) any other information the commissioner deems necessary.
b. Grant awards shall be allocated to a school district on a competitive basis. In determining grant recipients, the commissioner shall consider, at minimum, a school district's plan with respect to the alignment with elements of home reading programs, the potential number of students impacted by the program, the need of a school district to supplement classroom learning to address reading proficiency, the number of economically disadvantaged students the grant program will impact, and the estimated cost of implementing the program by a school district. The commissioner shall give preference to applications for programs that are set up to function for more than four years and can continue to operate beyond the duration of available grant funding. The commissioner shall give preference to applications for programs that serve predominately economically disadvantaged students. To the extent possible, the commissioner shall select grant recipients from the northern, central, and southern regions of the State, and shall seek a cross section of school districts from urban, suburban, and rural areas.
c. The department shall determine allowable uses for grant funds prior to accepting applications to participate in the grant program and shall describe the allowable uses in a notice of grant opportunity.
3. The commissioner shall submit a report to the Governor, and to the Legislature pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), no later than two years after the establishment of the Literacy Acceleration Home Reading Grant Program. The report shall include, but not be limited to, information on the number of grant applicants, the number and amounts of the grant awards, the number of students participating in the program, information provided by home reading programs under subsection b. of section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), information on the impact of grant programs on reading proficiency, and any recommendations concerning the continuation or expansion of the grant program.
4. a. The Legislature shall appropriate such amounts as necessary to the Department of Education from the General Fund to fund the Literacy Acceleration Home Reading Grant Program established pursuant to P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
b. In addition to funds appropriated pursuant to subsection a. of this section, the Literacy Acceleration Home Reading Grant Program may be funded by any other source of funding made available for this purpose including, but not limited to, federal funds.
5. This act shall take
effect on the first day of the seventh month next following enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes the Literacy Acceleration Home Reading Grant Program to increase reading opportunities for students in kindergarten through sixth grade to improve reading proficiency.
The grant program would be implemented by local school districts in partnership with nonprofit organizations that provide home reading programs. Each grant program would be required to meet certain minimum criteria, including (1) mailing independent reading level books to the residences of students in grades kindergarten through sixth grade on a weekly basis; (2) providing at least six and not more than nine books a student may permanently keep; (3) building on pedagogical and literacy principles; and (4) collection, disaggregation, and distribution of detailed data on metrics of the program including the number of books read and non-identifying demographic data.
A school district wishing to participate in the grant program would submit an application to the Commissioner of Education in a manner prescribed by the commissioner. The application would be required to include: (1) a detailed description of the grant program; (2) information on the nonprofit with which the school district is partnering with to administer the home reading program; (3) a description of the goals of the grant program and a method of measuring student academic success and program outcomes; (4) a description of the methods to be used to identify underperforming students for participation in the grant program; (5) the number of students able to be supported by the grant program and the number of students expected to participate; (6) the projected per student and aggregate cost of implementing the grant program; and (7) any other information the commissioner deems necessary.
The commissioner would be required to submit a report to the Governor and Legislature no later than two years after the establishment of the grant program. The bill requires the Legislature to appropriate funding for the program.
