Posted on: Monday, August 27, 2001

Hawai'i schools win federal grant

Advertiser Staff

The state Department of Education has been awarded a three-year, $18.77 million federal grant to improve reading in primary grades.

Hawai'i's Reading First Program was one of 13 selected nationwide to receive grants from the U.S. Department of Education's Reading Excellence Program.

The goal of the state's program is enable students to read by the third grade. The Reading First Program has been in place on a small scale, but the grant will allow the state to expand the program to 90 elementary schools and 10,000 students, said state DOE spokesman Greg Knudsen.

The grant will be used to hire new teachers and reading "coaches," and to pay for support staff and training. Money also will be used to implement the program, which focuses on teachers' and parents' role in early literacy.