Slice Of $14.7 Million Literacy Grant Awarded To Bartow Schools

CARTERSVILLE, GA — The Bartow County School System is among 19 districts throughout Georgia that will receive a slice of more than $14 million in literacy grants awarded Thursday.

The money comprises the third round of Literacy for Learning, Living, and Leading in Georgia (L4GA) grants awarded by the Georgia Department of Education. The first two rounds, funded by federal grants, totaled more than $240 million.

Almost all L4GA money is competitively awarded to local school districts and their community partners, according to a news release Thursday from the Georgia Department of Education. How much money each district receives depends on a district’s poverty level, the percentage of students reading below grade level, and whether schools are targeted for support by the Department of Education’s school-improvement team.

Georgia has seen sustained improvement in student literacy since the launch of L4GA, according to the state news release. For example, Lexile scores — a standardized test of reading ability — for all Georgia students have improved an average rate of 91 points per year over the last five years. In addition, Georgia students over the last six years have seen their Lexile scores improve significantly faster that Georgia students from 2008 to 2014.

Other Georgia counties that received L4GA grants are Baker, Barrow, Ben Hill, Brooks, Clay, Clayton, Dooly, Jefferson, Lamar, Meriwether, Randolph, Richmond, Rockdale, Stewart, Taliaferro, Tattnall, Thomas and Troup.