Gov. Kim Reynolds’ administration recently announced it has been awarded a $24 million, multiyear grant from the U.S. Department of Education to advance literacy programs statewide. According to a news release, the Iowa Department of Education’s grant builds upon recent legislation endorsed by Reynolds to support personalized reading plans for kindergarten through 6th grade students who are not reading proficiently, as well as legislation aligning accredited teacher preparation programs to the science of reading focused on phonetic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency and text comprehension. The federal Comprehensive Literacy State Development grant will support the implementation of Iowa’s State Literacy Plan over the next five years, including district development of local literacy plans aligned to a statewide plan. The department said in the release it will also work closely with institutions of higher education to align accredited teacher preparation programs to the science of reading, while continuing to support schools implementing language essentials for teachers of reading and spelling (LETRS) professional learning for educators.