Reading Intervention for Secondary Engagement (RISE)- Competitive Grant

The Reading Intervention for Secondary Engagement (RISE) grant aims to support Local Education Agencies (LEAs) in implementing evidence-based literacy interventions for grades 6-12. It emphasizes sustainable practices and outcomes such as identifying reading difficulties, promoting research-based instructional methods, and developing literacy programs for underperforming students. This one-year grant program, with awards ranging from $20,000 to $50,000, targets LEAs with significant free and reduced lunch populations and is set to commence on September 30, 2025.

The Reading Intervention for Secondary Engagement (RISE) grant opportunity is specifically designed to support Local Education Agencies (LEAs) in implementing innovative, evidence-based literacy interventions for students on the secondary level in grades 6–12. Priority will be given to grants that utilize strategies from the Institute of Education Sciences guide to Providing Reading Intervention for Students in Grades 4-9 and focus on sustaining practices beyond adopting an online platform.
The Department anticipates the RISE grant to result in the following outcomes:

• Support for the identification and remediation of reading difficulties among secondary students;
• Promotion and adoption of research-based instructional practices and high-quality literacy materials;
• Development of innovative, sustainable literacy programs specifically designed for students who are not reading at grade level proficiency;
• Increased capacity for educators to deliver impactful, differentiated instruction to struggling readers across content areas; and

Establish and utilize a system for ongoing monitoring of intervention fidelity and student outcomes to ensure that reading supports are implemented as intended and lead to measurable improvements in student literacy performance.
The New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) has established a one-year grant program. This grant program is open to. LEAs who have 40% or more free and reduced lunch and service students in grades 6-12. Award tiers of $20,000, $30,000, and $50,000 have been established based on enrollment. Please see Appendix A of the NGO for a list of eligible LEAs and maximum award amounts.