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Delaware Department of Education details statewide push on early literacy and math supports
Summary
Department leaders told the State Board of Education on July 17 that most Delaware districts and charters have adopted high-quality instructional materials, the state has hired eight early-literacy coaches, and new initiatives will narrow screening and intervention tools while expanding professional learning for teachers and coaches.
The Delaware Department of Education on July 17 gave the State Board of Education an in-depth update on its early-literacy and mathematics priorities, saying recent legislation and targeted staffing aim to accelerate student reading and numeracy outcomes.
Kathy Kelly, the department’s associate secretary for academic excellence, introduced the academic excellence team and summarized multiple implementation efforts tied to legislation. "We really wanna make sure that every student across the state of Delaware leaves school ready for success in college, career, and life," Kelly said, framing early literacy as a top state priority.
Nut graf: The department reported that the bulk of districts and charters have adopted high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) in key grade bands, is funding and deploying coaches and leadership academies to support classroom practice, and is working with higher-education partners and external groups to narrow and align screening and intervention tools required by new law.
What the department reported
- Legislation and adoption: Presenters tied current work to several bills, including Senate Bill 4 (HQIM adoption in K–3), House Bill 304 (screening three times per year and LEA reporting), and bills addressing educator-prep alignment. Kelly said 13 of 15 districts and 11 of 17 charters have adopted HQIM for early grades; department materials list additional adoption counts for middle and high school English and math.
- Professional learning and participation: The department said 774 teachers and 65 administrators have taken state-offered literacy professional learning so far, with additional summer sessions expected to raise that total.
- Coaches and on-the-ground support: Kelly said the department has hired a total of eight state early-literacy coaches (four deployed in February and four onboarding this summer) and is using subgrants and partnership strategies to build local capacity where hiring has been more difficult.
- Screening and intervention alignment: Presenters said they currently see many different screeners and diagnostics being used across LEAs (the department cited 39 different tools in use) and are partnering with the University of Delaware on a research-practice effort to narrow recommended options and better match screeners to interventions.
Secondary literacy and curriculum coherence
Amy Baker Sheridan, the associate for secondary English language arts and adolescent literacy, said the state is extending science-of-reading principles beyond third grade and working to build content-area literacy in middle and high school. "There’s a large space between grade 3 and college and career ready," Sheridan said, warning that third-grade proficiency alone does not guarantee later success.
Mathematics framework and numeracy progressions
Renee Parsley, elementary education associate for mathematics, reviewed the Delaware K–12 mathematics framework and described efforts to raise teacher content knowledge and instructional coherence. Parsley outlined HQIM adoption counts across grades and explained a new numeracy-progression project to clarify how students move from counting to more advanced concepts. She highlighted recent NAEP growth: the department reported a 9% proficiency gain at grade 4 from 2022 to 2024 and said the state has recovered much of the ground lost during COVID.
Board questions and next steps
Board members pressed the department on inclusion (whether third-grade goals account for students with IEPs and multilingual learners), coach duties, hiring challenges, community partnerships, and whether federal funding changes have affected this work. Presenters said the state’s investment has insulated early-literacy work from recent federal funding freezes and emphasized plans for expanded parent and community engagement through state planning grants.
The department asked board members to help amplify implementation priorities in the field and to forward any remaining questions to staff. The board scheduled a forthcoming workshop focused on early literacy and numeracy goals and action steps.
Ending: The presentation closed after a Q&A exchange and direction to continue collaboration between the State Board, the Department of Education, and partners such as the University of Delaware and community literacy organizations.
