---
kind: "section"
citation: "20 U.S.C. § 6644"
title: "20"
title_heading: "Education"
number: "6644"
heading: "Subgrants to eligible entities in support of kindergarten through grade 12 literacy"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/20/6644"
units:
  - "Chapter 70 — Strengthening and Improvement of Elementary and Secondary Schools"
  - "Subchapter II — Preparing, Training, and Recruiting High-Quality Teachers, Principals, or Other School Leaders"
  - "Part B — National Activities"
  - "Subpart 2 — literacy education for all, results for the nation"
---

# §6644. Subgrants to eligible entities in support of kindergarten through grade 12 literacy

- (a) **Subgrants to eligible entities—**
  - (1) **Subgrants—** A [State educational agency](/usc/20/7801.md?p=49) receiving a grant under this subpart shall use a portion of the grant funds, in accordance with clauses (ii) and (iii) of [section 6642(d)(2)(D) of this title](/usc/20/6642.md?p=d-2-D), to award subgrants, on a competitive basis, to [eligible entities](/usc/20/6631.md?p=b-1) to enable the [eligible entities](/usc/20/6631.md?p=b-1) to carry out the authorized activities described in subsections [(c)](#c) and [(d)](#d).
  - (2) **Duration—** The term of a subgrant under this section shall be determined by the [State educational agency](/usc/20/7801.md?p=49) awarding the subgrant and shall in no case exceed 5 years.
  - (3) **Sufficient size and scope—** A [State educational agency](/usc/20/7801.md?p=49) shall award subgrants under this section of sufficient size and scope to allow the [eligible entities](/usc/20/6631.md?p=b-1) to carry out high-quality [comprehensive literacy instruction](/usc/20/6641.md?p=b-1) in each grade level for which the subgrant funds are provided.
  - (4) **Local applications—** An [eligible entity](/usc/20/6631.md?p=b-1) desiring to receive a subgrant under this section shall submit an application to the [State educational agency](/usc/20/7801.md?p=49) at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the [State educational agency](/usc/20/7801.md?p=49) may require. Such application shall include, for each school that the [eligible entity](/usc/20/6631.md?p=b-1) identifies as participating in a subgrant program under this section, the following information:
    - (A) A description of the [eligible entity](/usc/20/6631.md?p=b-1)’s needs assessment conducted to identify how subgrant funds will be used to inform and improve [comprehensive literacy instruction](/usc/20/6641.md?p=b-1) at the school.
    - (B) How the school, the [local educational agency](/usc/20/7801.md?p=30-A), or a provider of high-quality [professional development](/usc/20/7801.md?p=42) will provide ongoing high-quality [professional development](/usc/20/7801.md?p=42) to all teachers, principals, other [school leaders](/usc/20/7801.md?p=44), [specialized instructional support personnel](/usc/20/7801.md?p=47-A) (as appropriate), and other instructional leaders served by the school.
    - (C) How the school will identify children in need of literacy interventions or other support services.
    - (D) An explanation of how the school will integrate [comprehensive literacy instruction](/usc/20/6641.md?p=b-1) into a [well-rounded education](/usc/20/7801.md?p=52).
    - (E) A description of how the school will coordinate [comprehensive literacy instruction](/usc/20/6641.md?p=b-1) with [early childhood education programs](/usc/20/7801.md?p=16) and activities and after-school programs and activities in the area served by the [local educational agency](/usc/20/7801.md?p=30-A).
- (b) **Priority—** In awarding grants under this section, the [State educational agency](/usc/20/7801.md?p=49) shall give priority to an [eligible entity](/usc/20/6631.md?p=b-1) that will use funds under subsection [(c)](#c) or [(d)](#d) to implement [evidence-based](/usc/20/7801.md?p=21-A) activities, defined for the purpose of this subsection as activities meeting the requirements of [section 7801(21)(A)(i) of this title](/usc/20/7801.md?p=21-A-i).
- (c) **Local uses of funds for kindergarten through grade 5—** An [eligible entity](/usc/20/6631.md?p=b-1) that receives a subgrant under this section shall use the subgrant funds to carry out the following activities pertaining to children in kindergarten through grade 5:
  - (1) Developing and implementing a [comprehensive literacy instruction](/usc/20/6641.md?p=b-1) plan across content areas for such children that—
    - (A) serves the needs of all children, including children with disabilities and [English learners](/usc/20/7801.md?p=20), especially children who are reading or writing below grade level;
    - (B) provides intensive, supplemental, accelerated, and explicit intervention and support in reading and writing for children whose literacy skills are below grade level; and
    - (C) supports activities that are provided primarily during the regular school day but that may be augmented by after-school and out-of-school time instruction.
  - (2) Providing high-quality [professional development](/usc/20/7801.md?p=42) opportunities for teachers, literacy coaches, literacy specialists, English as a second language specialists (as appropriate), principals, other [school leaders](/usc/20/7801.md?p=44), [specialized instructional support personnel](/usc/20/7801.md?p=47-A), school librarians, [paraprofessionals](/usc/20/7801.md?p=37), and other program staff.
  - (3) Training principals, [specialized instructional support personnel](/usc/20/7801.md?p=47-A), and other [local educational agency](/usc/20/7801.md?p=30-A) personnel to support, develop, administer, and evaluate high-quality kindergarten through grade 5 literacy initiatives.
  - (4) Coordinating the involvement of [early childhood education program](/usc/20/7801.md?p=16) staff, principals, other instructional leaders, teachers, teacher literacy teams, English as a second language specialists (as appropriate), special educators, school personnel, and [specialized instructional support personnel](/usc/20/7801.md?p=47-A) (as appropriate) in the literacy development of children served under this subsection.
  - (5) Engaging families and encouraging family literacy experiences and practices to support literacy development.
- (d) **Local uses of funds for grades 6 through 12—** An [eligible entity](/usc/20/6631.md?p=b-1) that receives a subgrant under this section shall use subgrant funds to carry out the following activities pertaining to children in grades 6 through 12:
  - (1) Developing and implementing a [comprehensive literacy instruction](/usc/20/6641.md?p=b-1) plan described in [subsection (c)(1)](#c-1) for children in grades 6 through 12.
  - (2) Training principals, [specialized instructional support personnel](/usc/20/7801.md?p=47-A), school librarians, and other [local educational agency](/usc/20/7801.md?p=30-A) personnel to support, develop, administer, and evaluate high-quality [comprehensive literacy instruction](/usc/20/6641.md?p=b-1) initiatives for grades 6 through 12.
  - (3) Assessing the quality of adolescent [comprehensive literacy instruction](/usc/20/6641.md?p=b-1) as part of a [well-rounded education](/usc/20/7801.md?p=52).
  - (4) Providing time for teachers to meet to plan [evidence-based](/usc/20/7801.md?p=21-A) adolescent [comprehensive literacy instruction](/usc/20/6641.md?p=b-1) to be delivered as part of a [well-rounded education](/usc/20/7801.md?p=52).
  - (5) Coordinating the involvement of principals, other instructional leaders, teachers, teacher literacy teams, English as a second language specialists (as appropriate), [paraprofessionals](/usc/20/7801.md?p=37), special educators, [specialized instructional support personnel](/usc/20/7801.md?p=47-A) (as appropriate), and school personnel in the literacy development of children served under this subsection.
- (e) **Allowable uses—** An [eligible entity](/usc/20/6631.md?p=b-1) that receives a subgrant under this section may, in addition to carrying out the activities described in subsections [(c)](#c) and [(d)](#d), use subgrant funds to carry out the following activities pertaining to children in kindergarten through grade 12:
  - (1) Recruiting, placing, training, and compensating literacy coaches.
  - (2) Connecting out-of-school learning opportunities to in-school learning in order to improve children’s literacy achievement.
  - (3) Training families and caregivers to support the improvement of adolescent literacy.
  - (4) Providing for a [multi-tier system of supports](/usc/20/7801.md?p=33) for literacy services.
  - (5) Forming a school literacy leadership team to help implement, assess, and identify necessary changes to the literacy initiatives in 1 or more schools to ensure success.
  - (6) Providing time for teachers (and other literacy staff, as appropriate, such as school librarians or [specialized instructional support personnel](/usc/20/7801.md?p=47-A)) to meet to plan [comprehensive literacy instruction](/usc/20/6641.md?p=b-1).

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 89–10, title II, § 2224, as added Pub. L. 114–95, title II, § 2002, Dec. 10, 2015, 129 Stat. 1941.)

## Notes

### Editorial Notes

### Prior Provisions

A prior section 6644, Pub. L. 89–10, title II, § 2204, as added Pub. L. 103–382, title I, § 101, Oct. 20, 1994, 108 Stat. 3622, related to consortium requirement, prior to its omission in the general amendment of this subchapter by Pub. L. 107–110.

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date

Section effective Dec. 10, 2015, except with respect to certain noncompetitive programs and competitive programs, see section 5 of Pub. L. 114–95, set out as an Effective Date of 2015 Amendment note under section 6301 of this title.