Information on Michigan academic standards and instructional resources.
Responsible for providing final decisions in administrative appeals to MDE.
Learn more about the MDE office responsible for providing leadership in curriculum and instruction that provides students with greater choices to prepare for success.
Resources for educator certification, recognition programs, evaluation, and workforce research.
Resources related to financial and pupil accounting and auditing.
Options available for Michigan students that provide unique learning opportunities.
Food & Nutrition Programs
This MDE office provides resources and technical assistance in physical education, sex education, health education, behavioral, emotional, mental, and social education as well as safety, discipline, and transportation.
Resources for programs and initiatives that support school improvement efforts.
Resources for supporting special education in Michigan.
Michigan has an innovative and comprehensive system of assessments to measure student achievement in learning our state content standards.
Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
Search is currently unavailable. Please try again later.
The web Browser you are currently using is unsupported, and some features of this site may not work as intended. Please update to a modern browser such as Chrome, Firefox or Edge to experience all features Michigan.gov has to offer.
June 02, 2025
LANSING – Michigan is moving forward with continued progress related to historic K-12 literacy/dyslexia laws. Beginning today, local school districts can apply for two grants that allocate state dollars to support efforts to improve literacy achievement for students in the state.
“Today is another important day for Michigan students because our state is taking a major step in better teaching children to read and write by using proven research-based tools in our classrooms,” said State Superintendent Dr. Michael F. Rice. “We must and will do better in improving reading proficiency by ensuring Michigan teachers have the classroom materials and professional development they need to support young readers, including those with characteristics of dyslexia.”
The first grant is funded through Section 35m of the state School Aid Act for fiscal year 2025. The legislature provided $87 million to form a Committee for Literacy Achievement made up of experts to recommend tools and strategies to improve student literacy and award funds to districts.
Evaluations by the committee resulted in three rankings lists—Tier 1 Early Literacy Materials and Series, Early Literacy Intervention Materials and Series, and Professional Development. The lists are based on a request for submission process that included a demonstrated history of increasing student outcomes. The Michigan Department of Education (MDE) will award grant dollars to districts and intermediate school districts based on their use of highly rated literacy instruction tools.
Districts may apply for funding for one literacy item from one of the rankings lists. Lists are published on the Section 35m Committee for Literacy Achievement/HQ Literacy Materials Grant webpage.
The second grant is funded through Section 35n of the state School Aid Act for fiscal year 2025. It provides $10 million to MDE to administer the competitive Reading Excellence and Advancing District (READ) Innovation Grant. Winning districts will receive incentive money for literacy innovations that generate the greatest impact. Funds allocated under this section are intended to foster district-led innovations in literacy instruction grounded in the science of reading, provide the state with insights into successful practices that could be scaled statewide, and improve student outcomes in literacy.
In October 2024, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed long-awaited laws that will strengthen the effectiveness of literacy instruction and intervention for Michigan students. These laws provide training for both pre-service and in-service educators to learn or enhance skills needed to identify students with characteristics of dyslexia. The laws had bipartisan support from legislators.
The new laws and these two grants support Goal 2 of Michigan’s Top 10 Strategic Education Plan, to improve early literacy achievement.
“Reading and writing are the foundations for success in school,” said Dr. Delsa Chapman, deputy superintendent of the Division of Assessment, School Improvement, and Systems Support at MDE, which strongly advocated for the new literacy laws, along with the State Board of Education. “Providing highly rated literacy instruction tools to educators in Michigan will help our students achieve proficiency in reading and other subjects.”
The application deadline for both grants is July 11, 2025.
More information on the grants is available in a Section 35m memo and a Section 35n memo issued last week to school districts, intermediate school districts, and charter schools.
# # #
Media Contact:
