Six states have been awarded $180 million in federal grants to create and implement comprehensive programs for improving literacy for children from birth through 12^th grade, the U.S. Department of Education announced yesterday.

The states – Texas, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Georgia, Nevada, and Montana – received grants ranging from $7.6 million to $66.5 million as part of the Education Department’s Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy Program. The funds will support “programs that advance literacy skills through professional development, screening and assessment, targeted interventions for students reading below grade level and other research-based methods of improving classroom instruction and practice,” according to the Education Department.

The Striving Readers program, created in 2006 by the Bush Administration to focus on adolescent literacy, had become an umbrella initiative incorporating other federal literacy initiatives, including Reading First and Early Reading First. Funding, however, was completely slashed in this spring’s long-term spending bill. The grant dollars awarded yesterday are left over from the Education Department’s 2010 budget.

Last year the Education Department awarded Striving Readers grants to 48 states to help them establish literacy teams and create comprehensive literacy plans. About three dozen states applied for the discretionary grants awarded yesterday. The Education Department still plans to award technical assistance contracts to help all states – including the six who won the discretionary grants – put their plans into action. This technical assistance will include a grantees’ meeting, webinars, and a Summer Literacy Institute, along with other types of assistance depending on the needs of the states. The Education Department will also help states collaborate and share resources, allowing all states to benefit from lessons learned as the six implement their plans.