How Can My District Pay for Professional Learning? Using Title II Funding to Drive Literacy Success

Key Takeaways

1. Maximize Funding Flexibility
   Title IIA funding is available to all district schools, not just Title I schools, and can be combined with other grants to address literacy and equity needs.

2. Use Funding to Invest in Evidence-Based Professional Learning
   Targeted professional development aligned with the science of reading is one of the best options for improving literacy outcomes and empowering educators.

3. Focus on Long-Term Sustainability
   The strategic use of Title IIA funding supports multiyear (up to three years) literacy initiatives that deliver measurable results. For more information, leaders should always consult with their federal program liaison at the U.S. Department of Education Federal Program.

4. Promote Equity in Education
   Title IIA funding aims to enable equitable access to effective educators, reducing disparities for underserved populations and students with disabilities.

5. Empower Educators to Drive Success
   A deep understanding of evidence-based practices prepares teachers to differentiate instruction, support multilingual learners, and improve reading for all grade levels.

In today’s educational environment, facing competing educational priorities and budget shortfalls can feel like playing the Whac-A-Mole arcade game. Thankfully, federal Title II grants are available for pre-K–12 district leaders to draw upon for literacy and equity initiatives.

One of the best ways to support these efforts is with relevant and personalized professional learning opportunities, such as those from Lexia®. Lexia's professional learning equips educators and administrators with the tools and knowledge to develop proficient readers who can tackle all subjects, including math, science, and social studies.

You can use Title II funding to support your district initiatives. Read on for:

1. Clear solutions to ensure district leaders maximize all available funding

2. Five simple but effective ways to evaluate the quality of your investment

Title II Funding Explained

Part A of Title II grant funding provides billions of dollars to improve educator quality and support. This support can range from professional development to supplemental resources to improve personalized instruction.

District leaders can spend Title IIA funds across all of their schools to address school needs and improve overall student learning outcomes, regardless of Title I designation.

Additionally, for Title I districts, it’s possible to legally “braid” funding streams, dipping into both Title I and Title II grant resources to support student achievement.

According to the Department of Education, the state-administered federal Title II program aims to provide all students greater access to effective educators. It is critical to consider how to best use the funds, among other funding sources, to ensure equity in educational opportunity. Leaders can use such funds to effectively attract and retain educators and implement new, innovative, and evidence-based ideas.

In the past, Title IIA funds were often reserved for professional learning at the leadership level; however, new approaches to using Title IIA funds have emerged in recent years. An EdWeek survey of district leaders indicated that:

• 53% planned to fund elementary reading teachers’ professional development

• 22% aimed to apply funding to instructional coaches in the coming two years

• 22% planned to use funding to support professional development for secondary reading and science teachers

• 37% of leaders in the largest districts surveyed said they would direct funding toward coaches, compared to 28% of districts with 2,500–9,999 students and 17% of districts with fewer than 2,500 students

Unlock Literacy Success

Teacher effectiveness is the most significant and sustainable factor in addressing students' needs. Investments in professional learning better equip teachers and administrators to help students improve their reading scores.

According to DOE guidance, “the most effective strategies are designed to support the students for whom there are the greatest rates of disproportionality in access to excellent educators, while also addressing the underlying factor or factors causing or contributing to these disproportionalities.”

Literacy is the greatest equalizer of all, giving every individual the foundation to participate in society and the tools to pursue their potential in college or a career.

Therefore, high-quality professional learning designed to have a measurable impact on improving teaching and learning is a permissible use of Title IIA funding. Examples of high-quality professional learning can include:

• Districtwide professional development in the science of reading

• Educator skills and tools for differentiating learning

• Leadership training to support literacy initiatives, culturally responsive teaching practices, and personalized learning

• Literacy coaching for all grade levels, including secondary teachers

• Professional development for pre-K educators, helping the youngest learners start strong

5 Questions to Ask for the Effective Use of Title IIA Funding

As you plan to invest in high-quality professional learning, consider the best use of Title IIA funds to drive measurable results. The following are five key questions to ask about a professional learning program before beginning the Title II funding application process to pay for it:

1. Is it evidence-based?

A successful evidence-based professional learning program should incorporate:

• Clear goals and objectives

• Relevant and research-based content

• Active engagement

• Ongoing support

• Job-embedded learning

• Feedback and reflection

• Assessment and evaluation

• Sustained effort (more than one session—ongoing professional learning to make a difference)

For example, Lexia’s professional learning solutions are built on the science of reading and are informed by five decades of gold-standard research. They are designed to strengthen educators’ expertise in diagnosing specific student needs and how best to support them. With Lexia Aspire® Professional Learning, leaders gain actionable data to visualize the program’s impact on their districts, schools, and individual educators.

2. Is it sustainable?

Moving the needle on reading success requires consistent and systematic effort. Title II doesn’t support one-time, one-off classes. Professional learning must translate best practices to the classroom and meet district goals. Helping educators become experts in the science of reading can be the most sustainable action a district leader can take.

Mississippi’s historic literacy success, which was so impressive it came to be known as the Mississippi Miracle, proved that investing in educators with Lexia® LETRS® Professional Learning (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling) could transform literacy outcomes. North Carolina educators experienced similar statewide success after implementing LETRS. By the end of the 2023–2024 school year, K–3 students outperformed the national average for the third year in a row, with scores steadily increasing in all subgroups.

3. Will it accelerate learning?

National literacy scores have stagnated, and educators need to close learning gaps. Professional learning implemented with Title IIA funding should help educators identify missing skills, provide instruction that addresses language and literacy development, and continually monitor and evaluate student progress.

Educators at Friendship Charter Schools in Washington, D.C., use Aspire because it’s designed to help all educators accelerate literacy skills among students in grades 4–8. The training gave teachers the skills and tools needed to “go into the classroom and deliver high-quality instruction that moves reading outcomes,” reported Tiffany Goodman, director of Multi-Tiered Systems of Support.

4. Does it advance educational equity?

Title IIA is explicitly designed to provide equitable access to excellent educators. Training educators in the basics of the science of reading addresses disparities in educational outcomes for students from underserved populations, including those who experience a disability supported through the Americans with Disabilities Act and the roughly 5 million multilingual learners in classrooms nationwide.

Using Aspire, teachers review the critical components of equitable learning, approaching bilingualism and biliteracy as assets to be celebrated and leveraged in instruction. In addition, the program addresses best practices for assessing the oral reading fluency of multilingual learners, recognizing the intonation typical of students' heritage or home languages. Aspire also provides information about Spanish/English cognates, as Spanish is the second most common language spoken in the United States (Dietrich and Hernandez, 2022). Since both languages have words with Latin and Greek morphemes, approximately 30% to 40% of all words in English have cognates in Spanish.

5. Does it empower educators?

Teachers must be empowered in their planning and interventions. Therefore, district leaders should consider how Title IIA-funded implementations will ensure teachers have the knowledge, skills, and tools to meet the needs of all students.

For example, a principal in North Carolina explained the lasting effects of LETRS: “As educators, our team is truly now empowered to ensure every student will become a proficient reader.” A teacher in Minnesota said, “LETRS helped me as a teacher gain a better grasp on language development as a whole. My knowledge has in turn enabled my students to better understand the ‘why’s’ of our language.”

Whichever solution a district chooses, professional learning programs should be the cornerstone of a multiyear, systematic literacy improvement initiative and meet all the criteria for all levels of funding, including Title IIA.

By using Title IIA funding for Lexia professional learning solutions, you will gain confidence knowing that every dime spent on teacher proficiency can support better outcomes overall.

Meet Title IIA Professional Learning Requirements with Lexia