Bridging the Literacy Gap in Indiana: Empowering After-School Programs With Evidence-Based Solutions
Across Indiana, the science of reading is more than just a buzzword—it is a statewide commitment to ensuring every student, from Gary to Evansville, achieves literacy proficiency. While much of this transformation is happening within the traditional school day, the Indiana Afterschool Network (IAN) is leading a bold charge to ensure the learning continues after school hours.
With the launch of the IAN Literacy Playbook Funding Opportunities, educators in Indiana’s Out-of-School Time (OST) programs have a historic chance to align their efforts with the state’s new literacy framework. At Voyager Sopris Learning®, we are proud to support Indiana’s educators and community partners as they navigate these new grants to provide high-quality, evidence-based instruction.
Understanding the Opportunity: Launch and Build
The current IAN funding cycle offers two distinct pathways for educators to enhance their programs’ literacy impact:
- The Launch Grant: For educators in programs ready to build or expand their literacy offerings, this grant provides up to $25,000 per site. With applications accepted on a rolling basis through September 30, 2026, this is an ideal entry point for organizational leaders looking to integrate proven curricula into their daily schedules.
- The Build Grant: For those ready to pilot Indiana’s new statewide literacy model, the Build Grant offers a deeper partnership and higher funding levels—up to $200,000 for two years.
Proven Solutions for Indiana’s After-School Success
To meet the requirements of these grants, educators in these programs must implement “intentional, evidence-based, and engaging literacy experiences.” Voyager Sopris Learning solutions are explicitly designed to bridge the gap between the classroom and the after-school space, making them a perfect fit for the IAN “MyLocker” resource list.
Here are three high-impact solutions that align perfectly with the Indiana Literacy Playbook:
LINKS to Literacy™ is a reading intervention program for developing readers in grades K–5. Based on the science of reading, it delivers systematic, explicit instruction in the five essential components of reading. LINKS to Literacy is designed for small-group intervention, includes flexible implementation models, and follows a consistent routine with engaging themes about art, science, technology, travel, personal reflection, courage, and resilience. This solution gives students more opportunities for practice and immediate corrective feedback.
The REWARDS® suite is a powerful, research-validated program for adolescent students who struggle reading long, multisyllabic words and comprehending content-area text. With explicit, teacher-led instruction, REWARDS gives students the tools to improve fluency and comprehension to become successful readers.
Sound Partners is a research-based, supplementary tutoring program that provides individual instruction in phonics-based early reading skills. Through explicit instruction, engaging 30-minute lesson activities, and storybook reading practice, students work to improve alphabetic, phonemic awareness, decoding, word identification, and spelling skills.
Ready to transform your after-school program? Whether you are applying for a Launch Grant or aiming for the Build Grant pilot, Voyager Sopris Learning is here to help you select the right evidence-based tools for your students.