Appalachian State University’s Office of Rural Promise secured a $10 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to launch ETL SPARK – meaning…(Empowering Teacher Learning: Strengthening Professional learning to Advance Reading Knowledge). App State will partner with school districts across North Carolina as part of the five-year research initiative to study how teacher-directed professional learning in middle grades literacy can elevate classroom instruction and empower educators. While the state has made major investments in elementary literacy, individualized professional development for middle grades literacy has remained limited.