MOSES LAKE - Four Grant County School Districts received grants to help them implement the state's Common Core State Standards.

Ephrata, Grand Coulee Dam, Moses Lake and Royal school districts are among 50 school districts in the state to receive grants from the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Washington Higher Education Coordinating Board. Seventy-five districts applied for the grants.

The $4,500 grants will be used for travel and other costs associated with attending workshops on the core standards in spring and summer 2012.

Grant winners will have access to regional trainings about the standards, will work as a network with fellow districts to build comprehensive transition plans and will serve as resources to other districts as they prepare to transition to the standards.

The standards describe knowledge and skills students need in English language arts and math to ready them for college and careers when they graduate.

The grants are funded by Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR-UP), a federal grant program that helps increase the number of low-income students preparing for college.