University centers of excellence, new instruction model core pieces of reform

TOPEKA — Developers of the state’s new student literacy initiative are pushing ahead with plans to create university centers of excellence and a special credential tied to retraining teachers in a quest to have 90% of third- to eighth-grade students read at or above grade level.

The Blueprint for Literacy authorized by the 2024 Kansas Legislature and Gov. Laura Kelly recognized one in three Kansas children had limited reading ability. The $10 million collaboration among the Kansas Board of Regents, the Kansas State Board of Education, state universities and K-12 teachers is to involve introduction next spring of a college course in the science of reading. The centers of excellence are to go online next year.

Cynthia Lane, who had a 40-year career in education prior to appointment by the state Board of Regents as director of the literacy project, said the mandate was to bring 90% of students to the reading benchmark by 2033. She said the literacy gap among Kansas students amounted to a crisis.

“I’m using that word on purpose because we have nearly a third of our children in our state, in the Midwest region and across the country, who either are not reading or who do not read well,” she said. “If you are below basic, you’re really struggling to read.”

The state law creating the Blueprint for Literacy also required each Kansas elementary teacher to attain a micro-credential in reading science by 2030.

‘Recipe for success’

Lane said the Blueprint for Literacy’s advisory council would ask the Kansas State Board of Education to endorse the new course in December. The state Board of Regents was briefed this week by Lane on progress toward implementing the initiative, but the board won’t take up detailed plans until December.

“Thank you for what you’re doing in combining both training with online mentoring and coaching. It’s an absolute recipe for success,” said Neelima Parasker, a Board of Regents member from Overland Park who is president of an IT company providing software development, training and staffing.

Under Senate Bill 538, Kansas must redesign its approach to reading instruction to focus on evidence-based research. It must concentrate on structure of language across sound and writing systems, syntax, the meaningful parts of words, relationships among words and the organization of written and spoken language.

The strategy is to have all pre-K through 8th grade teachers in Kansas upgrade their skills in the instruction of reading, specifically structured literacy. It’s unusual to have collaboration among the state’s public universities on development of the course relevant to experienced educators.

“It is extraordinary,” Lane said. “When I talk to people at the national level about the commitment of our university faculty, they are in awe that we have so much investment across all of our public universities.”

The new course is to be available to Kansas teachers through the six Board of Regents universities and at Washburn University in Topeka. Tuition is to be paid with state appropriations. There is funding to pay teachers a stipend for enrolling in the program.

Structured literacy

Lane said university faculty and consultants were designing the course to add to educators’ base of scientific knowledge while also addressing practical application of those insights. There is a commitment to personal coaching of K-12 teachers so they have help applying what they learned about structured literacy, she said.

“Structured literacy requires direct and explicit individualized instruction to every learner until every learner reaches mastery,” Lane said.

Under this model, teachers are to put forward reading concepts in a way that build on one another. Students practice tasks frequently and receive steady feedback. Children will be given hands-on tools to analyze and build word structure. The skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing are to be paired to broaden language skills. Students will take regular quizzes to measure retention.

“The old methodology taught children if they didn’t know a word they could just skip it. They could look at a picture. They could guess. We’ve learned that might have been effective for some children, particularly those who come from high-resource homes that have lots of rich language experiences outside of schools. But for the majority of children, that methodology fell short.”

The new literacy course for teachers is to be delivered by universities online or through hybrid formats of in-person and online classes. It will be presented in modules with assessment of teachers at each stage. Educators will be able to test out of modules.

Collaboration model

Board of Regents member Alysia Johnston, a former Fort Scott Community College president, said she had been skeptical the Blueprint for Literacy staff could hit deadlines set in state law. She said her early apprehension had lifted and she was grateful educators participating in the project understood the urgency of improving reading skills among Kansas students.

“We can be nimble as educators. To have started in July and be able to implement a course that can be offered in the spring is really remarkable,” Johnston said. “I think it’s truly a model for collaboration.”

Under the 2024 law, Lane and her colleagues must create university centers of excellence to build a supportive network of resources and partnerships for school districts, educators and families. The centers are to provide assessment and diagnosis of reading difficulties, train in-service and pre-service educators in simulation labs, and support professional development of school-based instructional coaches.

The centers are to be at University of Kansas, Wichita State University, Kansas State University, Pittsburg State University, Fort Hays State University, Emporia State University and Washburn.

“The centers of excellence will be a game-changer for Kansas teachers and students,” Lane said. “The idea is to help educators improve.”

Lane said there was interest among Kansas independent colleges in making use of the instructional framework for teaching reading.

The initiative is being developed at a time when interest in the teaching profession has declined in Kansas and other states. In October, teacher vacancies in Kansas reached 1,950 with the largest surge in vacancies in special education. Hundreds of Kansas teaching positions have been filled by people who have a valid teaching license but teach outsider their specialty.

Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com. Follow Kansas Reflector on Facebook and Twitter.

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