Embedded Files
Holiday greetings!
I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are cruising into the rest of the holiday season. I always look forward to turning the page on the new year and determining how I am going to do things differently...better... moving forward. It is a good time to find that one new thing you want to try and create the plan to move it into your practice. If you have suggestions of how to make this newsletter more beneficial to you, please drop me an email at lcurtis@ksde.org. I want to reflect and improve my work as well!
Consider getting a team from your school to sign up for our team's KSDE professional learning sessions that will be focused on making sense of the data so you can respond in ways to move students forward on their trajectory of learning. There are several sessions around the state...scroll down and look for CLUES! You will also see some changes in our "virtual office hours"- Literacy Lifeline. Rather than holding pre-scheduled times on Thursdays when we are available to answer your questions or help you brainstorm, there is a form you can fill out with lots of options about how we might assist you.
Please share or forward this newsletter (and the link to the literacy lifeline) widely and let me know if I can help you in any way- have a wonderful holiday and I'll see you next year!
Yours in education,
Laurie
Dr. Laurie Curtis
KSDE Early Literacy/ Dyslexia Program Manager
Have a question about that one student you haven't quite been able to figure out how to help? Wondering about implementation of a new practice or how to organize your small groups aligned to structured literacy?
The Early Literacy/ Dyslexia team is here to help you. Do you have a question...a problem in practice...or want to brainstorm a solution?
We can email you a response, schedule a Zoom for a quick consultation, or share answers and resources in the newsletter that can answer the question not only for you- but for others around the state.
Complete this form and let us know what might work for you:
Please Join Us!
CLUES: What Do We Do with All This Data?
A KSDE Professional Development Event
Addressing Balanced Assessment System/ Structured Literacy
8:30 am – 2:30 pm; $35.00 (includes lunch)
PLEASE REGISTER ALL TEAM MEMBERS SO WE HAVE THE RIGHT NUMBER FOR MEALS/SNACKS!
January 23, 2024: Orion Education Center, Clearwater, KS Register HERE
January 31, 2024: Smoky Hill Education Center, Salina, KS Register HERE
February 2, 2024: ESSDACK Service Center, Hutchinson, KS Register HERE
February 6, 2024: Greenbush Service Center, Girard, KS Register HERE
February 22, 2024: Southwest Plain Service Center, Sublette, KS Register HERE
March 19, 2024: Greenbush Service Center, Lawrence, KS Register HERE
Who: PLCs or Building/ District Leadership teams
This professional learning opportunity will provide building and/ or district teams of three more with structures and processes to discuss data and design action steps to improve student outcomes.
PLEASE REGISTER ALL TEAM MEMBERS SO WE HAVE THE RIGHT NUMBER FOR MEALS/SNACKS!
This day of professional learning is designed for teachers and leaders of any/ all grade levels. Expect a day of discussion, processing, and planning! The discussion for this day will focus heavily on English Language Arts and reading data, however many of the processes can be transferred to other content areas if you chose to implement them at your school site.
Outcomes:
Collaborate with your leadership teams/PLCs to improve student outcomes
Learn how to utilize protocols to improve data driven conversations
Utilize an improvement cycle to select actions steps and monitor your impact on student learning
Explore best practices in data analysis
What to bring:
Bring a team- together everyone accomplishes more! Bring at least three individuals from your school or district who are interested in collaborating to bring this work forward in your district. To support teams of teachers and administrators during this session, it is crucial to have access to digital data or printed reports available. This can include a variety of sources, but at minimum please bring state assessment and academic screening results. Additional data can include common assessments, interim results, office referral rates, attendance, SEL screeners, surveys, and other relevant data collected by your school and district. By utilizing data, teams can make informed decisions and effectively address the needs of their students.
Presenter: Casey Peine, KSDE Teacher Leader Consultant: Casey Peine presently holds the position of Director of Teaching and Learning in Clearwater, USD 264. Throughout her educational career she has undertaken diverse roles, including service as a TASN consultant, administrator, instructional coach, and teacher. Her passion resides in the cultivation of teacher teams’ capacity to make informed decisions using data and evidence of student learning.
Are you an instructional coach or do you serve as a literacy leader in your district or in your grade level team? You may find the Ally Literacy Leadership podcast useful as you navigate how best to support structured literacy in your school/ district.
Dr. Terry Noland, hosts a free podcast every other week about topics that connect with structured literacy and evidence-based practices. Here is what they write for the mission of the podcast sponsored by Learning Ally.
"We are growing a community of educators dedicated to literacy leadership. Our mission is simple: to smash the literacy gap by applying evidence-based reading practices to all grades and all stages of a student's reading journey, effectively influencing up, down, and sideways to drive the best outcomes for all. This is a place where educators empower each other through relationship building, storytelling, vulnerability, and intentionality. We believe that when educators are empowered, students succeed."
You can check out current and archived episodes (over 100) here.
The Ally Literacy Leadership Podcast.
SAVE THE DATE!
Spend Valentine's Day at the MTSS Reading Regional Roadshow in Dodge City!
February 14, 2024
Learn about current research and practices to help all readers and leave with ideas you can implement the next day.
For more information and/ or to register visit:
KANSAS MTSS Regional Reading Roadshow
What is wrong with Guided Reading?
It is difficult to leave a practice that you like to try a better way of meeting the needs of students. We know most students need explicit instruction that is coherent, systematic and cumulative in order to read, write and spell well. This blog, written by a K-5 reading specialist, shares thoughts about "what's wrong with guided reading" to clarify not just why it isn't the best way to provide instruction...but what to do instead. Your curriculum may define how you manage your small group instruction, but for those that do not currently have a strong small group component for your Tier 1 literacy curriculum, the link below might be helpful.
Early Childhood Teachers!
42nd Annual Kansas Division for Early Childhood Conference.
February 29-March 1st in Wichita. For more information see this:
42nd Annual Kansas Division for Early Childhood Conference: Inclusion Matters
NEW!
The Compass has been launched by The Reading League to provide a place to house resources for evidence-based practices aligned to the Science of Reading. Resources are linked based on your role:
Policy Makers and Education Agencies
Higher Education Preparation Institutions
Educators and Specialists
Administrators
English Learners/ Emergent Bilinguals
One of the documents that you can find there is "Teaching Reading IS Rocket Science". this is a great read for your building PLC time. I have also included some links to a few others below.
Five Action Steps for School and District Leaders Implementing the Science of Reading
Last chace for KSDE funded LETRS® training coming up!
Pre-Registration for final LETRS Cohort (to begin August 2024)
LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling) is a course to help improve instruction aligned with the science of reading including structured literacy. This course is a hybrid training with the majority being self-paced online training. The few live training days can be done virtually via Zoom.
LETRS is a 2-year Commitment designed for teachers of students in kindergarten and older. Next cohort begins August 2024.
LETRS for Early Childhood is a semester Commitment designed for teachers of students in preschool and kindergarten. Next cohort begins August 2024.
LETRS for Administrators is a 2-year Commitment designed for instructional leaders who are supervising the provision of structured literacy and making decisions for the system about core curriculum, assessment systems and instruction. Next cohort begins August 2024.
Amidst the season's twinkling lights, Educators shine with guiding sights.
Their impact stretches far and wide, In hearts and minds, their wisdom resides.
With lessons crafted, each a gift so rare, They spark young minds with tender care.
Through laughter, learning, and joyful play, They light the path in a wondrous way.
To educators whose hearts run deep, Your influence, like magic, leaps.
Merry holidays, with gratitude true, For all you do, our thanks to you.
If you know someone who would like to receive this newsletter, please ask them to contact me at ELitDyslexia@ksde.org to request being added to the Early Literacy/ Dyslexia listserv, or visit the KSDE Dyslexia page and select the purple HERE button and select Newsletter to see the current and past issues.
Page updated
Report abuse