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Hello February,
Valentine's Day is around the corner. It is a time to make sure people feel loved and cared for...appreciated...and I want to thank you for the important work you do. You make a difference. You equip children and young adults with the skills and knowledge they need to be critical thinkers, problem solvers and life-long learners. I truly believe there is NO more important profession than teaching and mentoring children/ students. You have perhaps seen it as a tag line in some of my emails, but I truly believe that literacy changes lives, as nothing else can. You are not only a "brain changer", but you are also a life changer!
You will find below important information about upcoming professional learning, promising practices and some valuable information on upcoming assessments. Also, as always, you will find a link to our Literacy Lifeline, where you can partner with someone on our Early Literacy/ Dyslexia team to help you answer questions you may have as you work to meet the needs of your students.
Please share this newsletter widely and let me know if you have questions or need additional support. If you know of someone who wants to sign up to get this newsletter automatically, each time they are pushed out, they can do that by emailing a request to ELitDyslexia@ksde.gov.
Yours in education
Laurie
Dr. Laurie Curtis
KSDE Early Literacy/ Dyslexia Program Manager
Important Updates from KSDE
PLEASE NOTE! All KSDE emails changed as of January 15, 2025. As well, the state agency has changed its website address to www.ksde.gov. Please make sure to note thost changes as you communicate with me...or anyone at KSDE!
Laurie Curtis email is now Laurie.Curtis@ksde.gov
ELitDyslexia is noq ELitDyslexia@ksde.gov
The New English Language Arts Assessment is on the horizon!
This spring we are anticipating the new English Language Arts summative assessment. As you prepare your students to take that exam, it may be helpful to understand the intentional way passages of text are determined for both our state interims and summative assessments.
See the linked document below, provided by Beth Fultz, Director of Career, Standards, and Assessment, explaining how texts are designed and developed to support assessment of grade-level standards for our ELA state assessments.
2025 KAP Text Passage Information for English Language Arts Summative Assessment
As referenced in the linked document above, Kansas is a partner state with MetaMetrics and as so, you receive a free account with their resources. You can see some of what that entails by using this link to explore the resources. A Lexile and Quantile Hub Overview Video can be found here. This will provide you with information regarding signing in to your free account, as an educator in a Kansas school system. See additional information at this link: Lexile Hub Opportunity for Kansas Educators
Sign Up for the 2nd Grade Assessment!
This optional assessment is for teachers...to benefit students...to inform parents!
This assessment provides information on how our young students do when applying the skills they learn in K-2 to comprehension passages. This is an opportunity for students to gain familiarity with the testing system in a low-stress environment! Results come back quickly, prior to the end of the year to share with parents, plan for summer opportunities and inform planning for next year! Feedback has been positive from those who have used it...both from students AND teachers! If you are interested, please contact your test coordinator. Additional assistance can be found below/!
The testing window for the optional 2nd grade reading assessment is 3/24/25 to 4/25/25.
Test coordinators can find information at https://ksassessments.org/sites/default/files/documents/KAP_Test_Coordinator_Manual.pdf
The test is the same as last year and students take it in two sessions given in the Kite Student Portal. Districts will need to send a TASC record to register students to take the assessment. Districts do not need to notify anyone at KSDE, the TASC record will be the notification.
Student results will be available about a week after the testing window closes.
Direct questions to Chelsea Pelfrey or the Kite Service desk- 855-277-9752 or kap-support@ku.edu.
Information for Promising Practice
Structured Literacy Instructional Recommendations for PreK-6
The literacy structures and graphics represented in this document are intended to create a snapshot of the domains of language arts instruction that are included in a structured literacy framework for PreK-6th grade. This document is a recommendation only and should be used in conjunction with professional conversations about literacy instruction and careful review of student data. Although the literacy components are listed separately on the graphics, it is not expected that teachers silo the components in their instruction. Robust reading instruction and the components listed in this document should be integrated, when possible, to provide instructional coherence. The terms of structured literacy and the science of reading are not synonymous. Structured literacy is a model of instruction that is founded on the science of reading, a body of research accumulated over decades throughout the world that informs what we know about how the brain acquires language and literacy.
How do we grow our sight-word vocabularies?
Learn about orthographic mapping! This information from Reading Universe can help inform your practice!
Professional Learning Opportunities
Kansas was ahead of the game!
Please visit this recent Science of Reading Podcast, featuring Dr. Tiffany Hogan, a national expert, as she shares important information about Developmental Language Disorder. Dr. Hogan met with Kansas educators last fall to provide professional learning on DLD and shared in a panel discussion with teachers to solidify our understanding. You can revisit her slide deck and the recording of her slide presentation by visiting the KSDE Dyslexia Page and visiting the Professional Learning Section.
Professional Learning to Support School Improvement! This is free for any educator who is teaching in an accredited school in Kansas!
Professional Learning to Support School Improvement! This is free for any educator who is teaching in an accredited school in Kansas!
(Not only free...but you even get a half credit of graduate credit!)
Please CHECK DATES AND REGISTER!
Our KSDE ELA and Early Literacy/ Dyslexia Teams and other content area teams are very happy to be working on a state-wide collaborative effort with our Kansas Educational Service Center partners to provide ongoing, free professional learning in support of the new KSDE School Improvement Model.
These collaborative sessions are designed for any K-12 teacher. Registration links are included, so jump in to register as space is limited! Additional dates will be announced soon as we schedule throughout this school year, this summer and next fall!
Data-Driven Success- Unpacking Literacy Assessments for Maximum Impact (K-12)
February 26 Greenbush (Lawrence)
February 28 Orion
March 10 ESSDACK
March 19 Greenbush (Girard)
April 2 SW Plains
For more information and to register see THIS LINK
Cracking the Code: Practical Strategies for Teaching Word Recognition (K-12)
March 4 Smoky Hill (Salina)
March 31 Greenbush (Girard)
April 3 Orion (Clearwater)
April 15 Greenbush (Lawrence)
April 22 Southwest Plains (Sublette)
April 24 ESSDACK
For more information and to register see THIS LINK
For English Language Arts Standards Alignment PD, see these links for dates and locations:
ELA Standards and Mini tests/ Interims- Using Data to Help Drive Instruction (Grades 3-12)
Clear, Intentional, and Effective Writing: The Writing Tenets (3-12)
Is the Bridge to Practice Required for LETRS training?
Do I need to upload something from my Bridge to Practice to receive the Seal of Literacy?
These are two questions that occasionally come to me, so I thought it might be helpful to provide it for everyone in case you were wondering these things as well.
Question? Is the Bridge to Practice required for LETRS training?
Answer: Yes
Those who are providing LETRS training sign a letter of commitment stating that they will provide the course as it is designed. LETRS training has three separate components, and it is a professional expectation that districts and/ or service centers would maintain the expectation of the course as they deliver it to individual educators. The three components include the online modules, the facilitated training, and the Bridge to Practice. The Bridge to Practice is the application piece of the course and is important as educators try out what they have learned in the modules. How completion of the Bridge to Practice is verified may vary, but the expectation for completion shouldn't vary. Many districts expect documentation of it to receive credit for the PD time, etc. It will be most meaningful if there is an expectation that these activities are part of discussion used in PLCs or training so teachers can learn not only from doing the activities but learn from one another.
We recognize that educators are professionals and should be trusted to do the course as intended and we certainly recognize that there will be choices made regarding specifics in the Bridge to Practice, and how those activities are able to be completed may have some variance depending on the role of the individual taking the course (such as an administrator taking the 3rd edition course). We appreciate the commitment that teachers and building/district leadership has in assuring that the largest benefit is captured for both teachers AND students with this large expenditure of both time and money!
Question? Do I need to upload something from my Bridge to Practice to receive the Seal of Literacy?
Answer: No
You do not need to upload parts of your Bridge to Practice to receive the Seal of Literacy. The best place to provide documentation of the Bridge to Practice is in your school, where you complete the activities- in a place where you can increase your understanding as you discuss it with your colleagues. To receive the Seal of Literacy by completion of LETRS, KSDE will check completion of the course and verify post-test scores to assure that they are 80% or above, which is considered mastery level for the course.
Additional information can be found: Science Of Reading Licensure Requirements
Are you a reading specialist looking for a professional learning community?
We have had several communicate with me to voice interest in creating a PLC for Reading Specialists and we will be working to find a time that works soon. I have found an energetic facilitator for the time together- so last call for interest! If you have already responded from last month's request...I have your name and email and you will be hearing from me soon to schedule!
If interested, please send me an email at Laurie.Curtis@ksde.gov
Reasons to Celebrate!
Plans are underway for the KSDE Great Ideas in Education Conference for Building and District Leadership Teams! If you are on your district leadership team...start the conversation for who is sending in your registration! It opened up this week! More information can be found HERE
Literacy Lifeline Questions/ Answers
Literacy Lifeline is up and running!
If you have a question about literacy professional practice, or anything else related to improving student literacy learning - the KSDE Early Literacy/ Dyslexia team is here to help! You can ask a question using the linked form below and request it be answered via a Zoom virtual conference/ consulting session, an email, or suggest it as a possible article in this newsletter.
Be the kindness that reminds someone that the world is a compassionate place.
Happy Valentine's Day
If you know someone who would like to receive this newsletter, please ask them to contact me at ELitDyslexia@ksde.gov 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.
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