Embedded Files
Hello,
I hope your March is smooth sailing as we fly towards spring break. It is my hope that you find some time to rest, renew and read...something for fun or something to inspire you.
In the newsletter below you will find some updates, resources and information about our upcoming KSDE Great Ideas Conference which will be July 27-29th! Please share this newsletter widely and let me know if you have questions or need additional support. If you know of someone who would like to receive this newsletter each month, please let them know 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
Don't Forget! The time to take the 2nd grade assessment is nearly here!
Would you like to let your students see how your students are using those foundational skills when applying them to narrative and expository text passage- consider taking this optional assessment!
The window opens March 23rd and closes April 24th.
The Grade 2 Kansas Reading Assessment measures both foundational skills and reading comprehension. It is designed to serve as a bridge between the early elementary goal of learning to read and the later elementary goal of reading to learn. Results are intended for parent, teacher, school, and district use. Results should be used to guide instruction and possible summer intervention prior to 3rd grade. Grade 2 Reading Assessment results are not included in the state accountability framework.
This assessment is provided in 2 sessions, 25-30 minutes each in an engaging format. Students have the chance to "try out" those foundational skills in passages, giving them an opportunity to see what an assessment through KAP might look like before they take their first "state assessment". More information is provided at THIS LINK. Information and timelines for all assessments can be found on this document: Kansas Assessment Program Overview
Educators can contact their test coordinator to be set up for the assessment or contact Chelsea Pelfrey at Chelsea.Pelfrey@ksde.gov with questions!
UPDATE related to Lexia® LETRS®:
Resetting LETRS Volume /Summative Assessments
KSDE and Lexia now have a written agreement that will allow individuals who took a summative assessment after July 1, 2025 (the date of the assessment change) for LETRS for Administrators, Early Childhood and LETRS 3rd Edition if participants scored below 80% to provide an opportunity to reset the Volume post-test.
Important information to note:
The date of July 1st is because July 1,2025 is the date the assessment was changed to include multiple forms and new items, etc. If you feel you need a reset for an assessment prior to that date, there is a link you can use to share your concern.
If an assessment is re-set, the earlier score will be deleted and replaced with the most recent score.
This reset option does not include unit assessments, just the end of the volume summative assessment if there was a score below 80%.
The link to request a reset can be found HERE
PLEASE NOTE QUESTION REVIEW IS CONTINUING: If you take a LETRS assessment and have questions related to a specific item- please document the specifics for what was unclear or what you feel was incorrect and contact support@lexialearning.com to share the specific item information or your question with the Lexia support team.
We are here to assist!
Complete this form to request KSDE Program Manager assistance when you have a need for professional learning provided by KSDE. It is our hope that your system is creating coherent professional learning that we can help support. You can use the link below to request the assistance from our team or others. It is especially helpful if smaller systems combine for professional learning days for larger audiences and networking of content areas! The Structured Literacy/ Dyslexia team is also avaialble for virtual consulting by using the Literacy Lifeline link at the end of this newsletter!
If you have a reading specialist that would like to participate in our montly state-wide PLC, please have them contact me at ELitDyslexia@ksde.gov. We meet from 4:00 - 5:00 pm on the 4th Tuesday of the month via Zoom.
Professional Learning Opportunities
FREE Opportunity for ESOL Professional Learning Session is Coming Up!
Included below is information and registration is below for the ESOL Innovations Conference to be held in Manhattan, KS on April 22nd. If you want to know more or register, please see the link below! Come, Share, Network, and Learn!
ESOL Innovations Conference 2026: Elevating Instruction and ML Supports
The Reading League Conference
Elevating Literacy: Connecting Communities for Lasting Impact!
The event will be held at the Rhatigan Student Center on the Wichita State University campus in Wichita, KS on Monday, March 30, 2026.
More information and the lik to register can be found HERE ks.thereadingleague.org/2026-elevating-literacy/
Information for Promising Practice
Reading aloud when used in a structured literacy framework
can turn students into published authors!
Hailey Hawkinson, a KSDE Teacher Leader Consultant and 2nd grade teacher in USD 482, uses read aloud opportunities in her 2nd grade classroom for various reasons. While explicitly teaching vocabulary and grammatical structures, she lifts sentences from the text she reads aloud and uses them for instruction- and also helps her students become published authors in her 2nd grade class!
Hailey does a project using mentor texts for writing inspiration. Her class is currently writing "Diary of a Desk Pet" inspired by the series of books written by Doreen Cronin and illustrated by Harry Bliss (Diary of a Worm, Diary of a Spider, and Diary of a Fly). Students focus on writing first person narratives from the perspective of their own "desk pets." "We imagine what they do when we leave the room for the day and write about their adventures in a diary format and always include a problem and a solution. The final product will be turned into a class book and published by Student Treasures, a company that produces bound books for classrooms that can be purchased."
Reading books aloud to children unlocks not just the standards we are to teach...but the imaginations of students as well!
Resources from the National Center on Improving Literacy
The National Center on Improving Literacy provides free resources which you can search by topic or subject...such as phonemic awareness, phonics, dyslexia, science of reading, vocabulary- specific steps, infographics, and information articles are found at their website, including information for families. Information that discusses both instruction for Tier 1 and intervention is found there as well as information about the value and role of literacy coaches. These resources would be a great way to guide conversations in building-wide PD, or for use withint your building or district-wide PLC (professional learning community) time.
Language Screeners- The Why...the How...and Which One?
KSDE has been researching oral language screening tools and thought you might be interested in what we have found out! We will be learning more at the KSDE Summer Literacy Summit, July 27th, when we will have experts share additional information and let us see what an oral language screening tool might look like and what benefit they provide. We have been learning a lot over the last two years (f you have followed this newsletter) about Developmental Language Disorder, and these tools help us identify students early who may struggle with language acquisition and use. If you want to learn more about the research- check out these resources!
This article, provided by the American Speech and Language Association discusses LanguageScreen (OxED), one of the screeners that states are using to help identify students who need additional support and intervention. See below and perhaps share in conversation about it with your favorite speech language pathologist!
This screener is provided by Language Dynamics and we have some in the state using it. There is a free print version that you can review and download from their website at: CUBED – Language Dynamics Group. We will have the researcher for this screener with us at the KSDE Literacy Summit this summer to increase our understanding related to oral language assessment. More information can be found here: CUBED-3-Research-Synthesis-2025.pdf. For additional information regarding the Language Dynamics narrative measures on this assessment see: Reliability and validity evidence for the English and Spanish preschool narrative language measures-listening - ScienceDirect
Can there be too much of a good thing?
In a recent blog by Timothy Shanahan, he addresses the idea of "how much" phonics is the right amount. I think we all have some thoughts about this- personally I want to know the quality of what is being done during phonics instruction more than the number of minutes... but the question is still out there! Can there be too much of a "good" thing? How do we take a good look at our practices and lean into our data to help us answer this question. If you have found yourself contemplating this...you may wish to read not only his blog, but the research cited within it! You can find the link below:
Reading Universe Assessment Support
I hope that you have some great assessment resources in the programs and resources you use for reading instruction- but if there is that ONE THING, you can't quite put your finger on...here is a free resource from Reading Universe to help you out! The assessments are free, easy to access and can help guide instruction and intervention! Whether "r-controlled" vowels, syllable types or letters and sounds- there are assessment resources in the link below that you may find helpful!
English Learner Support
How are we doing with our multilingual learners- having passed the middle of the year? Have we made the progress we hoped to make? How might we accelerate our progress as we move toward the end of the year? Are you wondering...looking for affirmation or information?
This wonderful resource shared by Emily Scott, our KSDE can help guide you for the next "right" step as we build on the momentum of the school year to guide you in what multilingual learners need MOST in the second half of the school year!
What Multilingual Learners Need Most in the Second Half of the School Year
Reasons to Celebrate!
We have MANY LETRS cohorts finishing up as we move to the end of the academic year!
Please send me photos so we can celebrate with your educators!
Literacy Lifeline Questions/ Answers
Literacy Lifeline is available to answer your questions!
If you have a question about literacy professional practice, or anything else related to improving student literacy learning - the KSDE Structured 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.
“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
Nothing is going to get better. It's not.”
― Dr. Seuss, The Lorax
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.
Page updated
Report abuse