ELA Core Curriculum Project Update
The Department of Education and Early Development is supporting districts by providing an English Language Arts Curriculum Grant that meet the unique landscape of our state classrooms, truly reflecting diverse perspectives and providing inclusive reading instruction for all of our students.
On November 29, 2022, the ELA grant leadership teams met to review the program showcase process and to reflect on the question, “What are the greatest needs of our culturally diverse students across the state that we need to consider in selecting an ELA curriculum?” using ThoughtExchange. The 61 participants shared 51 thoughts, and the group gave 1,174 ratings through the collaborative process. The top-rated priority words were “vocabulary,” “rural,” and “explicit,” which also reflected the top-rated key thoughts.
 The high priority requirement for an ELA program defined by educators and district leaders is to build strong vocabulary and fluency for our Alaskan students and be a program with high usability, one that both new and veteran teachers will have success teaching. If you are interested in learning more about the process, please contact Kristi.Graber@alaska.gov.
 
State-Sponsored Literacy Screener
The Alaska Department of Education & Early Development has adopted mCLASS from Amplify as the statewide literacy screener that will help with the early identification of students with reading deficiencies in order to provide specific support so that all students will be able to read at grade level by the end of third grade. Statewide screening and support are components of the Alaska Reads Act.
DEED’s literacy screener pilot program utilizing mCLASS with DIBELS 8th edition began Monday, December 5, 2022. Currently, fourteen school districts have agreed to participate in the pilot program.
These districts include:
Alaska Gateway School District
Anchorage School District
Delta/Greely School District
Dillingham City School District
Hydaburg City School District
Juneau Borough School District
Kenai Peninsula Borough School District
Ketchikan Charter Schools
Kuspuk School District
Lake and Peninsula Borough School District
Lower Yukon School District
North Slope Borough School District
Southeast Island School District
Southwest Region School District
By agreeing to participate in DEED’s literacy screener pilot program, these districts are assisting DEED in preparation for the Alaska Reads Act literacy screener roll-out, to be effective July 1, 2023.
More information will come to support the implementation of the Alaska Reads Act state-sponsored literacy screener beginning in the Spring of 2023. For questions or inquiries, contact Tracy Parker at tracy.parker@alaska.gov.
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Alaska Literacy Blueprint
The Alaska Department of Education & Early Development continues in the process of updating the Alaska Literacy Blueprint. The past literacy blueprint was created and published in 2011. The Alaska Literacy Blueprint will address literacy in Alaska spanning from birth to college level.
DEED hosted two Alaska Literacy Blueprint stakeholder meetings in November. Input provided by the stakeholder group will drive the update. The next stakeholder meeting will be in late January, where DEED will present its progress and gain more insight and feedback. DEED’s anticipated completion date of the updated Alaska Literacy Blueprint is set for April 2023. Further updates are scheduled to post in upcoming newsletters.
For more information regarding the Alaska Literacy Blueprint, please contact tracy.parker@alaska.gov.
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Alaska RTI/MTSS Refresh
Alaska Staff Development Network, Alaska Council of School Administrators and the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development would like to announce the districts that will participate in the RTI/MTSS Refresh. Through this two-year project, support will be provided to assist districts in analyzing their current multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) model, ensuring strategies and structure to enhance practices that increase student success.
Congratulations to:
Kenai Peninsula Borough School District
Juneau Borough School District
Kodiak Island Borough School District
Ketchikan Gateway School District
Sitka School District
Petersburg Borough School District
Dillingham City School District
Haines Borough School District
Mount Edgecumbe
Bering Strait School District
Alaska Gateway School District
Lake & Peninsula Borough School District
Southwest Region School District
Kuspuk School District
Yukon-Koyukuk School District
Northwest Arctic Borough School District
It is possible that there will be opportunity for additional districts/schools/individuals to participate in activities, events, and other meet-ups over the duration of this two-year project. If your district, school, or an individual is interested in discussing how your educators might be involved, please contact Doug Gray, dgray@alaskaacsa.org.
2022 Leadership Summit
In support of Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, Region 16 Comprehensive Center hosted a Leadership Summit for several different education groups, and representatives from large, medium, and small school districts to discuss reading in Alaska on November 16th and 17th.
Participants included:
- Alaska Department of Education and Early Development
- Alaska State Board of Education
- National Education Association, Alaska
- Alaska School Development Network
- Alaska Association of School Boards
- University of Alaska and PACE
- Early Childhood and Head Start
- Alaska Council of School Administrators
- Southeast Region Resource Center
- Region 16 Comprehensive Center
- Large, medium, small district representation
- Curriculum specialists
- Superintendents
- Immersion Programs
- Early Childhood Programs
At the Leadership Summit, the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development’s Strategic Reading Plan and Alaska Reads Act elements were shared. Participants engaged in collaborative sharing of individual organization efforts to support Priority #1 of Alaska Education Challenge: all students will read at grade level by the end of grade three. The summit also included planning to support statewide professional learning alignment and implementation around reading achievement. Overall, the hope is to create a guiding coalition within the state that will create transformational change at all levels by aligning efforts and support. We look forward to further work together.
Let us explain...
Department of Education and Early Development
Alaska Reads Act Implementation Webinars Scheduled *UPDATED*
Mark your calendar to set time aside for a series of hour-long weekly virtual webinars that will begin on January 12th, designed to take a deeper dive into The Alaska Reads Act. Webinars will be held for each of the four programmatic parts of the Alaska Reads Act, teacher requirements, data collections, and world and Alaska language programs. There are also five “Office Hour for Q & A” webinars with no specific agenda or presentation. Office Hour sessions are meant to address questions or clarifications.
Webinars are open for those in charge of implementation of the requirements. Please note that for District Reading Intervention webinars there is an additional webinar the following day meant specifically for stakeholders that lead world and Alaska language programs.
Sessions will be recorded and available on https://education.alaska.gov/akreads for those that are not able to attend. We will also post slides used in the presentation along with draft materials presented.
Below is the zoom link to these virtual webinars:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83818170015
Alaska Reads Act Implementation Webinar Schedule
 
The Alaska Reads Act updated webpage is live! Please visit this page to read about the four programs of the Alaska Reads Act (Early Education/Parents as Teachers, District Reading Intervention, Department Reading Program, and Virtual Education).
The Alaska Reads Act (HB114) was passed by the 32nd Alaska State Legislature and signed into law by Governor Dunleavy in June 2022. It created a statewide comprehensive K-3 reading policy designed to improve reading outcomes. Learn about the how and why here.
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 Alaska Center for the Book
Winter is a good time to get cozy with a book or to share stories, so it’s a great time to kick off the Alaska Center for the Book’s statewide reading challenge that celebrates works by Alaska Native authors and creators. The challenge, a bingo card activity, is adapted with permission from the American Indian Library Association’s “Read Native” 2021. Launching in Alaska in January, this program will offer a great opportunity to introduce students to Alaska Native voices through classroom readings, storytelling, library searches and more. Watch for details in upcoming newsletters with links to the bingo cards and resources on the Alaska Center for the Book website.
https://www.alaskacenterforthebook.org/
(Click the link above for information on ADN's 40th Annual Statewide Creative Writing Contest and Fairbanks Art Association's 28th Statewide Poetry Contest.)
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School Spotlight
This month DEED is highlighting Dillingham City School District. Please read about their journey in analyzing data, realizing reading skills needed improvement, and taking action with an "everyone is a reading teacher" approach.
The minute I was hired as the new superintendent of Dillingham City School District, there was no confusion or question about my directive from the school board. Improve academics.
After looking at the scores and analyzing different types of data, I knew that to improve academics, we needed to elevate our reading skills. We would never grow, never change if our students could not read. It just so happens that this is where I have lived for many years, which has been surprising to many with whom I work.
It is clear that we have some skilled teachers that can lead our students toward raising reading scores and engagement. What was holding us back? Balanced literacy and the legacy that just reading teaches kids to read. I knew it would take a laser focus on how we teach reading and how we make it work in our classrooms. Again, something I have done both in and outside of the classroom for many years.
I assembled team members who knew and shared the vision I had communicated. We set out using all our available resources to ensure that every teacher, regardless of grade or the subject, were to become reading teachers. In my first presentation to our staff, I challenged them to become the reading teacher our students needed to move ahead. Not only to grow but to close the achievement gap that was staring us in the face. I closed that presentation with “Oprah” style motivation pointing to each group of teachers, claiming, “You’re a reading teacher.” “You’re a reading teacher.” “You’re a reading teacher.” “We are all reading teachers!”
We are on the ground floor, working with our teachers to help them understand the science of reading. We had to get the message, data, and facts out that research has shown that explicit, systematic instruction in how letters represent sounds is the most effective way to teach students to read. Giving students books they can not read or repeated reading of books “at their level” widens the achievement gap. We were not doing what was best for students.
We are also building a consistent process for identifying students and their weaknesses from the bottom up. With this process comes targeted, meaningful interventions that will improve skill, growth, and proficiency at every students’ level. This work will help us look at the whole child and not just a number or score on a test.
We also needed an excellent comprehensive teacher support system and a curriculum that aligns with the goal of immersing our students and ourselves in the belief that reading is a combination of decoding and linguistic comprehension. We needed decodable books, not leveled books; we needed consistent phonics instruction, not a 3-cueing system to guess at words. But most importantly, we needed to express to teachers the urgency of doing what is best for students by teaching what the structure of the science of reading requires us to do.
Like Scarborough’s Rope, we needed to get many different resources to spin together and communicate this new expectation. We are utilizing our LINKED grant funds to provide support at both the elementary and the MS/HS levels. We hired a reading coach to demonstrate lessons, provide materials and consult with teachers. We worked with an outside resource to meet with teachers regularly to give pointers, answer questions and lead a change model. Every Friday afternoon, our staff engages in professional development that centers around reading instruction. We are being honest about our data. We are showing teachers in black and white that what we have done in the past is not working. Another important thread in our rope is ensuring our administrators are proficient in what we are trying to implement and inviting them to share in our enthusiasm that the outlook provides. Administrators are tasked with updating and then keeping our district structures in place, including MTSS, PBIS, a clear scope and sequence, and of course, we all will need to share the knowledge of curriculum standards.
We are forming committees to dissect and review new curricula and choose one that matches our goals and standards. We are giving each student in the community two new books per month that they can choose with their family. We work diligently to include parents in engagement activities that motivate families and make it easy for them to help their students at home. These engagement activities provide families with resources and structures to support students literacy efforts outside the regular school day. Throughout the LINKED grant, every child in our community will have at least 100 books in their home library.
The road has not been paved with rainbows and bubbles. Doing what you have always done is the path of least resistance and the way that makes staff most comfortable, but it does not change our achievement trajectory. We are willing to take things slowly at first, making sure there is a strong foundation of understanding, professional development, and motivation to make the change that is proven best for students. As we make our way, the evolution and challenge will take hold and build momentum. When teachers see the improvement in scores and engagement, we know they will grab on and dive in. We started with those already motivated to learn and implement structured literacy strategies in their classrooms. Others have since joined. We are well on our way. I look forward to reporting back on the successes of our grassroots efforts.
I hear myself daily repeating the words by which I make every decision. “We have to do what is best for kids.” I know all my staff hears me say this in their heads as they walk through the day. I know one day, they will be saying it in their voice. I can see myself having discussions with many of them, constantly plugging the science of reading. Questioning every move we make to be sure we stay the course in bringing about this change. Sometime soon, teachers will be collaborating and asking each other these questions. And pretty soon, with all the energy and push and try and do, our kids will read. I know because this is the job that I was hired to do, and do it we will.
Thank you Superintendent Brower and Dillingham City School District for all of your hard work, and congratulations to your district on its amazing journey toward reading proficiency for all students! We at DEED appreciate you sharing your story with us!
Have you had great success increasing student reading proficiency with an initiative or strategy in your school? Do you have something you are really excited about as an outcome of a shift to Science of Reading best practices? We are interested in hearing what amazing things are happening in your school to positively impact student reading proficiency and achievement. Please submit your story to the e-mail below. You may be chosen as the next school spotlight in a future edition of the Alaska Reading Newsletter!
Please e-mail your submissions to: Jenn.Miller@alaska.gov
In the news....
AKLearns
AKLearns is one of our education information webpages. Watch for an update coming soon regarding reading initiatives, and professional development. There will be links to resources, etc. It will be your “one stop shop” for evidence-based reading.
Please visit AKLearns.org and bookmark it to check back frequently to view the PD calendar for upcoming sessions. There will be many options throughout this school year.
The Alaska Reading Playbook and related webinars can be accessed from AKLearns.org. AKLearns is maintained in partnership with Region 16 Comprehensive Center.
Keep an eye out for upcoming...
- Alaska Reads Act Guidance for School Districts
- Additional Science of Reading Professional Development
- Updated 2023 Alaska Science of Reading Symposium details
- Alaska Reading Strategic Plan Presentations and Project Updates
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Canvas Courses Available
The live Fall Professional Development series highlighting Heggerty, UFLI, Phonics for Reading, Core Reading, and Core Multiple Measures is complete. Credited Canvas courses (1-3 CEU's) are available for those wishing to dive deeper into the content. For questions, please contact Tracy Parker at tracy.parker@alaska.gov or Kristi Graber at kristi.graber@alaska.gov.
2023 RTI/MTSS Effective Instruction Conference sponsored by ACSA/ASDN
ACSA/ASDN is excited to share that our 2023 RTI/MTSS Effective Instruction Conference is back! We have two options available that include:
- A Virtual Rural Pre-conference, January 21
- An In-Person Conference, Dena’ina Center, Anchorage, January 28 & 29
(Online streaming option for certain sessions will be available).
We have an energizing group of nationally recognized educators to explore the latest research on what works now –- delivered in accessible and practical format.
Why Send Your Team?
Time for a Refresh: Many of the components of MTSS are not new practices. They’re the high-impact actions that educators have been doing for years. Coming back from COVID, it is time to focus on aligning those efforts again to help our students. MTSS isn’t reinventing the wheel—it’s bringing cohesion to the student-centered practices and data-driven decisions that already happen in many schools. MTSS helps increase the effectiveness of existing efforts, and uncovers areas where adjustments or enhancements are needed.
It’s All Connected: MTSS provides strong academic core instruction to help students meet grade-level expectations, but a student’s growth is not limited to just academics. MTSS also supports social-emotional learning, positive behavior, and mental health. This conference helps educators learn more about supporting academic and behavioral needs.
The Alaska Reads Act: The Alaska Reads Act places a stronger focus on MTSS as a strategy schools should use to ensure their reading programs support all students. The RTI/MTSS Conference has included components from the Alaska Reads Act to allow educators time to plan with their districts/schools on how best to support these new requirements.
Strands:
- MTSS Model Refresh
- Effective Instruction (General, Reading, Math)
- Leadership
- Behavior/SEL
- Preschool
Registration Code: We are happy to send you a group code so that you can have your team register and select sessions themselves online, and we will invoice the district after the conference. If you wish to register a group of 5 or more, please send a purchase order to asdn@alaskaacsa.org and we will send you a code for your group.
Don't forget to also check out https://aklearns.org/ for current and future professional development opportunities.
Alaska Reading Playbook
Did you miss the Fall opportunity to attend engaging, FREE webinars to learn about the Alaska Reading Playbook and its importance to reading improvement across the State of Alaska? Don't worry! Plans are in the works for a Winter Alaska Reading Playbook series. Stay tuned for details!
In the meantime, click Alaska Reading Playbook for your own FREE downloadable or digital copy! You can also find archived playbook sessions at https://aklearns.org.
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Help Spread the Word!
Alaska Educators, we need your help! Please help us spread this information by subscribing below to receive this monthly newsletter. When you receive this newsletter, please forward it to teachers, administrators, paraprofessionals, and any other educational professionals /organizations that would benefit from this information. You can sign up for email updates on other topics from DEED at this link. Thank you for your service to the students of Alaska!
The Academic Support Team is here to help!
Contact any team member below for assistance with Alaska Reading Initiatives.
Alaska Reads Act inquiries go directly to akreads@alaska.gov.
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VACANT
Education Associate, Academic Support Team
Come join our team!
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