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In this edition of the Alaska Reading Newsletter:
- Alaska Leadership Summit *New
- Department Reading Program *New
- Coffee and Content - Next up: Joan Sedita 01/15/2024
- Alaska School Spotlight - Sidney C. Huntington School
- Happenings and Highlights in Schools
- Alaska Reads Act Educator Requirements *Endorsement form updated/fee waived
- Notes from DEED's Early Learning Team *Upcoming webinar dates
- Information from ARI *Opportunity updates
- State-Sponsored Early Literacy Screener *Celebrating participation rates
- DEED/R16CC Professional Development *Final cohorts filling
- Writing Contest Opportunity *New
- AKLearns and Quick Links
Alaska Leadership Summit 2023
With the support of Region 16, a group of leaders from organizations and districts from across the state, came together for the 2nd Alaska Reads Strategic Alignment Summit. The purpose of this summit was to celebrate how organizations and districts are supporting the Alaska Reads Act and participate in guided conversation.
As a group we worked together to share concerns, develop goals that focus on ways to move this important work forward and challenged each of us to be a positive voice for the Alaska Reads Act.
Carol Boatman, DEED IEE Division Director
DEED Department Reading Program
The DEED Department Reading Program will provide direct support and coaching of evidence-based practices and reading interventions through the partnership of an eligible school and their assigned DEED Reading Specialist.
The letter invitations to apply were sent in November to the lowest-performing 25 percent of schools serving students in grades kindergarten through three. The first informational webinar was held on December 4th and can be viewed on this link:
https://vimeo.com/892114153/00ee0b3591?share=copy
Applications are due back February 15th. Please email applications to Diane.Ditton@alaska.gov.
For access to the Department Reading Program Resource Hub, please fill out complete information at the link below to be added. This site also holds the UFLI screencast recordings presented by DEED this fall.
View Department Reading Program Resource Hub
DEED's Monthly "Coffee and Content" Event
Visit DEED's Coffee and Content webpage dedicated to these events. RECORDINGS will be available at the site. Listen at your leisure if you missed it, or it's there if you want to hear all of the information again. The webpage also houses a printable copy of the Coffee and Content Calendar.
We will look forward to seeing you in January to visit with Keys to Literacy author Joan Sedita to discuss comprehension.
Sidney C. Huntington School
Galena City School District
School Spotlight
This month DEED is highlighting Sidney C. Huntington School in Galena City School District. Read about their success having 71% of their students increase in reading by one full grade level from January to May last year, efforts for family engagement, summer learning opportunities, and emphasis on early childhood learning. Thank you for sharing, Galena!
 
Has your school proven great success increasing student reading proficiency utilizing evidence-based curriculum and materials? 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 or questions to: Jenn.Miller@alaska.gov
You can view the 2022-2023 School Year Alaska School Spotlights here:
https://education.alaska.gov/Alaska-Reading-Resources/alaska-school-spotlights
Great Things are Happening in
Kuspuk School District!
Thank you to Emily Vanderpool for sharing about the success of Family Literacy Nights and how families learned about Scarborough's Reading Rope using an activity learned at the Alaska Reading Symposium!
Our sites have been presenting about the Alaska Reads Act and the shifts we are making in instruction during our family literacy night events. They have loved using the activity presented at the SOR symposium in the Spring. We had a few teachers present to their peers on how to do it. Here are some photos of a Family Literacy Night at Jack Egnaty Sr. School where they were building the Scarborough's Reading Rope with pipe cleaners!
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Congratulations to Kuspuk School District on their hard work, commitment, and dedication toward reading proficiency for all students. We appreciate them sharing!
Alaska Educator Qualifications
a requirement of the Alaska Reads Act
For information about the Alaska Reads Act Educator Qualifications, please visit the DEED Educator Qualifications webpage.
Starting last school year, the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development has worked hard to support Alaska Educators by offering FREE DEED-Sponsored professional development that meets Alaska Reads Act requirements for educator qualifications. These FREE opportunities for courses may not be as available beyond Summer of 2024. DEED will continue to offer as many seats as possible between now and then. Visit the DEED Professional Development webpage for information about courses.
Are you an Alaska Educator that has completed a DEED Alaska Reads Act approved course? Maybe you are wondering what to do next? DEED Teacher Certification has posted the Alaska Reads Act Educator Endorsement Form. This form has been recently updated to reflect NO FEE. If you've paid a fee already, you should receive a reimbursement.
Contact Teacher Certification (tcwebmail@alaska.gov or (907) 465-2831) for more information or assistance.
Notes From DEED's Early Learning Team
Understanding Alaska’s Early Education Program Standards and .5 ADM Approval. Does your district have an early education program or plan to start one? If so, register now for this five-part webinar series at The Alaska Reads Act: Early Education Programs webpage.
- Dive into Alaska’s Early Education Program Standards.
- Plan for documentation of high-quality early education programming.
- Familiarize the requirements of the 2024-2025 District-Wide Early Education Program Approval (5 ADM Funding) application.
Webinars are recorded and posted on The Alaska Reads Act: Early Education Programs webpage for later viewing. Upcoming Webinar Series Registration Links:
December 14, 10:00-11:30 a.m.
January 11, 10:00-11:30 a.m.
February 8, 10:00-11:30 a.m
Early Education Lead Qualifications update:
https://education.alaska.gov/akreads/Teacher%20Qualifications%209.23%20(2).pdf
Alyeska Reading Academy
and Institute (ARI)
Alyeska Reading Institute (ARI) provides free training, support, and resources to schools and districts across Alaska. Free Reading tutoring is also available for struggling students.
ARI is offering Heggerty Teacher Kits and Decodables free to schools across the state of Alaska that would like to implement this program during the 2023-2024 school year. Heggerty Training is also available for districts, schools, and staff members. To receive training or request materials, click on the links above. A list of Heggerty support sites for lesson demos, practice, and additional resources can be found here.
ARI has Amplify mClass Interventions licenses and Reading Boost Intervention licenses available for Alaskan schools.This program must be part of your MTSS plan, or the MTSS plan will need to be updated to receive these licenses. Training for these resources will be provided by ARI. If you need to update your MTSS plan, please reach out to your DEED-assigned reading specialist point of contact.
UFLI training and manuals are available free to schools that would like to implement the UFLI program during the 2023-2024 school year. Request UFLI manuals for your district or school today. Manuals come with a set of ARI’s UFLI Reference Cards.
UFLI Reference Cards provide scripted support for the manual lessons. If you already have a manual and need a set of reference cards, please request it here.
ARI is actively offering UFLI training on zoom to districts, schools, and staff members across the state of Alaska. To receive training in the UFLI method, please fill out the form, and we’ll contact you to schedule a training.
By request, ARI is offering a UFLI training on December 27th, 2023 from 9 AM - 12 PM to sign-up for this training contact melinda.krise@alaska.gov
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ARI’s new Asynchronous UFLI Training Course.is available online. This course is self-paced and can be taken independently, in a small group, or completed as a whole staff. When completing the modules as a staff, principals may request answer keys to go over the notetaking worksheets by contacting melinda.krise@alaska.gov. The quiz must be taken individually to receive a certificate for completing the UFLI training course and be eligible for materials. ARI is looking at possibly providing CEUs for this course. More information to come.
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ARI’s UFLI Online Resources website provides access to a collection of resources available for use from ARI and UFLI including ARI’s UFLI folder, small group planning sheets, spelling test data reports, resources for teaching each lesson, grade level lesson videos, information and videos for each reading strand, UFLI decodable text guide, access to UFLI apps, and much more. Sign-up links for UFLI materials and training can also be found here.
ARI is providing weekly UFLI Office Hours beginning on Monday, January 15th from 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM on zoom. Click on the link to join the zoom session. If you need support outside of these office hours, please contact Melinda Krise at melinda.krise@alaska.gov or 907-269-0124.
ARI’s UFLI Grade-Level Cohorts will begin meeting weekly on zoom starting the week of January 15th from 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM for Kindergarten, 1st, & 2nd grade teachers. Cohorts provide a safe place for teachers who are actively teaching UFLI lessons to ask questions, get support, share successes, and practice different areas of a lesson. Click on the link to be added to a grade-level cohort.
- Tuesday - Kindergarten Cohort
- Wednesday - 1st Grade Cohort
- Thursday - 2nd Grade Cohort
Click to learn more about the Alyeska Reading Institute and how it can support your district, school staff, or provide students with free reading tutoring.
For more ARI information or support, please contact Melinda.Krise@alaska.gov.
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DEED Sponsored
Early Literacy Screener
The Middle of the Year (MOY) state benchmark window opened on December 4, 2023, and will close on January 19, 2024. Each school has a two-week benchmark window within the larger state window. Check with your building principal to find out your school’s dates.
Initial Training sessions and additional training are available on the Amplify/DEED partner website. It is required to complete the full Initial Training (6 hours) before administering the Benchmark and/or the Progress Monitoring tools within the literacy screener.
DEED would like to celebrate the following districts for 95% or higher participation rates for students enrolled in the statewide literacy screener, mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition at the Beginning of the Year benchmark for 2023,
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Aleutian Region School District
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Anchorage School District
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Annette Island School District
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Bristol Bay Borough School District
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Cordova City School District
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Dillingham School District
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Iditarod Area School District
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Juneau School District
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Kake City School District
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Ketchikan Gateway Borough School District
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Kuspuk School District
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Lower Kuskokwim School District
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Pelican City School District
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Petersburg School District
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Pribilof School District
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Skagway School District
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Unalaska City School District
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Valdez City School District
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Wrangell School District
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Yakutat School District
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Yukon Flats School District
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DEED sponsored Science of Reading Courses
Please visit the DEED Professional Development webpage for SoR course updates.
Contact Jenn.Miller@alaska.gov for assistance with
Keys to Literacy, NWEA for Administrators, or LETRS.
Keys to Literacy SoR Courses
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Visit the DEED Professional Development webpage for the schedule and registration windows. The next registration window will open on January 29th. Keep in mind, if the cohorts fill with open enrollments, the registration window for the filled cohort will be cancelled.
Visit the Alaska Keys to Literacy website for more information:
https://keystoliteracy.com/alaska-reads-professional-development/
Note: Keys to Literacy satisfies Alaska Reads Act educator qualification requirements for both teachers and leaders. It is open to educators in Grades K-6. Please make sure you have reviewed your schedule and the DEED Guidelines/Expectations for Courses sheet prior to registering. Full participation and attendance is expected.
NWEA for Administrators SoR Course
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The NWEA for Administrators course has a few seats left available in Cohorts 5 & 6 that will be in session January 9–April 25. Registration closes December 15th.
The detailed schedule for virtual seminars can be accessed via the registration link.
https://dpdol.nwea.org/pl/sa/AK/AK_Literacy_LeadershipRegistration_Flyer_FY23.pdf
Note: It is recommended that District Leaders take this course, however Keys to Literacy and LETRS also satisfy Alaska Reads Act educator qualification requirements. Please make sure you have reviewed your schedule and the DEED Guidelines/Expectations for Courses sheet prior to registering. Full participation and attendance is expected.
Opportunities for LETRS training!
New LETRS Cohorts sponsored by both R16CC and DEED are underway! If you have not secured a seat, see the application link below to apply. To learn more or to apply for an upcoming LETRS training, you can also visit the Alaska LETRS Overview Guide at bit.ly/ak-letrs.
Upcoming cohorts: If you have not filled out the application form yet and are interested, please do that ASAP. Follow this link to apply.
Check out the new LETRS Alaska webpage at: https://www.lexialearning.com/alaska-letrs
Note: LETRS (ALL Units 1-8) satisfies Alaska Reads Act educator qualification requirements for both teachers and leaders. It is open to educators in Grades K-6. Please make sure you have reviewed your schedule and the DEED Guidelines/Expectations for Courses sheet prior to registering. Full participation and attendance is expected.
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