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In this edition of the Alaska Reading Newsletter:
- Teacher Recruitment & Retention Convening
- Department Reading Program
- Coffee and Content - Decodable Texts on 2/19
- Alaska School Spotlight - IDEA Statewide K-12 Homeschool
- Notes from DEED's Early Learning Team - Webinar 1/24,10am
- Information from ARI
- State-Sponsored Early Literacy Screener
- DEED/R16CC Professional Development
- Writing Contest Opportunity
- AKLearns and Quick Links
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 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 Thursday, 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 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 on February 19, 2024 for Decodable Texts with Lindsay Kemeny!
IDEA STATEWIDE K-12 HOMESCHOOL
Galena City School District
School Spotlight
This month DEED is highlighting IDEA Statewide K-12 Homeschool in Galena City School District. Read about how a homeschool program meets the requirements of the Alaska Reads Act through information, instructional support and options.
 Like our classroom counterparts (Sidney C. Huntington School and Galena Interior Learning Academy) in Galena, literacy takes a prominent role in our new District and School Strategic Plans, alongside post-secondary preparations.
IDEA knows and celebrates that parents want what is best for their children. Literacy is among the first steps in reaching our families’ long-term goals. So much of lifelong learning depends on literacy. Students learn to read, and then they read to learn. In IDEA, our goal is to establish relationships and partnerships with families to foster strong communication about the individual student’s story and needs, including those foundational literacy needs. We strive to be ready with curriculum, resources, knowledge, and encouragement to experiment in healthy ways (differentiated coaching).
The best part of the Alaska Reads Act is that there is now so much more information to be had about the Science of Reading, the curriculum options, the interventions, the diagnostic tools, the instructional strategies and more! Over the years, we have worked to fill a ‘toolbox’ of options to create that true differentiated coaching model for our families – and the toolbox is now overflowing thanks in part to the research done by the Department of Education and Early Development (DEED), the professional learning provided and encouraged, and the investment by our staff and teaching professionals across Alaska to embrace this knowledge. All of IDEA’s teaching staff (K-12) and leadership have been asked to select from LETRS, Keys To Literacy, and the NWEA SOR Leadership training to improve our collective understanding. IDEA has also been working with Denise Eide, creator of the Logic of English, to enhance our regional professional learning communities.
Each of our IDEA regions have developed a series of Science of Reading workshops for parents to provide information, instructional strategies, curriculum discussion, interventions and tiered best practices. The fall series has concluded, and regions are now planning for an encore and follow up in spring. Additional clubs and events, which can vary from region to region, also work to celebrate and promote literacy: Curiosity Club, Bookworms, Writing in Gr 2-3, Young Authors Conference, Writing Circle, Reading Readiness, Book Clubs, Book Fairs, Battle of the Books, Ready Set Read, Spelling Bees, IditaRead… and more in the works! IDEA has also developed a short informational Science of Reading episode for our podcast series, Voices of IDEA Homeschool.
Student education in IDEA has always been individualized using an Individual Learning Plan (ILP). We view the Individual Reading Plan as an enhancement of the ILP, a chance to focus our efforts in coming alongside parents to look at literacy best practices, instructional consistency and strategies, tiered interventions and progress toward family and student goals – all in an experimental cycle.
With mCLASS screenings, differentiated coaching, Science of Reading workshops, Individualized Reading Plans, clubs, events and more, IDEA parents are developing a better understanding of the purpose and implementation of the Science of Reading within the Alaska Reads Act, as well as providing IDEA great feedback on the types of information that may help others to take an interest. Using feedback from our regional Parent Advisory Committees, as well as feedback from parents as part of our differentiated coaching support, IDEA is working to ensure that all our families understand the real value of what Alaska Reads makes possible.
   Thank you for sharing your valuable insights, Galena IDEA!
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 to be featured on the Alaska School Spotlights webpage.
Please e-mail your submissions or questions to: Jenn.Miller@alaska.gov
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 the last session of this five-part webinar series at The Alaska Reads Act: Early Education Programs webpage. Upcoming Webinar Series Registration Link: February 8, 10:00-11:30
- 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.
Past webinar recordings are posted on The Alaska Reads Act: Early Education Programs webpage for later viewing.
District-Wide Early Education
Grant Application
Is your district ready to develop or improve a high-quality Early Education Program? The purpose of the FY2024-2027 Alaska Reads Act Early Education Program Grant is to provide funding for a three-year period for the development or improvement of a district-wide early education program.
Release Date: Tuesday, January 16, 2024 –
District-Wide Early Education Grant Application Form#05-24-029
Technical Assistance webinars:
Monday, January 22, 2024, at 11:00 AM Zoom Registration link
Wednesday, January 24, 2024, at 10:00 AM Zoom Registration link
DUE DATE: February 15, 2024
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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. Materials and Professional Development for UFLI, Heggerty, Amplify mClass interventions, and Boost Reading interventions can be requested at this site.
ARI provides computer based intervention programs through Amplify. Amplify mClass Interventions is a program that uses students' yearly benchmark assessments to group students and provide scripted, explicit teacher-led interventions based on the needs students show on their assessments. Progress monitoring is built into this program. Amplify Boost Reading is a digital student-led supplemental reading curriculum. This program extends core instruction, continuously adapts activities, and addresses remediation needs. These programs 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.
ARI is offering Heggerty Training and Heggerty Teacher Kits and Decodables free to schools across the state of Alaska that would like to implement this program. Requests can be made at the links above. A list of Heggerty support sites for lesson demos, practice, and additional resources can be found here.
ARI provides free UFLI training, UFLI manuals, scripted UFLI Reference Cards and support to schools that would like to implement the UFLI program. Request training or materials for your district or school at the links above. Manual requests will come with a set of ARI’s UFLI Reference Cards. UFLI Support Office Hours begin on Monday, January 22nd 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 begin meeting weekly on zoom starting the week of February 20th 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.
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Kindergarten - Tuesdays
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1st Grade - Wednesdays
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2nd Grade - Thursdays
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ARI’s new Asynchronous UFLI Training Course is available online. A CEU is available for this course. 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 note-taking worksheets by contacting melinda.krise@alaska.gov.
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. A new UFLI Parent Resource site has been added. This site can be shared with parents to give them an overview of UFLI, support videos for UFLI homework practice, printable letter tiles, and includes a Scarborough’s Reading Rope handout for parents.
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Do you have students that are struggling with reading and need extra reading intervention support? ARI provides Free Reading tutoring for struggling students. Download and email this digital postcard to families whose students have this need.
Click to visit the ARI website and learn more about the Alyeska Reading Institute and how it can support your district, school staff, and students.
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DEED Sponsored
Early Literacy Screener
The Middle of the Year (MOY) state benchmark window closes on January 19, 2024. Preliminary data shows a 78% completion rate of K-3 students enrolled in the state-adopted literacy screener, Amplify’s mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition.
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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.
NWEA for Administrators SoR Course
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The Spring Cohort registration closed and is underway. Please visit the DEED PD Webpage for updates on future opportunities for this course.
Opportunities for LETRS training!
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
NEW DEED APPROVED SoR Course
available from ASDN!
Follow the link below for more information regarding this course.
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