Reminder: Key Actions for Meeting the Needs of ALL K-3 Readers and Writers Now Available!
According to KRS 158.791 Section 1(1), a primary goal of Kentucky’s Read to Succeed Act is to ensure "all children learn to read well before exiting grade three (3).” The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) has identified four key teacher actions to move from ineffective practices to evidence-based structured literacy practices.
Key Actions for Meeting the Needs of ALL K-3 Readers and Writers points out misconceptions associated with ineffective literacy practices and provides explanations for what we now know about evidence-based practices in early literacy. These practices are critical to meeting the needs of all K-3 readers and writers and can be accomplished through these key actions:
- Key Action #1: Provide explicit, systematic instruction in foundational skills to every child.
- Key Action #2: Build comprehension by engaging all students in discussion of complex, knowledge-rich text sets.
- Key Action #3: Use small-group reading time to target foundational skills or to develop comprehension using complex text.
- Key Action #4: Provide instructional time to address all five components of reading.
LETRS Facilitator Training Opportunity Now Available: Are you interested in becoming a LETRS Facilitator for your local district?
District LETRS Facilitators will play a crucial role in facilitating LETRS sessions and guaranteeing the long-term viability of your district's LETRS instructional application as you go through the professional learning and welcome new cohorts of teachers, both new to teaching and new to your district.
Participants must meet specific requirements in order to be eligible to apply for training to become a District LETRS Facilitator, including having at least 80% of the district's K–3 educators participating in LETRS and applicants receiving a score of 88% or above on the posttest. Those who are accepted are expected to complete a four-day training session in the fall of 2024.
Individuals who are interested in participating in District LETRS Facilitator training should view the complete list of requirements within the application for training.
The application will close May 31, 2024.
Kentucky Reads to Succeed Summer Conference Date Announced
The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) Office of Teaching and Learning (OTL) Division of Early Literacy invites you to the first annual Kentucky Reads to Succeed Summer Conference on June 20, 2024 at the Central Bank Center, formerly the Lexington Convention Center.
Keynote speaker and educational journalist Emily Hanford, host of the Sold a Story podcast – the second-most-shared show on Apple Podcasts in 2023 and one of Time magazine’s top three podcasts of the year – has been covering education for American Public Media since 2008. She has won numerous awards for her work, including the EWA Public Service Award in 2019 for Hard Words and the 2017 Excellence in Media Reporting on Education Research Award from the American Educational Research Association.
The conference will require registration, but is FREE to Kentucky K-12 public educators and will offer focused learning pathways to meet the needs of teachers and administrators. Attendees will learn from KDE OTL consultants and partners about:
- Evidence-based instructional shifts for literacy;
- The benefits of structured literacy;
- Why high-quality instructional resources matter; and
- Available resources for implementing the Read to Succeed Act.
Mark your calendar for this June 20 event. Registration information will be coming soon.
Early Literacy Newsletter Archive
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