Feature Story

Preschool-aged children learning essential language skills lays the foundation for building their literacy skills as they move through their early school years. 

“It lights up those language processing centers on the left side of the brain, which is where reading happens,” said Janea Gray, who was the keynote speaker for the Kinders Can! conference on Dec. 4, in Lawrence. “It's getting that great vocabulary in there, which is a huge part of structured literacy.”    

Literacy is fundamental for nearly everything throughout a child’s educational experience. American Education Week, Nov. 17 – 21, gives us a chance to celebrate literacy as the foundation by which children become successful academically and thrive as adults.  

Over the past handful of years at a small, Kansas elementary school near Wichita, Kamdyn Johnson could see many of the students in her building who, when reading, “struggled with true comprehension” and she knew a change in instructional approach was necessary.  

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly this week celebrated 35 Topeka USD 501 educators who recently completed the Foundations of the Science of Reading: Understanding and Applying Structured Literacy Principles, the Kansas Board of Regents Blueprint for Literacy's structured literacy training course.  

The Kansas State Department of Education’s teacher licensure staff field many questions from educators about whether they must fulfill science of reading requirements to renew their teaching license. 

Shane Carter, director of KSDE teacher licensure, provides answers to the most frequently asked questions:  

Some elementary level educators have another option to receive structured literacy training to meet licensure requirements after action taken by the Kansas State Board of Education during their April meeting this week.  

Board members voted to add Foundations of the Science of Reading: Understanding and Applying Structured Literacy Principles, to the board-approved list of structured literacy training programs.