Kansas literacy director wants Legislature to merge programs
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What is the Blueprint for Literacy and why was it created in Kansas?
Reading for pure joy of it, diddling online for work or pleasure, relying on signage to navigate roads or cities, ordering food from a restaurant menu, or helping kids with homework. These are standard slices of life for many people, that is, among folks who are literate. The state of Kansas has sought during the last few years to erode this stumbling block with programs to elevate reading skills in public schools. And here's why. In Kansas, About 55% of third through 10th graders read below what's considered the limited or basic levels. In 2024, the legislature passed and Governor Laura Kelly signed the Blueprint for Literacy, which set in motion an initiative to better teach the teachers in reading education and pass that along to the students in grades K through 12.
The goal is to move 90% of students to a higher level of reading by 2030. With Kansas Reflector today is Cynthia Lane, Director of the Blueprint for Literacy. Welcome to our podcast.
Thank you for having me.
It's good of you to take the time to be here. So I want to really start with the basics here and we'll build to what the reform movement is all about and where you want to go and what maybe some of the hiccups are in this, but why don't you just briefly define for folks what the blueprint for literacy is.
I'd be glad to, Tim, and again, it's a pleasure to be here. So the Blueprint for Literacy, as you stated, was passed uh by the Kansas legislature in April of twenty twenty four and its focus is on uh uh education preparation and training. It is uh all about uh improving what we do at the undergraduate and graduate levels so that our teachers have the tools they need for success in the classroom. So The blueprint really shorthand is about helping teachers teach every child to read and giving them the tools to do that.
Mm-hmm. It may seem obvious to people, but why do you think it's important for Kansas to invest tax dollars in developing reading skills among young people?
Well literacy is directly related to um health outcomes and the the uh the um ability to secure high quality jobs. So for students who don't read well, then they have limited opportunities and they have limited access to uh to health care, but uh frankly to jobs that can help them move themselves and families forward. So think about this l uh reading and literacy, uh reading and writing. are the fundamental skills in which all other learning is built. So if you don't read well, then uh y you know, you have limited access to the things that build a quality life. So I like to say literacy is opportunity. It's also about justice and freedom because in order to have true freedom you need to have the skills so that you can make decisions for yourself.
Yeah, participate in society fully. You're a former public school superintendent in Kansasity, Kansas, and you've seen ramifications of reading deficits firsthand. Do you wanna help us understand what that looks like?
Well, when when children don't read well, they often don't have success in in any academic area and that's when we often see um social issues, behavioral issues in classrooms, uh higher dropout rates among individuals who don't read well. And they become adults who also don't read well. And right now, uh a study was done in twenty twenty by the Barbara Bush Foundation and they identify
Why does Kansas consider literacy an economic and health priority?
that adults ages 17 through age 74 in the United States that uh 51% are functionally illiterate. And so that, you know, think about how you function in our fast moving economy when you don't have strong literacy skills. And just so that's kind of the high level, but if we personalize it, and I can personalize it to myself, as a kid who went to elementary school a long time ago, um, I did not learn to read until I was in the seventh grade. And uh because of the methods that were being used at that time, uh were not aligned to the science and really uh relied on children Memorizing words and figuring out words based on pictures and other clues. And so we know a lot more today than we did way back then.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the Blueprint for Literacy and why was it created in Kansas?
0:00–3:24
2
Why does Kansas consider literacy an economic and health priority?
3:24–7:02
3
How severe is the current reading proficiency gap among Kansas students?
7:02–9:35
4
What are the specific goals of the Blueprint law for student reading levels?
9:35–12:26
5
How are Kansas universities redesigning teacher preparation for literacy?
12:26–15:39
6
What professional development and coaching are provided to K‑12 teachers?
15:39–18:58
7
Why does the director want to merge the Blueprint with the Every Child Can Read Act?
18:58–22:14
8
What changes are being proposed for a unified statewide literacy plan?
22:14–24:50
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from Kansas Reflector Podcast
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