Let's face it the most fundamental element in the education of a person is learning to read. That's my opinion. But we have subject experts with the Kansas reflected today who reached the highest levels of education will be part of implementing a new law. That's known as the blueprint for literacy. The objective of this innovative legislation, overwhelmingly passed by the legislature and signed by Governor Laura Kelly is to improve on preparation of educators in the science of reading and fill all these teachers with evidence based strategies that make proficient readers of students in classrooms across the state Cindy lane, a former school superintendent, Kinsey, Kansas public schools for 30 years and a member of the Kansas Board of Regents has a newly appointed director of blueprint for literacy. at her side today is Blake Flanders, President and CEO of the State Board of Regents, which has jurisdiction over the state's six public universities. Each university under this law will have a direct role in writing chapters of this blueprint. Welcome to you both.
Thank you. Thanks for having us.
Yeah, thanks for taking time out of your day. I know, I know you got a lot of things to do. So the Kansas Board of Regents is responsible for appointing the program director, and they didn't go far from the tree. So Cindy, is, as I said, a board board member of the Board of Regents and will be stepping down and she assumes her new duties as blueprint for literacy, digital director, are you surprised that you have a new job like this? You
know, I am if you had asked me a year ago, if I was ready to move full time into the arena, I would have said no. But this is been a lifelong mission for me to focus on opportunities for others, particularly with literacy. And I felt as if I could not continue to ask other people to do things if I wasn't fully engaged. So here I am.
Mr. Flanders, you think that the the Board of Regents has the right place to place kind of jurisdiction and control over this because part of it involves the Kansas Board of Regents and universities. Part of it involves the State Board of Education, which has more direct ties to all there are hundreds of 1000s of public school students in Kansas this this is a good place to kind of make the home with this program. Yes,
thank you, Tammy. Yes, we believe it is. And here's why we're responsible for education and training of the teachers in Kansas. And as we as we viewed this, we see it as the maybe the largest workforce development project that candidly Kansas has ever seen, in terms of education, training, and retraining and rescaling and upskilling. All of our educator workforce. And so we're excited to take on that challenge. You know, this legislation is a little different than some that pass in that sometimes we react to the legislature. So the legislature and Governor legislature passes a bill, the governor signs a bill. And then we react to implement that law. In this case, we actually were on the front edge of that legislation. And so we had a taskforce that really dug in here, we're going to be successful, because we've included the universities, we've included the Deans on the task force, they're totally bought into this initiative. And then we had conversations with the legislature and governor, and everyone came together because at the end of the day, we don't have enough students reading at grade level. And and that's an economic imperative, and an individual imperative for Kansas.
That's a scary thing. So Cindy and Blake, you can both answer this. I'm kind of curious if the science of reading has actually changed that much. Since I sat down at Greenwood Elementary School in Missouri and read go dog go. Has it really changed in 50 years?
Well, Tim, I, you know, are you in your 30s so, you
know, I just look young, because I'm so mature, but little older than that. So,
you know, the the science has evolved, as we learn, we get better and it changes and we need to implement those changes. And I think Dr. Lane can speak more to this because she was right in the fray as a superintendent. You know, everyone does what the current science is and tries to implement that and at times, that's not the direction we need to go and as we find out more and new information and we still knew and we're still learning, but we need to implement those best practices and this is what that really is about.
Right I concur. The science of reading has evolved and when when go dog go was used as a instructional material. Some teachers were teaching phonics, some taught some but it wasn't as explicit the what we have learned in the recent years is that we need to be very explicit in breaking out the the mystery of how You read so that students are empowered that no matter what language that they face what English language they face, they can't solve the riddle, putting it together. When I was in school, it was learned to read by flashcards and memorizing words. So this isn't like we have a recent decline in our teaching methodologies, but is now that the research is very clear. And we need to change course, and let go of some of those practices, we thought were effective, which have actually been found now to be harmful. Because
in fact, this program is going to address brand new teachers coming out of the universities, as well as the existing corps of teachers in Kansas, right.
And even beyond that, I think about this work, and in three ways. We are equipping teachers, our university faculty, leaders, and school building school board members and families, frankly, with what they need to know, we are elevating our skills in being able to teach in a way that is connected to the science of reading. And we're empowering people so they understand how they can if they're an adult, be part of the solution to help all kids read. But as a student, we're empowering students so that they have the tools they need to move forward in their lives in an effective way right now, damn 40% of the kids in Kansas, and that mirrors the same percentage across the nation. So this is not a Kansas problem. It's a national problem 40% of our children read, don't read or do not read well, according to the measures that we're using. And so why is higher ed involved? We've got to get off the sidelines of just saying to the state board into schools, this is, you know, this is your problem. Good luck, when we're the ones charged with educating the educators, right. So we're stepping into the arena to not say we have all the answers, but to open open the tent, to everybody to be involved.
You both have PhDs, your doctors. And so adoption of a program like this suggests there's something is lacking. Children are falling through the cracks, you sort of touched on this 40% That number sounds high, shocking, and kind of discouraging. Well, so what is the what is the challenge? This is attacking? just elaborate on that?
Yeah. So the way I would view this is, if we say some are falling through the cracks, that would to me mean, a small percentage, you know, falling through the cracks. This is 40%. So this is a crisis. Why is it a crisis today? Well, I think about it, have you ever attended an eighth grade graduation ceremony? It's been a while yeah. But the reason I have those right is because at one time, that's when people stopped out. And our economy was designed that if you had an eighth grade graduation, you could honestly make get a pretty good job in the economy, and raise a family and support that family. As the economy changed. And what we know is that, you know, we're going to have 56,000 to 60,000 new jobs by 2030. And 80% of those are going to require a baccalaureate degree. So if you have a deficit in reading, it's going to be very difficult to participate at a high level in this economy. And that's why the board has said this is this is an imperative that we have to address, because it's not just a few falling through the cracks. It's 40%.
And Cindy, maybe you can tackle the question of what is lost here, when 40% Don't read as well as we would hope, you know, the the last person, you know, lifelong personal education for those individuals who can't read and or the workplace, as Blake suggested, or the, you know, economic development and so forth. Well, it's
closing the opportunity gap, really, because opportunities are out there, as Dr. Flanders just said, 54,000 new jobs in Kansas coming in the next decade. And they're high skilled, they require high levels of literacy that weren't in place. Just not that long ago. Right. So this is about closing the opportunity gap for for everyone. And frankly, this is personal. I was a kid who my favorite subject was recess. It really was. The the way that reading was approached at that time, didn't connect with how I think and grow and I really didn't learn to read until I was in junior high. And I can't imagine being a person who never had a teacher that figured out what's the code for that kid to be able to learn to read. I can't imagine what their life must be like Today, it must be very difficult in this highly competitive global economy fast moving technology driven. So why now, we we cannot, there is an imperative here to make sure that all of our students are highly literate, because I'm using the word literate, they have to be able to read and write well, to be successful today. So for me, this is Dream making you have a dream, I want to help you get there. And this is an important skill, you've got to have to realize that for
you going into the details of the blueprint for literacy, why hasn't this happened before? Why hasn't such a plan like this come forward with bipartisan political support and so on?
I think that's a, that's a difficult question. You know, we've asked ourselves, why and how do we get here? And why are we at 40% that that don't read it at the level they need to. And at that time, we spent a lot of energy on that. And we just decided, okay, it's happened. And we're going to focus on the go forward, and say, you know, it hasn't happened at this point. But it's a new day, and we're changing.
And we really want to finger point, but just lack of coordination or disagreements about what the the issues were and the levels of reading or, you know, just parochial differences and distinctions and maybe, maybe getting on the one same page on the same team will help. I
think it's all of that. And it's also that we now know what the research was telling us 10 years ago, much of that has been debunked, that methodology of which I was a high proponent of when I was superintendent and made sure it was happening in every classroom, K through 12. So we were focused on this, but that methodology had some big deficits and was designed, we've later learned based on how children that from well resourced families who have access to all kinds of language development outside of the school, it was based on how they learned to read it when based on how I learned to read coming from a middle class background or a more diverse background. So we know better, and, and, frankly, higher ed would be committing malpractice, if we knew that our teachers and our state were struggling, that the state board has a plan they're trying to work and that we just stood there and said good luck to you, that is malpractice. We know better. And so we're in and invested. Senate
Bill 438, signed by Governor Kelly, I think it earmarked about 10 million a year to, to the Board of Regents to probably for instructional purposes. For the universities and for existing students, I imagine that's ongoing money.
Well, we certainly hope so it, it's needed, because, you know, we need to help people return to training and education. And, and, you know, if you're out in the field, we certainly don't want to say hey, you need to pay to go back and get retrained or or trained on the new science of reading methodology. And that's primarily the largest expenditure.
Yeah. All right. So part of the legislation said state universities must adopt to three credit hour courses and literacy within their education school curriculums. And if they don't, it's cost them a lot of money. Like, if you don't do it, by the deadlines, a half a million bucks million dollars that these universities are going to surrender. So why new courses? What's what would be new about these courses that isn't being handled right now? So do you
know I was trained in Elementary Ed, I have a background in special ed. And I can tell you that I learned a lot of theory. But when I walked out of my program, and walked into a classroom, I thought I have no idea where to start? None. And that story is not mine alone. You can ask any teacher today? Did your program actually prepare you to walk in and do the job? And in most cases, not so much. So we working with the deans and working with the faculty over the last almost two years now. Right? We talked a lot about how do we build in an opportunity where you can apply the theory. We call it performance based or it's like a practicum. But you're actually working with children with trained professionals observing and coaching you so you, you it's like we trained doctors, we train nurses, we give them simulation opportunities, right so they can develop their skills. When you hands on hands on, do it with real people but be in a safe environment where you've got guidance, so on the spot coaching and those kinds of things. So those two courses, their six hours of college credit are available not only to pre service but also to teachers in the classroom. So pre service, meaning teachers that are in learning to be teachers and undergraduate programs, and they're all about doing a plus eyeing what they learned in their methods classes,
I think that's a great way to learn the legislation. The law also creates a blueprint Advisory Committee. Lots of folks on there, people from the universities, community college to colleges, I think, State Board of Ed, State Board of Regents, legislature, all kinds of people on there. And they will monitor the progress of the blueprint for literacy, and help you I suppose, Sunday in in Go about your work
there, this group is essential, because the blueprint is really not a program, it is an articulation of a path forward with markers of things that need to be in place, in order for us to succeed. We're not buying a curriculum program when we are developing a workforce development initiative. So we need all the minds at the table. It's a big tent kind of mentality that we're opening it up so that we have diverse experiences and experts learning together. And designing a plans, I think about it as my role is almost like the general manager of a baseball team. And this advisory committee is on the field in the positions and they will be called on based on their individual knowledge at times, but they also may be called on to go somewhere else on the field and perform. And so they are going to become leaders and what's working across the nation, what's in place in Kansas and what we need to improve. So
best practices in training teachers and retraining teachers will be part of this advisory committees role to make recommendations to the legislature, the Board of Regents is the Board of Ed
all of all of the above, yeah, and empowered to make change and power to convene people to talk about it. And to make sure that in every corner of Kansas, we have strong practices in place. Can
it's an advisory committee, can they compel? Well,
their voice will be very compelling. So do they have statutory authority to make something happen? No, but they will have the bully pulpit and and to try to bring people along
it really boils down to the local school district level, the local school board. Part
of what we have to do is empower local school board members with here's here's how you should be thinking about what's happening in your classrooms. As a school board member, the
target audience of this is the instructional pushes to get 100% of Kansas elementary school teachers with a credential in this new regimen by 2030. So explain what that credential would be.
The credential would be evidence that I can I know and can implement the science of reading? Is it five components from sorry, phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, I mean, those haven't changed for decades, but it will be evidence that they've gone through a professional program, and they have the skill to walk in any classroom in our state, and know what to do with children. Is it the six hours of courses, that's something that's built into the undergraduate program, okay. Also, it will be available to teachers already in the classroom. And we'll have other pathways, ways that we call them micro credentials that are thrilled to have opportunity for online learning and that practice, so they can get their credential for licensure, really excited that the state board has elevated the literacy to such a point that they want to recognize our competence in that through licensure.
Okay, all right. And again, this is existing teachers and up and coming teachers who were acquiring these new skills. And that's important why?
Well, we want to, we want to diminish that 40%, right, we want to make sure our students have the skills they need for a successful life is its teachers, its paraprofessionals, its reading specialist, its instructional coaches, its principals and superintendents across the board in the school right now, the focus in the Wallace, pre K, through eight teachers, we're starting in elementary, but there'll be much more work that we need to do for older students as well.
In terms of students, one objective is to have in your heart to explain these achievement levels, to have half of the third through eighth graders in Kansas, three, at the level three or above, and to have 90% of the students at level two and above by 2033. So explain what those levels are send to your or you can but and how challenging will will that that benchmark be? Yeah,
so I would just say this is a high bar. And and we embrace that because it's it's so critical. Those are linked to the state assessments 123 and level four, and and that's that's what our target is.
So one is low. Four is your excellent
Yes. So one major below grade level that you you you have emerging skills and reading but you really are struggling a two domains and there's debate about this, these are these levels are set by the state board. So I'm trying to call back to my previous role to explain this, a to set is grade level. Some debate that, but in general, if you perform on the state assessment in breeding a to your, your on grade level, a three means you're approaching college ready and a force as you are college ready. And above, those are our 30 and 31. A CT kids, right. So, and that's great. And we need to support those students as well. But really, we want to get kids at grade level or beyond so that they can go out and have access to these quality jobs. So
that 90% If you have 90%, at level two, by 2033, how much of that 40% deficit? Have you knocked out? Do? You know?
That's a great question. And one we need to analyze, I think specifically. So I stumped the pros.
So fundamentally, you know, you, you'd reduce that, at least to 10%. And, and it. But we will, you know, we need to dig into those numbers and see exactly where we are, you know, I, I do want to kind of return to this literacy Advisory Committee, because I just, I want to re emphasize how important their role is going to be, you know, when I've went around the state and talk to groups and talk to them about the deficits we have in literacy. Even people in the education community are actually shocked by that. I don't think many people know that we have 40% of the students that are not reading well. I'm not sure that every local school board knows that I'm not sure that every local school board member has that information, the broader we can and bigger we can make this tant the more we we can get that information out and then we can, then we can correct it. Cindy,
maybe you can address this. Do we have pockets of the state or certain socio economic elements here that have a greater challenge with this? Do we think it's rural districts that have a greater problem with this? Or is it urban districts? Or is it just completely a blend and it's certain students in every district may take
you back to my comment about previous practices were developed in well resourced families. So if you come from a higher income family, likely, literacy is not a challenge for you, because from the minute you were born, you had all these experiences and exposures. If you come from a less resource family, those things are are missing in most cases. So it is an urban issue. It's a rural issue. It is across the state, but it has more to do with access to resources than it does race or gender budget. If you look at our data in Kansas, we're not doing well with diverse groups, we just aren't we're not doing well, with literacy, we're not doing well, with college going, both of those things need to be improved. Before
we close out here, I wonder if you both of you could tackle and just explain to mom and dad who are sitting on the couch. Why this is important and why you believe in it wants to go first.
I don't think we have to explain to the families why this is important. They know that their children are struggling and literacy, what what we need is to give them equip them with the skills so they know what to expect in schools and how they can support it at home. Families want their children to thrive. And they know they're not thriving, because frankly, most of us, myself included, would start getting in trouble in class. So we can avoid having to be faced with something that we didn't know how to do.
This is going to trickle down to the parents and guardians trickle we're
at the centers of excellence and we ought to talk about the centers. The Centers are designed specifically to number one support families and students. That's their number one job to help the six university. Well, we don't know what the location the universities are charged with some oversight. So we'll have a team and they're already starting to work and formulate ideas. How do we get these resources in every corner of the state? How's western Kansas and rural communities in our state have access? How do families have access to what they need to help their children? Like
do you think? Go ahead?
So I'll just tell you that, you know, we talk about why it's important to the to parents. It's important for everyone even if you do not have children. So because if you want a healthy community, if you want high volunteerism, we know that is linked to educational attainment and without reading, we're not going to have that our communities are going to become much poor. If we don't get this correct. acted, because people will just not be able to access those high wage jobs. And then it'll be more difficult to recruit those types of companies to our state. We've had tremendous success the last couple of years actually recruiting some companies. But if companies cannot get the talent they need, they will go elsewhere for that talent. And so what I would say is, it's incredibly important to the parents, because everyone, including me, once once our children to do well, everybody, but it's important to people that may not even have kids or who whose kids are grown, because it's important to every community. Let me
add to I think that's well said Dr. Flanders, that the Kansas Health Foundation is engaged in studying health outcomes based on literacy rates, and they're finding a direct correlation. If you have strong literacy, you're healthier. If you have strong economics, you're, you have strong literacy. So that might be something more to dig into. Tim, and we will to try to understand what we can do to help with with that as
well. I should brush up on go dog go. I want to thank our guests today's Cindy lane, former superintendent, who will be the new director of the blueprint for literacy in the state of Kansas and Blake Flanders, President and CEO of the Kansas border region. So I'm gonna thank you both for talking about this and maybe in a year or so we can revisit it and see just kind of get a status report on how this goes. All right,
