Kevin Buckner, assistant superintendent for teaching and learning, and Alexis Luecky, coordinator of elementary reading intervention, presented the district’s plan to review elementary reading-intervention services on Sept. 25.
"The state's passed a number of laws that's provided guidance for our schools to have strong systems in place to support students through reading," Kevin Buckner said, noting recent state requirements related to assessment and dyslexia identification have shaped the district’s current processes.
Buckner and Luecky said the review will examine four focus areas: instructional resources and alignment to the science of reading, program structure and staffing, professional development and continuous improvement for interventionists, and how reading intervention fits within the district’s MTSS framework. They noted the district has 31 reading interventionists across 19 school buildings and said there were approximately 803 Reading Success Plans filed last school year.
On dyslexia, Buckner said the review will include an assessment of screening tools and identification processes. "That is part of this," he said in response to a board question about detecting dyslexia.
The presenters also discussed summer supports and methods to help families maintain reading progress between school years: the district provides summer-school options and a summer hub of resources, and reading specialists check in with students who had summer support to monitor continuity.
The timeline: survey development in fall, data collection and focus groups in winter, and recommendations and findings prepared for the board in spring. Buckner said the district would analyze assessment data such as NWEA and reading-success-plan metrics and look at research and best practices.
Board members praised the work and asked questions about dyslexia screening, summer support and consistency across schools; no vote was taken — the presentation was informational and the district will return with recommendations in the spring.