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District unveils reading plan and hires district reading specialist to drive early literacy goals
Summary
Conway Public Schools presented a district reading plan built from community feedback and named Dr. Kathy Sweare as district reading specialist; staff said the plan will be posted and updated quarterly and includes a vendor selection process for core instructional materials.
Conway Public Schools on Tuesday presented a district reading plan aimed at raising literacy and laid out a multi‑tiered approach that the central office will monitor and refine quarterly.
The plan, developed from community forums, parent and staff surveys and collaborative working sessions, identifies 10 pillars of reading success—including vertical curriculum alignment, early literacy intervention, professional development, assessment and equitable access. Dr. Kathy Sweare, the district reading specialist introduced at the meeting, said the vision is that “every student in our district become a confident, capable and enthusiastic reader.”
The plan covers tier 1 instructional materials and a process to select a high‑quality instructional materials (HQIM) program: district staff said they have narrowed vendor choices, will conduct a vendor fair and plan limited pilots before making a core adoption decision. Sweare said the implementation model includes tiered interventions so students can move between tier 1, tier 2 and tier 3 instruction based on progress monitoring.
Benchmarks and reporting: The plan cites specific reading targets included in the strategic readiness plan (increase reading from 44% to 51% by end‑of‑calendar‑year 2026). District staff said the full plan is approximately 27 pages and will be posted publicly by the following business day; they also committed to quarterly updates to the board on actions and student progress.
Support services and early childhood: The district will expand intervention offerings—naming Scots Rite programs and others for tier 2/3—and discussed plans to align reading supports across content areas. Staff said they are considering a longer birth‑to‑kindergarten pipeline in future work.
Next steps: Sweare and the curriculum team will pilot candidate HQIM materials, publish progress monitoring tables, and report data to the board quarterly. The board did not take separate action to fund the plan at the meeting; implementation will proceed under central office authority.
