10/13/2024

Science of Reading Transformation: How You Can Impact Policy at the State Level

By Micki Ray Marinelli, Chief Academic Officer for the Kentucky Department of Education's Office of Teaching and Learning

This blog post is the third in the Educator Advocates blog series. In Blog Post 1, Educators as Advocates: Advocating for the Science of Reading at the School Level, you can learn how to influence change at the school level. In Blog Post 2, Advocating for the Science of Reading at the District Level, we explore how to bring change within your district.  

Teachers shape their students’ futures with every lesson they deliver. As educators, we’re not just facilitators of knowledge—we’re uniquely positioned to advocate for research-based literacy practices that benefit all students. In my role today, I help develop state policies that support teaching and learning. Prior to my state role, I spent nearly 15 years teaching high school English, where I saw what worked in the classroom—and what resources most benefited students and teachers. I still rely on teachers to provide critical insights to inform state policy—which is why it’s so important for teachers to advocate for statewide literacy initiatives. 

From Teacher to State Policymaker

When I went to college, I didn’t think I’d become a teacher; I planned to work in the medical field in some capacity. Yet, when I had an opportunity to work with high school students, something just clicked between my love for literature, reading, and writing and the high school student experience. For more than a decade, I served as a high school English teacher in Anderson and Scott counties. 

In 2017, while teaching English at Scott County High School, the Kentucky General Assembly passed new legislation requiring a state-level process for K–12 standards review and development. A colleague recommended I apply for an open secondary literacy consultant position at the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE), where I could use my experience to support teachers and help implement the new reading and writing standards. I accepted that role and have since worked in policy roles at the KDE. As a policy advisor, I helped inform legislation intended to benefit students and teachers.  

This work has helped me in my current role as chief academic officer in the Office of Teaching and Learning, where I oversee state standards review and implementation, local curriculum development, curriculum-based professional learning, evidence-based instructional practices, early literacy and numeracy, Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS), and Title II, Part A.

Although I miss interacting with students daily, I’m excited to impact teaching and learning at a larger scale, where I'm doing everything I can to positively contribute to education in our state. 

Kentucky’s Literacy Landscape

Like many states that have passed laws to support an evidence-based reading approach, Kentucky legislators passed The Read to Succeed Act in 2022 that ensures teachers receive the evidence-based early literacy professional learning and resources needed to support student reading proficiency. Our state funded the act with a substantial budget of $22 million over the current two-year period and has earmarked an additional $15.9 million in Read to Achieve grants each year, demonstrating the state's commitment to improving literacy.

Teachers deserve access to resources and ongoing support for their early learners who need to meet the future demands of college and career. The Kentucky Reading Academies is one of several Read to Succeed initiatives based on Kentucky's shift to the science of reading approach. 

The science of reading approach identifies phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension as the five components of skilled reading (National Center on Improving Literacy, 2022). This Structured Literacy approach enables educators to apply this framework by prioritizing the systematic and explicit instruction of foundational reading skills through targeted and responsive evidence-based literacy instruction (Spear-Swerling, 2019). 

The Kentucky Reading Academies offer an opt-in, self-paced professional learning opportunity to K–5 educators and administrators at no cost through access to Lexia® LETRS® (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling) professional learning. Teachers access professional learning through the LETRS learning platform, which includes video modeling, interactive activities, participants' journals, and a help center. It helps educators integrate the what, why, and how of literacy instruction, using Structured Literacy to improve their effectiveness and transform instruction. The explicit guidance provided by LETRS offers the often missing translational component essential for research to truly influence practice (Seidenberg et al., 2020).

The KDE invested $10 million in federal ESSER/ARP funding to support LETRS training. This investment in our educators allowed us to:

• Shift from a whole language/balanced literacy approach to the science of reading. 
• Support teachers in meeting students' diverse reading needs in a way that aligns with how the brain learns to read. 
• Give teachers the knowledge, skills, and tools to support all struggling readers.

Thanks to teacher feedback and advocacy, we have the support to continue and expand the program and expose even more educators to LETRS. More than 1,800 Kentucky educators and administrators began the LETRS professional learning in Cohort 1. Of this group, 433 participants responded to a January 2022 survey regarding the professional learning experience. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive. 

• 95% of participants said they were learning NEW information.
• 95% of participants said the information they were learning was RELEVANT to their role and responsibilities.
• 93% of participants said the information they have learned has helped them better meet their students' diverse learning needs.  
• Due to the testimonials from Cohort 1, registration for Cohort 2 was more than 2,000, and the upcoming third Cohort of LETRS includes more than 2,200 educators.
• Participants continue to share that LETRS is relevant, eye-opening, and immediately applicable to their practice.

Promising Outcomes

The Kentucky Reading Academies LETRS training has already transformed long-held educator beliefs about reading and writing. Teachers have been equipped with best practices and strategies to help students overcome reading challenges. In surveys and focus groups, our educators have reported that LETRS has given them instructional strategies and tools for phonemic awareness, phonics, decoding, vocabulary, comprehension, and morphology. This has led to increased confidence in their literacy knowledge and a greater comfort in teaching literacy, paving the way for a brighter future in literacy education.

• Teachers and specialists reported more intentionality in their instructional activities and support for students because of their participation.
• Those going through LETRS reported being able to apply strategies across all three tiers of student instruction.
• Administrators reported that LETRS helped establish common goals and priorities with teachers and also saw the benefit of all teachers participating in the Kentucky Reading Academies.

This year, we’re excited to extend professional learning to teachers in grades six through 12 to help middle and high school teachers reach older students who still struggle to read proficiently.

Advocating for Change

Research shows that a child's reading ability predicts educational and lifelong success. Students must have every opportunity to gain and strengthen this skill, and teachers must be equipped and empowered to improve student literacy following evidence-based practices. By sharing your knowledge of the science of reading with other teachers, principals, and community members, you can help district leadership communicate to state leaders what schools need to shift to the science of reading. Here’s why your voice matters:

• You work with students daily and can more closely identify what students need to learn to read. 
• Your positive learning experiences greatly influence your colleagues.
• You share close ties with students and families and receive data and feedback that supports what works. 
• As an advocate for the needs of all students, you are the best person to explain to local leadership what struggling readers need to succeed.

While we at the KDE encourage a systemic approach to LETRS professional learning, we’ve encouraged leaders to support teachers who want to participate and learn alongside them. Ultimately, you can influence scalability and sustainability by sharing your success stories and applying evidence-based literacy practices in your classroom. 

Remember, you are not an island—even if it feels like it. Find at least one other like-minded person, even if that person is not in your district, to be a thought partner and support person. Ask that colleague to collaborate and join you in moving forward for the good of your students. 

How Teachers Can Influence Change in Their States

Teachers can play a significant role in shaping literacy policy at the state level, and your voice makes a difference. Here are ways you can help advocate for literacy resources:

• Create and Share Success Stories: Document and share your classroom success stories with state education and policy leaders, highlighting how effective literacy training and tools have positively impacted your students.
• Leverage Data and Research: Present classroom literacy data and evidence-based research to support funding for teacher professional development and student resources at the state level. 
• Partner With Parents and Community Members: Collaborate with parents, community organizations, and other stakeholders to build a broader coalition advocating for state literacy policy changes. 
• Engage in Grassroots Advocacy: Educate others through grassroots campaigns that raise awareness about the effectiveness of science of reading practices. This can include letter-writing campaigns or community events that highlight the importance of literacy education.
• Offer Your Testimony at Public Hearings and Committee Meetings: Attend and testify at public hearings or other meetings to present evidence-based recommendations and share your classroom literacy experiences.
• Advocate for Professional Learning: Push for policies and funding that support ongoing professional learning in literacy instruction for teachers and administrators across your district and state.

Educational systems can learn and change. We are seeing it in Kentucky, thanks to the advocacy efforts of our educators. Change takes time. It’s difficult for educational systems to break away from what they've known and always done. Yet, your advocacy is worth it to the students, families, and fellow teachers who deserve access to professional learning and high-quality instructional resources. 

Author Bio

Micki Ray Marinelli assumed her role as Kentucky Department of Education chief academic officer in September 2021. In this role, she serves as a leader for policy development (both legislative and regulatory) for improving instruction and learning in K–12 schools. Her job also entails leading the Office of Teaching and Learning (OTL) staff and providing oversight and direction for statewide initiatives in standards development and implementation, high-quality professional learning, high-quality instructional resources, instructional practices related to scaling highly effective teaching, assessment practices, grant programs and Title II, Part A. Marinelli has been at KDE for seven years, previously serving as a literacy consultant for program standards and as a policy adviser for OTL prior to her work as director of the Division of Program Standards. A second-generation educator whose mother is a retired elementary school teacher, Marinelli has an additional 15 years of service in Kentucky public education working as a high school English teacher. She also was an adjunct English instructor at Hocking College in Ohio. Marinelli earned her master’s degree in education from the University of Kentucky and graduated summa cum laude from Georgetown College with a bachelor’s degree in English.