Read to Succeed: Kentucky education officials provide early literacy update

PARIS – In 2022, the Read to Succeed Act changed the way Kentucky kids learn to read.

Monday, several lawmakers, the current and incoming education commissioner and the director of a new statewide reading research center shared updates on the Commonwealth’s literacy efforts.

Before reading to children as part of a summer program at the Bourbon County Elementary library, Rep. James Tipton, R-Taylorsville, explained the importance of early literacy.

“When students start fourth grade, they generally start content areas of their learning,” Tipton said. “But if they can’t read proficiently at a grade level, it’s going to be very difficult for them to understand it. And I think that’s where we see a lot of students getting behind.”

At the time, Kentucky’s reading scores were poor, according to NAEP assessments.

Tipton and Sen. Stephen West, R-Paris, got inspiration to make a change in Kentucky’s reading methods at a regional education conference, where they heard about Mississippi’s work to “transform all education systems to make sure that all kids know how to read by third grade,” West said.

Mississippi had started using a reading philosophy called structured literacy, based on scientific, evidence-based concepts. Structured literacy includes five core components: phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension.

“If the students do not have those skills, they’re going to have difficulty going forward,” Tipton said.

The structured literacy philosophy differs from what Kentucky was using before: balanced literacy, the idea that students would “just pick it up.”

Tipton added that research he’s seen doesn’t back up the effectiveness of balanced literacy.

It took five years to resolve political tensions between these philosophies, West said, but in 2022, the General Assembly finally had the momentum and budget to support a change.

Senate Bill 9, or the Read to Succeed Act, was the result. Among other provisions, the law required the Kentucky Department of Education to help local school districts find professional development opportunities showing teachers how to teach using the structured literacy philosophy.

The Kentucky Reading Academy, which teaches Language Essentials for Teaching of Reading and Spelling, is one such professional development program. Interim Education Commissioner Robin Fields Kinney said it’s earned high reviews from lifelong teachers as a valuable program.

The following year, Senate Bill 156 required a statewide reading research center to be created as a clearinghouse for the best early literacy information, science and initiatives.

Monday, the University of Louisville was announced as the third party that will establish the center. Amy Lingo, the statewide reading research center director, said students and faculty will also conduct their own research, collecting data and evidence of what works best in teaching reading.

“We look forward to disseminating the evidence-based practices, making sure that they are practical, making sure that they are consumable and usable by teachers, educational professionals, administrators, families and the general public,” Lingo said.

While Read to Succeed has been in place for 2 years, Kinney said it’s too early to see most of the positive results they anticipate.