Teachers Commit to Additional Training to Boost Student Literacy

 

Caitlin Perkins describes the first time she saw her son Nick learn how to read as a “magic moment.”

Throughout his kindergarten year at Apache Elementary School, he would bring home reading exercises from Shauna Hammett’s classroom at Apache. Finally, one day after dinner, he picked them up and started to read them.

“To see how proud he was of himself filled us with pride,” Perkins expressed. “It was like something clicked. We didn’t necessarily see all of those pieces falling into place, but they were there!”

While Perkins did not see those pieces, Hammett saw them every day in the classroom. There, she used a variety of techniques to personalize the experience for Nick and every beginning reader in the room.

“Every student is unique in the way that they learn,” Hammett shared. “Having skills that help me make certain decisions based on what I’m seeing from students in the classroom, informed by science and research, is helpful.”

Hammett recently entered her 20th year of teaching in the Shawnee Mission School District (SMSD) and she credits one training with lifting the bar of expectations for her students even higher. She recently completed Lexia’s Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS).

According to Lexia, this professional development can take over 160 hours to complete. It includes face-to-face training over two years and additional coursework. So far, hundreds of SMSD educators have completed this voluntary training, with hundreds anticipated to enroll over the next couple of years. The Kansas State Board of Education has provided statewide access to LETRS training, and has extended funding into 2026.

This training has teachers going above and beyond, according to Krista Carson, elementary coordinator for English Language Arts and social studies.

“It is an honor to work beside these educators and know they have that commitment to strengthening literacy instruction,” Carson expressed.

There are numerous resources and skills SMSD teachers bring to the table, and the excitement around this opportunity for teachers has been contagious, noted Pam Lewis, associate superintendent of leadership and learning.

Shawnee Mission already has a robust team of educators from across the district developing curriculum guides aligned with state standards, collaborating in Professional Learning Communities, and using a variety of resources and interventions to personalize learning for each student. Several teachers have expressed to Lewis that LETRS is the best training they have ever received, and they were able to implement what they learned in the classroom.

“Learning to read and reading to learn doesn't happen by chance,” she emphasized. “It takes knowledgeable and skilled teachers working in collaboration to provide effective instruction and assess student progress. As a district, it is our responsibility to provide the resources and training our teachers need to serve all students.”

Meeting Students Where They Are

Some methods for teaching reading have traditionally focused heavily on a specific skill, like phonics or vocabulary. LETRS, however, focuses on familiarizing students with a broad variety of foundational skills, and helping them to strengthen those skills. Lexia notes it “teaches phonological awareness (understanding of how to work with and speak word sounds) and phonics (relationships between written letters and spoken sounds).” It also builds foundational skills in “fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and written language.”

LETRS is also touted for being based in “the science of reading,” or methods that research and evidence show have been successful for literacy development. Reflecting on her more than 40 years of teaching, Linda James has noticed that sometimes techniques for teaching reading have followed national trends. She remembers when phonics teaching was emphasized heavily, and then a time when opponents said phonics was given too much emphasis. “LETRS, however, provides a balance between phonics, comprehension, writing, and all foundational skills,” according to James, a Bluejacket-Flint teacher.

“To become a well-rounded reader, we have to have all of these skills,” she explained.

LETRS better prepares teachers to meet students where they are, as outlined in the district’s Strategic Plan, explained Kristin Ridgway, secondary coordinator of English Language Arts and social studies. “Understanding how learning to read works gives us more tools to help LETRS Supports Reading Education Teachers Commit to Additional Training to Boost Student Literacy students when they start to struggle, and it helps us make sure students become readers for life,” Ridgway added.

That knowledge is so helpful, the SMSD has expanded the training opportunities to middle and high school (secondary) educators. Secondary teachers have traditionally received specialized training to teach students ready for high-level reading and literary arts, but not every student in the classroom reads at the same level, Ridgway explained.

“It can be very upsetting to realize as an English teacher that a student is struggling with reading,” Ridgway added. “LETRS is giving them greater insight for how to support those students, even in upper grades.”

Linda James shares that LETRS has strengthened her ability to meet students where they are at the elementary level. While she used to spend additional time with students who found reading difficult, she now has a better ability to understand what is causing the challenge and address it.

“I can ask ‘Is it a comprehension issue? Is it phonemic awareness?’” she explains. “Finding what students are good at and building upon that also helps a lot.” LETRS in Action in the Classroom Rising Star Elementary fourth-grade teacher Hayley Prueter “immediately jumped” on the LETRS opportunity. She said she is better able to help students gain a deeper understanding of how they are learning to read. She recalls times, before training, that she didn’t always have a complete explanation for why certain English words were spelled or pronounced in a certain way. Now, she and her students will take time to understand word origins as they practice.

“Knowing that background on words helps them understand it and remember it better rather than just thinking the reason is ‘Because the teacher says so,’” Prueter observed. “They have developed a lot of independence with their spelling and their reading.”

Visitors in Hammet’s classroom will also see a variety of methods at work. Students will go from rapping the ABCs to identifying letters out loud, to reading, writing, and spelling exercises with wipe-off boards and flash cards. They may even find students going through an obstacle course, built throughout their classroom, where they sound out letters aloud through the process. These exercises are important, especially in Kindergarten, because having strong, foundational skill in reading is important for learning in all areas, Shauna Hammett noted.

“Reading is king in all subjects,” Hammett shares. “If we’re a strong reader, it unlocks our ability to focus more on the concept instead of struggling. Having that strong foundation and competence is a gift that will last a lifetime.”

Since Nick Perkins has learned how to read, Caitlin says the family has been checking out lots of books and he is reading to the family after dinner. Caitlin shares that learning to read for her was a struggle. She remembers when she learned to read, teachers often said “just sound it out” and it was difficult. Now, she will see her child working through methods he was taught in class.

“Because of how Nick has been taught, he can look at groupings of letters and know the sound that goes with it,” Perkins shared. “It has been really impressive.”

Last year, Francesca Noravong was in Linda James’s class. She recalls when she started to learn, she expected reading to be hard. Now, her favorite book is “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.’” Additional work on vocabulary helped her grow as a reader.

“I like it because I get to know the word and then I get to understand the story more,” Noravong shared. “I thought reading wouldn’t be my favorite subject, but now it is.”