The Kansas Every Child Can Read Act, K.S.A. 72-3262, provides a legislative statement of intent regarding the promotion of academic achievement in schools to ensure that all students move toward grade-level proficiency in literacy, especially by third grade.

This law requires each school district’s local board of education to provide opportunities for students to participate in targeted educational interventions to promote proficiency.

Reading literacy is to be attained through the Science of Reading, evidence-based reading instruction and necessary competencies to attain proficiency.

Schools are required to follow and use the framework of the Kansas State Department of Education’s Dyslexia Handbook.

Each school district must ensure that the competencies are achieved through literacy instruction in:

• Phonics.
• Vocabulary development.
• Reading fluency.
• Reading comprehension.

The law requires each school district measure student achievement through state assessments and other universal screening and assessment tools that are approved by the district’s local board of education or by KSDE.

School districts must provide targeted and tiered interventions designed to match a student’s individual needs through additional contact hours with the student, which may include additional one-on-one instruction, small group instruction, tutoring, or summer school.

Additionally, school districts must ensure that each third-grade teacher communicates with the parents of each third-grade student at least once each semester regarding the student’s individual deficiencies and any recommended interventions for such student. Such teacher-to-parent communication must provide the parent with:

• A summary of the Every Child Can Read Act and the goals of the act.
• The student’s assessment data that pertains to literacy.
• Recommended interventions for the student.
• How the school district tracks the outcomes of those interventions.

The law also requires each school district to report to KSDE on or before June 30 of each school year information regarding the school district’s implementation of the Every Child Can Read Act including:

• The school district’s interventions and outcomes of such interventions.
• The number of third-grade students in the district.
• The screening and assessment data the district is using to evaluate student progress in literacy.
• The percentage of all students and student subgroups who are proficient, moving toward proficiency or deficient.

KSDE is required to submit a summary of such reports to the governor and legislature on or before Jan. 15 of each year.