Additional dates and locations have been added for the Kansas State Department of Education’s (KSDE) in-person dyslexia professional learning.

This opportunity provides curriculum directors, instructional coaches and middle- and secondary-content teachers a day of professional learning to support instruction for students with reading and/or writing.

Topics include:

• Information regarding how the brain acquires reading/writing ability, and the role of both language structures and the limbic system in mediating reading and writing acquisition.
• Application of a structured literacy framework for older students who need support for acquiring strong literacy skills.
• Discussion regarding the role that assessments play in determining not only interventions but how to tweak Tier I English language arts (ELA) and/or core class instruction to integrate more science of reading practices.
• Examination of strategies that all content area teachers can use to help students access content in all areas.
• Exploration of various models of support – how schools are striving to meet the needs of students in a secondary setting: the who, when, where and how.
• An opportunity for teachers to network and brainstorm ways to overcome challenges to meet the needs of older students who struggle with reading and writing.

Additional dates and locations are:

• Feb. 27: 8:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Smoky Hill Education Service Center, 605 E. Crawford St. in Salina. The cost is $25, and lunch is provided. Credits available – five continuing education units; five professional development points; and five contact hours. Registration ends Feb. 26. Register here.
• March 6: 8:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Greenbush Service Center in Lawrence. The cost is $25, and breakfast and lunch will be provided. Register here.
• March 30: 8:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. ESSDACK, 1500 E. 11^th in Hutchinson. The cost is $25, and lunch is provided. Optional one-half graduate-level college credit available from MidAmerica Nazarene University for $45. Register here.

For more information, contact Dr. Laurie Curtis, KSDE’s early literacy/dyslexia program manager, via email at lcurtis@ksde.org.