Closing Kansas Reading Gaps Requires More Reading, Not Less
- Alana McWilliams for SBOE
- 6h
- 1 min read
The Science of Reading isn't just an early literacy conversation. It's for every grade, in every classroom, in every subject. Every strand of Scarborough's Reading Rope, including the language comprehension side.
A new RAND survey report gives us a sobering look at what's happening in secondary ELA classrooms.
9% of teachers assigned no full books at all.
Two-thirds assigned only one to four books for the entire year.
That's not a reading culture. That's the natural consequence of the reading recession Kansas and the rest of this country is experiencing.
And the most troubling finding? The disparity in who gets assigned less reading. Teachers serving students who experience poverty, students of color, multilingual learners, and students with disabilities are assigned fewer full books than their peers.
I know what it takes to reach struggling readers, and it’s not being exposed to less content, language, and books. If we want these kids to close the skills gap, we need PLANS for these students.
Read the RAND report here: https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA4594-4.html
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I'm Alana McWilliams. I am running for the Kansas State Board of Education, District 7. Would love to have your vote on November 3, 2026. https://www.alanamcwilliams.com/
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