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Schroeder throws support to literacy bill

Newly minted Superintendent of Public Instruction Brian Schroeder is throwing his support behind a bill that is slowly making its way through the legislative process. A staunch proponent of childhood literacy, he believes Senate File 32 is vital to ensuring that all Wyoming’s kids have the chance to succeed.

“It will require the districts to put screeners and assessments in place so that they can detect dyslexia and other learning disabilities or reading deficiencies early on,” he says of the bill, titled “K-3 reading assessment and intervention program”.

SF-32 is sponsored by the Joint Education Interim Committee and would require every school district to select and implement a reading assessment and intervention program that uses an instrument identified by the state superintendent to screen for signs of reading difficulties.

These assessments would measure reading progress and assess student skills and progress to provide data that allows teachers to tell whether a child is in need of intervention. The assessment would take place no fewer than three times a year between kindergarten and third grade. “The screeners and assessments would be Department of Education-approved,” Schroeder says.

Beyond that, he says, the aim is, “to make sure the parents know if their child is being screened or assessed and then, beyond that, to equip the teachers.”

The bill requires school districts to give written notification to a child’s parent or guardian if they are showing signs of reading difficulties. It states that a child having difficulties will be, “placed on an individualized reading plan to remedy the reading-related difficulty;” the plan, too, will be provided to the child’s guardian.

“The money would be there for teacher development in administering those tests and to improve the literacy component,” Schroeder adds. The bill appropriates $300,000 from the school foundation program account to distribute among school districts for professional development in school year 2022-2023.

Schroeder likes the bill, he says, because, “They’re addressing it at the child level, at the parent level and at the teacher level.”

The new superintendent visited Hulett School alongside Governor Mark Gordon last week – the very first stop on his planned tour of Wyoming’s schools. At the time, he was barely three weeks into the job.

Schroeder lists descriptives for his experiences over the first few weeks in the job with a grin: “Fascinating, intense, very interesting, like drinking from a fire hose, a major learning curve.”

As he steps into the role recently vacated by former Hulett teacher Jillian Balow, Schroeder says he isn’t looking to make sweeping changes.

“Just to learn the ropes, build relationships, build my team, get as much mentoring as possible and begin to cast a vision for what education can be, what it should be,” he says of his initial goals.

“The department is very well-functioning with very capable, committed people and they’ve just been wonderfully supportive, so no, I’m not going to come in and overturn any tables.”

Schroeder wants to get to all of the individual districts eventually and visit as many schools as possible, in as many parts of the state as he can.

“During my interview with the governor I asked him how much time do I have to spend in my office and how often can I get out into the districts,” he smiles. “Well, when the legislative session is over, it’s wide open – I can get out there as often as I can get out there.”

Of particular interest to Schroeder on this tour is, of course, literacy.

“I want to see what all the districts are doing in the area of literacy. Some of them are in the top ten and others are struggling, and I want to know why,” he says.

“I want to know why districts are struggling and what the top ten districts are doing to get the higher scores in literacy, because that’s the foundation of the whole educational enterprise.”

 
 
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