Maysville, Ky., is a town of 8,800 on the Ohio River, challenged, like the rest of the state, with literacy outcomes. At Charles Straub Elementary School, district leaders and classroom teachers are working together to improve literacy.
Holly Kimble, instructional supervisor and federal funds director for Mason County Schools, says the challenge is tied in part to instructional models once widely taught but lacking a strong research base. In response, Kentucky lawmakers passed the Read to Succeed Act in 2022, requiring districts to adopt research-based reading practices and offer interventions for struggling students. Since then, the state has invested heavily in professional learning focused on the science of reading.
“We know our kids deserve better,” Kimble says. “As a state, we’ve really been energized and motivated by how our students were performing, so we want to see a massive improvement in how our students are reading.”
A tried and true method
At Straub Elementary, those state efforts intersected with growing teacher interest in Orton-Gillingham, an approach developed in the 1930s to support students with dyslexia and other learning disabilities. OG emphasizes explicit, systematic phonics instruction using multisensory techniques — visual, auditory and kinesthetic — to help students understand how language works.
Though it originated in special education, OG has gained broader traction nationwide as research has shown that its methods benefit all students, not just those with identified disabilities.
Katie Mason, principal of Straub Elementary, said there was little resistance when teachers began adopting the IMSE OG Plus.
“This is the one area that we have never had anybody resist us on,” Mason said. “They would talk about how much growth was going on, and the engagement with their kids and the excitement. And so then everybody else wanted to do it.”
Over time, the entire K-2 staff trained in IMSE OG Plus, with teachers completing 30 hours of intensive professional learning — often on their own time. Administrators participated alongside them.
“The majority of our staff were trained over the summer,” Mason said. “That’s how eager and excited they were.”
Giving literacy structure
In first-grade classrooms, OG instruction is highly structured and predictable. Students practice letter-sound relationships, write sounds in sand trays or on boards, blend phonics patterns they’ve already learned and complete daily dictation tied directly to spelling rules.
“It’s just a lot of repetitive language,” said Courtney Hughes, a first-grade teacher who has taught in Mason County for more than 20 years. “They really learn those spelling rules.”
Hughes said she first encountered OG through a special education colleague and quickly saw its effectiveness. Now, she teaches in a collaborative classroom where general and special education students learn together.
“The growth that I’ve seen from having that special education teacher in my classroom is amazing,” Hughes said. “The students are in the classroom the majority of the day, and they are learning from their peers.”
She recalled one student who struggled significantly in kindergarten but began to thrive once the OG routines were consistently in place.
“When he bought into it and was like, ‘I can do this,’” Hughes said, “he has truly flourished this year.”
Playing a long game
Because Straub serves grades below Kentucky’s state testing threshold, the school does not participate directly in annual state reading assessments. However, district leaders track progress through weekly concept checks, OG benchmarks three times a year, and universal screeners administered districtwide.
Kimble said the goal is long-term growth rather than quick gains.
“It’s not going to be a one-year thing,” she said. “We want to see kids move sequentially through that phonics continuum.”
Beyond training, leaders emphasized the role of coaching and collaboration. Teachers regularly observe one another, and instructional coaching is framed as support rather than evaluation.
“This did not just happen with just our wonderful teachers,” Mason said. “We have had a lot of coaching. It is a ‘what can we do to get better’ process.”
Kimble said the district is committed to removing barriers so teachers can focus on instruction.
“We’re finding funds, we’re finding ways to remove barriers so that teachers can do their jobs and that kids can learn to read,” she said. “That’s ultimately it. We want happy, capable, joyful, literate children, who can go into life ready to do whatever they want to do.”