Key Takeaways
- A Reading Specialist degree is an academic credential granted by a university; a Reading Specialist endorsement is a professional license issued by the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) – and you need both to legally serve in that role in Kansas schools.
- KSDE classifies the Reading Specialist as a school specialist license, not a standard teaching endorsement, which comes with its own set of experience, exam, and program requirements.
- Kansas’s Every Child Can Read Act has raised the bar for literacy professionals, making the Science of Reading and dyslexia knowledge more critical than ever for endorsement-seekers.
- Newman University’s MSED Reading Specialist – Dyslexia Emphasis is one of the few programs in Kansas that prepares graduates for both the KSDE Reading Specialist license (via the Praxis 5302 exam) and national dyslexia therapy certification in a single 30-credit program.
- Kansas offers a provisional school specialist license that lets eligible educators begin working in reading specialist roles before completing their full program – a flexibility worth understanding before choosing a path.
If you have been researching how to become a reading specialist in Kansas, you have probably run into the terms degree and endorsement used almost interchangeably. They are not the same thing – and mixing them up can cost time, money, and career momentum. Here is how they actually work, what Kansas requires, and how to choose the path that fits where you are right now.
The Endorsement Is a Specialization Added to a License – the Degree Is the Preparation
Think of the degree as the education and the endorsement as the official permission to practice. A Reading Specialist degree – typically a Master of Science in Education (MSED) or M.Ed. with a reading and literacy concentration – prepares educators with advanced knowledge in literacy theory, structured instruction, assessment, and leadership. The university awards it once coursework requirements are met.
The Reading Specialist endorsement, by contrast, is issued by KSDE and attached to your existing Kansas teaching license. It is the official credential that tells a school district this person is legally authorized to serve as a PreK-12 Reading Specialist. Completing a degree program fulfills the academic requirements for the endorsement, but KSDE still has to verify program completion, teaching experience, and a passing Praxis exam score before granting it. The degree alone does not flip the switch.
KSDE places the Reading Specialist in its school specialist category – alongside school counselors, school psychologists, and library media specialists – rather than treating it like a standard teaching content endorsement. That distinction shapes the entire licensure pathway.
Two Credentials, Two Issuing Authorities
Degree: Granted by the University
Universities design their reading specialist degree programs to align with KSDE’s Teacher Preparation Standards for Reading Specialist (PreK-12, adopted September 2020), but the degree itself covers more ground. Alongside the specialist coursework, most master’s programs include graduate-level work in educational research, instructional design, leadership, cultural diversity, and data analysis – skills that serve literacy coaches and program directors well beyond the classroom.
Endorsement: Issued by KSDE
After completing an approved program, educators apply to KSDE directly through the KLAS licensure system with institutional verification from their university. KSDE reviews the application against its requirements and, when everything checks out, adds the Reading Specialist endorsement to the existing teaching license. The university facilitates the verification; KSDE makes it official.
What KSDE Actually Requires for the Endorsement
Several requirements stack on top of each other, and it is easy to underestimate what is involved. Here is the full picture.
Teaching License and Recent Teaching Experience
Applicants must hold a valid Kansas professional teaching license. KSDE also requires teaching experience – at least one year of recent accredited experience or eight semester hours of recent graduate credit within the last six years. Requirements can vary slightly by program, so confirming current KSDE guidelines directly is always the right move.
Praxis Reading Specialist Exam (5302)
All candidates must pass the ETS Praxis Reading Specialist exam (test code 5302). The exam is computer-delivered and covers foundational literacy skills, curriculum and instruction, assessment and diagnosis, and professional leadership. Kansas’s passing score is 165. This exam is a hard requirement – no exceptions for strong academic records or years of experience.
Licensure Stages: Provisional and Professional School Specialist
Kansas offers a provisional school specialist license for candidates who have completed at least 50% of an approved program, hold a professional teaching license, and have secured a reading specialist position. This two-year provisional license allows educators to begin working in the role while finishing their program – a practical option for those who cannot afford to pause their career.
After full program completion, the Praxis, and the required experience, candidates qualify for the initial school specialist license. From there, completing a district-administered year-long mentoring program and a performance assessment leads to the professional school specialist license – the fully permanent credential.
Degree vs. Endorsement-Only: Which Path Fits You?
The right answer depends almost entirely on whether you already hold a master’s degree.
Full Master’s (30-36 Credits): No Master’s Yet
If a master’s degree is not already on the transcript, a full reading specialist degree program is the path. These programs – typically 30-36 credits depending on the university – bundle the endorsement coursework together with core graduate education requirements. Completing one program satisfies both goals: earning the master’s diploma and meeting KSDE’s program requirements for the endorsement. Many are designed as hybrid or online programs specifically to accommodate working teachers.
Endorsement-Only Programs (Typically Shorter, for Those Who Already Have a Master’s)
For educators who already hold a master’s in education or a related field, some Kansas universities offer graduate certificate or non-degree endorsement programs focused exclusively on the Reading Specialist coursework – typically 18-21 credits. These are faster and more cost-efficient. The trade-off: no new degree is awarded, and the KSDE requirement for a graduate degree must already be satisfied by the existing master’s. Examples include FHSU’s 18-credit non-degree endorsement block and Pittsburg State’s 21-credit Reading Specialist Licensure Graduate Certificate.
Both paths lead to the same school specialist license stages. The choice is about efficiency given what has already been earned.
Why Kansas Added Dyslexia and Science of Reading
Kansas has not been standing still on literacy policy. The state’s Every Child Can Read Act – along with additional legislative action – has pushed evidence-based reading instruction to the center of educator preparation. By July 1, 2028, certain educators including Elementary Reading Specialists will need to demonstrate Science of Reading knowledge through approved training like LETRS or equivalent exams to renew their professional licenses and earn a Seal of Literacy.
That means dyslexia identification, structured literacy, and Science of Reading are not just resume boosters – they are becoming baseline expectations for Kansas reading professionals. Programs that already embed this content provide a head start on future renewal requirements.
Newman’s MSED Prepares You for Both in One Program
Newman University’s MSED Reading Specialist – Dyslexia Emphasis is structured around the reality that Kansas educators need more than coursework – they need to walk into classrooms ready to apply what they have learned from day one. The program runs 30 credits across 10 courses, with summer intensive weeks in July focused on hands-on structured literacy practice and hybrid fall and spring courses built for teachers who are still in the classroom full-time.
Dual Credential Path: Praxis + National Dyslexia Certification
What separates Newman’s program from a standard reading specialist degree is its dual credential focus. Graduates are prepared for both the Kansas Reading Specialist licensure pathway – including the Praxis 5302 exam – and national dyslexia therapy certification through KPEERI or ALTA exams. The program holds International Dyslexia Association (IDA) Accreditation PLUS, one of the few in Kansas aligned to that standard, and faculty includes Certified Academic Language Therapists with 15+ years of dyslexia therapy experience.
Built for Working Teachers
The clinical experience runs longitudinally throughout the program: candidates follow a single school-aged struggling reader, documenting growth in a professional case study. This is not a checkbox practicum – it builds the diagnostic and instructional skill set that reading specialist roles actually demand. The summer intensive includes peer teaching practice, so educators are applying structured literacy techniques before ever working with students in their specialist capacity.
Get the Degree, Earn the Endorsement, Lead Kansas Literacy
The distinction between a Reading Specialist degree and a Reading Specialist endorsement in Kansas comes down to this: the degree is what is earned through rigorous graduate-level preparation; the endorsement is what KSDE issues when every requirement has been met – program, experience, and exam. Both are necessary to serve in the role, and the smartest path integrates them rather than treating them as separate goals.
Given Kansas’s growing legislative emphasis on the Science of Reading and dyslexia, choosing a program that already embeds those competencies is practical preparation for where state requirements are heading.
To see how Newman University prepares Kansas educators for reading specialist licensure and literacy leadership, visit newmanu.edu.
Newman University
3100 McCormick
Wichita
Kansas
67213
United States
