CES offers preparation for these Initial Licenses:
- Reading Specialist, All Levels
The Reading Specialist licensure program is intended to prepare candidates for the Initial License in the teaching of reading. Enrollment is available for those who have an initial teaching license and at least one year of teaching experience under that license.
All courses may be taken for graduate credit. For those interested in obtaining a graduate degree, graduate credits may be applied toward a M.Ed.-Curriculum & Teaching or a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies (CAGS), through CES’s partnership with Fitchburg State University. Graduate credit registration forms are available at the first session of each course. For graduate program procedures and information, contact Beverly Streeter.
Participants enrolling in the Reading Specialist Licensure Program will:
- Meet MTEL and application requirements
- Complete 6 required courses
- Complete the Practicum
MTEL Requirements
- Communication and Literacy Skills Test
- Reading Specialist Test (taken upon completion of all or part of the program)
Practicum
150 hours
Courses
While every course in the CES Licensure Program may be taken individually (for PDPs or optional graduate credit), these six Licensure courses and a Practicum must be successfully completed to obtain an Initial License as a Reading Specialist.
Fall
(3 CR) Working with the Struggling Reader
This course is designed to give classroom teachers, reading specialists and special education professionals research-based background knowledge of the reading process. The course addresses reading abilities and reading approaches as well as issues of motivation and engagement within all the components of the language arts curriculum. There is a focus on helping teachers develop an ability to design and plan an approach to teaching that yields a comprehensive literacy program for struggling readers of all ages. Students will demonstrate competency in developing and modifying lesson plans as well as reading instruction programs for students with diverse educational and/or cultural needs by assessing, evaluating, designing and implementing prevention and intervention strategies with one student that will require one to one tutoring sessions totaling a minimum of two hours a week.
(3 CR) Assessment for Reading Instruction
The focus of this course is the assessment of what students identified with reading and/or writing difficulties understand about the reading and writing processes. This information will then be used as a basis for designing both group and individualized interventions to support these students as they become more proficient readers and writers. Participants will evaluate students identified with literacy difficulties in reading, writing and oral language skills using formal and informal assessment tools, background information and observation. Information gathered will be synthesized and interpreted to select appropriate strategies and plan effective academic programs in the language arts. It is best if participants have access to students who have literacy difficulties in order to carry out class assignments.
Spring
(3 CR) Literacy Learning for Younger Children
This course provides students with an in-depth study of elements of an early literacy instructional framework, with a focus on the reading components. Included in the course of study are investigations of the following: Reading comprehension, interactive reading aloud to students, assessment of reading skills, shared reading, guided reading, independent reading, and word study. Students are expected to effectively implement each of these elements into a typical classroom study with a theoretical understanding of why particular instructional decisions are being made.
(3 CR) Literacy Learning for Pre-Adolescents and Adolescents
This course is designed to assist participants in teaching intermediate students, including English language learners, to read and write and to use literacy skills for a variety of purposes. Sessions will focus on implementing effective literacy practices with groups of students, using observations of students’ reading and writing behaviors to effectively plan for different learners, and establishing a supportive, well-managed environment for learning. Participants will gain experience in observational assessments, lesson planning, guided reading, writing process, and language/word study.
Summer
(3 CR) Language Learning and Literacy
The purpose of this course is to prepare teachers of reading with a broad understanding of approaches to the study of language, linguistic concepts applicable to the study of English, concepts regarding language learning, and the ability to use this knowledge in the context of classroom teaching and program development. This course primarily focuses on the social context of language, including dialect variations such as Black English, and how home and community experiences influence language learning in school. As a result of this course, students will have an understanding of how student background relates to language learning and, most importantly, how classroom teachers, teachers of reading, and other professionals can promote language learning for all.
(3 CR) Specialized Reading Approaches
The focus of this course is on the variety of instructional reading programs utilized in many of today’s schools. This course provides students with a theoretical framework that may be used as a basis for understanding and contrasting the many different approaches being used to teach reading to the general student population, readers experiencing difficulties reading and those students with learning problems. Students gain skill and competency in utilizing research to analyze the components of each program while developing effective reading instruction programs for students with diverse educational, cultural, and learning needs.