Rationale for Proposing a Reading Endorsement Program with Two Tracks

1. Description of Proposal for a Reading Specialist Endorsement

(Updated January 14, 2011)

We are requesting authorization for a Graduate Program leading to a Reading Endorsement through the College of Education at the University of Oregon. This endorsement is designed to prepare educators with enhanced competence in the area of literacy pedagogy and curriculum development. This includes:

(a) providing intensive, research-based reading intervention to individuals and small groups of children in a classroom setting;

(b) understanding individual student literacy learning and assessment from a variety of disciplinary perspectives—including behavioral, cognitive, linguistic, social-psychological, and cultural perspectives;

(d) understanding the politics, policies and practical realities associated with language and literacy in education settings and how these issues affect students.

The proposed endorsement program is designed for experienced, licensed teachers. It is not intended for initial licensure. It is anticipated that most students will have jobs as teachers and will continue their current full-time positions while completing the coursework and practicum. To accommodate applicants currently working full-time in school districts or other agencies, applicants will have the option of completing the reading endorsement across a variety of time frames.

While the proposed endorsement program does not formally carry a degree, it may be completed as part of an existing Master’s degree program in the College of Education.

The endorsement is designed to serve two different kinds of teachers - those who wish to develop expertise in multilingual/multicultural literacy instruction and those who wish to develop, evaluate and implement data-driven literacy systems. In order to serve these distinct and important clienteles, our proposed endorsement program begins with a common core of courses, preparation experiences, and practica and then provides students with the opportunity to further specialize in one of two emphases: 1) literacy in multilingual and multicultural contexts, and 2) literacy leadership including the development and evaluation of systems-level reading interventions. The program includes participation from multiple departments in the College of Education including Special Education and Clinical Sciences, Educational Studies, and Educational Methodology, Policy, and Leadership. This structure takes advantage of the expertise across the College of Education thereby making it an interdisciplinary program that provides a well-rounded experience for students.

Common Core

The two emphases share a substantial core set of courses, designed to provide the fundamental skills and knowledge for 21^st Century reading educators:

· EDLD 658 – Reading Interventions (4 credits);

· EDLD 610 – Introduction to Measurement and Assessment (4 credits);

· EDST 616 - Language, Power, and Education (4 credits); and

· A required practicum.

All TSPC OAR standards for a reading endorsement are addressed through completion of the core coursework and practicum.

All students in the reading endorsement program will have the opportunity to develop their teaching and supervision skills through completing a field experience at the new Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) Reading Clinic. The purpose of this clinic, which opened in Fall 2008, is to provide school-age children in the greater Eugene area and Lane County with a facility and staff dedicated to the prevention and remediation of reading failure. The clinic assists school-age children (grades pre-K-8) who are experiencing difficulty reading by developing intensive, individualized assessment and research-based instruction. The clinic is open after school hours and is located on campus in the new HEDCO Education Building.

To fulfill requirements for the core Reading Interventions course in the fall, students will complete a field experience at the CTL Reading Clinic. Each student will be assigned to tutor a child one-on-one. The tutoring experience will provide the student with the opportunity to learn to implement an intensive, research-based intervention program, to improve his/her teaching skills, to monitor a child’s progress, and to modify a program to meet the needs of an individual child. As an additional component to the Reading Interventions course, students will have the opportunity to view video segments of reading instruction from the clinic to gain experience in supervising tutors who are receiving initial training on providing reading interventions. Students in the course will learn how to identify areas of difficulty in the lesson, determine appropriate remedies, debrief after an observation, and follow up to ensure the child’s performance is improving.

Additional Course Work

Additionally, each of the two emphases in the endorsement has three courses or course options unique to that specialization. Table 1 provides a comparison of the additional coursework required for each area of emphasis along with information on the required practicum. The total number of required credits for the endorsement is 27.

Table 1: Comparison of Additional Coursework Required for the Two Emphases

(Multilingual/Multicultural Emphasis)*		(Leadership Emphasis)
ECE/Elementary	Mid/High	ECE/Elementary, Mid/High, OR Pre K-Grade 12
EDST 640 – Constructing Meaning Through Literacy (4)	EDST 629 – Developing Literacy in a Multilingual Society (4)	EDLD ___ - Data-Based Decision Making (4)
EDST 646 – ESOL Pedagogy for Elementary Classrooms (4)	EDST 619 – Teaching for Literacy in Middle/High Subj.(4)	EDLD ___ – Reading Research (4)
EDST 641 – Reading as Cultural Practice (4)	EDST 626 or 638 – ESOL Pedagogy for Humanities or Math/Science (4)	SPED 523 – Reading & Writing in Content Areas (3)
Practicum – 3 credits reading (3)		Practicum – 3 credits with Professional Practices Seminar for 1 credit (4)

* Note: With the addition of two courses, LT 629 and EDST 614 plus an additional practicum, students who choose the multilingual/multicultural emphasis can add an ESOL endorsement to the Multilingual/Multicultural reading endorsement.

The establishment of two emphases within a single reading endorsement permits the College to take advantage of different areas of expertise of its faculty as well as different thematic emphases within its departments in the service of promoting better literacy education in the state of Oregon. The two emphases also allow the College to serve educators with different career ambitions and educational institutions with different needs. Those students who choose to specialize in literacy in multilingual and multicultural contexts, for example, will be prepared to work collaboratively with Title I, migrant education, and bilingual education professionals in their school and district to promote literacy achievement for all students. These students will be especially valuable to dual language immersion schools. Moreover, with the addition of two courses and an ESOL practicum, students who choose the multilingual/multicultural emphasis can add an ESOL endorsement to the reading endorsement. These students will be well prepared to work in schools with high populations of EL students. Students who specialize in literacy leadership will not only be able to compete for positions at the building and district level, but also in state agencies that involve oversight of state and federal reading initiatives. Furthermore, the additional coursework in the leadership emphasis provide students with in-depth training on the six components of Oregon’s K-12 Literacy Framework. The Framework, which was adopted by the State Board in December of 2009, was developed as a resource for all Oregon districts and schools to ensure that all Oregon students learn to read well. Students completing the literacy leadership emphasis can return to their schools and districts with the expertise to lead implementation of the framework. Each area of emphasis in the proposed reading endorsement proposal is described in greater detail below. The descriptions include additional information on the educators served and their potential future career paths.

Literacy Leadership Emphasis

The content and training in the literacy leadership emphasis will focus on the following additional sets of skills: (a) systems-level reading and literacy planning and implementation; and (b) data management, organization, descriptive analysis, and interpretation of reading and literacy related information (e.g., student reading performance data aggregated at the school, district or state levels) within a data-based decision making model. Students will be prepared to both provide effective reading intervention as well as to support schools, districts, and state-level agencies in conducting internal audits of resource capacity needs, and implementing a school, district, or state-level literacy plan that includes the following components:

(a) Developing and establishing essential reading goals for students in grades K-12;

(b) Developing, implementing, evaluating and refining reading assessment systems for a range of assessment purposes (e.g., screening, progress monitoring, diagnosis, outcome evaluation);

(c) Developing, implementing, evaluating and refining a data-based decision making system that captures the full-range of reading assessment products (e.g., screening, progress monitoring, diagnosis, outcome evaluation) and utilizes a real-time, web-based database for representing and reporting student reading performance results for purposes of instruction, planning, resource allocation, and systems evaluation;

(d) Developing, implementing, managing, and evaluating multi-tiered systems of reading and literacy instruction that are research based;

(e) Providing ongoing instructional leadership at the school, district or state levels that utilizes student reading performance data in all aspects of decision making;

(f) Planning, staging, and staffing effective professional development that is anchored to the features of a data-based decision making model of reading and literacy instruction; and

(g) Building a community of support and commitment among staff at the school, district, or state levels to implement a results-oriented reading model and a data-based decision making approach to student reading performance and resource management.

The components are completely aligned with Oregon’s K-12 Literacy Framework which is currently being widely disseminated across the state as a resource for Oregon schools to ensure all students learn to read well.

Throughout the region and state, a strong market exists for teachers to further develop the knowledge and skills needed for implementing research-based reading interventions and for systemic reform of schools. The current climate for change in our nation's schools focuses on accountability and research-based programs. This need for change is reflected strongly in Oregon’s K-12 Literacy Framework. The leadership emphasis in the proposed program builds off this demand and is likely to fit well within the needs and opportunities present in our K-12 schools both within and outside of Oregon.

Specifically, the leadership emphasis in the proposed reading leadership endorsement program will provide selected applicants with the preparation to go beyond child-centered and classroom-focused reading instruction to also develop and implement effective building, district, and state-level literacy systems. Graduates who select the literacy leadership emphasis will be able to fill roles in school systems, school districts, and state agencies, including specific positions, such as school reading mentor coach, or district reading specialist that ostensibly require a focus on student performance evaluation, school and district change, and resource management.

In addition, as noted above, graduates of the proposed reading endorsement program will be able to compete for positions in state agencies that involve oversight of state and federal reading initiatives. Important to such positions is the management and oversight of student reading performance data at the state level for purposes of accountability in representing a state’s reading and literacy performance, including the allocation of resources based on the performance data.

The course work that is planned within the literacy leadership emphasis fits conceptually well with the theoretical and methodological perspectives and faculty expertise in the Department of Educational Methodology, Policy, and Leadership (EMPL). Students specializing in literacy leadership who wish to pursue a master’s degree in Educational Leadership may do so by completing additional courses and electives for a total of 47-49 credits.

Multicultural/Multilingual Emphasis

The content and training of the multicultural emphasis will focus on three additional areas beyond the core:

a) introducing the presumption of a multilingual and multicultural definition of literacy and a critique of assimilationist and subtractive approaches to literacy instruction;

b) developing multiple forms of literacy curriculum that meet state standards and expectations for literacy education and cultural competency; and

c) articulating between literacy curriculum offered to all students and ELL and Bilingual literacy education curriculum.

This linguistically and culturally inclusive approach to literacy education permits the proposed multicultural emphasis to fill a niche that endorsement programs from other universities in the state of Oregon do not. In general, other programs appear to be designed with the assumption that literacy is primarily literacy in the English language and/or is primarily literacy in a students’ first language. ELL and biliteracy considerations are often addressed in add-on courses, where it is addressed at all. The proposed reading endorsement will provide students with a more global conception of literacy that enables teachers to develop integrated approaches to literacy education that include attention to the needs of speakers of other languages and speakers of non-standard-English.

Students will be prepared to support students, parents, fellow teachers and schools to establish inclusive literacy learning goals. They will learn to develop and support multilingual and multicultural literacy curriculum across grade-levels. Students will learn to support the implementation of school, district, or state-level literacy plan that are fully articulated with ELL and bilingual education plans. Students will be prepared to work collaboratively with Title I, migrant education, and bilingual education professionals in their school and district to promote literacy achievement for all students. Graduates will be especially valuable to dual language immersion schools.

This integrated approach to literacy education that recognizes the multilingual and multicultural reality of literacy in contemporary culture and schools will enable this College to offer a program of study that combines a Reading Endorsements and an ELL Endorsement in ways that achieve some curricular efficiencies for students and their sponsoring districts. It will also permit the inclusion of a Reading Endorsement in a new two-year master program that combines teacher licensure and training in Native American language revitalization.

Conclusion

This proposal represents the culmination of work and cross departmental collaboration that has taken place over the past three years. We believe it will benefit Oregon K-12 students and schools by providing much needed professional development to teachers in the area of K-12 literacy education. We also believe it will benefit the College by helping us fulfill our mission of public service and by connecting us to new markets of professionals seeking continuing education in the area of literacy.