Online Master's in Literacy Education - Reading

This course is designed to impart a thorough understanding of the Virginia English Standards of Learning as well as the reciprocal nature of reading and writing. Reading instruction includes phonemic awareness, concept of print, phonics, fluency, vocabulary development and comprehension strategies. Writing instruction includes writing strategies and conventions that support the composing/writing expression and usage/mechanics domains. This course includes proficiency in understanding the stages of spelling development, the writing process and fostering appreciation of a variety of fiction, non-fiction text and independent reading.

The course emphasizes the diagnosis of reading disabilities, the uses of standardized and informal diagnostic testing, report writing, interpretation of research and application to reading problems, and the selection and evaluation of materials used for remediation.

Course description currently under development.
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The language development of children from school years Pre-K through 12 is discussed. Consideration is given to instructional strategies that focus on language acquisition and its relationship to reading and the communicative arts of spelling, writing and speaking.

This course includes a study of the teaching and learning strategies necessary for developing basic literacy skills in the content areas. Teacher candidates will focus on assessing and improving PreK-12 student achievement in content disciplines by implementing effective, research-based practices for teaching reading and writing. In practica, teacher candidates will tutor children struggling with literacy.

Students will conduct collaborative projects focused on identified PreK-12 literacy achievement concerns. In order to increase peer knowledge and professional development, students’ projects will implement research-based best practices in teaching and assessment.

Students will examine their own teaching and learning experiences, as well as research-based best practices for PreK-12 literacy education. Through collaborative activities and assignments, students will examine and assess the impact of collaboration on literacy teaching and learning.

Students will investigate and critique major issues in current literacy publications and curricula. Students will identify research interests in literacy education and conduct in-depth inquiries in order to propose action plans for the targeted problems.

A supervised clinic in which the student is required to diagnose the needs of individual children. Emphasis is placed on the remediation and treatment of the diagnosed reading difficulties.

This course examines central issues related to literacy instruction, assessment and leadership. Emphasis is placed on the use of assessment data to plan literacy instruction and to organize school-wide reading programs. In addition, the course presents an overview of the literacy coach’s role in improving the literacy performance of students, as well as effective coaching practices and strategies related to improvements and innovations in classroom teaching and literacy instruction.

Students will coordinate with their academic advisor and choose an elective to satisfy degree requirements and personal goals.

Students will coordinate with their academic advisor and choose an elective to satisfy degree requirements and personal goals.