Required Reading Course for all provisionally certified teachers

Excerpt from THE REVISED SCHOOL CODE

Section 1531 (4) of the Michigan School Code 1976 PA 451 (MCL 380.1531).

The People of the State of Michigan enact: (4) Except as otherwise provided in this act, the superintendent of public instruction shall only issue a teaching certificate to a person who has met the elementary or secondary, as applicable, reading credit requirements established under superintendent of public instruction rule. If a person holds a teaching certificate, then beginning July 1, 2007, notwithstanding any rule to the contrary, the superintendent of public instruction shall not renew the person's provisional teaching certificate or advance the person's certification to professional certification unless the person, during the first 6 years of his or her employment in classroom teaching, successfully completes at least a 3-credit course of study with appropriate field experiences in the diagnosis and remediation of reading disabilities and differentiated instruction. To meet this requirement, the course of study should include the following elements, as determined by the department to be appropriate for the person's certification level and endorsements: interest inventories, English language learning screening, visual and auditory discrimination tools, language expression and processing screening, phonemics, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, spelling and writing assessment tools, and instructional strategies.

Michigan Required Advanced Reading Course of Study for

All Provisionally Certified Teachers

(As of April 14, 2006 PA 118 effective July 1, 2007 amends MCL 380-1531)

The course syllabi must be submitted electronically for this review.

Submitted by:___Nancy G. Patterson, PhD Contact information: email:_patterna@gvsu.edu

phone: __________________

Institution Name; Grand Valley State University Course of Study Includes EDR 601, Reading Assessment: Secondary

(course number(s) and title(s))

Address: _920 Eberhard Center, 301 W. Fulton, Grand Rapids, MI 49504____

Certification Level (Circle appropriate level(s))

Secondary

Please include the institution name and contact person on each page of the response matrix.

The teacher preparation institution must complete a reflective review of the required minimum 3 credit course of study which must be available in a single three credit course and may be offered across several courses (equal to a minimum of 3 credits). The teacher preparation institution will not make this required 3 credit course of study a reason to require a masters program of teachers.
Assessment, Instruction and Field Experiences for the following areas: Possible Focus Question (s)	Examples of How Standard can be met (Teaching/Learning Experiences)		Assessment/Evidence of Elements Learned and Applied
	Elementary Certification	Secondary Certification	Assessment/Evidence of Elements Learned and Applied
Interest Inventories What motivates students? How can teachers engage students for learning?		Candidates learn how to create written and oral inventories. Inventories appropriate for students, parents are discussed. Learn techniques for open / closed survey results and what is gained from each. Surveys include both reading and writing.	Candidates develop a student survey in class based on information they seek to gather. Surveys are administered, analyzed and results summarized in the case study completed for course work. Survey information should be used when planning instruction for the case study.
Visual and auditory discrimination How can teachers help students learn who see or hear language in diverse ways?		Candidates demonstrate proficiency in understanding visual & auditory acuity & perception. They learn to administer the “E test” and the Amsler grid test (visual). Check lists for visual and auditory discrimination are developed. Connections to phonemic awareness and phonics are developed. Modeling, and practice with strategies to work with diverse students having visual & auditory acuity & perception problems are completed.	Candidates are to administer, assess, and use information from visual/auditory assessment tools in their case study students.
Language expression and processing screening How can teachers help students who express and process language in diverse ways?		Speech articulation, voice, fluency, and language patterns are developed. Oral language developmental levels are learned. The connection to phonemic awareness is made. Language differences in varied ethnic groups are discussed (Spanish and African American vernacular English). Candidates examine ways to instruct these students.	Candidates assess student(s) for the case study using observation forms, & anecdotal notes. Information is presented in the case study report.
English language learning How can teachers help students learn whose first language is not English?		Articles from various journals will be read that discuss assessment and instruction techniques for ELL students. Classroom assessment tools (SOLOM, checklists) and the state ELPA assessment will be taught. The concept of CALC and BIC will be developed so candidates understand the two types of assessments	Candidates use information from the course readings when planning lessons. They take 2 of the lessons used in the demonstration lessons and reflect on how the lesson would change if classroom students were not ELL. If there are ELL student, then lesson reflections will describe how ELL instructional techniques were utilized.
Phonemics, phonics, fluency How can teachers help students who have not yet learned basic word recognitions skills? How and when should teachers refer students to specialists when they observe problems with language and fluency?		Candidates develop an understanding of phonemics, phonics and fluency. They learn how to assess for fluency through the administration of a miscue analysis. Candidates will practice giving a miscue analysis in class and then give it to three secondary students. Instructional methods for working with secondary students who have difficulty in phonemics, phonics, and fluency will be discussed and modeled in class.	Candidates complete the miscue analysis on three students. The outcomes are included in the case study. The outcomes are used to guide instruction. In lesson reflections, the candidates explain how the lesson met the needs of the learner and used varied modalities/learning styles.
Vocabulary How can teachers help students learn the language of the content areas?		Vocabulary assessments (informal) are reviewed. Candidates create a vocabulary assessment tool for a content area text. Strategies useful with struggling readers are discussed in small groups and presented to the class.	Candidates complete three Literacy Event Reports that document their use of strategies in the classroom and an analysis of that use. These strategies will include at least one vocabulary strategy. Candidates will use the information from the literacy event to inform their teaching. Reflections are completed on the literacy event and candidates will include in that reflection how they evaluate student learning.
Comprehension How can teachers help students comprehend what they are learning?		Various comprehension assessment tools are analyzed for usefulness, underlying theory, and approach to comprehension. Various strategies that support meaning-making (pre-, during-, and post-reading) and assessments (questioning, retelling, cloze) are introduced and practiced. Strategies are based on those most useful for struggling readers. Candidates learn how to adjust comprehension strategies to meet the modality/learning style/ and physical needs of the student.	Candidates administer a cloze assessment as well as a miscue analysis that utilizes Retelling. The analysis is written in the case study. Information from literacy event reports is utilized during teaching and other assessment tools are utilized while instructing (candidates learn that many strategies are also assessment tools). Candidates reflect on instruction for development of the demonstration lesson.
Spelling, writing What specific symbol sound knowledge do students need to become independent writers? How can teachers help students improve their writing and spelling?		Candidates develop a thorough understanding of spelling and writing developmental stages. Spelling as connected to phonics and phonemic awareness is the bases of the developmental stages. Candidates experience various approaches to the concept of writing as a process and how the revising and editing stages of the process can be a space for students to stretch their lexicon and their spelling abilities. Writing assessment tools include rubrics, teacher and student response, and self-response. Candidates compare assessment tools for usefulness as well as genres specific to content areas. Candidates learn about a variety of instructional strategies useful for struggling readers/writers. Candidates will bring in samples of student work and in small groups analyze them. and discussing instructional strategies that could be used with students.	Candidates assess, analyze, and use spelling and writing in the literacy event and the case study, as well as the lesson demonstration. The case study analysis section will contain information. Literacy Event reflections will include information on the instructional approaches utilized and any changes that may be needed.
Instructional strategies How can teachers implement instructional strategies that help students develop learning strategies?		Throughout the course candidates learn a variety of instructional strategies, how to alter the strategy to meet the needs of students, how to differentiate instruction in the classroom to meet needs of learners.	The Literacy Event will provide candidates with practice utilizing a variety of instructional strategies (including technology based strategies), reflect on the outcomes and make alterations to instruction based on reflection/assessment. The demonstration lesson will allow for peer feedback.
Assessment strategies How can teachers assess students in formal and informal ways that promote instruction?		Candidates learn about a variety of assessments in all areas described above. Assessments include formal and informal methods.	The Literacy Event and the Demonstration Lesson, as well as the Case Study project all document the use of the assessment strategies.
The law also mandates that teachers need to apply “appropriate field experiences” in light of these topics. As a result, learners will need to demonstrate appropriate application of these topics in a classroom setting.			In this course, candidates work with their own students in their own classroom. They submit three Literacy Event Reports that document the use of strategies (for comprehension and assessment), a case study of three students that includes a miscue analysis, a writing sample, a review of standardized test performance, a literacy biography of each student in the case study, a cloze test, and information related to the various strategies and assessments used during the candidate’s school day. In addition, candidates will create and present a detailed lesson that includes comprehension and assessment strategies to the class and get feedback from the class on the elements of that lesson. Included in that demonstration will be an analysis of the theory and research that grounds the strategies, and a reflection on the relationship between theory and classroom practice, a report on how the lesson could be modified for diverse learners.