PROFESSIONAL EDUCATOR CERTIFICATES AND CERTIFICATIONS www.effectivereading.org
SETTING THE STANDARD OF EXCELLENCE IN READING EDUCATION
STANDARDS-BASED Although programs that prepare teachers, clinicians, and specialists to teach reading may differ in their methodologies, teaching approaches, and organizational purposes, they should ascribe to a common set of professional standards for the benefit of the students they serve. The Knowledge and Practice Standards for Teachers of Reading (KPS) serve as the foundation for all CERI certificates and certifications. The KPS explicitly set forth the knowledge and skill that all teachers of reading are expected to possess in order to advance students’ reading and writing profiles from a Structured Literacy approach in classroom, remedial and clinical settings. These standards reflect the current state of the scientific research base and are the result of a rigorous development and vetting process that included the input of a wide range of stakeholders, including researchers, educators, higher education faculty, clinical specialists, parents, and advocates.
INCLUSIVE Currently, there is not an empirical basis to identify one particular Structured Literacy program or method as more effective than all others, as more effective for all students with a specific type of difficulty such as poor decoding, specific comprehension difficulties, Dyslexia, or language disabilities. CERI certifications are available to professionals from a wide-range of preparation backgrounds, provided they have met specific Structured Literacy knowledge and competency performance thresholds.
SPECIALIZED CERI certificates and certifications acknowledge the diverse roles that educational professionals play in preventing reading failure and in remediating off-track readers. For this reason, CERI offers credentials that serve professionals across the service delivery continuum , including paraeducators, general educators, special educators, and related-service professionals.
COMMITTED TO ONGOING, STANDARDS-BASED EDUCATOR GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT Professionals holding a CERI certificate or certification are required to demonstrate their ongoing commitment to professional growth and development by documenting having completed a minimum of ten (10) hours of KPS-aligned professional development annually in order to renew their certificate or certification. In doing so, educators remain current with research-based best practices in the areas of developmental reading, diverse reading profiles, reading assessment, Structured Literacy, and ethical conduct.
ABOUT STRUCTURED LITERACY
Structured Literacy is an approach to reading instruction that is characterized by the provision of systematic, explicit instruction that integrates: (1) listening, (2) speaking, (3) reading; and, writing. A Structured Literacy approach emphasizes the structure of language across the speech sound system (phonology), the writing system (orthography), the structure of sentences (syntax), the meaningful parts of words (morphology), the relationships among words (semantics), and the organization of spoken and written discourse. Structured Literacy is beneficial for general education students, including those at-risk for reading difficulties due to factors such as low socio-economic status; and, is beneficial for students with specific learning disabilities, including dyslexia. As Scarborough’s (2001) now famous “reading rope” helps to illustrate, becoming a skilled reader requires one to be adept at fluently coordinating the many component skills that together, combine to allow for accurate and efficient text comprehension. Word Recognition skills and Language Comprehension skills, often considered separately, operate and develop interactively.
Scarborough, H.S. (2001). Connecting early language and literacy to later reading (dis)abilities: Evidence, theory, and practice. In S. Neuman & D. Dickinson (Eds.), Handbook for research in early literacy (pp. 97-100). New York: Guilford Press.
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STRUCTURED LITERACY CLASSROOM TEACHER KNOWLEDGE CERTIFICATE Individuals holding a Structured Literacy Classroom Teacher Knowledge Certificate typically serve as general education classroom teachers or support personnel (i.e. paraeducators) who routinely provide or support: (1) whole group reading and language arts instruction to students in general education contexts; and/or (2) small group instructional practice opportunities for students who are not meeting grade level reading expectations in general education Response to Intervention (RTI) and Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) contexts. Individuals holding this credential do not provide specialized, remedial reading interventions to students.
STRUCTURED LITERACY/DYSLEXIA INTERVENTIONIST The Structured Literacy/Dyslexia Interventionist provides targeted or intensive reading intervention services that reflect the principles and practices of Structured Literacy to individual and small groups of students who have a primary need for decoding-strand instruction (phonological awareness, phonics (including decoding and encoding), and fluency.
STRUCTURED LITERACY/DYSLEXIA SPECIALIST The Structured Literacy/Dyslexia Specialist provides targeted reading instruction and support to individual and small groups of students with complex reading and writing profiles. They have completed extensive supervised practicum experiences dedicated to advancing the literacy profiles of students with Specific Learning Disabilities, including dyslexia, and are able to serve students who are the beginning, intermediate, and advanced stages of reading, spelling, and writing instruction.
VISIT THE CERI WEBSITE @ effectivereading.org TO LEARN MORE ABOUT…
i THE KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICE STANDARDS FOR TEACHERS OF READING i HOW TO BECOME CERTIFIED i THE KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICE EXAMINATION FOR EFFECTIVE READING INSTRUCTION (KPEERI) i LOCATING AN ACCREDITED EDUCATOR PREPARATION PROGRAM
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