EDFD504: Action Research (3 hours lecture)

Principles and techniques of research applicable to classroom situations. Various kinds of classroom research are studied and analyzed. Practice provided in the planning and outlining a research project. The development of experimental designs, and evaluation of the structure and outcomes of classroom research. Previous course ELRS 504 effective through Spring 2013. 3 sh.

MEDI503: Critical Basics of Media and Technology Production (3 hours laboratory)

This course introduces critical and practical frameworks for producing educational media. Students engage in hands-on production of multiple media forms to support a variety of curricular goals, with emphasis on digital media. Students explore the possibilities of multimedia and non-linear teaching and learning for educators and learn the fundamentals of interactive and integrative curriculum design across MacIntosh and PC-based computer platforms. Open to matriculating and non-matriculating students. 3 sh.

MEDI506: Evaluation and Selection of Educational Media (3 hours lecture)

Emphasizes the evaluation and selection of research materials in multiple media formats - from print to digital. The course provides opportunities to discover what kinds of resources are available and generate criteria for evaluating the quality and usefulness of new and traditional media in supporting the research process. 3 sh.

READ500: Literacy Foundations (3 hours lecture)

Students examine the theoretical and pedagogical foundations of literacy and literacy teaching. This involves learning about reading development, early years and elementary literacy instruction, assessment processes and policies, and practical strategies for ensuring literacy success for all school students. 3 sh.

READ501: Techniques of Reading Improvement in the Secondary School (3 hours lecture)

Techniques of Reading Improvement in the Secondary School introduces pre-service and in-service teachers to an array of cross-content literacy strategies for the improvement of nonclinical reading difficulties. Students learn how to ground literacy strategies in purposeful and meaningful curricular and pedagogical projects. 3 sh.

READ502: Administration and Supervision of Reading Programs (3 hours lecture)

Explores the more complex aspects of organizing and administering reading programs: theory and techniques of leadership, program development, organization of in-service programs, developing a budget, methods of evaluation, etc. Essential background for reading specialists in order to establish or administer a functional school reading program. 3 sh.

Prerequisites: READ 500 and READ 501.

READ503: Literature for Adolescents (3 hours lecture)

Offers background for the development of recreational reading programs in middle schools and high schools. Literature written for students, as well as literature intended to be read widely by adolescents, criteria for book selection, censorship, role of mass media, minority group identification through books, bibliotherapy, bibliographic tools, and the importance of the librarian. 3 sh.

READ504: Literacy Needs of Adult Learners (3 hours lecture)

Language learning and related psychological factors; methodology and reading instruction; literature and the reading program and innovations in reading instruction are examined. 3 sh.

READ505: Research Seminar in Literacy (3 hours seminar)

Students learn to be savvy consumers and producers of literacy research within this course. Students engage in practical ways with the key dimensions of conducting effective research, including developing a theoretical framework, designing and implementing a coherent and manageable study, and reporting findings to peers. 3 sh.

Prerequisites: READ 511 and READ 513.

READ507: Understanding Reading Comprehension (3 hours lecture)

Pre-service and in-service teachers examine the concept of reading comprehension. Students make the link between influential theories of reading comprehension, specific elements of reading as a practice, and real-world reading and teaching situations. Over the course of the semester, students articulate and reflect upon their own concepts of reading comprehension, and identify useful approaches for working with a range of school students and types of readers. 3 sh.

READ508: Critical Thinking and Literacy (3 hours lecture)

In Critical Thinking and Literacy, students learn various epistemological approaches to critical thinking and literacy development and practice, including, for example, sociological, psychological, cultural, historical and sociolinguistic approaches. Students link approaches to classroom pedagogy, and use insights gained from this course to critique habituated ways of knowing, seeing, and acting with respect to literacy teaching, with a particular emphasis on how language and literacies condition reality and our belief in the possibility of transforming it. 3 sh.

READ510: Field Experience in Reading

Provides students opportunities to observe, participate and report community-based activities of agencies. For students in long-range research, students with limited teaching experience, and students who need additional field and clinical experience. Independent study. 3 sh.

Prerequisites: Departmental approval.

READ511: Case Studies of Reading Difficulties (3 hours lecture)

Offers opportunities to learn the techniques for diagnosing reading difficulties, evaluating the most frequently used tests and inventories, and the testing of a child with reading problems. Group and individual tests, survey and diagnostic tests, standardized and informal tests. and reporting to parents, schools and agencies are discussed. The course develops skills in diagnosing and ameliorating reading problems. Additional diagnostic hours arranged. 3 sh.

Prerequisites: READ 500 and READ 501.

READ513: Supervised Clinical Practicum, Part I (3 hours lecture)

For advanced students and specialists involved in some aspect of remedial instruction. Investigates and interprets serious reading problems, causes of reading difficulties, and techniques of remedial and corrective treatment. Clients are drawn from children in surrounding communities. Additional tutoring hours will be arranged. 3 sh.

Prerequisites: READ 511.

READ514: Supervised Clinical Practicum, Part II (3 hours lecture)

For advanced students and specialists involved in some aspect of remedial instruction. Examines selection and adaptation of suitable improvement devices, materials and ideas; intensive treatment in a practicum situation. Clients are drawn from children in the surrounding communities. Additional tutoring hours will be arranged. 3 sh.

Prerequisites: READ 511.

READ519: Language and Early Literacy Development (3 hours lecture)

This course examines the nature of language, communication, and literacy development in children of diverse backgrounds and abilities during the foundational early childhood period from birth through age five. Students explore how children acquire language in social context and the impact of biological, psycholinguistic, and sociocultural factors on language development in both typically and atypically developing children. Students examine the relationships between language skills and emergent literacy, and the role of parents, teachers and other caregivers in helping prepare children to successfully acquire school-based Literacies. Students explore state and national policies that seek to improve preschool supports for language and early literacy development and the impact of increasing linguistic and cultural diversity on early childhood language arts/literacy education. 3 sh.

READ522: History of Literacy and Media (3 hours lecture)

Students learn about the history of literacy and media from early sign-making systems, to the printing press, to broadcast media and education, to the internet, and across ancient, modern and post-modern eras. Students also learn the history of a range of literacy educational initiatives from Dame Schools and tutor systems, to literacy "readers" in schools, to national policies that shape education, and more. In learning about the history of literacy and media, students engage with issues concerning dominant literacy discourses in education and wider society, children's and youths' literacy practices and the extent to which these are built upon in schools, and the relationship between literacy policies and classroom practices over time. 3 sh.

Prerequisites: READ 500 or READ 501 or instructor's permission.

READ524: Teaching Multiethnic Literature in P-8 Classrooms (3 hours lecture)

Students examine multiethnic children's literature as aesthetic forms and pedagogical tools. Students analyze the social, political, and education implications of this literature and its use in P-8 classrooms. Students are encouraged to introduce powerful, well-written and illustrated, and engaging literature into their classroom teaching across a range of subject areas as they explore important topics, such as race, ethnicity, and democracy; processes such as critical thinking and critical media analysis; and issues of power and privilege. Students learn to use this literature effectively and confidently within a range of curriculum and assessment structures. 3 sh.

READ525: Literacies, Digital Technology and Learning (3 hours lecture)

Within this course, students examine a range of theoretical, methodological and practical approaches to identifying and understanding new literacies. In particular, students engage with sociocultural approaches to understanding and exploring new literacies that focus on literacy in connection with social practices. Students also evaluate popular literacy and technology uses in classrooms, and develop their own strategies for bringing together literacy learning and digital technologies in well informed and forward-looking ways in schools. 3 sh.

READ600: Workshop in Contemporary Issues in Reading

Students have the opportunity to learn about current literacy-related issues, developments, pedagogies, policies, and so on within this course. Each workshop is topic-specific and designed by faculty on a course-by-course basis. Students within the program are encouraged to request that this course be offered to target a specific topic they themselves find timely or pressing. 1 - 3 sh.