About the Program
The program provides candidates with a core set of experiences that leads to these competencies:
- Design and implement an effective program for literacy acquisition and instruction for all students, including older beginner or struggling readers and writers;
- Show sensitivity toward and expertise in working with second language learners and students who may be marginalized because of ethnic, racial, cultural, or socioeconomic differences;
- Demonstrate a critical reading of the professional literature and its instructional implications and misapplications;
- Employ classroom research/teacher inquiry and use the results to improve instruction;
- Collaborate with other professionals, including district and county personnel, and members of the local community to design system-wide opportunities for equity in literacy learning;
- Organize and administer equitable school site reading/ language arts programs, including professional development for teachers; and
- Understand the politics of literacy and be prepared to take appropriate action toward a just and equitable society.
Program Themes
Given the philosophy and learning outcomes described above, the following four themes are integrated into all courses in the Master's Degree program:
- Classroom research/teacher inquiry with an emphasis on qualitative research design and methods;
- Reading and writing across culture and curricula;
- Learners from diverse linguistic, racial, ethnic, cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds; and
- Leadership and the politics of literacy.
Mission
The overarching mission of the program is to develop professional educators whose literacy expertise prepares them to lead and teach in culturally, socioeconomically, and linguistically diverse communities.
Goals of the Program
- Support teachers in urban schools and districts as they become more effective educators, student advocates, and leaders
- Extend teachers' repertoires for teaching literacy across the curriculum
- Integrate research, theory and practice throughout the program
- Provide a collegial experience for a cohort of students and faculty
- Enhance teachers' abilities to influence equitable educational practices and policies
Program Cohort
Up to 25 applicants are selected in May of each year to begin the program that fall. Only one cohort is admitted each year.
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