Syllabus

Master of Science in Education

EDU 746: Professional Learning and Literacy Leadership – Fall A 2020

Credits - 3

Description

This course will focus on the leadership skills that the professional will need as a Reading Specialist/Literacy Coach. Specifically, this course will explore the coaching relationship and how to work collaboratively to plan, implement, and supervise literacy programs at the individual, classroom, school, and district-wide level. The focus will also be on facilitating a literate environment, working with literacy in a diverse society, and developing leadership skills. This course will also fulfill the requirements that many states have for coursework in Administration and Supervision of Reading and Language Arts Programs. 

There are no prerequisites for this course.

Materials

Learning Objectives and Outcomes

EDU 746 is aligned with the ILA Standards for Literacy Professionals 2017. These standards sets forth the criteria for developing and evaluating preparation programs for reading professionals. The following objectives have been identified for EDU 746 and matched to ILA Standards.

• Students will effectively communicate as active and contributing members of a learning community in order to deepen understanding of the Reading Specialist/Literacy Coach role. (Standards 1 & 6)
• Students will formulate appropriate instructional plans based upon researched best practice and individualized student needs. (Standards 2 & 5)
• Students will demonstrate literacy leadership, utilizing researched best practices to coach teachers in a variety of formal and informal situations including professional development experiences (Standard 6)
• Students will demonstrate literacy leadership, using their expertise to bring parents in as partners in their children’s literacy development (Standard 6)
• Students will apply research supported literacy best practices when planning for instruction. (Standard 2)
• Students will address student needs through individualized instruction and model instructional approaches for teachers in a coaching situation. (Standards 2 & 6)
• Students will act as literacy leaders and agents of change at the school wide level. (Standard 6)

Assignments

Weeks 1-8: Class and Grade Level Group Discussions 

Discussions provide you with an opportunity to synthesize course readings and research while learning from professional peers. Post an original response to the prompt, and respond to posts made by at least two classmates.

Week 2: Action Plan Goals for Literacy Across Grade Levels and Content Areas 

Craft three Action Plan Goals for Literacy Development across Grade Levels and Content Areas. The goals should be measurable, specific to your school setting, and justified with school data and library research. This assignment should be no more than two pages double-spaced, not including cover page and references.

Week 3: Action Plan Goals That Target Struggling Readers and Writers

Craft three Action Plan Goals That Target Struggling Readers and Writers. The goals should be measurable, specific to your school setting, and justified with school data and library research. This assignment should be no more than two pages double-spaced, not including cover page and references.

Week 4: Infrastructure Supports for Literacy

Use information about your school’s current infrastructure in the creation of a proposal to suggest changes in literacy infrastructure in your school setting. The proposal will include three measurable and achievable action plan goals along with specific action steps for achieving them. This research supported proposal should be 2-3 double-spaced pages, not including cover page and end references. 

Week 5: Action Steps for Helping Teachers to Improve Instruction

Craft three Action Steps for Helping Teachers to Improve Instruction. The goals should be measurable, specific to your school setting, and justified with school data and library research. This assignment should be no more than two pages double-spaced, not including cover page and references.

Week 6: Mini Professional Development Assignment

Use one of the areas of your emerging Data-Based Literacy Action Plan to create a research-based min-professional development presentation for professional educators in your school. Your presentation should be in the form of a 7-10 minute screencast of a slideshow presentation.

Week 7: Data-Based Literacy Action Plan

Making sure to make use of instructor and peer feedback, bring together all of your research and weekly assignments in the creation of a large-scale Data-Based Schoolwide Literacy Action Plan. Your final plan will have the following sections: Statement of Purpose, Literacy Vision Statement Action Goals Across Content Area and Grade Levels, Action Goals that Target Struggling Readers and Writers, an Infrastructure Proposal, Action Steps for Supporting Teachers, a Goal Action map, and an APA Reference Page.

Grading Policy

Your grade in this course will be determined by the following criteria:

Grade Breakdown

Week	Assignment	Points
Weeks 1-8	Class or Grade Level Group Discussions (8 discussions @ 4 Points each	32
Week 2	Action Plan Goals Across Grade Level or Content Areas	10
Week 3	Action Plan Goals That Target Struggling Readers and Writers	10
Week 4	Infrastructure Proposal	10
Week 5	Action Plan Goals for Helping Teachers to Improve Instruction	10
Week 6	Professional Development	10
Week 7	Final Schoolwide Plan and Justification	18
	Total	100 POINTS

Grade Scale

Grade	Points Grade	Point Average (GPA)
A	94 – 100%	4.00
A-	90 – 93%	3.75
B+	87 – 89%	3.50
B	84 – 86%	3.00
B-	80 – 83%	2.75
C+	77 – 79%	2.50
C	74 – 76%	2.00
C-	70 – 73%	1.75
D	64 – 69%	1.00
F	00 – 63%	0.00