Literacy Education

OVERVIEW OF THE PROGRAM

Portland State University’s course offerings in literacy education are designed to help preservice and inservice teachers become better teachers of reading and writing. The courses can be taken as a program of study so that licensed teachers can earn an Oregon reading endorsement. The courses can also be used as a specialty emphasis in the 45-credit MA/MS degree program in Curriculum and Instruction.


The PSU reading endorsement program is designed specifically for those planning careers as Title 1 teachers, reading specialists, literacy coaches, consultants, and district-level reading and language arts coordinators. A reading endorsement is also useful for classroom teachers wishing more knowledge about literacy and about teaching students from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds.

PROGRAM PHILOSOPHY

The Literacy Education Program goals include:

  • Best practices and standards as articulated by the International Reading, Association and the National Council of Teachers of English,
  • Methodologies and resources for creating classroom literacy environments,
  • Principles and practices for working with students needing extra help with literacy, and
  • Authentic assessment practices.

STATE REQUIREMENTS

The literacy program offerings focus on preparing licensed teachers to be eligible for the Oregon Reading Endorsement. After completing the program, educators need to take the Praxis test before applying for the endorsement.

PROGRAM FEATURES

The reading endorsement is a 27-credit program including a core of 17 credits and 10 additional credits in one of the following authorization levels: early childhood/elementary, elementary/middle school, and middle/high school. Practicum experiences are embedded in the coursework.

COURSEWORK


The coursework focuses on theory, research, and practice as they relate to both the classroom literacy environment and individual readers. These courses, if taken at the 500 level, will apply to a specialty emphasis area of the MA/MS degree in Curriculum and Instruction. Required and elective coursework for reading endorsement are listed at www.pdx.edu/media/g/s/gse_ci_literacy_courses.pdf

For more details about requirements, interested students can contact a program advisor listed under faculty.

ADMISSION TO THE PSU LITERACY EDUCATION PROGRAM

Students pursuing a reading endorsement need to provide:

  • PSU Graduate Study Placement Information Form
  • One set of official transcripts for all institutions, except PSU
  • Undergraduate / graduate coursework in children’s or young adult literature and a preservice reading/language arts methods course or equivalent
  • An essay describing why you want to enter the reading endorsement program
  • Three letters of recommendation from individuals who can describe the applicant’s experience with students or potential as a reading educator


LIBRARY RESOURCES

The university’s Branford Price Millar Library contains several thousand children’s and young adult books, journals, books for teachers, the W.S. Gray Collection on reading education, and electronic data bases including ERIC (Educational Resources Information Clearninghouse).


The Graduate School of Education’s Metropolitan Instructional Support Laboratory (MISL), located on the third floor of the School of Education, has media equipment and materials, a professional library, and PC and MAC computer labs for student use. Its professional library includes extensive collections of reading and language arts textbooks.


ReadOregon

The ReadOregon program is an alternative reading endorsement program designed to provide all coursework for a reading endorsement online. The program is a collaborative effort of five universities: Eastern Oregon University, Oregon State University, Portland State University, and Western Oregon University. Students can take any of the approved reading/literacy courses from any of the collaborating universities. Courses are delivered through distance education and other flexible formats to accommodate the schedules of busy teachers.

The ReadOregon literacy courses are a part of two new programs:

  1. Reading Speciailist Program – a graduate-level, distance-delivered, 24-credit reading endorsement program
  2. Literacy Education course of study – a graduate-level, distance-delivered, 12-credit program that awards a literacy education certificate of completion for general classroom teachers

Learn more about ReadOregon at Portland State University: http://www.ceed.pdx.edu/readoregon

Visit the ReadOregon website for more information at: http://www.readoregon.org

For your information:

Advising is available for our programs by contacting any of the program faculty that appear under the faculty heading. Please call 503-725-4619 OR 1-800-547-8887, ext 4619 for an appointment. You can also write to:

Literacy Education Program Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Room 602, School of Education PO Box 751 Portland, Oregon, 97207-0751