The CLSP provides professional education to graduate students in the area of Reading and Language Arts. The overall goal of the program is to prepare our students to lead educators and school districts into the best practices of school reform available in the 21st century. They will be knowledgeable proponents of action research and change agents assisting schools in promoting community literacy as well as student performance.
The CLSP prepares graduates to promote literacy in a variety of positions within a school system. Their training will give them the skills to lead staff development, run intervention clinics, chair appropriate departments, manage summer programs, write grants or provide all of these services in single school settings. Students will study reading and language from a much broader perspective than that of a classroom teacher. Study will include systemic evaluation and programming, the training and supervision of professionals and paraprofessionals and the utilization of community resources. Further, students are expected to develop competence through a supervised summer school practicum in an urban setting and a clinical experience in a university-based diagnosis and remediation center (clinic). Graduates will be prepared to assume the leadership role in any school system seeking expertise in the area of Reading and Language Arts, to perform independent research or to pursue doctoral study.
The CLSP will serve both full-time and part-time students. The program will be available to certified teachers with a Master's degree and a minimum of 20 months classroom experience as a teacher, intern, or degreed paraprofessional prior to graduation. Portions of the CLSP satisfy course requirements for the Remedial Reading and Remedial Language Arts Certification as described in Sec. 10-145d-480, 481,482,483,484 (Certification Code 102).
Program Requirements
Sequence I – Classroom Instruction (select 3)
*EDR 505 Early Reading and Language Arts Success (PK-3)
*EDR 507 Developmental Reading and Language Arts (4-6)
*EDR 510 Content Area Reading Instruction (7-12)
EDR 518 Reading and Language Arts: Balanced Literacy
EDR 520 Methods of Teaching and Evaluating the Writing Process (Prerequisite ED 537, ED 538 or ED 539)
EDR 525 Methods and Material for Teaching Second Language Learners
The first sequence will focus on the research and implementation and evaluation of Best Practices of classroom instruction K–12. The courses in this sequence are all designed with performance standards individually designed by each instructor.
Sequence II – Student Services/Clinic (select 3)
*EDR 540 Advanced Diagnosis and Evaluation
*EDR 545 Assessment and Evaluation: CT Model
*EDR 550 Clinic Experience I (University Clinic)
*EDR 555 Clinic Experience II (School Clinic)
The second sequence of courses are all field based. Candidates will work under direct supervision of University and public school personnel. Evaluation will be performance based.
Sequence III – Literature (select 3)
EDR 560 Children's Literature
EDR 562 Middle School Literature
EDR 564 Young Adult Literature
The third sequence of courses will promote candidate's special expertise in the literature of Connecticut schools, and the electronic resources available to school systems. Faculty members, following new departmental guidelines, will design the specific course requirements and assessment criteria.
Sequence IV – School Administrative Services (select 3)
EDR 570 Utilizing Technology in Reading Instruction
EDR 615 Grant Writing
*EDR 620 Special Topics in Technology
EDR 690 Practicum: Administration and Supervision of Reading Programs
The fourth sequence of courses will be designed with the needs of the public schools as the focal point of instruction. After being thoroughly schooled in the Connecticut Framework of instruction and evaluation, students will shadow reading and language arts personnel, work in teams to produce legitimate and appropriate external funding sources for literacy programs and explore the network of computer technology and applicability. All three selected courses will require projects to benefit the “field” school district and be designed with the guidance and collaboration of the participating school system.