MEd in Curriculum & Instruction: Reading Interventionist
What’s a reading interventionist? By definition, it’s a teacher who works extensively with struggling readers. In our eyes, it’s an educator who has the power to help students explore new and exciting worlds, meet historical figures, solve gripping mysteries, and cultivate their passions — all by enabling them to flip through pages with confidence. Be that memorable teacher with an MEd in Curriculum & Instruction: Reading Interventionist from Concordia.
Aligned with the International Dyslexia Association standards and the International Literacy Association Standards for Reading Professionals, this online program will strengthen and polish your instructional skills for the teaching of reading in the general education classroom and for becoming a literacy teacher leader. This master’s degree is also a compelling choice should you choose to develop reading excellence in students.
Accredited, nonprofit, and taught by practitioners, all of Concordia’s online MEd programs reflect the same meaningful experience we’ve been delivering on campus since 1905. The convenience of 100 percent online, clearly defined coursework — paired with realistic deadlines and the ability to immediately apply what you learn in your classroom — makes our programs ideal for busy lifestyles. And the potential career benefits — from higher pay to promotions — are second only to the reward of having an everlasting impact on the lives of your students.
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MEd in Curriculum & Instruction: Reading Interventionist Program Goals
COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
The MEd in Curriculum & Instruction: Reading Interventionist is a 33 credit-hour, 13-month program
This course will provide teachers with the resources and skills necessary to integrate character themes and character development into their school curriculum. Course provides a forum in which to discuss and develop one's own moral perspectives on the basis of generally accepted criteria.
This course is designed to provide leaders with the latest psychological research about learning and guide them in exploring ways to directly apply these precepts to their current work setting. Topics include cognitive science, learning theory, and relevant teaching theories that utilize this information. The course fuses the latest biological and psychological understanding of how the brain learns so candidates can harness this knowledge and apply it directly to learning situations.
Course challenges candidates to confront the tremendous diversity in their current environment and develop strategies to build community in the midst of the social, ethnic, economic, and alternative lifestyle differences that permeate today's 21st century workplace. Course stresses the critical importance of creating community in the workplace and illustrates how that community can generate an efficient, supportive, and positive workplace.
Candidates identify, review, and analyze major trends and issues impacting the contemporary state and national educational scenes. Each class session provides students with an opportunity to evaluate the advantages and liabilities of current educational reforms and issues from the perspective of prevailing educational research as well as from their own personal beliefs and current work environment. Candidates will also consider how they can impact and influence change in their own workplace.
Please note: Completing a Master of Education degree program does not lead to state certification or licensure. The MEd is not designed or intended to lead in any way toward a teaching license, endorsement, or administrative credential.
This course discusses the reading process and the factors that influence its development, the role of assessment to inform and adapt literacy instruction, the evaluation and use of formal and informal assessment tools for individual learners and groups of students, and the interpretation and communication of assessment results.
Note: Prior completion of MAT 563 Curriculum and Instruction: Reading and Language Arts is an approved substitute for EDRD 551 if taken within the last five years.
Reading professionals will build on foundational skills in instruction of comprehension and engagement, utilizing various genres of young adult and children’s literature PreK through grade 12. Current issues and trends in young adult and children’s literature will also be examined.
This course explores the theoretical and knowledge bases of reading, including literacy acquisition and the construction of meaning, and provides practical classroom applications and instructional practices.
This course discusses current areas of concern and best practices in instruction being researched in the field of literacy. Candidates will collaborate with their peers, sharing information on special issues and reading researchers.
The course is designed to increase understanding of the organization and management of school literacy program development, the roles and responsibilities of the literacy coach, and program evaluation and improvement. The course will explore the major components of a school-wide literacy program, and ask candidates to step outside of the classroom and assume a new role as a scholarly, principled instructional leader who integrates the district's vision through a standard-based literacy program.
Please note: Completing a Master of Education degree program does not lead to state certification or licensure. The MEd is not designed or intended to lead in any way toward a teaching license, endorsement, or administrative credential.
This course provides students with the basic competencies necessary to understand and evaluate the research of others, and to plan their own research with a minimum of assistance. This course includes the basics of both qualitative and quantitative research.
The Master of Education culminates with the choice of either EDGR 698-Action Research or EDGR 696-Practitioner Inquiry. Either option provides candidates with an understanding of the role of research in the field of education as a tool to solve problems and as a way to improve student learning.
SELECT ONE CAPSTONE COURSE:
Practitioner Inquiry focuses on the reflective acts of the candidate as an educator seeking to improve teaching practice. Premised on the self-study research methodological traditions, Practitioner Inquiry provides the opportunity to reflect on teaching practice and generate improvements based on classroom observation. Practitioner Inquiry is focused on the educator and her/his own practices, developing skills of inquiry, observation, reflection, and action in teachers.
Prerequisites: EDGR 601 with a B- or higher
Candidates will learn more about the action research methodology, complete final edits of the literature review, and design a complete action research proposal including data collection methods and analysis approaches. During this course, the proposal will not be implemented with students/participants. This design provides candidates with the requisite skills and means to pursue the transformative practice called Action Research in their classroom, school, district or other work environment.
Prerequisites: EDGR 601 with a B- or higher
Please note: Completing a Master of Education degree program does not lead to state certification or licensure. The MEd is not designed or intended to lead in any way toward a teaching license, endorsement, or administrative credential.
ON-CAMPUS/HYBRID OPTIONS
In addition to fully online, Concordia offers several Master of Education programs in an on-campus or hybrid format. See the options here.
Is the Master of Education in Reading Interventionist concentration right for me?
Consider choosing this path if:
- You love learning about new trends in young adult and children’s literature
- You’re interested in discussing current issues in literacy with like-minded peers
- You’d like to ultimately reorganize and manage your school’s literacy program
Still unsure? We know we offer a lot of programs! Let’s talk more about your professional and personal goals.
MEd Programs
- Administration
- Career and Technical Education
- Curriculum and Instruction
- Adolescent Literacy
- Community Engagement
- Early Childhood Education (ECE)
- Educational Technology Leadership
- English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL - Online)
- English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL - OR/WA Residents)
- Environmental Education
- Health and Physical Education
- The Inclusive Classroom
- Leadership
- Mathematics
- Methods and Curriculum
- Reading Interventionist (Online)
- Reading Interventionist (OR/WA Residents)
- Science
- Social Studies
- STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics)
- Trauma and Resilience in Educational Settings
- Educational Leadership
- Educational Technology and Learning Design
- Higher Education Administration
Course Spotlight
EDRD 551: Diagnosis and Assessment of Reading
This course discusses the reading process and the factors that influence its development, the role of assessment to inform and adapt literacy instruction, the evaluation and use of formal and informal assessment tools for individual learners and groups of students, and the interpretation and communication of assessment results.
MORE ON THE TOPIC OF READING INTERVENTION
What makes this program so relevant today
- The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development found that 50% of U.S. adults can’t read a book written at an eighth-grade level.
- An estimated 32 million adults in the United States don’t know how to read at all.
- Two-thirds of students who can’t read proficiently by the end of fourth grade will end up in jail or on welfare.
- More than 70% of America’s inmates cannot read above a fourth-grade level.
- One in four children in America grow up without learning how to read.
- Students who can’t read proficiently by the third grade are four times more likely to drop out of school.
- Almost 85% of juveniles who face trial are functionally illiterate, proving there is a correlation between illiteracy and crime.
- More than 60% of all inmates are functionally illiterate.
Sources: The Washington Post, The Literacy Foundation, DoSomething.Org
A number of different reading and writing disorders can affect students when they’re learning to read, making it difficult for them to comprehend. These disorders include:
Dyslexia: According to the International Dyslexia Association, “Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.”
- Specific Comprehension Deficit: This deals with reading comprehension. Students who struggle with comprehension have trouble understanding the meaning of the words they read. This affects homework, testing, exams, and more across all subjects.
- Dysgraphia: This term is used to describe problems with transcription—it can occur alone, but often shows up in students with dyslexia. It’s a disability that affects writing, and shows up in poor handwriting and putting thoughts on paper.
- Dysorthography: This disorder accompanies dyslexia. Students with dysothography struggle with remembering how to reproduce patterns in spelling words and can affect both reading and writing.
Sources: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association; The Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity; LearningRX; LdOnline; The International Dyslexia Association.
Pay attention to some of these signs to identify students who may need extra help with reading:
- Reluctant to complete reading tasks
- Limited attention span in class
- Limited vocabulary
- Reads everything at the same slow pace, or they read too quickly to get it done
- Gives up reading when words are too difficult or they’re uninterested
- Does not ask relevant questions to lesson material
- Expresses negative feelings toward reading
- Avoids reading at all costs
- Needs guidance for reading tasks
- Repeated poor performance on quizzes and exams
- Ignores punctuation when reading
- Reads words in the wrong order
- Substitutes similar-looking words for others
- Has trouble sounding out unfamiliar words
Sources: Nine Mile Falls School District, All About Learning Press
In our Reading Interventionist concentration, you’ll learn a number of strategies to not only recognize struggling readers in your school, but how to help them. You’ll learn:
- Formal and informal assessment tools for individual learners and groups of students
- Ways to build on foundational skills in comprehension and engagement using various genres of young adult and children’s literature
- How to integrate a standard-based literacy program in your school
- Literacy acquisition and the construction of meaning (and practical applications and instructional practices for both)
- The most up-to-date research in the field of literacy that could affect your students
- How to differentiate literacy instruction based on student learning needs using engaging, explicit and multi-sensory instruction. (This is the approach that is expected for all students, particularly to help those with dyslexia.)
Room 241 blog posts about Reading Intervention and Strategies
CAREER OUTCOMES
See where an Master's in education focused on reading interventionism could take you
Planning to stay in your current teaching job? Many MEd graduates do! But in addition to potential benefits like increased salary and more self-confidence, an MEd could also expand your career opportunities within the education industry.
Potential careers include:
- Schoolwide reading or literacy coach
- Higher education instructor in the teaching of reading
- Reading consultant (K–12)
- Advisor to publishers of reading textbooks for K–12 instruction
- Professional development leader, K–12
- Reading program advisor to state legislatures/Congress
- Reading tutor
- Division or department chair (K–12)
- Supplemental educational services provider (tutoring program offered in schools to increase academic achievement)