This endorsement program is for experienced teachers interested in increasing their literacy knowledge and skills and enhancing their capacity to teach reading and writing with a focus on equity. Interested teachers participate in a year-long video-mediated practicum in their own classroom to learn from their immediate language practices to improve their instruction. Courses are remote (synchronous and asynchronous) and taught by literacy leaders from across the Pacific Northwest. Students who complete all 24 credits and complete a video-based professional practice portfolio will be recommended to OSPI for an endorsement in reading.

Endorsement Rationale

All the courses for the reading endorsement include both a theoretical framework and related classroom practices. Students are introduced to current research and equitable practices for teaching and learning to read and write. Content foci are informed by the science of reading and writing and framed by the simple view of reading and its implications for instruction. Throughout the courses, equitable practices will be emphasized, including holding students to high expectations, providing individualized feedback and support, and working  to identify and dismantle inequities in student outcomes. Teachers will use their classroom as their practicum sites to put into practice what they learn in the program. Courses are scheduled to support working teachers’ schedules. 

Each course has at least one assignment that contributes to a culminating video portfolio. The video portfolio serves as a record of learning across the endorsement and as a baseline for professional practice to grow over years. This is a video-mediated endorsement program that uses the best of video technology to support teachers learning from their practice to improve their practice. Teachers crave meaningful feedback on their practice, and it is hard to get in the busy professional life of schools. To respond to this serious and long-standing need for feedback, we introduce video practices to collect and analyze classroom practice independently or with colleagues. Compared to written observation notes or subjective retrospective impressions of classroom interaction, video provides superior empirical records that can be reviewed multiple times, offering multiple perspectives on complex classroom interaction. And as real as video is, it is also ethereal and can be easily erased. Teachers need not keep videos they do not like or do not find useful. With practice, teachers learn to find and keep only the most useful segments of classroom interaction and discard the rest. In this endorsement program, teachers develop a keen eye for student learning and use video analysis to make evidence-based connections between student learning and teaching. 

This course is fully online synchronous -  live interactive virtual classes.

There is no registration/enrollment available here.

For more information and/or to get enrolled please visit The Evergreen State College website: https://www.evergreen.edu/academics/professional-continuing-education/reading-endorsement 

For any additional questions please reach out to Jamie Pittman at pittmanm@evergreen.edu

Please note that this program leads to an add-on endorsement; a teaching license is required.

Meet your lead instructor: Dr. Alicia Roberts Frank

Summer -- Foundations of Reading and Writing in a Multicultural World (4 credits total)

• Tuesdays, July 9 & 16, 9:00-3:30 (half hour lunch)
• Tuesdays, Aug 6 & 13, 9:00-3:30 (half hour lunch) 

Fall -- Understanding and Typical and Atypical Literacy Development (7 credits total)

• Tuesdays, 10/1, 11/5,  12/3 4:00-6:00
• Friday 10/4, 4:00-8:00
• Saturday 10/26, 8:30-5:00 (half hour lunch) 
• Friday 11/15, 4:00-8:00
• Saturday 12/7, 8:30-5:00 (half hour lunch) 

Winter -- Culturally sustaining Literary and Language-Rich Environments (6 credits total)

• Tuesdays, 1/7, 2/4, 3/4, 4:00-6:00
• Friday 1/10, 4:00-8:00
• Saturdays 2/8, 3/8, 8:30-4:00 (half hour lunch) 

Spring -- Word Reading and Writing in a Multicultural World (7 credits total)

• Tuesdays, 4/8, 5/6, 6/3, 4:00-6:00
• Friday 4/11, 4:00-8:00
• Saturdays 5/3, 6/7, 8:30-4:00 (half hour lunch) 
• Presentation date arranged between candidate & faculty