Northeastern Illinois University’s renowned Literacy Education Program will begin a cohort in January 2024, for K-12 teachers and administrators wishing to earn the Reading Teacher Endorsement, enhancing their reading teaching skills and deepening their understanding of literacy processes and learning.
About The Program
The Reading Teacher Endorsement requires successful completion of six courses (8 credit hours), a passing score on state test #222, and an initial professional educator’s license (PEL). This endorsement covers grades PK-12.
The four initial endorsement courses are taught remotely/online, meaning each course includes some synchronous class meetings on zoom and some asynchronous online work. These classes are scheduled once a week from 5:40 to 8:20 pm in spring and from 5:15 to 9:35 pm in summer.
The Clinic
The capstone course is the clinical practicum, a double course taken in one semester. In “Clinic,” graduate students enrolled in Clinical Practicum in the Literacy Education courses are the teachers (tutors) who work with two children who struggle with reading throughout the semester.
NIEU Literacy Center in Lake County for this cohort will be located at the University Center of Lake County in Grayslake on Saturdays, from 8:30 to 3:00 pm to complete their clinical practicum.
About the Cohort
The cohort will take two classes per semester for three terms—spring, summer, and fall—and finish their endorsement in December of 2024. Spring classes begin the week of January 16th.
Advantages of earning your Reading Teacher Endorsement through NEIU:
The Literacy Education Program at NEIU is a nationally recognized, fully accredited program that has been offering an MA in Literacy Education for over 40 years. The Reading Teacher Endorsement, which has been offered for over 15 years, is ISBE-approved.
All cohort classes will be taught by full-time Literacy Education faculty with decades of expertise in literacy education. Our dedicated faculty are passionate about reading and writing and care deeply about our graduate students’ growth.
Our curriculum includes the most current research on best practices and the science of reading, as well as literacy instruction for English learners, low-income students, and children with disabilities.
Literacy Education faculty at NEIU are committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
NEIU’s tuition is lower than most other Reading Teacher Endorsements.
After completing your endorsement, you can choose to go on for the full MA in Literacy Education, which leads to a Reading Specialist license. An additional five classes would be needed to complete the full MA.
Our program is flexible. If you’re unable to take two courses per semester, we’ll work with you so you can finish the endorsement in a timely manner.
Our dedicated Literacy Education Faculty strive to:
Create space for teachers to develop their professional identities, voice and agency.
Establish a safe and welcoming professional community that all members of the program can learn and grow together.
Cultivate critical and analytical thinking about sociocultural issues in literacy education.
Connect theories and practices in our curriculum and instruction.
Help teachers become leaders with a vision for literacy education in their school and beyond.
COURSES REQUIRED FOR THE READING TEACHER ENDORSEMENT
(State entitlement also requires an initial teaching license and a passing score on state exam #222.)
LTCY-501. Literacy Instruction in Primary and Elementary Grades. 3 Hours.
This course addresses emergent and early literacy development, teaching, and learning. Candidates will explore relevant theory, core components of the literacy curriculum, instructional methods, assessments, and materials to meet the needs of young learners through the elementary years. Additional topics include using a variety of print and digital texts to motivate and engage learners and building a literacy-rich learning environment for all students.
LTCY-502. Disciplinary Literacy Instruction in Secondary Grades. 3 Hours.
This course addresses the components of academic literacy development with an emphasis on instructional approaches to support and motivate adolescent learners. Candidates will explore literacy instructional practices to support student learning in various subject areas. Topics include comprehension of complex disciplinary text, academic vocabulary, and multimodal text types. Meeting the needs of all adolescent learners, including culturally and linguistically diverse students, is emphasized.
LTCY-504. Children’s and Young Adult Literature for Literacy Instruction. 3 Hours.
This course focuses on the integration of children’s and young adult literature to support teaching and learning in all grades and across disciplines. Candidates will develop foundational knowledge about children’s and young adult literature, explore instructional approaches, and address relevant topics, including cultural authenticity, multicultural literature, and issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
LTCY-507. Literacy Assessment and Instructional Planning. 3 Hours.
In this course, candidates will learn about various types of literacy assessments, their purposes, strengths, and limitations. Candidates will select and administer multiple assessments to gather information about students’ developing literacy skills, progress, and performance. Candidates will learn to analyze and interpret assessment results in order to plan instruction that meets the needs of a range of learners.
LTCY-508/LTCY-510. Practicum in Literacy Assessment and Intervention. 6 Hours.
In this supervised clinical practicum experience, candidates demonstrate their literacy knowledge and skills as they conduct assessments, analyze and communicate assessment results, and plan appropriate instruction for one K-5 student and one middle-grades student reading below grade level. Candidates apply theory and evidence-based practices as they design and teach a series of lessons that address the specific word recognition, comprehension, vocabulary, fluency, motivation, and self-efficacy needs of their assigned students. Candidates also engage in professional learning such as collegial coaching and reflection.
The deadline to apply is Nov. 1st, 2023.
Please contact Dr. April Nauman at A-Nauman@neiu.edu for additional information.
PLEASE NOTE: An initial PEL is required for state entitlement. In addition, Illinois requires a passing score on state test #222.
For more information on University Center programs visit ucenter.org.
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