This course is part II of a two-course series, Structured Literacy I and II. Spreading the content over two courses offers us the luxury of focusing more in depth, first on the teaching of literacy and then on teaching literacy to students with learning difficulties. Both courses are required for the Certificate in Educational Therapy, and are more closely aligned to the requirements of the Association of Educational Therapists, as well as providing a more thorough mastery of the skills and knowledge base necessary to adequately teach all of the students who will come to you in your practice.

Structured Literacy II builds upon Structured Literacy I foundation to explore how to teach, remediate and support students with learning difficulties, whether due to dyslexia, speech and language disability, ADHD, ASD, a mismatch between home and school culture, learning English as a second language, or a number of other challenges. The course emphasizes neurobiological and neurocognitive underpinnings of literacy, the science of reading and structured literacy, best practices of instruction, using informal and formal assessments to guide instruction, and the development of materials and skills to teach literacy to a broad range of students.

Learning Outcomes

At the conclusion of the course, you should be able to

• Describe the characteristics and elements of structured literacy
• Analyze student's individual learning needs and apply best practices to modify structured literacy to their needs
• Analyze the complex interplay of overlapping challenges and create a multi-leveled, multi-faceted approach to best support each student
• Apply both informal and formal literacy assessments to create an accurate student profile and a learning plan that responds to the changing needs of each student

Topics Include

• The who, what, when and why of literacy instruction
• Structured Literacy: what it is and why it is even more important for students with disabilities
• Understanding differential diagnoses to align instructional practices with the specific needs of individual students
• How socio-economic, cultural and a wide-range of identity issues affects literacy acquisition and instruction; and their interconnections with identification and treatment of language-based learning disabilities
• Assessments for literacy difficulties and dyslexia