Course Descriptions
The following courses from the Graduate Catalog are listed in the order in which they are taken in the program.
EDUC7501. Online or On-campus Summer Residency 1: Program Orientation (1 credit)
EDUC7511. The Learning Process (2 credits)
EDUC7520. Brain Research and Reading: How We Learn, How to Teach (3 credits)
EDUC7525. Teaching and Assessing Early Reading and Spelling (3 credits)
EDUC7531. Statistical Applications for Educators (2 credits)
EDUC7537. Effective Classroom Instruction for English Language Learners (3 credits)
EDUC7502. Online Summer Residency 2: Accessing Online Resources and Developing Electronic Portfolios (1 credit)
EDUC7518. Action Research for Educators (3 credits)
EDUC7598e. Seminar: Action Research and Electronic Portfolio (1 + 1 + 1 = 3 credits)
EDUC7547. Reading for Meaning: Fluency, Vocabulary and Comprehension (3 credits)
EDUC7577. Teaching and Assessing Reading and Writing at the Intermediate and Secondary Level (3 credits)
EDUC7578. The Literacy Focused School: Leadership and Program Design (3 credits)
EDUC7503. Online Summer Residency 3: Presentation of Electronic Portfolio and Action Research (1 credit)
Full descriptions are given below.
EDUC7501. Online or On-campus Summer Residency 1: Program Orientation (1 credit)
Purpose of the Course
Learning in an online environment will be new for many participants. The first online summer residency is designed to help set participants up for success by orienting them to the program, strategies, and resources for online learning. It will connect participants with support systems they may access as they proceed through the program. The summer residency is also designed for community building among cohort members who will interact by distance over a 28-month period.
Course Description
Overview of the program, competencies, and expectations. This first orientation will familiarize participants with services, resources, and the Blackboard course management software used to deliver courses. Participants will learn how to access library resources, utilize the electronic portfolio system, and experience success as online learners. They will receive guidance in beginning their first online class.
Course Goals
These online experiences are vital components of the Reading Master’s Program. The goals of these online sessions include the following:
Develop a sense of community among cohort members and NNU faculty. It will be essential for participants to make connections with this community of learners who will be their support system throughout the program.
Provide orientation and resources to help participants to accomplish goals and meet program requirements in this online program.
Celebrate and share professional accomplishments.
EDUC7511. The Learning Process (2 credits)
Course Description
Examination of accepted theories and current research in learning behavior. It also explores the unique styles of learning and recent studies in brain function and behavior as they relate to the learning process.
Course Goals
Participants in this course will explore learning theories, examine their own teaching, and discuss applications for classroom practice. The course centers around four essential questions:
How do people learn and develop?
How can my teaching and classroom environment support learning for understanding?
How can learning theory inform my teaching practice?
How can interactions among the learner, the classroom environment, and the teaching/learning process produce motivation to learn and build strong learning communities?
Course Objectives
Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to demonstrate the following proficiencies::
Learner-Centered
Utilize theories on how people learn and develop to inform classroom practice.
Develop a model of how learners process, store, and retrieve information.
Examine ways in which learners are unique and can demonstrate their learning and intelligence in various ways.
Community/Environment-Centered
Examine how emotions and culture affect learning and influence cognitive processing.
Generate strategies for creating a more effective and emotionally safe learning environment/community.
Content/Knowledge-Centered
Generate strategies for helping students master content and develop skills.
Investigate how to facilitate student learning by structuring knowledge and incorporating various modes of inquiry.
Analyze conditions and generate strategies that support transfer and motivation.
Assessment-Centered
Generate strategies to facilitate higher order and metacognitive thinking skills.
Critically assess their own teaching and learning style and develop a plan to the apply concepts and principles of brain/mind learning to their classroom.
EDUC7520. Brain Research and Reading: How We Learn, How to Teach (3 credits)
Purpose of the Course
The purpose of this course is to build a comprehensive foundation of understanding about the process of learning to read. This underpinning of knowledge will form the basis for connecting subsequent coursework to the practice of teaching reading, establishing and designing reading programs, and creating an informed reading practitioner-leader. It’s design incorporates current brain research, and models of learning within a challenging yet enlightening process for the master level student.
Course Description
This course presents an in-depth and systematically structured progression beginning with a review of current brain research as it relates to the acquisition of reading . The content then continues with an investigation of the many complex processes that contribute to reading abilities and how instruction alters the neural pathways to strengthen reading skills. The information is critical for today’s educators as they teach to establish successful reading abilities for a diversity of learners. We will explore and become comfortable with language essentials and the challenges of learning to read. Participants will explore phonetics, phonology, and phonemic awareness as they relate to skill acquisition for beginning, and later reading abilities. This course also investigates many dimensions of English orthography that include basic spelling conventions and extend to the exploration of the language’s etymology.
Several resources will provide current information and a springboard for stimulating discussion and concept formation, individual and group activities, and the identification of questions and topics to guide additional study and research in the literature.
Course Goals
The learning goals for Brain Research and Reading are derived from the complex base of information on reading that exists in the research literature. Participants will:
Gain a thorough understanding of the reading process, how children learn to read and write, the reasons why some children have difficulties, and instructional methodology that supports a wide range of learners, including the struggling reader.
Understand the role language plays in developing reading proficiency.
Understand the progression of reading and writing development.
Culminate their studies with a tool for evaluating the content of reading programs.
Build a knowledge base that will create and strengthen the linkage to subsequent coursework in the NNU Reading Master’s Program.
Course Objectives
With an increased appreciation of the reading process, participants will be able to:
Define why reading is a national priority and what that means on a local level.
Define and describe the brain’s role in the development of language and reading.
Develop instructional processes based on current brain research.
Define and provide examples of the components of a comprehensive reading program.
Evaluate reading programs for presence of critical components.
Apply principles of phonology, phonetics, and phoneme awareness to the assessment and instruction of reading and writing skills.
Identify and plan appropriate instruction for students based on analysis of student work examples.
Utilize advanced rules of orthography to respond to and teach spelling.
EDUC7525. Teaching and Assessing Early Reading and Spelling (3 credits)
Purpose of the Course
The purpose of this course is to acquaint teachers with current research and best practices in assessing, planning, and implementing reading instruction. The participants will become familiar with the needed phonological and word recognition skills students must possess from pre-reading through third grade. As participants are involved in various activities, they will gain experience in helping students acquire those skills. The goal is that each person will discover the excitement of assisting students at different developmental levels in becoming more capable readers.
Course Description
This course presents basic skills that beginning readers need for unlocking unknown words. Attention will be given to phonological skills, phonics, spelling, assessment, and writing. Participants will be involved in activities including engagement in on-line discussions, reading of current information base, individual and group activities, and assessing, planning, and implementing instruction.
Course Goals
To understand the progression of development of phonological skills, and letter knowledge.
To understand speech-to-print correspondence at the sound, syllable pattern, and morphological levels in the domain of phonics and decoding unknown words.
To understand the progression in which spelling knowledge is gained and the reciprocal relationship between reading and spelling instruction.
To understand and apply the various purposes of reading assessment.
To understand the connection between reading and writing.
Course Objectives
The participant will be able to:
Use techniques for teaching phonological skills, and letter knowledge.
Plan and teach word attack lessons in the domain of phonics and decoding.
Plan spelling instruction to complement instruction in word recognition and application in purposeful writing.
Select, administer, and interpret appropriate reading assessments based on the identified purpose.
Plan writing instruction to facilitate the reading, writing connection.
EDUC7531. Statistical Applications for Educators (2 credits)
Purpose of the Course
Statistics deals with the analysis, interpretation, and organization of numerical data. Understanding statistics allows teachers to analyze data from their class, school, and district, as well as better to understand research that is reported in journals and state department reports. A clear understanding of data and the statistics used to analyze that data will help the user interpret the power as well as the limitation of the reports.
Course Description
An introduction to statistical approaches to making decisions in K-12 schools, this course introduces students to descriptive and inferential statistics commonly used in education. No previous course work in statistics is assumed.
Course Goals and Objectives
Students will be able to calculate and describe descriptive statistical units (including mean, mode, median, standard deviation, and variance).
Students will be familiar with and use mathematical/statistical symbols.
Students will be able to describe and give examples of nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio data.
Students will be able to appropriately apply and use Microsoft Excel to calculate the following: Correlation, Analysis of Variance (one way), t Test (paired and independent sample, Chi Square.
Students will be able to describe and appropriately apply a Two-Way Analysis of Variance and Regression.
Students will be able to describe and use probability theory including an understanding of p values.
Students will be able to discuss reliability and validity as they apply to instruments of measure.
Students will be able to interpret statistical information reported in p values, effect size, and z scores.
Students will be able to use the graph and chart feature of Microsoft Excel to report data in appropriate ways.
Students will be able to describe a normal distribution including the percentage of scores between specific standard deviation markers.
Students will be able to describe, give examples of, and test directional research hypotheses and null hypotheses.
EDUC7537. Effective Classroom Instruction for English Language Learners (3 credits)
Purpose of the Course
This course is designed to help prepare skillful teachers to teach reading and content effectively to English language learners (ELLs) using a sheltered instruction observational protocol (the SIOP model). The main purpose is to familiarize teachers with the research behind second language acquisition and to educate teachers in the features of the SIOP model so they can improve the reading and academic success of English language learners in their classes by developing their students' English language ability (listening, speaking, reading and writing), and grade level content knowledge.
Course Description
This course will provide a historical and legal foundation for instructing English language learners (ELLs), as well as building background knowledge and theory of second language acquisition necessary for understanding and meeting the needs of ELLs in the mainstream classroom. We will explore the natural progression of English language proficiency through the four domains, listening, speaking, reading and writing. Through this course, the participant will become familiar with the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) and all of its components.
The SIOP model was developed through research conducted for six years by the National Center for Research on Education, Diversity & Excellence (CREDE). The protocol is organized around eight components essential for making reading and content comprehensible for English language learners - Preparation, Building Background, Comprehensible Input, Strategies, Interaction, Practice/Application, Lesson Delivery, and Review/Assessment. The SIOP model meets the current criteria outlined by No Child Left Behind (NCLB).
Participants will apply the SIOP model by incorporating the components into lesson plans as the components are learned. By the end of the course, participants will create a lesson plan for effective sheltered instruction, deliver the lesson to a group of students, and write several reflection journal entries on the learning process.
The online instructor’s role of facilitator is to guide participants through the SIOP model using demonstrations, discussions, group work, video analysis, reflections, and more. This course will be most effective as participants share ideas and teaching experiences online through discussion threads. This course involves individual reflection and small group and whole class online discussion. You are expected to be an active participant and to complete all assignments.
Many of the assignments require that you have access to a classroom that contains English language learners (ELLs). Many assignments require you to re-examine and revise lesson plans that you have already prepared. It is recommended that each participant identify a critical "friend" or online partner from among the other participants so you may coach one another.
Course Goals
The goals of this course are derived from the most current research literature of best practices, as well as guidelines put forth in NCLB.
Participants will:
Understand the historical and legal background that support and explain procedures for the instruction of ELLs
Understand the progression of second language acquisition
Gain an understanding of how ELLs learn to read and write in a new language, as well as how they learn content.
Understand the role first and second language plays in developing reading proficiency and comprehension
Explore the reasons why some ELLs have difficulties and instructional methodology that supports a wide range of second language learners.
Build a knowledge base of sheltered instruction strategies and a protocol that will create, strengthen and guide the linkage to prior and subsequent coursework in the NNU Reading Master’s Program.
Course Objectives
With an increased appreciation of second language acquisition and sheltered instruction, participants will be able to:
Identify key legislation both national and local that affect ELLs.
Define the levels of English language proficiency.
Distinguish between social language and academic language.
Define the five hypotheses of second language acquisition.
Apply the zone of proximal development to language instruction.
Apply TESOL ESL Standards to content objectives.
Define and provide examples of the components of an effective sheltered instruction lesson.
Apply principles of second language acquisition and sheltered instruction to the to the assessment and instruction of reading and writing skills.
Identify reading strategies specific to ELLs and how they differ or are similar to strategies used with reading instruction to native English speakers.
Identify and plan appropriate instruction for ELLs based on analysis of students language proficiency levels.
Utilize self-assessment and peer protocols to measure the effectiveness of sheltered instruction delivery.
EDUC7502. Online Summer Residency 2: Accessing Online Resources and Developing Electronic Portfolios (1 credit)
Purpose of the Course
Learning in an online environment will be new for many participants. This online summer residency will help set participants up for success by orienting them to the program, strategies, and resources for online learning. It will connect participants with support systems they may access as they proceed through the program. Summer residencies are designed for community building among cohort members who will interact by distance over a 28-month period.
Course Description
Examination of advanced research skills in an online environment and support for creating an electronic portfolio. Using saved artifacts, participants will learn how to select and present evidence to demonstrate required proficiencies through the electronic portfolio platform. They will learn how to scan materials, capture video and audio work samples, and develop a completed portfolio for presentation during the final online summer residency. They will receive guidance in beginning their research class.
Course Goals
These on-campus experiences are vital components of the Reading Master’s Program. The goals of these on-campus sessions are:
Develop a sense of community among cohort members and NNU faculty. It will be essential for participants to make connections with this community of learners who will be their support system throughout the program.
Provide orientation and resources to help participants to accomplish goals and meet program requirements in this online program.
Celebrate and share professional accomplishments.
EDUC7518. Action Research for Educators (3 credits)
Purpose of the Course
The knowledge bases of teaching and learning are dynamic. Educational practice must change to meet the needs of a changing society. The driving forces of this change must be research and best practice. To appropriately put into practice the results of research; teachers and administrators must be able to evaluate the research about which they read in terms of both the design of the studies, and the validity of applying the results of these studies to the specific setting in which they practice. They must be able to use action research as the tool to bring together research and best practice. In this day of demand for accountability educators must be able to gather and use data in making decisions. An understanding of research principles is necessary to facilitate these imperatives. (Prerequisite: Basic Statistics)
Course Description
Introduction to traditional and action research in the school setting. Literature review, data collection, interpretation, and surveys will be included. Participants prepare an action research proposal as part of the course requirements.
Course Objectives
Participants will be able to use a variety of electronic and manual indexes and references to find research relating to educational topics.
Participants will be able to describe the following:
how knowledge related to education is acquired, used, and shared
the role of research in the professional setting
the most common models of research design used in education (including the advantages and limitations of each design)
the types of measures used as dependent variables and how they can be evaluated (reliability and validity)
the statistical tools most commonly applied and the propriety of their application
the meaning of level of significance and its interaction with sample size
types of error and how they are controlled or accounted for in research
how to determine sample composition and size
Participants will be able to evaluate quantitative and qualitative research studies to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the designs used by the researchers.
Participants will be able to describe how leaders make appropriate applications of research to address problems in a local setting.
Participants will be able to develop a proposal for the investigation of a question related to the field of education.
EDUC7598e. Seminar: Action Research and Electronic Portfolio (1 + 1 + 1 = 3 credits)
Purpose of the Course
This course provides the opportunity for participants to conduct an action research project within their classrooms. Participants will implement the research study that was designed in the Research course and write a paper describing the study and the results.
Course Description
This course provides mentoring for participants as they investigate a question related to the teaching of reading. As a follow-up to the proposal developed in the Research course, participants will implement their study, collect data, and write a master's level paper that describes the study and reports results. Each participant will be supported in the implementation and writing of this research study through periodic consultations with a faculty mentor.
Course Goals
Solidify and extend one’s understand of principles of research design, implementation, and analysis through conducting an action research project in one’s own school.
Contribute to the professional knowledge base about the teaching of reading by presenting findings from the action research study to an audience.
Course Objectives
Conduct an action research study of a question or hypothesis related to the teaching of reading.
Write a master’s level paper that describes the action research study and reports the results. This paper will be presented to an audience of educators during the final summer residency.
EDUC7547. Reading for Meaning: Fluency, Vocabulary and Comprehension (3 credits)
Purpose of the Course
The purpose of this course is to explore three areas essential to reading competence – vocabulary development, reading fluency, and comprehension. Building on understandings about phonological awareness and word recognition skills learned in previous courses, you will examine the relationship between these early foundational skills and fluency as well as the inter-relationships between fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Emphasis will be on acquisition of a knowledge base that enables you to design and use research-based assessment and instructional strategies to help readers gain competence and independence.
Course Description
Course content will be organized into three units (fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension). For each emphasis, you will engage in activities involving application of research findings and analysis and reflection about instructional practice. Typical activities will include readings, on-line discussions, lesson planning and implementation of reading strategies, production of a work sample for a struggling reader, and reflection on personal practices. Ideally, you will be able to fulfill applications in your own classroom with your students.
Course Goals
The goals for this course are to help teachers acquire the knowledge and skills relevant for effective reading instruction. Participants will:
Understand factors that contribute to fluent reading and ways to assess and develop reading fluency.
Understand the role of vocabulary knowledge in reading comprehension and develop ability to apply principles of vocabulary instruction.
Understand the cognitive processes involved in comprehension in order to assess comprehension deficiencies and plan strategic instruction that facilitates comprehension.
Appreciate the value of reflection for promoting professional growth and improved reading instruction.
Course Objectives
When you have completed this course, you should be able to demonstrate the following knowledge and skills outlined for each unit of the course.
Over-all course objective
Analyze and reflect on your own teaching practices as a means of improving research-based practice in your classroom
Fluency
Explain the importance of word recognition skills to fluent reading, and the relationship between fluency and comprehension.
Administer and interpret fluency assessments.
Use assessment outcomes and research-based performance expectations to select and use instructional materials and strategies appropriate for helping specific learners increase fluency.
Vocabulary
Explain the relationship between vocabulary development and comprehension.
Apply principles for effective vocabulary instruction.
Design and implement instructional sequences using strategies appropriate for learners at various stages of reading development.
Comprehension
Apply understandings about literacy and the cognitive processes involved in comprehension to the analysis of student performance.
Identify, administer, and interpret a variety of assessment tools for determining comprehension levels, skill needs, reading dispositions, and metacognitive awareness.
Plan and implement comprehension instruction that reflects understanding of research-based strategies and developmental levels of students.
EDUC7577. Teaching and Assessing Reading and Writing at the Intermediate and Secondary Level (3 credits)
Purpose of the Course
This course is designed to help teachers develop an understanding of the "reading-writing connection." Building on previous knowledge and coursework, the course will allow teachers to create, implement and assess reading and writing activities designed specifically for students at the intermediate and secondary levels.
Course Description
This course focuses on four main areas: (1) developing confident, independent readers in a reading-writing friendly classroom, (2) reading, (3) writing, and (4) assessment and intervention. Participants will examine how reading and writing can fit into any classroom, learn and build upon comprehension and write-to-learn activities, create and implement lesson plans, examine the role of assessment, both informal and formal, including state assessment, and practice applying the assess-intervene-assess model. Participants in the course will also discuss and reflect upon instructional practice.
Course Goals
In order to prepare teachers to work with intermediate and secondary students in reading and writing instruction, participants will:
Understand different literacy behaviors and attitudes.
Understand how reading and writing share similar traits and characteristics.
Understand how to meet the needs of diverse learners using reading and writing.
Understand the writing process.
Understand how instructional approaches to reading and writing are similar.
Understand student centered reading and learning strategies.
Understand how to use assessment to guide instruction, particularly the assess-intervene-assess model.
Determine and utilize best practices when developing learning activities and assessment.
Understand research-based processes for helping older struggling readers to become proficient readers.
Course Objectives
By the end of the course, participants will be able to demonstrate the following proficiencies:
Developing Confident and Independent Readers in a Reading-Writing Friendly Classroom
Identify confident and independent behavior in students and develop an approach to teaching reading and writing to help foster success in students.
Develop strategies to create a writer and reader-friendly classroom.
Reading Instruction
Understand the six traits of reading.
Develop and utilize activities that focus on the six traits of reading.
Identify activities designed to enhance reading comprehension.
Identify, develop and implement activities to help students with vocabulary and decoding large words.
Select, develop, implement and assess activities that help promote reading comprehension using expository and narrative texts.
Explain the reading-writing connection.
Writing Instruction
Understand the writing process.
Reflect upon your personal writing process.
Explain the six traits of writing.
Develop write-to-learn activities in content area classrooms, spelling and grammar.
Identify and create two different ways to teach writing (essay structure).
Plan spelling instruction and facilitate its use in purposeful writing.
Assessment and Intervention
Identify, explore and administer assessment options for to determine strengths and needs of struggling students.
Develop self-assessments for students.
Explore and interpret state tests (ISAT, DWA) and corresponding assessment tools and rubrics.
Using assessment data, create intervention activities for a group of students using the assess-intervene-assess model.
Create differentiated instruction based on test scores for the ELL, low, mid and high-achieving student.
EDUC7578. The Literacy Focused School: Leadership and Program Design (3 credits)
Purpose of the Course
This course will provide educators with an understanding of the importance of leadership and collaboration in developing a literacy focused school. It builds upon the knowledge base and skills developed in previous coursework required in the NNU Reading Master’s Program. This course will equip participants to identify the necessary components, develop an on-going assessment plan, and identify individual professional development needs for a school in which all students learn to read and write proficiently.
Course Description
This course examines schoolwide literacy models and the importance of collaboration and teamwork in developing successful programs. The program designs that are studied will be ones that focus on the identification and use of all stakeholders and resources to support student and teacher success.
Course Goals
Understand and apply the skills of collaboration and teamwork in developing a literacy focused school.
Understand principles of effective coaching and mentoring.
Identify all stakeholders and understand the importance of their involvement at various levels to promote a successful literacy community.
Develop an ongoing, personalized school literacy assessment that will measure the success of students and inform educators of additional professional development needs.
Course Objectives
Understand and apply the principles of collaboration and teamwork in designing a literacy focused school
Become a skilled literacy coach for teachers in the school.
Identify and apply the stages of change in developing a literacy focused school.
Use team approaches to problem solving and decision making within one’s school.
Identify different leadership styles and strategies for use by all stakeholders.
Understand and use appropriate assessments for continuous improvement in a literacy focused school.
EDUC7503. Online Summer Residency 3: Presentation of Electronic Portfolio and Action Research (1 credit)
Purpose of the Course
Learning in an online environment will be new for many participants. The mandatory online summer residencies are designed to help set participants up for success by orienting them to the program, strategies, and resources for online learning. It will connect participants with support systems they may access as they proceed through the program. Summer residencies are also designed for community building among cohort members who will be interacting by distance over a 28-month period.
Course Description
Culminating residency experience on NNU campus for professional presentation of action research project and electronic portfolio for an audience including local educators and participants from other cohorts. This residency will include a celebration of master’s program accomplishments in meeting outcomes. They will be guided in beginning their practicum.
Course Goals
These online experiences are vital components of the Reading Master’s Program. The goals of these on-campus sessions are:
Develop a sense of community among cohort members and NNU faculty. It will be essential for participants to make connections with this community of learners who will be their support system throughout the program.
Provide orientation and resources to help participants to accomplish goals and meet program requirements in this online program.
Celebrate and share professional accomplishments.
EDUC7596V. Internship in Reading (3 credits)
Purpose of the Course
This course provides the opportunity for participants to work with challenged readers to improve their reading proficiency. Built upon the knowledge base developed throughout the NNU Reading Master’s Program, it incorporates application of reading theory, principles, and strategies. This supervised internship experience in assessment, diagnosis, and instruction of challenged readers is the final experience in the program.
Course Description
In this culminating experience, participants will extend and synthesize learning as they diagnosis and tutor students who are struggling in their reading development. This internship component can take place within the participant’s classroom and will be supported by on-site supervision.
Course Goals
Building upon the broad understanding and implementation of research-based strategies throughout the program, participants in this final experience will develop in-depth theoretical and practical expertise for solving some of the difficult challenges that face teachers of reading. The learning goals for the Internship are to:
Demonstrate and analyze one's impact on student learning through an extended, supervised internship based on individual assessment and tutoring of students who are struggling with reading development.
Course Objectives
Conduct a variety of pre-assessments to determine literacy strengths and needs of a minimum of two struggling readers representing diverse types and/or sources of reading difficulty.
Using assessment data, select goals and plan a three-month series of intervention lessons and activities to improve the reading proficiency of these two struggling readers.
Over the course of three months, conduct a designated series of intervention lessons with each of these two struggling readers.
Conduct regular progress monitoring for each student throughout the course of the intervention period.
Make adjustments in planned interventions based on data from progress monitoring.
Upon completion of the series of interventions, conduct post-assessments to assess growth in the goal areas and overall reading proficiency.
Conduct an analysis of student learning based upon a comparison of pre- and post-assessments.
For each of the two struggling readers with whom you have worked, write a case study report, including your professional reflections.
