Read to Succeed (R 2 S) FAQ s for CCSD Employees

Transcription

1 Read to Succeed (R 2 S) FAQ s for CCSD Employees This page will be updated monthly. You can access this document as a link on the CCSD webpage (Departments - Curriculum & Instruction - Read to Succeed) as well as OneDrive. Monthly updates will be written in red and revisions will have a strikethrough. Four Types of Literacy Endorsements Your area of licensure determines which R2S Literacy Endorsement you are required to earn: R2S Teacher Literacy Endorsement Early Childhood certification Elementary certification Special Education (all areas) certification Montessori (PK-5K, Elementary I, and Elementary II) certification ESOL teachers (if primary area of certification) R2S Instructional Literacy Endorsement Middle school certification High school certification Media specialists All prek-12 related arts teachers Career and Technology teachers R2S Non-Instructional Literacy Endorsement Administrators Guidance counselors (elementary & secondary) School psychologists Speech pathologists/therapists R2S Coach Elementary literacy coaches currently attending the SCDE Coach Institute will earn their Literacy Endorsement directly from the SCDE. How do I earn my Literacy Endorsement? You can earn your Literacy Endorsement several ways: 1. Earn a Master s degree in Reading/Literacy from an accredited university. Submit college transcript to the SCDE with a request for change of action. 2. Take SCDE approved professional development hours (see attached list of approved PD) R2S Teacher 240 total approved PD hours o R2S Foundations in Reading (60 hours) o R2S Instructional Practices (60 hours) o R2S Assessment of Reading (60 hours) o R2S Content Area Reading & Writing for (60 hours)

2 The Chester County School District has created the last class already and it has been APPROVED by the state department. You have from February 3, 2015-February 3, 2016 to complete this course. It is free for all R2S Teachers and is available on Edivation now. R2S Instructional 60 approved PD hours o R2S Content Area Reading and Writing (60 hours) The Chester County School District has created this course for you. It has been sent to the SCDE and we are waiting approval. Once we receive approval for this course, I will let you know so that you can begin. You will have 1 calendar year to complete this course. It is free for all CCSD employees. R2S Non-Instructional 60 approved PD hours o R2S Content Area Reading and Writing (60 hours) The Chester County School District has created this course for you. It has been sent to the SCDE and we are waiting approval. Once we receive approval for this course, I will let you know so that you can begin. You will have 1 calendar year to complete this course. It is free for all CCSD employees. 3. Take SCDE approved graduate level reading courses from a university on the list below. R2S Teacher The following 4 (3-hour) graduate reading courses entitled: R2S Foundations in Reading R2S Instructional Practices R2S Assessment of Reading R2S Instructional 1 (3-hour) graduate course entitled: R2S Content Area Reading and Writing R2S Non-Instructional 1 (3-hour) graduate course entitled: R2S Content Area Reading and Writing 4. Take a combination of approved professional development hours / approved graduate courses. This chart is a list of graduate courses and professional development hours that have been APPROVED by the SCDE for R2S Teacher and R2S Instructional Updated by SCDE on 2/17/15 R2S Teacher Graduate Courses Course Provider Contact Person R2S Foundations in Reading (EDU 612) R2S Instructional Practices (EDU 613) R2S Assessment of Reading (EDU 614)

3 (EDU 618) R2S Foundations in Reading (EDRD 600) R2S Instructional Practices (EDRD 715) R2S Assessment of Reading Practicum (EDRD 716) R2S Assessment of Reading (EDRD 718) (EDRD 730) R2S Assessment of Reading Upstate Lindsay Yearta R2S Instructional Graduate Courses Course Provider Contact Person R2S Teacher PD Professional Dev. Provider Contact Person Chester County School District High Progress Literacy Associates, LLC Dr. Alisha Green Jennifer Young R2S Instructional PD Professional Dev. Provider Contact Person Charleston Southern University Lexington School District One Literacy in Focus, Inc. George W. Metz, PhD Dr. Erica Bissell Doris H. Barnes

4 Master s or Doctorate in Reading/Literacy R2S Literacy Endorsement Exemptions If you currently have a Masters or Doctoral degree in Reading or Literacy from an accredited university you are exempt; you already have your Literacy Endorsement. The SCDE will send you a letter this fall confirming this with you. I contacted the SCDE for clarification on this exemption and they stated, "The law states Master's in Reading or Literacy, not a Master's in Education with an emphasis or focus on reading or literacy." o Examples of degrees that would not qualify: Master s of Education in Curriculum and Instruction with an Emphasis in Literacy; Masters of Education in Curriculum and Instruction: Reading with an Emphasis in Elementary Education. **If you are not sure if your Master s degree will make you exempt, send inquiries to: [email protected] or Jen Morrison (Director of the Office of School Transformation at the SCDE) at: [email protected] South Carolina Reading Initiative (SCRI) If you participated in SCRI for all three years and received graduate college credit for it, you MAY be exempt. Because the fidelity of SCRI differed from district-to-district across the state, the SCDE has decided to grant exemption on a caseby-case basis. I contacted the state department for clarification and they stated, "Unless they earned the graduate credit and sent it in to the SCDE, they are not exempt. They will need to contact us for further review." Send inquiries to: [email protected] or Jen Morrison (Director of the Office of School Transformation at the SCDE) at: [email protected] Reading Recovery If you are Reading Recovery trained, you may also be exempt. Send inquiries to: [email protected] or Jen Morrison (Director of the Office of School Transformation at the SCDE) at: [email protected] Chester County School District Edivation Course Questions 1. How do I log onto the R2S Teacher Edivation course? See all Focus Objectives Courses R2S Reading and Writing for Early Childhood and Elem. 2. Do teachers have to go in order of the modules or can they skip around? They may skip around. Once they complete a module it will state that is has been completed.

5 3. Could you clarify how in-depth their answers should be? (i.e. bullets or paragraphs)-i told the teachers to treat this as a grad class and do professional level writing. Was this correct? Absolutely correct. The only reason our course was approved by the state department was due to the embedding of graduate level rigor. The District Level R2S Team will check responses for rigor and relevance. 4. If R2S Teachers wait until next October, for example, to start the PD, do they still have 1 calendar year to finish it? No. The window to complete the first R2S Teacher Edivation course is from February 3, 2015-February 3, What if they don't finish the course within one year? What happens to them? The window to each course will close 1 calendar year after it opens. Teachers who do not complete the course in 1 calendar year will be required to earn those 60 hours of PD elsewhere at their own expense. 6. What can teachers do if they don t understand the Edivation questions? If they need support, they are welcome to contact their literacy coach or me at: [email protected] 7. Can the 60 hours of R2S Edivation also count towards renewal credit? Yes. Frequently Asked Questions Will this mandate affect any of the private school teachers or the public charter school teachers? o The R2S Endorsement affects all certified teachers in the state as it is tied to their certification. If a teacher has a Master's degree in Reading or Literacy but did not take the Reading component of the Praxis - are they still exempt? o Yes, a Master s degree in Reading or Literacy will allow you to have R2S Literacy Endorsement indicated on your license regardless of the Praxis. I have had this question from a few teachers. Some of them are planning to enroll in a graduate literacy program at a university. They haven't enrolled yet but want to know if they still have to take the PD 360 course. I told them yes because they are not currently not enrolled but I wanted to ask you. o It's up to them, really. If they end up not enrolling in the graduate literacy program and miss our February 3, 2016 deadline to complete the R2S Teacher Edivation PD course, than they will need to get their literacy endorsement on their own (which means probably having to pay for 4 graduate courses themselves). My advice is to go ahead and take the PD course - it's free.

6 Will teachers who are already exempt from taking the Edivation course (those who already have a MEd in Reading or are planning on enrolling in a graduate program for a Med in Reading) be required by the school district to be at school until 4:30 on the Tuesdays set aside for Edivation/PD360? o Yes. Teachers who are already exempt - or are planning on enrolling in a graduate program to become exempt - must stay on Tuesday afternoons. "The 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of each month are for mandatory professional development from 3:30-4:30pm in order to fulfill the required additional hours/days for teachers mandated by Section of the 1976 Code of Laws of SC. " Will they get their endorsements if they participated in SCRI several years ago? Maybe. See detailed answer above under Exemptions. Do they have to send their certificates to the state department? Yes. Send inquiries to: [email protected] and ask for guidance. Does the state department have a record of their participation in SCRI? Yes, but only if they previously submitted their graduate college transcript from SCRI. If they are retiring before the 10 year time frame, are they still required to take the course on Edivation? o Yes. By law, we are now all charged with becoming teachers of reading. As a district, we want to provide everyone with the resources, knowledge and skill-set necessary to increase reading achievement for all students. Waiting until the 9 th year will not benefit the students you serve from now until then. Granted, if they are retiring this year, then of course not. ;) Will teachers who have a MEd in Reading, certified by South Carolina Department as a "Reading Teacher," be required by the school district to be at school until 4:30 on the Tuesdays set aside for Professional Development for R2S? o Yes. According to the SCDE: Teachers who have completed the R2S Teacher, R2S Requirement (Instructional), or R2S Requirement (Non-Instructional) endorsement, or who may have a master s degree in Reading/Literacy or the Literacy Teacher or Specialist add-on certification, are still expected to participate in any school-based literacy professional development or initiatives. Do teachers who are already exempt from taking the Edivation R2S courses have to stay at school on PD360 afternoons or can they leave at 3:00pm? What about teachers who plan on enrolling in a graduate level literacy program? o Teachers who are already exempt - or are planning on enrolling in a graduate level literacy program to become exempt - must stay on Tuesday afternoons. "The 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of each month are for mandatory professional development from 3:30-4:30pm in order to fulfill the required additional hours/days for teachers mandated by Section of the 1976 Code of Laws of SC. Their administrator can provide them with specific guidance in regards to how they can use this time.