FOR-PD Course Syllabus

This is a general participant syllabus. Students in a university section will receive a separate syllabus from their professor, which will detail all additional requirements.

Course Syllabus Course Title: Florida Online Reading Professional Development

Course Credit: 3 credit hours (when registered with a state university for credit) OR 60 Professional Development Points (when registered through a school district)

Prerequisites: Teacher certification

Description: Principles, procedures, organization, and current practices in K-12 reading program. Materials and methods of reading instruction.

Instructor: TBA by each district/university

Goals: FOR-PD is designed for the in-service teacher or graduate student who needs a comprehensive foundations course in the teaching of reading in preK-12 grades. The primary focus of the course is on research-based qualities of effective reading instruction, Florida's formula for effective approaches to teaching reading, assessment, and teacher growth in reading.

Course Description: The FOR-PD course is an innovative, online development course funded by the state of Florida, Department of Education. FOR-PD is the product of the first large-scale online reading professional development project in the state of Florida. It is designed to provide a quality standards-based and research-based professional development with teachers' and students' needs in mind. This course is aligned with Just Read, Florida! (Former Governor Jeb Bush's Statewide Reading Initiative), the Florida Reading Endorsement and Certification, and the No Child Left Behind (President George W. Bush's Federal Reading Initiative).

FOR-PD is designed to help teachers improve reading instruction for students in grades preK-12. The course's major goal is to assist the state in its statewide reading initiatives, function as a delivery mechanism for quality reading research, and instruction to teachers across the state of Florida.

FOR-PD is aligned with the Florida Reading Endorsement and Certification, and it meets Competency 2 [PDF: 6 pages / 187k]. It is a very comprehensive, online class, in which participants will learn about the reading process, how children learn to read, factors that affect reading, quality reading instruction, vocabulary, comprehension, assessment, differentiated instruction, and the importance of reflection and quality professional development.

Course Objectives:

Objectives meet the following standards:

FEAP - Florida Educator Accomplished Practices
PEC - Professional Education Competencies
FSAC - Florida Subject Area Competencies: EE = Elementary K-6; R = Reading K-12
IRA - International Reading Association Standards for Reading Professionals
ACEI - Association for Childhood Education International
ESOL - English for Speakers of Other Languages

The following objectives are statements of behavior expected of the student at the end of the course.

Develop a reflective attitude and a feeling of confidence toward the teaching of reading. (FEAP/PEC 10; IRA 5.1, 5.2, 5.3)
Be able to cite the advantages of integrating reading with the other language arts. (FEAP/PEC 8; FSAC-R 1.1, 1.2; IRA 1.1; ACEI 2.1, 3.1)
Understand how to adapt to needs of pupils in a multicultural classroom. (FEAP/PEC 5; PEC 14; IRA 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3; ACEI 3.2; ESOL 2, 4, 5, 16, 21, 25)
Understand the process of reading as interactive involving reader, text, and contextual factors. (PEC 14; FSAC-R 1.1, 1.2; IRA 1.1., 1.2, 1.3, 1.4; ESOL 4)
Be able to cite the stages of literacy development (FSAC-EE 1.1; FSAC-R 2.1, 2.2, 2.3; IRA 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.3; ACEI 2.1)
Be able to explain the components of a complete literacy program. FSAC-EE 1.1, 2.1, 2.3, 2.5, 2.7; FSAC-R 1.2, 3.2, 4.1; IRA 1.1, 1.2, 1.4, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 4.1, 4.3; ACEI 2.1)
Demonstrate knowledge of the content of word identification (i.e. sight vocabulary, phonics, structural analysis, and context). (PEC 14; FSAC-EE 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 2.2, 5.1; FSAC-R 3.1, 3.2, 3.3; IRA 1.1, 1.4; ACEI 2.1)
Be able to cite the components of fostering reading comprehension. (FSAC-EE 2.6, 2.7, 2.10, 2.11; FSAC-R 4.1, 4.2, 4.2, 4.4, 4.5; IRA 1.1, 1.4; ACEI 2.1, 3.3)
Be able to compare a variety of approaches including the basal reader, language experience, literature-based, and whole language reading approaches. (FSAC-R 6.1, 6.3, 7.1, 7.2, 12.1, 12.2; IRA 1.4, 2.2, 2.3)
Be able to teach a guided reading or directed reading activity for a literary or nonfiction text. (FEAP/PEC 4, PEC 14; FSAC-EE 2.11; IRA 1.4, 2.2, 4.3; ESOL 6, 9, 12, 16)
Be able to teach an explicit lesson on a specific decoding and comprehension skill or strategy. (FEAP/PEC 11; IRA 1.2, 1.4, 2.2)
Be able to teach content reading skills and studying strategies. (FSAC EE 2.6, 2.7, 2.10, 2.11; FSAC-R 6)
Be able to select and evaluate instructional materials, including literacy software. (FEAP/PEC 9, 10, 13; PEC 14; FSAC-R 13.1; IRA 2.2, 2.3; ACEI 3.1; ESOL 7, 13)
Be able to compare the various methods of grouping children for reading instruction. (FEAP/PEC 9, 10; FSAC-EE 2.8; FSAC-R 12.3; IRA 2.1; ACEI 2.1)
Be able to account for research-based characteristics of an effective teacher of reading. (FEAP/PEC 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 11; FSAC-R 8.2; IRA 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 4.3, 4.4, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3)

Required and Recommended Readings:

All required readings are accessible online through course embedded hyperlinks. At the end of each lesson, there is a list of recommended readings and resources for further investigation.

Course Requirements:

Regular logins, active participation, and completion of all assignments are needed for the successful completion of this course. The course is designed to be delivered at a pace of one lesson per week (although it may be offered in a different time-frame at the discretion of the university or district offering credit or in-service points.)
A quiz is given at the end of each lesson. The quizzes are based on material covered in each lesson. All participants will have to complete each quiz with at least 80% accuracy. Participants in the district/community college sections only can take the quiz up to three times. Participants taking the course through a university can take the quiz one time only.
A pre/post survey will be given to help assess participants' literacy knowledge. Completion of the survey will also assist in the evaluation of the project.
Participants will be required to participate in asynchronous online discussions as described in each lesson.
A Literacy Log is the major product of this course. As participants implement selected strategies described in the course or in the web links provided, participants can select the strategies that best serve them and their students' needs. Participants can implement these strategies in the classroom and share with other faculty members at their school/class. As participants select each strategy, they will think about how it will be adapted to meet their students' needs (e.g., ESOL students, struggling readers) and the evidence that will be used to assess its effectiveness.

Administrative Course Requirements:

Frequent and regular login to the class is expected and participation is highly encouraged and needed for the successful completion of this course. Please read and review the participant expectations and consider your role in the course.

Evaluation and Grading:

The course grade will be based on quiz results, evaluation of the discussion postings, evaluation of the Literacy Log, and the completion of the course. To successfully complete this course, each participant needs to complete all discussions (with 80% mastery or better), quizzes (with 80% mastery or better), and the Literacy Log (completion of all 13 literacy log entries) to receive full credit.

Major Course Topics:

The FOR-PD course covers the following 14 lessons:

Mode of Instruction:

Web-based environment
Class discussion to examine the topics on the course outline.
Required readings and online activities.
Use of online tools and resources to facilitate a deeper understanding of the readings and the class discussions.

Bibliography